Everything Cancelled!!! Literally!!

[MegoSteve]

I really don’t think our last couple of Presidents would be doing anything different, but that’s jmo.

That is just flatly wrong. We should have been ready for this in January, not mid-March. I don't want to get too political here, but Trump let John Bolton disband the National Security Council's global health security team last year, which certainly would have been a valuable tool to have in fighting a pandemic, don't you think?

His slow response has absolutely nothing to do with him wanting to listen to his health advisors; it's more like he was dragged kicking and screaming into action. (I've read that it took a TV political commentator, not a health advisor, to convince him to finally take this seriously.)

And no one is foaming at the mouth for him to make a mistake, because his mistakes literally kill people.

I am very sorry about your mother, and you have my respect for being a good son and taking care of her, but you need to take this very seriously. Especially if you live in Boston. I am not trying to make you panic, but please read news from multiple sources, not just one. This isn't just the flu, like some opinion-based news outlets have been trying to push for the past two months.

The first coronavirus patient in my state just died from it. He was 55 years old, which is frighteningly close to the target age of this message board. His sister died on Friday, and four other of their family members are in critical condition in hospitals.

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/03/its-inconceivable-5-family-members-in-critical-condition-from-covid-19-after-relative-dies.html

[YoungOnce]

A few weeks back when Trump shut down travel from China, he was derided for that decision as being racist. Honestly, if you don’t like Trump, is there any way he could have handled this that would have pleased his detractors?

I think this thread could quickly devolve into a political war, when no one is going to persuade the other side.

[Mikey]

For the most part Republican's are usually bad at disasters

It usually comes down to their excessive penny-pinching and not caring about poor people whatsoever

Democrats are kind of the opposite -- They'd throw billions at a town struck by a harsh wind and a snowflake

You can't win but hopefully the two evils keep each other at least in check

[YoungOnce]

You can't win but hopefully the two evils keep each other at least in check

I think just about everybody can agree with the general idea of that.

[PNGwynne]

And honestly, if one likes the president, is there anything he does that displeases his supporters? At any rate, the aggregate of his behaviors and opinions is well-documented. This thread will probably end badly, when it gets axed we can each go back to Fox News or Huffington Post.

Regardless, I encourage folks to also go to the CDC site for facts and useful, practical guidelines about this disease.

Politics aside, we need to work together to overcome this and adapt to the cultural and economic changes that will follow.

[YoungOnce]

I’m sure that just about everybody on this board can remember back in the days before cable television and 24 hour news cycles.

In the evenings, there was a half hour of local news and then a half hour of national news on the three networks, and then, that was all the news until the next day. There was very little time for editorializing and commentary; pretty much, you got the facts of the story and that was that.

Now, with endless opinion and commentary seeping into our minds like The Blob in that little cafe, it’s very hard to avoid it. And it’s human nature to choose sides. I know though that everyone on here can remember when people’s politics weren’t the deal-breaker that they are now.

[Werewolf]

Regardless, I encourage folks to also go to the CDC site for facts and useful, practical guidelines about this disease.

Yes, excellent advice. I'd also like to add please turn off talk radio and night time talking heads on cable TV. Don't get your info from social media. Disinformation can literally kill us right now. Support your local news and papers. Listen to your state and local governments. We are all in this together.

[Mikey]

……….. Support your local news and papers........

You might want to do some research before you blindly trust a local media source …

See Sinclair Broadcast Group

Just saying ….

[Werewolf]

You might want to do some research before you blindly trust a local media source …

See Sinclair Broadcast Group

Well, yes, there's that. Good point.

What I was trying to say is try stick to hard news and avoid commentary. If people just only turned off talk radio it would be a great start in slowing the flow of disinformation.

[thunderbolt]

When one publicly states concern over keeping the numbers lower by not allowing a ship with covid 19 infected Americans on board to dock, you know where priorities lie for that person.

[Confessional]

If you live in an area where response at the local, county, and state level has been faster and more effective than the federal response, you can clearly see non-partisan leadership, and identify the subsequent lack-there-of. I had a long talk with my parents in Florida yesterday and what's (not yet) happening there is shocking given what we know about Covid-19. It's going to be a difficult ride to peak.

Otherwise, there really are some spectacular stories and info that journalists are bringing too us (counter to the 24/7 talking heads), particularly first hand accounts from Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Spain, etc. We can learn much by paying attention to those in the throws of this.

[thunderbolt]

Florida is very slapdash on prepping for it so far no idea why all the beaches aren’t closed. Tourism is at a halt and the gov did shut down bars but non essentials are still open even though they have no business. Given that it’s god’s waiting room here they’d be a little more anxious to lock down a lot of it.

[Confessional]

^^ Indeed!, although apparently where my 'rents are it's nearly tourism-business-as-usual, a publicly acknowledged last minute cash-grab from the spring breakers to "help the local economy." I've met many amazing people in Florida across my life for personal and work travel, but as a place it has many logic-defying oddities. Stay safe down there T!

[Mikey]

I don't know because I don't live there but it seems to me Florida's biggest problem is the decision making comes from Tallahassee rather than the peninsula.

Tallahassee is like a different state compared to the peninsula

[Confessional]

^^ I think it's more like 4 or 5 states… each coast, Miami-metro & The Keys, north, and the rural central inland. Each with their own cultures, and subcultures.