I love my President, its that simple. Get used to him, he isn't going anywhere fast. It has been pathetic that no real candidate could be found to do a better job. Keep wishing him away, but that won't make it happen.
9
The way your beloved president is bungling the government's response to the Coronavirus suggests that you might want to start praying that you will not be loving him to death soon.
86
The cult of personality prevents one from seeing the world as it actually is.
106
@larry s It's quite humorous that Trump put Pence in charge of managing the Coronovirus. It will be super convenient to blame everything on Pence when massive amounts of people start dying, paving the way for Nikki Haley to get the VP nod. Anyone can see this is what Trump's evil plan is.
82
What the media should be doing is showing daily comparisons between the covid-19 virus and the flu.
Since many more people are dying from the flu maybe this comparison would help to halt the MSM hysterics. If a Democrat was President and carrying out the same responses MSM would be hailing the wisdom.
This is actually so biased and anti American that the MSM should be ashamed or even better more lawsuits should be launched against the media for endangering the American public. Like yelling fire in a movie theater when there is no fire.
9
@John Gilday Hello Nevada, you are aware that this is an OPINION piece, right?
54
What a great time to have between 11 and 20 million illegal immigrants living in one's country, mostly in close quarters in lower and lower middle class areas, many with folk religious beliefs, in jobs where if they don't show up they're fired, and absolutely unwilling to engage with anything having to do with the government and registration, like a hospital or public clinic.
24
@Snowball Yes, if only we could rid ourselves of the the tired, the hungry and the poor, how much healthier and safer we'd all be. And then you could all save all the serous labor for youselves.
58
@Snowball, and what a great time for you to exercise your racial prejudices. The known cases of COVID-19 to date have been among fairly ordinary middle-class citizens. There may be yet-undiscovered cases among undocumented immigrants; there may also be undiscovered cases among lawful citizens of all walks of life. And if Trump hadn't gutted the CDC's ability to respond to epidemics and appointed his useless toadies to head agencies, we might have a robust testing program to find out. As for being unwilling to engage with the government, of course they are -- government contact of any sort is more likely to lead to deportation than to have any good outcome.
72
The inability to making testing widely available rests squarely with this administration. It is their responsibility. Mr. Trump has done everything he can as President to undermine science and to diminish the role of scientists, to the point of gutting them from the government, including in the CDC. Then, he has downplayed the significance of the virus and it’s damaging potential, speaking mystically about its demise. He is personally responsible for our incredibly poor response. Some states have responded effectively in spite of this debacle. I’m pretty sure that voters will hold Mr. Trump accountable, accept, of course, for those who have been drinking Trump’s Koolaide for the past three years.
62
"Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response. Our inability to roll out testing rapidly, even when thousands of cases are probably in circulation, owes a lot to the inherent problems of medical bureaucracy and the regulatory state, and to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level."
Are you serious with that, Ross? Yes, the WH is entirely to blame for not rolling out testing, full stop. The CDC and every other agency that uses science and facts has been hindered, hobbled and stripped of its mission by Trump.
81
You may not have noticed, Mr. Douthat, but there's a laundry list of under reactions that should have by now undone this President gifted with "natural abilities". His breathtakingly inept response to the threat of corona virus, phrased vacuously and punctuated by his usual in and out hand waving, fingers spread wide, is but his latest fall from grace, never mind his "excellent" decision to forbid foreign nationals, with a recent travel in China history, from entering the US. His follow up revealed just how shallow is his assessment of the dangers posed. And, not unlike the "under reaction" of the GOP, a collective shrug of shoulders, regarding quid pro quo, the elephants on the right side of the aisle have not pointed out the Trump's inadequacies put forth to deal with the crisis. The health of the stock market matters more. Other under reactions? Climate change, environmental protections, science? Charlottesville? Emolument clauses? Under funding? CDC, NIH, no more pandemic crisis team since 2018? Right now, Mr. Douthat, liberals - a pejorative term in your playbook - have a lot going for them. An insistence on truth which, too, by this Administration has been underfunded to the point of moral bankruptcy.
42
Trump supporters have bought into every excuse and lie he has spouted so far. I doubt this will be any different.
33
Nice try Ross, but no cigar.
The United States is currently reporting 474 cases. Europe is at 11,758 cases. We are at 4% of the European number and somehow Trump is a failure? What is it about honesty that completely eludes Trump hatred?
Trump acted decisively - against the wishes of the hand wringing, effete, inclusive, politically correct, Left/Trump haters - and closed our borders to travel from hot zones in China. He enabled and encouraged the CDC and NIH to do their jobs. He has cleared the way for testing and vaccine development. He's also been very careful to encourage more openness from China and has offered our scientific knowledge to help them if they will accept it.
The further we get into spring and summer, the more time we have to find a defense against this virus. The more time our CDC and NIH have to attack the virus. The more time for a potential vaccine.
Even the reporting in this paper has said that we first acknowledged a problem in early January and work began in earnest. At that point any President would be charged with managing the borders, managing the search for solutions and to keep panic to a minimum.
Trump has bought us time and he has kept panic to a minimum. He should get a medal for it - instead, his opponents use every possible moment to heap scorn upon him. I hate to tell you, but he is your President - wish him all the hate and ill will you want but how does that help?
7
What is this fuss about?
The most intelligent and most handsome man who ever walked this earth has already said that this is a hoax.
27
Funny how now that Mr. Douthat has a book out called “The Decadent Society” he has to shoehorn the idea of “decadence” into every column and appearance. I noticed him doing it on “Real Time with Bill Maher” the other night, and he does it again here. I don’t actually dispute that American society is deeply decadent in many ways, or that this is a serious problem. But it’s ludicrous to attribute the administration’s “inability to roll out testing rapidly” to “the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level.” Surely it’s more logical to blame the complexity of the task, exacerbated by the Trump administration’s longstanding and deliberate policy of undermining public servants and the very idea of expertise.
18
From your lips (or keyboard) to G*d's ear.
3
The Administration has botched the response but that doesn't mean they don't have a plan.
Yes they do. Of course they do. Fifteen military bases have been detailed to concentrate those infected, with more on tap.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/02/06/pentagon-adds-to-list-of-bases-that-can-house-passengers-quarantined-for-coronavirus/
If that doesn't do it, Trump can simply suspend habeas corpus and declare martial law with the stroke of a pen. He won't call it "martial law" instead it will be termed a "National Emergency."
Should get him past the election.
9
I will do my best to avoid the "language of cosmopolitan sophistication," but there are more than a few reasons, in addition those Douthat cites, that the Trump administration might have failed this test of leadership. First, this "leader" campaigned from the beginning and has "governed" as a bigot whose first actions in office banned foreigners based on their religion. It should surprise no one that people could think he is simply doing the same thing for the same reasons when a similar decision under different circumstances might be the practical choice instead of just another exercise in xenophobia. Secondly, when someone lies incessantly, people aren't likely to believe him even when he slips up and tells the truth on occasion. If you have failed to lead for 3 years and counting, it is too late to start now. We can but hope that enough voters recognize that Trump's incompetence now threatens their health and safety as well as their 401 K's and that they may care more about the former than the latter. If so, we have a chance to start over with a new leader next January. Anyone else would do better job.
26
there is a role for government and a role for the private sector in our society . The current threat is a role for the government, as it is too expansive to hand over to a bunch profiteering business folks.
However, in order for the governent to be credible, to engender trust that is required to be believed by a skeptical public (addressed to the extremists: Koch Bros the GOP, and the talking heads on Fox), there has to be a functioning government that isn't and/or hasn't been mailgned on a daily basis for 3.5 years.
Sorry angry white men. This one wasn';t in your playbook Nobody is either listening to or trusting you right now. Nor will they.
Election re election? you will lucky not to be lynched in your home states/districts on sight.
9
Had international air travel been available in 1918/19 it would have been far more devastating to mankind; in fact it may have prevented WWII. We have hundreds of thousands of people flying every day to all corners of the world, so...if the coronavirus is even a tenth as deadly as the Spanish Flu (no one knows yet) we have a far more deadly situation than anyone is willing to admit.
12
Solipsistic really? Another threat against all of America's well being is weaponized to destroy one man, Donald J. Trump.
The contagion plaguing America today is not COVID19. It's TDS2016; Trump Derangement SOLIPSISM 2016. Deceased by its own genesis; it alone exists. Tragically, TDS2016's enthralls is victims. If you're of the mind it's 'them' and not you--youve got the fever. Heal yourself and the whole world gets better!
3
@Pat
The only person I see with an attitude of "them not me" is our woefully uninformed president.
26
To test or not to test, that is the question? Let's not think about the fact that the 'numbers' represent real people with real endings to their real lives. Or the fact that because the 'numbers' are living paycheck to paycheck in the gig economy, that these 'numbers' will continue to deliver takeout to your door, and these 'numbers' will continue to drive you to the show, even though these 'numbers' have a cough. In the end, these 'numbers' may bring the virus to all of us?
9
If the pandemic is over by Election Day, President Trump will claim credit for ending it and that may be the key to his reelection. If the pandemic lasts until Election Day, it will be completely out of control by then and it may not be possible to conduct a valid election. It may be kind of like a coin toss where President Trump wins if it is Heads and the Democrats lose if it is Tails.
4
Lincoln held an election during a Civil War, a pandemic won't stop us from having one.
16
President Trump is, and has always been, hostile to expertise, and to scientific expertise in particular. He wants to control the message, and if it is either incomprehensible or unflattering to him, he will shoot the messenger. This intractable personality trait, coupled with his obsessive desire to dismantle President Obama’s achievements, has led him to undermine agencies and regulatory structures designed to protect public health, and to surround himself with loyalists and industry insiders. When Trump doesn’t understand something, which is often the case, he resorts to conspiracy theories about the “deep state” and takes a wrecking ball to the government, most prominently, in this case, to the CDC, which he had hobbled long before Covid-19 arrived.
23
Trump has zero credibility. No one can trust a word he says, and this lack of confidence is partly responsible for the tanking of his precious stock market. According to the Washington Post fact checker, Donald is now up around 14,000 outright lies, half-truths and misrepresentations since he took office.
If a destructive serial liar like Trump can be re-elected, we Americans will have nobody to blame but ourselves.
26
Trump's germophobe self seemed to find comfort in denial, trying to market the denial to the American people. Americans, on the other hand, refused to be fooled, reading the subtext of his statements as a coverup for his fear and a promotion of the stock market. In situations of fear, peoples' amygdala (center for fight or flight), developed over years of running from dinosaurs, becomes acutely sensitized to danger. Shopping then began on a grand scale--masks, hand sanitizer, powdered milk, pancake mix, pasta, canned and bottled everything, and endless toilet paper. Coronavirus as the modern day dinosaur, and the warrior in chief immobilized by denial and his own fear, most people devolved into self survival and protection of their family tribe.
I realized this reaction was in full throttle, when I did my weekly shopping at Costco. When I asked a shopper, whose cart was over-flowing, where the Gatorade (a request from my son) was, he pointed me to the direction of it. As he saw me loading the Gatorade into my cart, he watched me with a fearful stare, and despite already having a case of Gatorade, came back and grabbed another from the dwindling stack. It was then I realized that fear and self-survival prevailed.
6
Catchy title. I'll zip my lip to what I'm hoping for.
Trump style is to fire anyone who disagrees with him. This gradually (or rapidly) leads to an administration of unskilled, incompetent, inexperienced loyalists who do now have the know-how to do anything much more than create negative soundbite targeted at the Democrats.
Biden or Sanders in 2020..or see our Democracy devolve further.
16
Trump will continue conducting his mass indoor rallies. That will tell us all we we need to know.
5
@Shillingfarmer
If you noticed at the last rally, the passage to the stage was covered by a tent like structure. It also looked like the crowd was at a much further distance from the stage that before.
4
Above all it should be obvious to even trump's most passionate devotees that he is an utter incompetent. He has no idea what to do in a crisis that isn't self-created. He doesn't believe in scientific proofs; he doesn't even believe in reality. He invents his own reality. So how could he be expected to act in any way realistically?
12
Ah, so THIS is what he means by "America First"! I confess that I was confused for a while.
3
Lordy. "Worried cosmopolitan sophisticates" are in no way responsible for Trump's brainless inaction, and Douthat trying to both-sides the issue is plainly preposterous.
12
Really. Isn’t that a Stephen Miller nomenclature : cosmopolitans? Ick.
8
The Lusitania
Sink the Grand Princes with cast and crew,
Torpedo the virus, no one will sue;
All the old folks, it’s their final go round –
Torpedo abaft, they’re Davey Jones bound;
Obsequies - natch – wreaths on the ocean
Handle with care, preach with emotion;
Survivors, a few, will get a heads up -
Free lifetime cruises if they shut-up;
Final words for the cameras; what’s there to say?
Cruise a day ferry; it’s safer that way.
5
This is the bumbling idiot leading this country:
"Trump’s Coronavirus Press Event Was Even Worse Than It Looked
His remarks at the CDC on Friday were misguided, misleading, and show how misinformation could hamper Covid-19 containment efforts."
by Adam Rogers
in Science
March 7, 2020
https://www.wired.com/story/trumps-coronavirus-press-event-was-even-worse-than-it-looked/
13
I'm just hoping he keeps having rallies of his supporters from now until Novembeer.....
11
If this epidemic takes down Trump and exposes the systemised, privatised fraud that is the US healthcare system, so be it. Long train coming....
6
Perhaps a more fitting headline would state, "The Virus is coming for Trump." Not unreasonable, if you believe in science!
6
The "cosmopolitan sophisticates"? Seriously, Mr. Douthat, parroting Fox News and Breitbart makes you appear as uninformed as those guys.
16
I am writing this comment from northern Italy, where the effects of the coronavirus are present. I have lived in five countries since emigrating from the USA in 1978. Thus my perspective is different from most people’s; I accept that we don’t all think alike.
With the coronavirus we should maintain our composure, think clearly, and act intelligently. A “meltdown” is not helpful when facing an unknown, unquantifiable threat.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, a law professor, epitomized the unemotional, clear thinking, calm of an expert when dealing with the coronavirus. Not a rabble-rouser like Salvini or a narcissist like Trump, he pushed through a bunch of commonsense measures that while inhibiting our normal freewheeling approach to life don’t end it.
So, this morning at the supermarket I encountered a policeman at the entrance who told customers to maintain a meter’s distance one from another and implored us to use two gloves (instead of the usual one) when touching fruit and vegetables. (I kept mine on the whole time I was in the store, to avoid touching the handles of the grocery cart!)
Schools and areas that normally host groups have been closed in Italy until further notice, and so I have cancelled the English classes I give also.
I suspect that these “containment” measures will continue until a vaccine is found to immunize us against the coronavirus. In the meantime we will just have to live with these commonsense measures.
It could be a lot worse!
5
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump played golf (another weekend) while the Coronavirus continued to spread. Too little too late from an administration that has shamelessly cut budgets to programs involving health, education and welfare. What about all those promises to address glaring infrastructure needs. Not to worry it must be the Democrats fault or the failure of Obama - the blame always, without exception, lies elsewhere.
19
Trump shares his failure to properly address a virus with Ronald Reagan. The Gipper slashed CDC funding as the HIV epidemic mushroomed across America, and Reagan was infamous for never saying the word 'AIDS' until his friend Rock Hudson died. Thanks to Reagan's stonewalling, HIV spread across the nation, killing more people than in Vietnam, and although prescription drugs have saved untold hundreds of thousands of lives, there still isn't a cure via a vaccine.
A government can be judged by its response to a crisis: this government has failed completely, not only with Co-vid 19 but also from hurricanes & floods which have ravaged our lands due to climate change. I don't know how much evidence the American public needs to know that this Potus & his temporary administration are harmful to our society -- it certainly is obvious to any THINKING American, but now we're in the minority.
16
"Instead, Trump fell into the same trap as the cosmopolitan sophisticates..."
This is ridiculous. Douthat is trying to temper his criticism of Trump by telling us that some imaginary hoard of "cosmopolitan sophisticates" are just as bad as Trump.
First, I'm not sure who this group is and how they would speak with one voice. I think Douthat made this up.
Second, it's Trump's job to mobilize efforts to respond to a pandemic. He is not excused from this responsibility by Douthat pointing a finger at some random group of people he doesn't like and telling us that they share Trump's flaws.
Trump said he wants cruise ship passengers to stay offshore so the number of reported cases will be lower. That tells you everything you need to know about Trump.
14
Ross, Trump is not a leader. Just as you are not a journalist. But, just how bad his leadership must be for you to criticise him in public! You know as well I that Trump doesn't deserve to be the president. In that role, he is a present and manifest danger to society and people like you are culpable for covering up for him, even now, when he his actually putting the physical safety of Americans at risk.
8
Washington state leads the nation in density where COVID-19 is endemic. This is a testimonial to this very failure as mentioned in last paragraph of this fine opinion article. Majority of China trades to US enters through WA ports.
Container-laden ships are not stopped as promised by the president. The Governor should not be blamed.
7
Ah yes, "cosmopolitan sophisticates"! If I remember correctly, this was a term of Stalin-era derision of Communist Party members who deviated from Stalin's increasingly erratic thought patterns after World War II.
5
Perhaps too much emphasis on "urban cosmopolitans" (which sounds like a cocktail) in this story sheds light on the author's conservative bias. Can we not keep politics out of a growing health crisis? Apparently not.
3
Mr. Douthat is conspicuously wrong on one very serious thing: this is not about an underreaction; it is about willful ignorance. The monster has demonstrated willful ignorance in every area of public and private life without offending his base and supporters, notably not always the same people. Deceit and willful ignorance are the only tools the monster has. It's about time that even Mr. Douthat might sees that.
17
@amilius Well said! Deserving of more than a recommend.
4
The trick is to persuade his base.
Probably won't happen since his base acts like a cult.
6
He’s going to lose OUR President’s post for more reasons than coronavirus, he’s going to lose it because he is unworthy.
And we and Biden are coming for him.
1
He probably does not even realize he is doing it, but Douthat ought to get some advice on how he uses, "cosmopolitans." Especially in the context of international affairs, and the tensions they produce, the word has a nasty history of association with antisemitism. I can't believe that is Douthat's intent, but could not help thinking some of his audience would read it that way.
4
We do have an American company making those masks. They were promised orders towards a national stockpiling, invested in the equipment and personnel towards that production, and then had Trump cut it off because Obama. They had to fire all those people and eat the costs while knowing how much we were all going to someday regret that.
And here we are.
6
@Alison Source?
1
According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report, as of 2018 there were around 553,000 homeless people in the United States .
These people also suffer mental illness, addiction and poor health. If this virus moves into this population our healthcare facilities will be completely overwhelmed.
Around the world, in China, Italy, South Korea, hospitals and healthcare workers do not have capacity to deal with the patients coming down with the virus. These communities do not have half a million people living on the streets, with no homes to quarantine themselves in.
Nor, for that matter, do they have a population where a large percentage do not have healthcare benefits or sick benefits from work.
This virus shows all willing to see that the current system in the US is not sustainable.
5
One quibble. If Donald Trump were a genuine solipsist, he wouldn't care so much about what other people think of him. He seems more of an anti-solipsist, whose fragile existence depends entirely on being the center of attention.
11
The problem with this situation is that instead of being proactive, this administration has been reactive.
Planning for healthcare is boring and complicated. Planning for war and defense was much sexier and macho and the place where Trump put his energy. It was easier for him to sell rockets and weapons to other countries and start a space force here than to examine the deficiencies in our healthcare system, education system or homeless problems.
The latter issues take time, thought and risk to solve. They also take someone who sets aside ego and his own political interests to solve. Trump is not that person.
11
The medical and financial toll of coronavirus may only be beginning and both are extreme hardships for all of us to take (I just flipped an IRA into an annuity last week to avoid more losses), but if this wrecks the American economy by Nov. to the point that it costs Trump reelection then I think it's worth it. Only a disaster of this magnitude will change enough right wing minds to throw the election to us Democrats and no we're not perfect. But 4 more years of Trump would be 10 times worse than a few more months of this.
12
@c-c-g Nothing will wreck Trumps re-election as you suggest, but flipping your IRA to an annuity will certainly wreck your financial future.
Who are the "cosmopolitan sophisticates" that Mr. Douthat is criticizing here? It would be great to have a few specific examples and quotes. Were these people mainstream progressives, elected officials, candidate, leaders of narrow special interests, or somebody else? Straw men and women put up only to be knocked down by Douthat's arguments?
18
It's really shocking that the US apparently lacks highly developed public health policy, required paid sick days for minimum wage workers or even a coronavirus strategy.
Is anyone even a little bit embarrassed?
18
I'm disappointed and dissatisfied as an American in the top 20 percent of wage earning families. My husband and I have comparably great benefits - 10 days sick leave and 4 personal days - but I took 2 for kids and 4 for myself already because of the flu. If I get Covid-19 I would be out at least 14 additional days and I would lose pay over a week's pay. Again, I have insurance, but try to avoid going to the doctor because of high costs. Being hospitalized would ruin us financially as we have three children entering college and we're both paying off our own doctorates, and my masters... What a disaster our country has become.
9
Had to throw in "Cosmopolitan Sophisticates" as you chastised the president, didn't you! By the way, who are they and what did they do about the coronavirus? I missed those definitions and the data.
28
If only, but this won't bring him down. He could have said he doesn't believe in Coronavirus and done nothing. It wouldn't matter. People will die due to malfeasance of this administration. That's sad. But, more people will die of the flu this year, and many, many more will die in the future due to Trump's denial of global warming.
Once you start denying science, there's no limit.
11
The overall description of Trump's presidency is Kakistocracy: governance by the most corrupt and/or incompetent. I am still amazed that the punditocracy hasn't promoted the term Kakistocracy in their coverage of virtually all of this administration's actions.
17
@Stephen They can barely manage to cover the president's blatant lies, preferring to label them as misstatements or falsehoods.
6
So you partially blame the decadence that afflicts American institutions. At their worst institutions perpetuate bloated bureaucracies. At their best, institutions during times of crisis are a comfort because they plan for contingencies and people trust them. But institutions and government work best when there is an honest steward guiding them. Donald Trump has done nothing but disparage everything that is not related to the Trump organization. It's one thing to say that you are smarter and more capable than everyone if you have the organization, knowledge and skills to back it up. Trump does not and the fact that he is exacerbating the corona virus problem is proof. You seem to paint Trump's possibility of losing the presidency as a bad break for him. What about the well being of American citizens? This presidency is shaping up as a bad break for us. But alas Ross, you can take cold comfort that he did get you two True Believers on the Supreme Court and is well on his way to gutting multiple government agencies.
15
So you partially blame the decadence that afflicts American institutions. At their worst institutions perpetuate bloated bureaucracies. At their best, institutions during times of crisis are a comfort because they plan for contingencies and people trust them. But institutions and government work best when there is an honest steward guiding them. Donald Trump has done nothing but disparage everything that is not related to the Trump organization. It's one thing to say that you are smarter and more capable than everyone if you have the organization, knowledge and skills to back it up. Trump does not and the fact that he is exacerbating the corona virus problem is proof. You seem to paint Trump's possibility of losing the presidency as a bad break for him. What about the well being of American citizens? This presidency is shaping up as a bad break for us. But alas Ross, you can take cold comfort that he did get you two True Believers on the Supreme Court and is well on his way to gutting multiple government agencies.
1
I like this analysis by Ross because I still have one question:
Who is the point person for the US response to the Coronavirus? I don’t accept Mike Pence, he was a poor choice. His answer would simply be to pray more, and he has no scientific or healthcare bonafides, and to top it off, Trump said he gave Pence the job because Pence had nothing else to do. That’s reassuring. (And with Pence It’s just the opposite. He’s opposed to science. God will care for all.)
So who is it? It seems like it should be the Surgeon General or the head of HHS, Alex Azar, or the head of the CDC. But Trump has pushed them to the back so he and his ego can remain front and center with the microphones.
So with Trump as the American face of the Coronavirus epidemic, and with the number of infections and deaths almost certain to go up when (if?) we finally start testing, Trump will be overwhelmed by bad “numbers”. (And remember these “numbers”, as he calls them, are living, breathing human beings. It’s hard not to see the callousness.)
Will this affect his precious base? When they start getting infected, when they start dying, when their communities are quarantined - yeah, that might just move some of them, or a lot of them, away from this orange-faced clown. And he has nowhere else to go for new voters, so it stands to reason he’ll have a very hard time winning the WH again.
Most people with common-sense should be relieved. Unfortunately, that won’t happen until we finally fix this.
6
"In 2016 we elected a China hawk who promised a “complete shutdown” in response to foreign threats, a germaphobic critic of globalization who promised to privilege the national interest above all.
Now he is in danger of losing his presidency because when the great test came, in the form of a virus carried by global trade routes from Communist China, he didn’t take the danger seriously enough."
These 2 paragraphs drive one to dangerous conclusions.
First, they imply that if China weren't Communist the coronavirus would not have happened. Second, the virus is a natural phenomenon that knows no borders, nationality or race, yet the paragraph refers to the virus as a foreign threat (from China). Third, they imply that global trade routes are bad, especially the ones with "Communist China".
Earlier in the article, the writer praises Hong Kong for its' virus containment efforts, despite it being widely acknowledged that the country with the best practices in virus containment is Singapore, not Hong Kong.
This is a great piece of agitprop against China disguised as a critique of Trump.
5
Yes Ross. Trump is no leader or manager or strategic thinker with any vision of the future beyond 2020.
4
It is a shame that the author had to begin this piece with a false dichotomy. Perhaps some “travel bans and quarantines are associated with things liberals consider bad,” but certainly not all. I don’t recall any “liberal” outcry over the travel ban from China, which, in current circumstances, is quite a different thing from, say, a ban on all Muslims. I think the author knows better but let his political bias hold sway.
14
Ross Douthat still can't find the honesty to admit that Trump and his Republican Administration have been a disaster and disgrace. As has been said many times in History: "A good leader takes care of the people." Trump has never made any effort to help and take care of anyone but himself. His attempts to prevent the release of the truth about Coronavirus has seriously damaged our ability to stop it.
14
Trump cut the US Pandemic response team in 2018 to save money. Week before last when the CDC was asking for 2.5 billion (and asked by Congress why so little), Trump was cutting their permanent budget another 9%. ...He is vile.
15
Maybe this epidemic and Trump’s anemic response costs him the WH in November, but the price is way too high. At best, it’s cold comfort for a better future under a real leader, at worst, it’s not worth it. One death is too many.
To quote Shakespeare, “All are punished.”
6
Trump is also to blame for consistently disrespecting science and villifying civil servants. Is the CDC short-handed now? I bet it is and Trump can take all the discredit. Competent, dedicated scientists who could retire or change jobs no doubt have done so.
9
Trump's ever-narcissistic response is that he's "not concerned" with infections at CPAC and in other contexts. His mental state is clear: He believes his perception IS reality. That's very dangerous given that this virus does not appear to care much about Trump's level of concern.
Frankly, all of his enablers share in creating this dangerous circumstance. They have danced to try to make reality conform to Trump's illness and people will literally die because Trump's enablers have refused to speak truth to power.
9
Another straw man argument? Honest question - who are your referring to when you say restricting travel from China “was immediately attacked in the language of cosmopolitan sophistication?” Was it one person or a bunch if people? Was it on multiple major media channels or at a cocktail party? Implying that those people on the left are reflexively against common-sense actions cause they are so woke demands evidence, not simple assertion. Otherwise it is a classic rhetorical fallacy. But I’m ready to stand corrected if you have the goods.
12
That’s a good point. I don’t recall any objections, by the left or the right, over the travel restrictions. In fact, they are the only part of the US response Trump got right.
8
Here's a couple of citations to support the claims commenters are making, that Ross Douthat got it wrong again. The trouble with conservatives who try to use science is that they cherry-pick the science that (apparently) agrees with them, and ignore the mainstream science that doesn't.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/coronavirus-testing-united-states/2020/03/05/a6ced5aa-5f0f-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html
Testing for the coronavirus might have stopped it. Now it’s too late.
By William Hanage
associate professor of epidemiology at the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response
As it improvises its way through a public health crisis, the United States has never been less prepared for a pandemic.
By Laurie Garrett
Foreign Policy
January 31, 2020
"In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure."
According to these and many other scientists, the critical first step in fighting an epidemic is to get a test to monitor the epidemic. The big mistake someone (maybe Azar) made was to develop our own American test, rather than using the WHO test, which was immediately available. *Then* you could try containment. But read the experts.
5
Who, other than Meadows, the evolution denying Florida junior college graduate and partisan hack, could possibly be more qualified to advise our stable genius POTUS and CIC at this critical hour when epidemiological knowledge and competence is critically needed.
Why calm nervous financial markets by selecting a utterly competent and experienced crisis manager over a partisan political hack?
Who needs knowledge and competence when thoughts and prayers will suffice while America tallies and bags the steeply rising COVID-19 body count?
May God have pity on the souls of those fools and rubes who about to die due to poor life choices (i.e., voting for an orange hued abundantly ignorant and intellectually undisciplined prevaricator and carnival barker rather than voting for an educated and experienced woman because he last name was Clinton).
6
No question that Donald Trump will be widely regarded as the most incompetent, reviled president in U.S history.
The real question is will he last until November?
7
Trump has always been a disaster, but now we're seeing how his idiocy and narcissism are literally endangering people.
From Adam Rogers @ Wired on that appalling press conference: "the president’s statements to the press were terrifying. That press availability was a repudiation of good science and good crisis management from inside one of the world’s most respected scientific institutions. It was full of Dear Leader-ish compliments, non-sequitorial defenses of unrelated matters, attacks on an American governor, and—most importantly—misinformation about the virus and the US response. That’s particularly painful coming from inside the CDC, a longtime powerhouse in global public health now reduced to being a backdrop for grubby politics. During a public health crisis, clear and true information from leaders is the only way to avoid dangerous panic. Yet here we are."
10
This wasting of precious time is not due to a lack of will, but a lack of interest. When trump was motivated enough against immigration and self-dealing, he did not let bureaucracy or know how get in the way. He implemented travel bans and did not divest of his investments regardless of what the norm was. Now that he needs to take the bulls by the horns to save American lives, eh, he isn't interested, because the reality of the virus might reflect poorly on him in a political way.
10
Fox News is telling Trump supporters that the President is doing a great job fighting the virus.
Given this 'fact', how can these voters not support Trump?
3
our country is not longer a meritocracy. we have gross incompetence at all levels ;and this inadequate response from government, private corporations and the medical professionals is a deafening symptom of the rigged system in this country.
4
Not to worry--Dr. Trump is a professional; he knows what he's doing.
1
This is a time for transparency
and trust in our institutions. After 3 years of lying to the public about everything and trashing the "deep state" Trump has created an environment that makes thst impossible. Even worse, he continues to spew out nonsense about the virus that is constantly being refuted by knowledgeable officials, thereby confusing everyone. Trump then fires his Chief of Staff to try and divert our attention from the threat to our lives and economy. He needs to go play golf somewhere for a month and cheat his way around 18 holes and let the professionals do their jobs. Take away his Twitter account, put a muzzle on him and remove Pence from running the show. Anyone who said cigarettes don't cause cancer in the 21st century is not competent to run a vacuum cleaner, no less be in charge of potentially the biggest health threat to us in 100+ years.
14
I’m not so sanguine. Trump has already done much worse than his bungled and incompetent approach to this virus. He will slither his way out of this situation just as he has out of all the other utterly jaw-dropping things he has said and done. I fear we have years of this nonsense ahead of us yet.
3
Corona will not affect Trump in any way, unless he gets sick himself. Just add the terrible response and all the lying about it to the massive list of failures that all slide off his Teflon rump. The bar is so low on what America expects from Trump he can't fail.
5
It should not require a pandemic to unseat Trump.
3
Napoleon = Waterloo
Trump = Coronavirus
3
Yeah, whatever. The biggest problem has been Trump more worried about what he perceives as a political problem instant of looking at is a problem of how to keep the American citizen healthy. If you die, so what? He will call your death fake news, and brag about how great he is.
4
"cosmopolitan sophisticates"? please, Ross - don't you realize that you are both that and "cosmo sophist" as well?
6
I went to Sams Club this morning. They are rationing water and they were almost out of toilet paper. Just thought I'd let you know.
2
@Cynthia Pope - Interesting. Here in Seattle I have had no problem finding toilet paper and most everything else. One store was limiting sanitizers to 5 per household as someone had just come in and took an entire shelf of hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. But, I calmly went to the Asian market and his shelves were full as I expected.
I stocked up on everything (like coffee) just in case we all get quarantined or something but I don't think it will come to that. And as long as I am self quarantining its a good time to do the annual spring cleaning and wash down all of the walls, clear out closets, etc.
2
Trump hijacked the Presidency to keep from going to jail. Everything he does is intended to maintain this protected status; and with it he can even pardon the crooks who are loyal to him. Question his behavior? It's all politics; another hoax from the Democrats. The Republican Party has become so corrupt, it cannot discern good from bad; it can only discern what it thinks Republican voters want. Republican voters are his useful idiots, worshiping the stock market, guns and tax cuts. Trump's Golden Calf grows larger every day. But Trump has no moral compass and trusts none, so every decision, every day, brings the ship of state closer to foundering. Will it be the coronavirus? It will be the Trump Virus.
4
Yes, Trump's response to COVID-19 is awful, but what is the evidence that, as a result, he will lose in November? Is there any evidence that Republican voter turnout will fall? Or that Democratic turnout will rise? In the alternate world most Republicans inhabit, any defects in the US handling of COVID-19 is Obama's fault and the epidemic, as Kelly Anne Conway assures us, is "contained"-- if you can't trust her, who can you trust?
1
Excellent piece of writing and very well documented. The problem Mr. Douthat, is that today our country is in dire need of experienced and well-trained statemen (or, statepersons?) to conduct the affairs of government in a very complex and multi-toxic environment. Never before has this society faced the whole array of challenges--institutional, political, economic, and otherwise--that it faces at this critical juncture. Whether out of these multiplicity of crises does emerge the type of leader that the nation truly needs is the great question of our times.
1
I, for one, am sick of hearing about him. Let’s vote him out and get back to normalcy in our country.
13
Makes me Laugh. Trump got rid of the part of the CDC that would of reacted quickly to this Virus. He also claimed that he did not know Flu killed anyone even though it killed his grandfather. The masks that everyone is so desperate to buy are being made in the country where the virus began, (Good luck using them) and Trump still believes that the virus is a conspiracy to get him out of office. Wake up America, How can you be great with a clown in charge?
15
@Batman:
Believe me, Batman, millions of us are horrified and hang our heads in shame and disbelief that this cretin is in power. But he still has tons of supporters, whom I am apparently not allowed to characterize in the NYT comments sections.
We are in despair. I wouldn't put it past him to declare a state of emergency come November and call off the election.
4
Sure, Trump's policy is justifiable for scientific reasons. But that's not why he implemented it, and you give that fact away when you acknowledge he wasted the time it bought him. If the point of the ban was to buy time, and he wasted that time doing less than nothing, then we can rightly assume he had other reasons: namely, racism, nationalism, xenophobia.
5
This will be his death knell, as this is not about politics. This is about his utter incompetence to protect the public health. Thousands of lives will be lost because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
8
Trump's typical narcissistic response to the carona virus, while completely expected, will not win him re-election if it gets further out of hand as it likely will. And it should not. This virus will show no mercy to anyone, even trump. He may think that he's the smartest guy on the planet who knows more than the the experts in infectious diseases but he is a complete disaster and millions of Americans who, up to this point, have not understood that will soon find out....whether it be because they themselves or their loved ones get sick and/or die or lose their retirement accounts. And the Senate republicans who refused to do their duty and remove this "stable genius" from office when they had the chance will hopefully pay a steep price for their collusion as well.
6
@Ann - If the Republicans had removed Trump, we would have President Pence in charge of coronavirus and we are back to square 1.
All his life, Trump has brilliantly cheated, lied and spun his way out of trouble. Therefore, he has never had to take threats seriously. Fast forward to 2020 when Trump's fate lies in the hands of exceedingly gullible supporters. And Trump is extraordinarily good at currying their favor.
The safest bet is that Trump will escape blame once again by doing hideous things that we cannot even imagine a POTUS doing.
4
Ross, pretty soon your blinders will need to be so large they'll shut out all the light. They already seem to shut out almost all reason. Self-perpetuated profound ignorance is an odd phenomenon to witness in an adult.
4
Millions of Americans without access to affordable health care or paid sick leave.
Insufficient capacity to test for the virus, varying between states.
A federal bureaucracy that has replaced talent and experience with political loyalists.
The national interest subordinated to self-interest.
And a corrupt and incompetent liar in charge of it all.
What could possibly go wrong?
7
This is what happens when a narcissist partisan hack is in charge of the government and policy instead of a Leader putting medical and science professionals in charge of a crisis.
We need to remove this malignant cancer from the government and return to a smarter government, like the one Trump has been systematically dismantling.
6
"Our inability to roll out testing rapidly, even when thousands of cases are probably in circulation, owes a lot to the inherent problems of medical bureaucracy and the regulatory state, and to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level."
Please, Ross, stop making excuses for this fool and liar called Trump. The US could have gotten test kits immediately from the WHO. If the CDC had been adequately funded in the past three years and its director picked for expertise not the ability to be a toady, the US would be more proactively addressing this public health issue--instead of dropping interest rates.
8
Let's see.... I live in the city and I'm pretty well educated and informed, plus I vote for moderates..... so I must be one of those cosmopolitan sophisticates who are unfairly attacking Trump.
Sorry I grew up on a cattle ranch on the Snake River and even out there we knew a liar and incompetent when we saw one.
Stick to Trump's problems and leave your other agendas out of it.
10
Mr. Douthat wants to pin this on Trump and, inexplicably, “cosmopolitan sophisticates,” whatever that means. Of course he’s partly right, having fool for a president does not help in times of crisis.
Still, I don’t see any other Republican being much better. This is primarily a failure of conservatism.
Republicans refuse to provide first world healthcare, starve government agencies, and reject science. These things kill people every day. They kill more in times of crisis.
10
Trump's has tried to destroy every Obama accomplishment he can, including, unfortunately, the infrastructure put in place by the Obama administration to respond to precisely this type of scenario.
There's no way to know how many lives will be lost due to this one act of pettiness, alone.
To be fair, extreme ignorance and limited cognitive ability were probably also factors.
The nonsense he spews, coupled with his belief that his "opinion" is of value, is embarrassing and tragic.
4
You really think that banning US citizens from reentering the US is the humane thing to do? I guess, along with jailing children, it is the conservative way.
3
All you need to know about Trump's ability to handle this kind of situation is found in a few things he's said recently.
One is his statement on Friday in which he revealed that the most important thing to him is the appearance of low infection numbers. No surprise there. He's the reality show TV president, where what matters is perception, not reality.
A second thing is calling a diagnostic test "beautiful". Seriously, what a bizarrely inappropriate (and apparently inaccurate) adjective to describe a diagnostic test.
Trump's ignorant and disingenuous cheerleading and floral language do nothing to change the epidemiological reality we face now: a deadly and contagious virus and basic exponential math.
Yes, Trump has definitely met his match in this virus, and there is no way he'll be able to avoid exposing what a bumbling, incapable, inarticulate, and ineffective political leader he is.
4
Trumps' facial expressions say it all--a blowhard empty-headed narcissist who is clueless and lacks any real leadership. Yes, Mr. Douthat, this administration has failed as you have pointed out. We know that we can't rely on the Stable Genius to guide us through this epidemic in any way, shape or form. How any scientist, epidemiologist, or doctor can take Trump with a straight face is beyond me, but it speaks to their discipline and patience in the face of this buffoon posing as a president.
5
As usual, Trump will probably lie his way out of any responsability.
I don't think it's just Trump that stands to be undone by this virus. Here is a caption from a photo on the NY Times live updates page on the coronavirus: "New York’s mayor said none of the city’s 1.1 million public school students had shown any symptoms of the virus."
Is he seriously claiming that not one student out of 1.1 million has a fever or cough?
2
irregardless if negative or positive of coronavirus people with underlying illness ,cancer ,diabetes ,copd need to be taken off that ship.this is POTUS plan how to treat people in peril,the darwinian method.
2
Sometimes the Cirque du Soleil strategy of using clowns as ringmasters simply does not work. The Trump administration continues to prove this, despite their continuing efforts to pursue it.
4
The conservatives create a fake argument to defend an incompetent president. Using the term cosmopolitan sophistication and liberals to defend Trump's actions is another fake argument I read two NY papers and a Florida paper. There was no criticism of Trump's initial actions. Trump actions against regulations is similar to using a chain saw to make a jewelry box. He has gutted important environmental regulations that protect our health. To expect him to react to this crisis in a sane matter is very doubtful. He falsifies facts to suit his position. His ego will take over.
4
Trump is extremely narcissistic, everything he views must only be all about him. Individuals are only tolerated if they show sufficient loyalty. Knowledge does not even calibrate in his mind, because he is a stable genius and his genius usurps all other opinions. He does not tolerate questions or what-ifs, so only he knows all the answers.
The Republicans have decided that they must worship and protect this man. Therefore they have forfeited their moral compasses as well as the total abdication of their oaths to protect our American Democracy.
This is our current America and the reality is that these attitudes don't fly in this fragile, interconnected world. At the end of the day that price may be too high.
2
It's not ironic at all that Trump's belief in his own lies and denial of science would result in the end of his reign.
The irony is that as president he had opportunity for greatness but not the character or intellect. People have greatness thrust upon them. He bungled it from day one. We all knew it would happen.
Can't really blame him when people die in their thousands. So he can still weasel his way into a second term by blaming the unelected bureaucrats, Obama, Chinese, anyone but Trump hisself.
1
@larkspur - Its quite unlikely that we will see thousands of deaths here in the U.S. China had about 2,700 with a population close to 4 times that of ours. And their cities have air pollution that we haven't seen since L.A. in the 70's. We also live more spread out than their people do. And a lot of us choose not to smoke. So, hundreds might be the case but I doubt it will rise to thousands.
"Instead, Trump fell into the same trap as the cosmopolitan sophisticates"...
There ya go again Ross...you're equating what Trump did to the "cosmopolitan sophisticates"...in your mind the cosmopolitan sophisticates are the liberals.
No, we, the cosmopolitan sophisticates (I guess I'm one of them) are not to blame.
Also, "the president’s blundering and solipsistic response"...
excuse me, Ross, but how can Trump make a solipsistic response when he has no clue what that is. Constant lies about himself is not solipsistic. If he knew what that was, that would make Trump the cosmopolitan sophisticate.
3
This is precious: bureaucracy and the regulatory state. Decades of Republican budget cuts, agency defunding, and evisceration of scientific principles, so government can no longer do a proper job. And all the good conservatives can stand up and say, "See, we told you government doesn't work! All those regulations!"
And now we are seriously botching coronavirus, led by men who don't believe in science and have gutted funding for just this sort of crisis, while lying to the public and blaming Democrats for a scare to undermine the presidency.
This is sheer madness.
Pence: testing for 1.5 million
Actual testing: 2,000
Evidence Yet That America Is Botching Coronavirus
Testinghttps://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-many-americans-have-been-tested-coronavirus/607597/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20200306&silverid-ref=NjE1NTc1ODIzMDAxS0
3
Does anyone think “cosmopolitan sophisticates” is code for a specific religious group? If I’m right, wow.
4
@North Dakota historically yes "cosmopolitan" has been an antisemtic dogwhistle. Astounding that the New York Times is allowing this. Words matter. If Douthat, in his knowing-all-itness has some private definition that he is witholding from the readers, would be good to divulge.
2
@North Dakota It certainly has been in the past.
1
Um, I think you are giving Trump credit for doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. (Even a broken clock, etc. etc.)
What has happened since then is perfectly consistent with this administration: everything must serve what Donald Trump wants, no matter how paranoid, delusional, incompetent, or corrupt it may be.
Rule 1: Trump is always right.
Rule 2: When Trump is wrong, see Rule 1.
Rule 3: Trump must get credit for everything and blame for nothing.
Trump is a man who knows nothing about anything - and he has systematically surrounded himself with people who will not challenge that, and can be sacrificed at need.
Trump is running out of buses to throw people under. The virus does not care what he says or what he tweets. The virus can not be held off by his constant lies.
If putting the American people at risk is the price of avoiding any damage to Trump's re-election chances, it's a no-brainer for Trump. Should anyone be surprised at this point?
Americans have clear choice in 2020: Vote Republican and die.
2
Relative to Trump. "man is neither angel nor beast and the very attempt of trying to make him that of the former makes him that of the latter." (Bacon??)
All Trump is truly interested in is getting re-elected. The virus is the fly in the ointment.
3
What he's really afraid is the collapse of the stock market, because all those folks who vote for him -even though they despise him- because he has fattened their stock portfolios will suddenly realize that he's not their savior. Trump could care less about the virus or the American people.
To do any one single good thing for another human is not within Trump's mental purview.
1
With the widening spread of the virus, it’s inevitable that many of trump’s ‘left behind’ voters and probably some people in his administration will contract the disease. Then they will all learn that COVID-19 cares no more about them than trump does.
2
And democrats are hoping for an out of control epidemic. Politics first!
1
Raise your hand if you think this is plausible
China developed this virus in their Wuhan facility and unleashed it in a coordinated effort to cause chaos in the US
@Flyingoffthehandle - I think it is plausible that China developed this virus in a lab three blocks away from the wet market in Wuhan but I do not think it was released intentionally. If they want to cause chaos in America all they have to do is stop shipping products here for one month and watch everyone fight like its Black Friday at Walmart. But they had nothing to gain by locking down their own cities and Chinese citizens dying. Also, if the Chinese had developed this as a weapon, anyone in their government could have brought it over to the mainland and released it here only.
A virus is what it takes to finally end this Virus. Seems fitting.
1
It can have him.
"And then his administration took the month that his decision bought the country and completely wasted it."
Dismantling the CDC was a great start to chaos. Not listening to or giving a platform for the scientists was a terrific second choice. Putting Mike Pence in charge was a penny weight decision. But you will find, Ross, inevitably, a way to find good things about Trump and his ilk.
Cosmopolitan sophisticates. Me and my husband. A retired chemist and a singing teacher. Yep, right up there with the country club set, dining out for hundreds of dollars every night and traveling the world in first class. NOT. Flaming Democrat liberals all the way. We probably do not have as much annual income combined as you do. Would that we were country bumpkins? Disdaining education and science? This would be better?????
Ach, Ross. We despair! Blame Trump et al as it is warranted.
4
Yes it's Trump's attitude that doomed this response. Take as an example a recent festival in a nice town in a western state. I have listened to the jama podcasts and tried to convince various types involved in this unnamed event to cancel...nyet comrade..didn't happen.
At least the Italians got it right: police manned armed barracades. We let lay people decide what will work for each individual...yes real smart.
How does one expect a man rooting for destruction of govt all his life to order govt to act on the virus.
After all his core belief is the individual must take care of himself and the private sector is the answer to everything.
Except for the military, police and fire services there is no need for any public services.
Even Iran knows better leave alone Cuba.
What is coming for Trump's presidency is Trump's presidency. The coronavirus is just the bright light shining on the incompetence.
This has nothing to do with a "nationalist" president and a "foreign" threat. It has to do with an unqualified and incompetent president, a feckless Republican-controlled senate, and science denial. I say, blame the voters who allowed (or even wanted) this.
4
@Sky Pilot Except that the voters didn't allow or want it in the usual sense of voters being the majority. Trump lost by 3 million votes and 10 million more people voted against him than for him. He achieved the presidency because of
1. A tear-up-the-ballot section of the Constitution that Trump supporters adore - the electoral college -
and
2. Dirty tricks (de jure and de facto) to suppress voting and hacking voting machines and tabulation software.
The result was that the election was decided by a 77K plurality in 3 states. (Which by the way works out to about 5 votes or less per precinct in those states.)
I don't blame the voters for any of that. But I do despair that the same evils will be in play in November.
The coronavirus might be coming. But, as Schumer and Pelosi say, politics first.
Well, congrats Douthat, you managed to make it all about Trump's election possibilities. Just what we needed--more politicization.
2
By remaining in the fresh air of the Mar-o-Lago golf course, Trump ensures that he at least is unlikely to contract this virus. That's the sort of bold self-care all Americans should be practicing.
1
@Dr. K Yes, but what about the bedbugs?
1
Your argument is that we need a better authoritarian to make our ineffective, liberal-created, overly bureaucratic government good?Sums up the thought process that led to his election. Own the dictator you allowed to be president and its outcome in the face of a true crisis. He hollowed at and belittles the organizations you decry...and you expect him to now be a good steward of government. Get real.
What a thin piece of writing this is. First, Trump did not make any "call" in January about closing entry to travelers from certain regions of China. People told him to do it, so he did it. He is not capable of even listening to the relevant information to make a "call."
Second, why does Douthat insist on making any writing about Trump involve these backhanded swats at "cosmopolitan" elites? It's like a tic in his writing, and it's tedious. He always insinuates some kind of arrogance or self-importance to anyone who dislikes and distrusts Trump. It's just common sense to dislike and distrust Trump.
4
Could there be any silver linings? Some ideas:
1. Reinstating Obama's additions to the CDC and national security
2. A recognition by even MSNBC and Fox bubble heads that health care for all is as radical as taking national action against the virus
3. Trump must go. Trump will go
4. Maybe enough mean, old white men will be culled from Congress (in or by November)
2
"Instead, Trump fell into the same trap as the cosmopolitan sophisticates"
Are you well?
3
For all practical purposes, Trump is a failure as president, as he has been a failure in the business sector for most of his life. And, now with the threat of the Coronavirus, he is on the same pathway towards failure with severly negative results that will affect this nation in unlimited ways.
Trump is a deranged, narcissistic sociopath who believes he is smarter than anyone living. Thus, his utter disregard for science or medicine or the Constitution. There is no solution to his mental state, other than impeachment as a person not fit for the presidency, or in this case, vote for his democratic challenger in th 2020 election. There is no hope for freedom and Democracy with the Republicans in office. It's essential to vote out Trump and McConnell and all members of the Republcan Party.
3
Donald Trump didn't know what to do about the flag over the White House after John McCain died.
Does any functioning adult believe this man is capable of handling a genuine crisis with millions of lives at stake?
3
All I had to do was read the headline to see how wrong Douthat is. Pandemics can start anywhere. They're not a "foreign" threat.
1
Trump is nothing but a reality tv personality and why would anyone with any sanity think he is up to leading us in a world pandemic is beyond me.
2
A robust CDC and government is not Decadence, and needs to be well financed for just these moments.. and nice try Douhat, but I'm not buying your book.
4
Do not be shocked if this pandemic helps Trump. He can further demonize immigrants and foreigners, rail about shutting our borders and criminalize the ill.
1
Trump goes this week to visit Tennessee tornado refugees, and shakes hands of devastated people. This shaking of hands a refusal to listen to healthcare experts about not shaking hands to have less of a chance to spread the virus. Trump still denying the
grave danger of a virus rapidly spreading over the world.
1
This is new because it’s trump? I don’t think so. Anybody remember ISIS is “the JV”? Trump doesn’t understand much, but like every president he wants to act like anything that comes up is no big deal because that keeps the lid on things better than getting worked up and they look like they’re in control. Even when they clearly aren’t.
Douthat says, "Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response."
He then claims, "Our inability to roll out testing rapidly [...] owes a lot to the [...] regulatory state".
Douthat is incorrect on both counts.
FACT: for 3 years, trump defunded our national centers for pandemics (part of the CDC), and obliterated them. The Obama administration had created these teams of experts, during the Ebola crisis. When this pandemic struck the U.S., because of trump we had no experts in charge of prevention, response planning, coordination, communication, or to manage this contagion. This was due to trump's multi-year decimation of our govt's scientists & experts.
FACT: When the CDC created a new test kit for this SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus), the FDA approved it in under 24 hours, on an emergency basis. There was no delay from the "regulatory state": "On Monday, February 3, 2020, CDC submitted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) package to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to expedite FDA-permitted use of the CDC diagnostic panel in the United States. [...] FDA issued the EUA on February 4, 2020."
FACT: The White House promised a million test kits by last Friday. They missed their goal: for every 14 kits promised, ONLY ONE was ready.
Douthat is lying, to defend incompetent republicans.
It is guaranteed many more Americans will die unnecessarily.
The White House IS clearly to blame for deaths!
4
Ross has a decadence hammer, and now every social ill has become a Roaring 20s nail.
1
The only thing Trump - and the entire Republican Party and their political cult - don't take seriously enough is the very idea that government can be a routine cause for good.
America's healthcare system is an international disgrace which is directly attributable to the Republican Party's dedicated campaign to unregulated Greed Over People.
Trump's 2018 shutdown of the NSC’s entire global health security unit and reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency was political malpractice.
Then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressuring of Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team was more malpractice.
Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced.
The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10.
Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/
Trump and every Republican sycophant deserves to be fired for their epic incompetence and political malpractice in Making Coronavirus Great In America.
Tax cuts, cultured ignorance and unstaffed governments are a recipe for Republican disaster.
6
Did anyone see Kenan Thompson in the Saturday Night Live skit, "Inside The Beltway"? Very funny and scarey at the same time.
The corona virus is here and Trump has already done in his presidency. It's now just a matter of how many people he does in along the way.
No, TRUMP is a leader and no one would have done better. If the DEMS were in, we would all have it by now. No DEMS were the least bit worried and laughed at TRUMP for closing to borders of travel. Now they are blaming TRUMP when they were yelling and screaming about impeachment, which should happen to them.
And this virus is no worse than any flu. The difference is they give shots and still thousands die. Why??? Just like this virus it mutates as it moves. If they do get a shot it will be the virus that is here, not the one that started( and I think it was done in a lab on purpose to get rid of their own people, but it got spread to others fast. When we get to the bottom of this I will be right. But in the mean time, we are going into spring so there will be less and less chance of the virus lasting. I say, since it is being so contained, it will be over soon. Since I am near a major airport, I am glad no traffic to and from the countries that have it has been done. Thank you Mr. President for seeing this coming while the DEMS were acting insane on Schiff's lying transcription instead of reading the real one. This is why the impeachment is a hoax, as TRUMP did nothing wrong. Now hate on 2 Justices???? why can't the DEM Congress get their act together. They all need to GO. GOD bless America.
Coronavirus isn't a foreign threat, Ross Douthat, it's an existential threat. Our flat-earther president will be done in by himself and his ignorance. He'll be gone from the White House in a short period of time, as long as it takes for the stock market to crash and for the novel virus pandemic to claim many American lives. Mr. Trump, after entertaining us yesterday during his execrable visit to the tragic tornado devastation in Nashville, followed by his scruffy appearance at the CDC and commenting on the Coronavirus and his perfect letter to the Ukrainian president. Donald Trump is having a dinner guest here in Mar-a-Lago tonight, another right wing flat-earther, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian president. Vultures of a feather. Wondering if Covid-19 will claim lives in Brazil and America as it rampages about our world? Wondering if, as you say, Ross, our nationalistic president will be undone by a surprise virus?
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"the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level" is only surpassed by the logical gymnastics required for a conservative NYT columnist to avoid calling out the existential threat his empty movement poses to the rule of law and democracy in America in the hands of the illigatament GOP.
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I've been trying to think of something that I could compare the Trump presidency to. Many years ago, in the beginning of human space flight, monkeys were used for tests. They were strapped into rockets and launched into space. In my comparison, the Trump administration are the monkeys and the rockets are the United States. My apologies to those monkeys.
Just who are these "cosmopolitans" you are blaming, Mr. Douthat?
That word somehow seems out of place in a story about a public health crisis.
If you're right, Ross, it's almost enough to make one believe in karma.
Almost.
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Gosh, how long will it take for Americans, to stop looking for and hoping to find logical reasons or defences for anything Donald Trump does?
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Gosh, i hope the President doesn't get sick. Well, if he does, we will get first hand info instead of his hunch about it disappearing. Gee, sure hope he doesn't get it.
Remember that Alec Azar said that only those who can pay for the testing kits would get tested!!! This fiasco shows ever that we need Universal Healthcare.
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It amazes Canadians from coast to coast that our friends to the south fail to see, what the rest of the world finds obvious, that Trump is an “emperor with no clothes”.
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Will a nationalist president be undone by his underreaction to a foreign threat? Really, Ross?How about the foreign threat of Putin? Not merely a threat, one that was invited in.
Coronavirus outbreak in USA is a reality. It is turning into a reality show with Trump as the executive producer, Mike Pence as the host and script supervisor, and supporting walk-on roles going to Alex Azar, Pompeo, etc. Dr. Fauci's role is TBD. Track #TrumpFlu for news.
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Cosmopolitan Sophistication. Sounds like something Stephen Miller would say after his uncle went on the air. Dog Whistle Reagan's Tarzan & Jane. A broad swipe at couples who's eyes get big at the local bar when Ross gets going.
Gee. Does this foretell the possible end of Trump rallies??
That would be an ironic twist wouldn't it!
Trump bet his Presidency he could get through this with some combination of bluster and inattention.He is going to lose that bet, bigly.
Donald Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose American support. Is Covid-19 the weapon he’s using as a murder weapon?
"There should have been a public face of the anti-coronavirus effort long before Mike Pence was finally elevated."
Nonsense. The US is NOT China and it is NOT Iran. I'm certain that the administration would have been harshly criticized for overreacting had it made a big deal sooner over this alleged "crisis."
Did you know that the reason that so many Chinese have died is that their lungs have been compromised by breathing air pollution for decades? As for Iran, heaven only knows how lousy is the hygiene and health care in that country.
I am sick to death of reading hysterical columns about a virus that is really no more dangerous than the flu. Enough already!!
In this particular instance, Trump's incompetence is more on display than his corruption and narcissistic habitual lies. what we see in this case is his reliance on momentary gut feel for off-the-cuff reactions, surrounding himself with a small group of sycophants chosen for blind loyalty with the deliberate exclusion of expertise and particular disdain for scientific or technological expertise.
Trump supporters are getting what they wanted. I hope they enjoy it.
And because, surprise, surprise, he knows better in all things than anyone, certainly anyone with a University degree.
I almost feel sorry for the guy - he is up against something that he just cannot bluster and lie his way out of. He fundamentally has no idea what an epidemic or pandemic actually is. He is incapable of ceding authority to anyone who has knowledge that he might not, because he lives in a delusion that he has all.
It is pathetic and sad, and we will all pay a price for it.
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Not the least of the bad things that may be attributed to the virus is the excuse it will give Trump for his defeat on Nov. 3...that it was the virus that was nothing more than the bad luck and the bae timing of it that was responsible for his defeat—rather than his own rotten self, presidency, and administration. I can hear the braying and braying now.
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Remember folks who you rather believe? A political hack who has no medical degree, knowledge, or expertise when it comes to viral pathogens. Or the subject matter experts who make this their life's work to protect citizens from deadly viruses. Put your trust in Trump who can't tell the truth to save his life. And you will end up in a casket or on a cold slab.
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“He acted like the guy who would make common-sensical choices in the national interest...”
Ha ha, good one. There IS no “national interest” for Donald Trump. There is only HIS interest.
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Ross believes that THIS particular display of incompetence by Trump, this one in an endless series of gaffes, missteps, intentionally and accidentally stupid decisions will be the one that undoes Trump's re-election.
I have news for you Ross: It isn't.
The thing that keeps Trump in office is a seemingly endless supply of republican sycophancy coupled with just enough of his stupid 'base' to keep the whole goat-rodeo afloat. None of that has has been changed by his latest depredation.
On those grounds, there isn't anything that Trump could do that would alienate hs base or affect his odds for re-election.
Unless the Covid-19 for some reason has a proclivity for killing Trump's base at a higher rate than the rest of us, no depredation perpetrated by this completely incompetent president will make any difference to the outcome on November 3rd.
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Douthat gives the Trump white house way, way too much credit when talking about their travel restrictions. Reasoning didn't enter into it; "keep the dirty foreigners out" was just a reflexive response.
Given the hand-waving Trump did later about how the disease would magically go away by April, it's pretty clear that Trump thought the travel restrictions would 100% prevent the disease from entering the US, and no other actions were needed.
That said... there's no evidence, yet, that this is going to cost Trump in the election. It's fairly clear that Trump supporters think Trump is being "blamed for the virus," rather than his terrible, self-serving response to it. They're viewing it as yet another unfair persecution of Trump.
At this point, it appears Trump really _could_ shoot someone on 5th Avenue, and his supporters would consider arresting him for murder a partisan attempt to "get" Trump.
Trump made one good decision and then decided that following through wasn't worth it. In this reader's opinion that one good decision doesn't outweigh 3 years of a horrible, corrupt, mismanaged and disgraceful presidency. Trump's luck may have finally run out. And with it, ours for electing a man who is incompetent but was not challenged to rise to any occasions demanding more than a pro forma speech.
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Wishful thinking, Ross. Between spies planted in Democratic and liberal organizations, a Supreme Court, Senate, and Justice Department that will jump to obey, millions of angry and undereducated voters, unreliable electronic polling stations, gerrymandering, and other tricks we don't even know about, the corrupt slob squatting in the Oval Office will continue to do so, I fear, for a very, very long time.
From your mouth (pen) to God’s ear
What may bring Trump down is the combination of his ineffectual response to the corona virus and its effect on the economy.
"Liberals", "Cosmopolitan elite", "dogooders", etc. I love all the hate barely veiled by facts in this article. Yes, some people on the left cried foul when the China ban was announced, but that's because it wasn't the first travel ban. If you refuse service at your restaurant to a few minorities because you're a racist xenophobe, but then also refuse a sick person who's also a minority you have only yourself to blame when the populace assume it's more of the same. Trump set a precedent of hate on the campaign trail and throughout these four years.
Also he does one thing right and he's vindicated as the common sense decision maker? He drew on a weather map with a sharpie to avoid admitting he misspoke. The author of this article like many conservatives and most Trump apologists has an extremely short memory. It's the only way they can make their world view make sense.
Obviously all sides should be heard in your editorials and there are quite a few on the left who focus on criticizing instead of fact finding, but this article is finger pointing for the sake of finger pointing. After all, when has Trump ever let the so-called cosmopolitan elite and their outcry affect his decisions? Everything he does is his choice and his responsibility.
Trump always puts himself first. It's not that he doesn't take the virus seriously, he just only cares about himself getting it. He's getting even more isolated and paranoid. His billionaire golfing buddies are angry that the stock market is sinking, so he doesn't even have fake friends now. Reality is crashing in on him financially and even he is unprotected from this cunning virus.
Come on Ross, you know better, so quit pretending; you are fooling nobody other than those who have chosen to fool themselves. You can't pretend that this administration got off on the right foot with its initial travel ban on foreigners coming from China, when its strategy and practice from Day One has been to gut the CDC's funding, personnel and infrastructure. That's why we're so far behind the curve, and why we won't make up for that lost ground overnight.
Saying the limited travel ban bought the US a month is uproariously misleading -- it is clear that during that entire time the virus was spreading. Of course that wasn't clear because the US not-invented-here insistence made testing impossible.
Further, perpetuating the base claim that the "elites" attacked the travel ban is grossly incorrect. Trump was attacked because he and his administration is fundamentally incompetent, and his knee-jerk responses are half-measures. They have been proven COMPLETELY right.
Trump deserves zero victory, and trying to candy-coat it as if this was his moment is just nonsense.
Trump, a plague on American democracy, meets a plague on world's health. Thanks to his firing in 2018 the U.S. pandemic response team, coronavirus may well doom his reelection chances. Sweet justice indeed.
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Ross has tried to put Donald in a lot of positive terms than how Donald performs.
Trump is the least qualified person to be a political leader of a country and the president. It is just our polarization and internal stabbing among GOP leaders; which allowed him to occupy the White House. He got 'lucky' so far and now the reality has caught up with him.
If unfortunately, loss of many American lives is what is needed to educate Americans to understand stupidity and foolishness of Trump; we better vote correctly in Nov 2020.
What is sad is, there is a clear 'space' for a GOP leader to emerge and publicly hold America's Fed Gov. accountable. As long as that is done with the sole purpose of 'chastising VP Pence and Trump Admin' to deliver the 'goods for America'; even the 'uglier verbiage' of Trump would not dare to touch that politician. Any takers? Or is today's GOP totally finished and want to get drowned along with Trump in Nov 2020?
I think I just consumed a month's worth of sophistry in this article. Just to be clear, I consider myself a liberal though the current election cycle pushes me in a more moderate direction, but whatever I am I like hard borders and removal of illegal entrants. What I don't like is biased borders that keep people out simply because of their religion. I am also not a fan of taking children from their families and all that goes with it. And I don't know many liberals who have knee-jerk reactions to hard borders, knee-jerking seems to be a characteristic of a different demographic group. As for testing, the WHO makes a test kit that the rest of the world uses but that we won't because we're so special that we can make our own. How's that going? There's no doubt the corona virus has the potential to take down Trump. After Russia and Mueller and Ukraine and impeachment the irony of a dumb virus finally unravelling Trump's maladministration is delicious.
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I'm sorry, Ross, but who exactly are those "decandant, cosmopolitan sophisticates" anyway? In a bygone era, those were code words for Jews and homosexuals. Let's not bring those days back.
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The White House. America's version of the Taj Mahal.
Actually you do not know if the coronavirus will help him or hurt him. Open borders seem a bit risky now that the easy movement of people has shown itself to be a risk.
Also, the NYT presents Trump as selfish and stupid but objectively, he does not seem that way to this neutral observer.
Many will see him as doing his best to protect the country, warding off both the coronavirus and the continuing attacks from Democrats.
So don't get your hopes up, just yet.
Doubthat is missing the key to understanding Trump's response. Trump is an authoritarian at heart. Authoritarians lie about, and cover up, bad news. Oh yes, and blame others.
Trump almost got away with it. He was 10 months away from getting re-elected with a booming stock market and a fractured Democratic Party when the wheels came off. Make no mistake about it, Trump will get blamed for his administration’s pathetic response to the Coronavirus, he will lose his Presidency, and likely take the entire GOP down with him.
None of this is a surprise to anyone from NYC. We knew he was a fraud and a con man whose entire life experience was running a family business with limited success. We knew his incompetence and narcissism would put the country at risk and it was only a matter of time before he put our country at risk. We’ll get through this one, but next time the country should listen to us.
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Not accepting The WHO test was an irresponsible and arrogant decision. Thinking that an accurate test can be developed within days or weeks is simply ignorant. To those who read political motivation in everything they hear or read: this is NOT politically motivated comment, but I am angry!!! Any one person or administration who makes a decision without considering all facts and inadvertently puts the whole nation in danger needs tone called out!
Will Trump cancel his rallies to protect his followers from the virus? Stay tuned.
Trump shut down travel from China because that’s his one and only trick. When you’re a hammer everything you see is a nail. There was no great wisdom, no nuance and obviously no effective follow up. Turns out governing can require more than just acting like a machismo buffoon all the time. And the bureaucracy that you malign as merely needing to get out of the way actually consists of the brilliant and selfless heroes who at this point are our only hope.
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It would help if trump weren't utterly incompetent, uninformed, and self-absorbed.
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What's with Ross' use of the word "cosmopolitan" in this piece? That's a loaded Trumpy word that people like Stephen Miller employ. What do you, Ross, intend with it's use?
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Try to imagine what would have happened if Trump weren't a pathological liar with narcissistic personality disorder surrounded by sycophants who are incapable of controlling his worst impulses. This, or something like this, was always in the cards for Donald Trump. It's better sooner than later. Too bad it didn't happen sooner, actually. But the lessons the sycophants will learn will be valuable lessons for them to contemplate after THEY have been put out to pasture for their corruption and venality.
If Trump is going down, they'll go down with him.
When the coronavirus vaccine is eventually delivered, observing the dilemma of the anti-vaxers will at least provide a little comic relief to us Comopolitan do-gooders.
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The problem is that the Democrats did not let him build a wall, right? A big, beautiful wall, 30 feet high would keep out the virus, right? I mean, the virus is tiny, and there is no way it could climb a 30 foot wall.
Yeah. That ‘s it. A wall. That’s the ticket. And the Democrats have not let him build it.
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Harry Truman had a little sign on his desk. It read: The buck stops here. Sorry Trump. The same applies to you.
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Fake Leadership meets Real Crisis. Failing. Sad.
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"Cosmopolitan sophisticates" sounds perilously close to frivolously cheap shooting at best, and the emulation of encoded propaganda demographic smearing, such as in antisemitism at worst. Resort to the morally neutral and psychologically healthy perspective, "skeptics," would have retained some willingness on the part of potential readers, to wade into this chronically prejudicial cesspool to examine the harsh analysis it is bound to present. The older one gets, the less excuse one is inclined to extend to immature wastes of advisory opportunities, and I'm sorry, but I'm over 21.
If there is one thing that will take this ugly & corrupt POTUS down, it is the Coronavirus. I predicted this weeks ago:
1. Trump no longer controls the news cycle.
2. Trump has no idea how to deal with this loss of control
3. Trump & administration's denial of FACTS is what will ultimately take him down
4. Unfortunately many in the USA will likely be sickened or die as a direct result of this inept President
5. In the end, perhaps this dangerous shared experience might bring Americans together
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Mr. Douthat, I am not a regular reader of your column. Who are "cosmopolitan sophisticates"?
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Now it is totally clear why geeenius donald wanted the wall. We will all be safe once the entire wall has been built with diverted funds. We don't need no stinking scientist, cdc, who , et al, we just the need the wall. I should've never doubted him when he proclaimed he was a stable geeenius. Shame on me. Hurry up and finish the wall at all cost, donald.
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The Trump administration fired the U.S. pandemic response team in 2018 to cut costs.
How's that working out so far?
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And where has the United Nations been throughout all this? Is that body of talking heads still alive?
Now he is in danger of losing his presidency because when the great test came, in the form of a virus carried by global trade routes from Communist China, he didn’t take the danger seriously enough.
No, Ross, not quite accurate. He is too preoccupied with his numbers, how it make him look, who is afraid of him and what the better people, the crowd he could never mix into will say about him. (they already have been for years)
donnie hopefully will lose his so-called presidency because a virus will win over a republican form of cancer.
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You know we are in trouble when the president has to keep bringing up his “perfect phone call” in some weird kind of comparison with how the coronavirus outbreak is being handled. He is totally over his head with this one, and at some point, he’s not going to be able to “fire” whomever he thinks is mishandling the situation. He is the problem - unable to accept responsibility because he is such a narcissist and this health crisis is an inconvenience in his road to autocracy. Maybe if he had not gutted important positions we would have been better prepared for this. But we have a president who is more concerned with what he perceives as injuries to his ego by going after anything related to Obama, or anyone that he believes doesn’t fall in line with his agenda. For all we know, Rudy is in the Ukraine planning to blame the coronavirus on the Biden’s.
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Is it credible that Bernie can handle this crisis?
Once again Douthat give little or no importance to the Fact that the presidency has no credibility because of the office holder. And that he alone has done more to destroy that credibility of any response that comes from that office. Tell me why after all these years should i or anyone accept any issuance coming from any of these fools . And that includes Mr. Douthat
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There was a very informative article in Politico today, turns out that China gave the genome for Covid-19 to all countries on January 11, 2020. ONE WEEK later, virologists in Berlin had a ..,test ready to go! The World Health Organization offered the TESTS to ALL countries, and Trump refused it!! He wanted the U.S. to make our own. The CDC tests had problems. In the meantime, Trump promised that by Criday the 6th of March, the U.S. would have one million test kits....we didn’t!
The sheer incompetence and arrogance of the Republican president will cost American lives!
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This column was not helpful. It is foolish to think Trump did the right thing, and then diddled around. A broken clock gives the right time twice a day (3 times if stopped at 2:00 in the Spring). Trump does everything to dominate the news cycle with the braggadocio that he has achieved the "perfect" and the"beautiful". He does not recognize his ignorance or care about anything except what gratifies him. He is a spoiled 70+ child. And the American pundit who gives Trump credit for anything is like the parent of the child who won't keep quiet in church, but insists everyone else should recognize how special the child is, and not insist that the kid wait outside until he grows up.
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“Will a nationalist president be undone by his underreaction to a foreign threat?”
One way or another, we’ll find out, but at the cost of how many lives?
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Losing his presidency? I don't see it. This is NOT the first time that he has under-rated foreign threats…. ie hacking ijnto our elections. It didn't cause him to lose the presidency and it won't do so now. I'l bet you'll see rhetoric from the white house that this is God's punishment for electing democrats - and fox news viewers will concur.
Truth is what you make of it and what is one more misleading and harmful statement or action?
Your column should remembered as the corona in the coal mine, and may be looked back upon with interest by historians. It is a tragic reminder of what a poser this clown is: he doesn’t believe much of anything — certainly not most of what he says to get by from day to day and week to week in a life of lies. What we are all witnessing is a real time experiment with the spherical symbolic superconducting supercollider born of a web of news (and all the other garbage that passes for it). Most of us are infected by the virus economically, and the political effects should be dramatic.
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Just another case of the Great Left Stampede to Hate. A bizarre confluence of the unrelated, somehow conjoined by the confused, disoriented and biased.
His elementary error was in dismantling the CDC panel set up to handle these exact type of pandemic issues. . A panel set up by Obama. That was the beginning of his downfall.
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I could think of no one worse handling this than Donald Trump. I am sure you could find someone worse to deal with this virus but would have to dig really deep.
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“Cosmopolitan sophisticates” - that’s a new one to me! Perhaps you should use specific examples rather than inventing what sounds like yet another straw man?
“ Instead, Trump fell into the same trap as the cosmopolitan sophisticates — acting as though the specter of panic is worse than the disease itself, focusing on the more reassuring estimates of the virus’s fatality rates instead of recognizing the wide spread of possible scenarios — while mixing in his own short-termist fixation on the stock market.”
Who the heck are these cosmopolitan sophisticates?
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And it's going to get worse...he'll feel more threatened and will make more mistakes. And what's with the folks who keep saying this is all a hoax? Good God! One woman said to me that the germ theory is a hoax...don't these folks attend school....
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This entire column could have been written without the twisted framing of "cosmopolitan sophisticates," an unnecessary and in some cases, unhelpful inclusion.
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The epidemiology indicates that COVID-19 is being spread by people who don't even know they're infected. The conclusion has to be that COVID-19 will become endemic in the human population. It is highly likely that this is already the case in some areas.
While it is possible to reduce COVID-19 infection by limiting exposure (e.g. Hong Kong) uninfected individuals will remain susceptible to the disease without a vaccine.
The government's role in this is to facilitate reduced transmission (the slower the rate at which people get infected the better our healthcare system will be able to help them) while studying the epidemiology (vaccine is years away, sorry Contagion fans).
So far, all we have is Pence and cronies praying for God to spare the true believer (because it goes without saying that God created COVID-19 to punish the gentiles).
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Thanks, Ross. You knew he was a disaster all along and now you’re ready to admit it. Better late than never.
Also: “…to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level.” With a link to your own book on that topic. How convenient.
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"… the regulatory state, and to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level.”
You just couldn't keep from making a pitch for you book could you? …
While you're busily reinforcing the perception that his critics are effete ivory tower intellectuals (when in reality the doctors on the front lines of any pandemic are the most practical kind of people) the truths you offer in this opinion piece make you just another snake in the president's eyes.
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This single paragraph written by NYT commenter Jack Frost from NYC needs to be underscored and highlighted. Here it is:
“Trump is guilty of dereliction of his duty. His conduct is egregious. Since Mr. Trump is so interested in numbers he ought to consider this. The number of people, Republicans, Democrats and Independents who are demanding responsiveness and integrity from the White House are demanding accountability and change”. We are all watching this administration very closely.
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It is ironic that Trump, a confirmed germophile, might be taken down in his presidency by a virus. Perhaps there is divine justice after all or at least nature calling him out for his science denial and his inability to take responsibility for anything.
His effort to discredit progressives forces Douthat to commit that cardinal journalistic sin, the evasive passive: "This move was immediately attacked in the language of cosmopolitan sophistication..." Really? Attacked by whom? Maybe a link? Like the one to his own book a little further on?
"Weeks ago, the White House should have begun working with states and cities to devise a uniform response to outbreaks,..."
So, you do have some comedy chops after all!
I guess you've been trying out some of these howlers on your book tour?
Any proactive response to a problem will automatically confer to it the status of a "real" problem, which is itself kind of a problem for Trump because it interferes with the much preferred status of "hoax".
Come on, Ross, that's straight out of Trump playbook 101.
But where Trump really missed a huge opportunity was not naming Pence as the "Corona Czar".
They could have had a real crown made in the image of the Corona Virus and had Pence wear it whenever he was on official "Czar" business.
Oh well, maybe next time.
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Let's see how many Americans have died by the time the election happens.
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A germophobe brought down by a microbe. Doesn't it make you laugh, the idea of it? It's true what some presume. God, the creator, or whatever you may think of as a higher power, by the actions of time does seem to enjoy throwing at its creations situations with a decidedly left-handed twist. (no offense meant against lefties...)
'Course....this must be made especially easy when you engage in the hubris of thinking that you have everything under complete control. Downfalls always seem to come thru weaknesses don't they? Sometimes they're Shakespearean. Or in the immortal words of feminine bard Alanis Morissette,
"Isn't it Ironic?"
So it goes.
John~
American Net'Zen
This is not Mr. Douthat's worst column, but it does suffer from some of his constant intellectual laziness.
The narrative begins with the administration's "excellent" decision to forbid foreign nationals from US entry if they had recently traveled to China. (Maybe "somewhat reasonable" would be a better adjective.) But then it devolves into some "cosmopolitan sophistication" of which "liberals" are apparently guilty. I don't like stereotyping people, but it seems a critical component of the "conservative" identity is to always trash "liberalism", or "Liberalism", whatever.
He says it was "the right call," is if there is a uniquely optimal policy. Even within the linguistic frame Mr. Douthat has constructed, one supposes that US citizens and permanent residents who recently visited China are allowed entry, but ... maybe subject to quarantine? After all, I would assume Mr. Douthat learned in his obviously "excellent" education that viruses don't check passports, so preventing foreign nationals entry while totally allowing citizens, etc., is not very effective (we can ask an infectious disease epidemiologist, but I don't think we need to waste her time).
Characters are limited here and I'm running out. Maybe I'll find the time to complain about some of the other intellectual laziness revealed in this column. But the lib vs. con contest is becoming very tiresome. The lib vs. con thing took all Mr. Douthat's oxygen and he didn't carefully think about the actual policy.
Really, Ross? You just can't help yourself. You have to blame the "cosmopolitan sophisticates" (of which you are one!) for this? As I recall the past six or so weeks, it was the "cosmopolitan sophisticates" who were saying the reaction of the Trump administration were inadequate. Look at the tapes of the mainstream media and back issues of the NYT and Washington Post and you will see reporting and editorials that indicated the seriousness of the situation. Even members of the GOP were making statements about the need to do more.
For once, take off your partisan glasses and look at this seriously. The Trump administration was ill prepared and has been at best reactionary instead of pro-active. When Trump is on Fox News downplaying the seriousness and putting out his own hunches on mortality rates, it is churlish of you to try to shift blame to the "cosmopolitan sophisticates."
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Why, oh why is the president not allowing the cruise ship passengers to disembark onto the Angel Island Immigration Center? This facility was used to receive immigrants arriving by boat off of San Francisco and federal funds were used to renovate the hospital.
Oh, he doesn't want 'his numbers to go up". Can't anyone overrule this person? It will not be a foreign threat that takes this heartless, thoughtless president out, it will be a mutiny by the American people.
We find out this morning that Trump shook hands (which he's germaphobic he hates to do) with someone at a conference who had been exposed to someone with the virus.
Mother Earth in her wisdom may save us all.
We can’t protect ourselves just by building walls. Rally chants don’t make good policy.
About those folks on the cruise ship set to dock in Oakland Monday: Why can't we remove those poor infected folks right away, and treat them in a navy/marine hospital ship or something, so the rest of them are not exposed further, and don't catch COVID-19 ?
With his flailing use of the "liberal cosmopolitan elite" characterization, Mr. Douthat serves his master well as his apologist. However. in attempting to perform as a journalist, he falls flat.
It won't be long before Trump will require all that come within his vicinity to test negative for the virus beforehand.
It was very disconcerting to see the head of the CDC offer peans of praise to Dear Leader during Trump's visit to Atlanta. It makes one wonder (again) about the quality of people supporting the venal, corrupt Trust Administration.
The Coronavirus is coming for Trump's presidency since he hires people like the current head of the CDC who believe in outdated theories instead of science.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/trumps-cdc-director-has-a-history-of-controversial-opinions-on-controlling-viruses/
“We have contained this. I won’t say airtight, but it’s close to airtight.” — Larry Kudlow, Feb 25, 2020
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You sound like Don, Jr. when you point the finger at "cosmopolitan elites" for criticizing Trump's dithering and inept responses to containing the disease. Trump is a PR guy, plain and simple.
His ego is so large that he cannot tell the difference between his willful ignorance and genuine expertise.
That's on Trump.
That's not on anybody else.
You see it, at least, but you see it grudgingly.
You can't help but go on the ad hominem.
Memo to the Trump administration: “Science” is not a four-letter word...
The Coronavirus is not a “foreign threat.” Sheesh.
I'm in Seattle. Major employers are asking employees to work from home. Local colleges have closed and gone to an all online format. Events at the convention center are canceled. I think it is too late. The virus has appeared in two additional elder facilities after of course starting here in such a place
Trump referring to grandma & and grandpa on a cruise ship as “his numbers” and calling a test to detect viral DNA as “Beautiful” (with a capital “B”) really says it all.
Oh, so now we're cosmopolitan sophisticates, whatever that is? And, of course since we're now cosmos then we're equally to blame. Typical column
The hysteria surrounding the corona virus is astounding. The seasonal flu is just about as deadly and yet here we are running in circles, screaming and shouting about this disease. Wash your hands, use common sense caution, and get back to work. We are becoming a nation of snowflakes.
"Cosmopolitan sophisticates".
That's the opposite of Trump? Really?
@Randy: As it has been stated before,POTUS is temperamental unable to exert the necessary skills to lead.
Our dear leader says that the COVID-19 outbreak is all a HOAX!
"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." — George Orwell, “1984”
This is a key pillar of the trump agenda widely abetted by powerful GOP politicians whose thirst for power manifests a new reality of an emerging authoritative political system.
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This article is far, far too kind on the Trump administration, as you would expect from Douthat. The problem is Trump has zero credibility, has no idea what is going on, and he's lying to the public about it.
The Trump cult is finally coming directly up against hard reality and it's left him standing there looking like Comical Ali.
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Don't provide cover to Trump by decrying liberals who questioned the gangster-president's travel ban for persons who had been or were traveling from China. This man has created an environment where everything he does is automatically suspect, and YOU, Mr Douthat, in constantly equivocating your views about him have likewise totally discredited yourself at the same time. I read your column for comic relief, not for news. That's the price you've paid for taking the positions you do about Trump and other Republicans. But fear not if you think you're alone because Charles Blow and others are just as tainted by their biased coverage of current events. I'm afraid that The Times has lost a great deal of prestige in my eyes in terms of reporting the news and NOTHING BUT the news in a factual way.
in 1936 The War of the Worlds told the story of orange aliens from outer space that came to destroy our world. Nothing could seemingly stop them. But finally in the end lowly bacteria wiped them out.
Will that same lowly bacteria prove to be the one thing finally powerful enough to wipe out the orange alien currently tearing apart our world?
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Talk without intelligence is nothing.
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Don't provide cover to Trump by decrying liberals who questioned the gangster-president's travel ban for persons who had been or were traveling from China. This man has created an environment where everything he does is automatically suspect, and YOU, Mr Douthat, in constantly equivocating your views about him have likewise totally discredited yourself at the same time. I read your column for comic relief, not for news. That's the price you've paid for taking the positions you do about Trump and other Republicans. But fear not if you think you're alone because Charles Blow and others are just as tainted by their biased coverage of current events. I'm afraid that The Times has lost a great deal of prestige in my eyes in terms of reporting the news and NOTHING BUT the news in a factual way.
Wish I'd noticed who wrote this before I wasted about 60 seconds of my life reading it. I could list a lot more things this regime did wrong. And I wouldn't have had to endure the snarky lies about "cosmopolitan elites."
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I like hearing what Ross Douthat has to say, except for one thing, and that is the use of the expression “cosmopolitan sophisticates”. Terms like these are not well defined, and using it is name calling, which seems like poor style in the very least.
I think of Humbert Humberto as a cosmopolitan sophisticate, but I don’t think that’s who Ross Douthat has in mind when he uses the term.
By the way, I’m a big fan of Ross Douthat and the podcast, The Argument, for which he is a contributor.
I think I’ll go over to Amazon to buy his book when I’m done with writing this message.
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To be fair to Mr. Trump, much of the coming suffering and chaos will be attributable to the absence of a rational system for providing health care to Americans (and to non-citizens who live and work alongside us). Trump's incompetence is bad enough; but the GOP at large is responsible for the fact that we alone among the wealthier nations have a system that is designed to deny health care to millions and bankrupt millions more with medical bills when a disease like this strikes.
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Gee, Mr. Douthat, I’m glad you snuck in the word, “decadence,” to dilute what’s going on here and sell your new book, but a couple eensy facts occur.
First, that Jan. 29 PARTIAL banning came almost a month after the problem was brought to the Admin. That means two months wasted, not one. And somehow, you seem to have forgotten that Trump pulled stuff like demanding that people were let off a cruise ship and screaming incoherently after they were for most of February. Nor did us lib’ruls scream about petty little rights: we pointed out that there are real reasons for being wary of simple bans.
Second, the “decadent,” Obama administration handled H1N1 and Ebola pretty well, despite the current far-right effort to yell otherwise. And our current fumbling around came straight out of a he-man’s attacking what Obama built, not girly-man limp-wristed ennui.
This isn’t decadence. It’s pure-dee incompetence, driven by politicking and far-right ideology. Like the p&i that led Hizzoner to scream about it all being a hoax.
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"Will a nationalist president be undone by his underreaction to a foreign threat?"
Will the sensationalist media be undone by their overreaction to a mild episode?
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Trump's hoax might eventually end up killing him, but somehow I doubt it. It's all too easy to imagine him and his staff holed up in some executive plastic bubble, and dining wholly on ten-year-old cans of Presidential emergency rations.
What better image to sum up the Trump presidency?
From another article here at the NYT, about the chaos and confusion in the White House and Trump's desire to keep Americans stranded on a ship:
"His concern? It would increase the tally for the number of people infected in the United States. 'Because I like the numbers being where they are,' the president said."
We all know where this man's priorities lie.
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In each major center or hot spot, the USA should have separate centers for those with respiratory symptoms to get tested. By going to the ER/hospital/their local MD they contaminate the staff and the facility. Not cool.
Some of this containment stuff isn't rocket science but the climate in the USA is such that no one will be brave and do the right thing. It is tied to reelection aspirations, profits and lack of respect for thy neighbor (and yes that means no more religious gatherings). Biden is more brain dead than Trump and I can not believe the Democratic party wants to elect their version of Trump. Trump at least is medicated but Biden is one word away from losing it big time. There is nothing good about an idiot in office and someone blind to their faults.
No more events that involve more than 3-4 people. No travel- either coming into USA or going out and within. Stay home. Go to work if you can not do it remotely. Don't punish employees who get it and stay home, etc. And realize that this has firmly cemented the need for health care for all. Trump still has the nerve not to realize this. Not investing in healthcare and pandemic preparedness but investing in more weapons will be his undoing.
No one ever called Donald Trump “the healthcare president,” and you can be darn sure they aren’t going to do so now.
How ironic it would be if he is unable to get his tiny little hands on any of his beloved Purell, just like the rest of us.
"Cosmopolitan sophisticates???" I would have taken this piece a lot more seriously if he hadn't filled it with a buzz word like that and if he hadn't fallen into the usual media idiocy of trying to find something...
...ANYTHING...to throw a bone to a criminal president who is so inept that he even can't understand the severity of this crisis...even though it's been explained to him in news videos right before our very eyes...
...a criminal president that doesn't look at a public health emergency to be as serious as the fall of the stock market that accompanies it or HIS re-election bid. Neither is it mentioned that he is far more concerned with how HE looks than with our very own citizens now dying by the hundreds.
We can only hope that he loses his "Presidency" over this. And we can only hope that articles like this one stop trying to excuse his gross behavior by throwing ridiculous buzz words at the other side.
Spare me your condescending epithets ("cosmopolitan sophisticates"). In another article in the NYT a reporter describes a debate among health care experts regarding travel bans for China. But smug hindsight is always 20/20.
Trump bungled this long before coronavirus was ever detected. He eliminated global health from the national security council and slashed funding for the CDC, NIH and health initiatives across the globe. He is stupid and such a literal thinker that he only conceives of building walls, buying guns and jailing families of migrants and their children as "protecting" america. Where is his "bigger better" health insurance that would actually protect US citizens and raise their quality of life? Nah. He gets no props for any of this and if he gets out of it at all it will only be because of his enablers and spinners.
7 MARCH 2020
South Korea has done the most extensive testing for coronavirus of any nation. As of today, they have tested over 150,000 people. Due to the extensive testing done by South Korea, they have been able to identify 7,041 cases. The number of people who have died in South Korea is 44. This means their mortality rate is 0.6 %.
The number of reported cases for the rest of the world is 95,431 infected and 3,447 deaths which translates to a mortality rate of 3.6% or a 600% increase in mortality rate outside of South Korea.
If the numbers from South Korea are accurate, this new coronavirus is not as deadly as is being reported worldwide. The South Koreans have even gone so far as to offer drive through testing sites. This prevents greater spread among their population and protects their health workers from greater exposure.
The USA government and other nations need to follow this model of widespread testing and should also make it free. By doing so, they will be able to identify infected people and isolate them in order to slow the rate of infection. In addition, "WE THE PEOPLE" have the right to know what the real numbers are and how deadly this virus really is.
It is not my intention to turn this into a political debate, but there has been an epic failure to date by many nations, including the United States to take the necessary measures to fully understand the spread of the virus
We are being lied to through inaction.
UNIVERSAL, FREE TESTING NOW
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Let's hope he is undone!
With Mayor DiBlasio and Speaker Johnson underplaying the coronavirus threat with staged subway photo shoots how does that differ from Mar-a-Lago/CDC remain calm-carry-on weekenders. Cuomo's state of emergency should cattle prod the cud chewers into roaring bulls of public protection not running with those on Wall Street, heeding Fearless Girl and Greta Thunberg.
Trump - " All the Americans infected by the virus are getting better " There is no possible way that can be true. He lies so much there is no point to ever listen to anything he says- except as a source of humor.
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@jack8254
All except those who died of course.
Don’t forget the three years of escalating deception and bold faced lies. Trump has zero credibility right now. And swiping at cosmopolitan sophisticates, really Ross, that’s absurd and embarrassing, a form of the hoax screaming coming out of this White House. #Do better.
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Be BEST!
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The newest fear to develop ... a knock at the door.
You fearfully open the door but it's not the cops.
It's a half a dozen aliens in Tyvek jumpsuits warning you not to open your storm door to them.
"Where were you on the afternoon of February 21st?"
"Were you at this strip club, at this big box store or at this dentist's office?"
"But sir, your sales receipts say otherwise."
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Trump’s complete lack of empathy, or indeed basis understanding of reality, explains why we are where we are with respect to the Federal Government (lack of) response to the threat of the Coronavirus. Often it is all too easy to dismiss Trump as a buffoon. On this occasion, it’s hard to find an argument against the B word conclusion.
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Coronavirus and its consequences and risks are REAL.
This president is a FAKE leader and the obvious consequence of his incompetence is already clear. If he thinks to manage this crisis with lies then it would be better for him to forget about his second mandate.
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Trump's handling of the outbreak has proven to be even more sloppy, deceitful and dangerous than one could have imagined. Science-denying, pathologically lying, declaring "hunches", he is unfit to occupy the WH. Pence, another science-denying guru, mummified and with that creepy I-Love-Trump grin stitched to his face, will not salvage the WH reaction to this virus, which is proving lethal to many.
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Good analysis, as always, but change "foreign nationals" to "foreigners" near the top.
It’s not over until it’s over. With this presidency I’m not counting chickens before they hatch. Still, this president is so horrible that we don’t need a tragedy to take him down. Vote!
Sadly the scientists of this country had a handle on this in
early January.
With no plan, no kits to test, the president lied, he’s lying
to his base, lying to those who he calls snakes and lying to his
business cronies.
When his grifter children and associates become infected
he will blame the democrats for this.
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It must be embarrassing to be Ross Douthat (Doubt That?) sometimes. Having to try to justify the acts of an administration that promotes incompetence, is ethically compromised and morally repugnant. The fact that Trump (and fellow-travelers) sees this as being about his re-election, rather than the well-being of the American populace, is all you need to know. So, Douthat has to bring some other group into the picture – in this case, "cosmopolitan sophisticates," to share in the culpability. Whoever or whatever those are. It's like saying, "Hey, everyone's equally guilty here." Or Trump: "There are good people on both sides" (it's just some might be wearing swastikas). Pence as point man? Beyond laughable to irresponsible. Cutting budgets at the CDC, NIH and other research departments? Expected, and also irresponsible. There's no irony here, as Douthat would have you believe – anyone paying attention even pre-2016 knew what Trump was all about.
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@Stevekap If you watched the Senate hearings with the CDC last week it came to light the budget that was cut was for construction on the CDC campus. The CDC was not prepared because they were too busy playing poltics.
evangelical trump supporters must understand that the virus has been sent to us by god, as a "message": stay with trump and he will destroy you. where are the campaign hats? "make america sick".
It is becoming clear that the true enemy of Trump is Trump himself. Only he can bring himself down. And he’s doing an effective job so far.
By the way what is “the language of cosmopolitan sophistication”? Also “ decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level"
And “Communist
decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level" (
Well, what did we expect after he bludgeoned or tried to, anything the prior administration did, specifically to meet a crisis like this!
All his pronouncements, suggestions, comments, questions about the crisis or its seriousness point to someone lacking common sense and completely ignorant his lack of common sense too. Any wonder the markets are tanking? That was what got his attention. If he never mentioned travel bans since day one and his, ahem, rationale, we would have believed the genuine reason behind his ban in Jan. He has only himself to blame for no one taking him seriously. Or for that matter believing him. You can only cry wolf so many times!
Him losing his presidency depends on a lot of lives lost or affected. I wouldn't wish that even to his supporters. What really bothers me is not just his GOP enablers, but practically everyone is turning a blind eye to his incompetence and idiocy. Forget national interest!
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Trump is an embarrassment. He trumpets how he's an expert on everything and dismisses an impending pandemic as minor while his minions do somersaults trying to insist that the emperor is wearing clothes. Trump is concerned not with the growing death toll but with how this crisis will affect his chance to get reelected and the impact on the stock market. This is troubling.
I get a kick out of how Douthat and Brooks cannot straight up criticize Trump. They have to layer it inside a critique of "elites" or socialists or liberals. I guess they are knocking on wood.
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There is potential stunning irony to this: After all we've been through with this ego-maniacal, scowl faced, vindictive blowhard... a tiny microscopic organism might be the thing that brings him down.
Oh, yes. Irony, indeed.
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From the beginning, Trump has downplayed serious issues and insisted that he knew more about whatever was happening than anyone else. Everything he did was perfect, he said. He staged everything for public consumption but didn't accomplish anything. Now Trump is faced with the first real domestic crisis of his administration. Trump's performance has been abysmal. He doesn't understand anything and he is either unable or unwilling to educate himself. Americans are sick and some are dying but he puffs himself up at his ridiculous rallies. If the Democrats lose this election, it will be their own fault.
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Trump's campaign slogan will be "It isn't MY fault!"
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His appearance and his comments at the CDC ;last Friday were disconcerting. Disheveled and incoherent gave proof that he is falling down on the job and this before you listen to what he said. He is barking mad!
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Undermined a good column with the “both sides” canard. Which “cosmopolitans” in positions of authority deny the advice of public health/epidemiology experts? You can always find the equivalent of a credulous pizza gater somewhere...perhaps in the corner of a “mythical “health food “ store somewhere in California?
Trumpers will, ultimately, accept the fact of the disease, but its cause will involve the usual, compelling “alternative fact”— the conspiracy of “Libs” and “cosmopolitans” to make them look stupid and Trump look bad politically.
Trumpers will see themselves as victimized by their usual political scapegoats, not by Trump.
You hold that such a “conservative” self-deception is even somewhat plausible?
Please, let SOMETHING finally be his undoing. How much longer can we survive his ignorant, vindictive, and chaotic excuse for governance? When will Mitch McConnell finally wake up and realize what he has done?
Trump gets an F+ for his response, after calling it a hoax and then blaming Democrats and even Obama. Meanwhile in Italy today, with 5,800 cases, they've blocked off the big state of Lombardy, nobody gets in or out. Even way down in Sicily, schools are closed for a month and the courthouses are closed until MAY. They haven't emptied the prisons yet, like in Iran, where the death count is higher. Meanwhile our narcissistic Nero fiddles in the White House...
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This is yet another example of Douthat trying to force current events to match his current narrative of choice, in this case, the subject of his new doorstop, “Decadence.”
Pshaw! The party of Douthat’s choice has held the government that they themselves run in utter contempt. That started with his hero Reagan saying “The nine most frightening words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’”
Reagan’s rise coincided with a takeover of his, and Douthat’s party, by Grover Norquist, who expressed a fervent desire to “shrink government to a size where I can drown it in my bathtub.”
The medical establishment would love to defeat this, as they did AIDS, despite Reagan’s resistance. It’s just hard to do so when Trump radically defunded pandemic readiness.
This is dreadful, abysmally thought out false equivalence, and fails in every regard.
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So Trump, like Bush 43 before him, is slow off the draw, turns a serious threat into a looming disaster, and pushes a flunky out front to take the flack. "Mikey" (Pence) is our new "Brownie". Again, a Democrat will have to clean up a GOP mess. Can't make this stuff up.
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Please read Michael Specter's recent recounting of the systematic dismantling of the pandemic response measures--
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/donald-trumps-anti-globalist-response-to-a-global-coronavirus
Our national response is slow and incomplete by design. Thanks Trump.
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Trump lover that you are, you got off to a good start. No mention of agreeing with his TV mentor Limbaugh that it was just a common cold. No mention of eviscerating the funding for the CDC so that were handcuffed. No mention of gag orders on anybody who is expert enough to know what's happening.
But even you can't stick to your penchant for paean for the most indecent person in the country.
For shame. Him and you.
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As a nurse, and US citizen, seeing clueless braggart Donald Trump sharing whispers with Alex Azar, a Big Pharma Attorney, now serving as Donald Trump’s pick as head of the US Health and Human Services, makes me sick.
They have dishonored “do no harm” into their selfish, reckless, clueless disservice to the American people.
If they only had a conscience for every person they’ve harmed in their absent prevention and/or treatment plan for coronavirus in the United States. Shame, shame, shame.
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"Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response."
Yes. Yes, he is.
"Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response"
foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31
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Isn't the family business the main concern? We are moving from protecting the petro dollar to keeping a 7-times bankrupt hotelier afloat. Deutsche Bank is out so the family business has become our business as the government plays games to keep the family's hotels solvent. We can assume Doral is going to go under with or without the G-7 Summit. What about all of those fancy memberships at Mar-A-Lago? You are dreaming if you think he dreams of anything but number of beds sold. Even Wall Street highs are second to daily hotel occupancy reports.
Isn't Trump in Mar-a-Lago right now? That says how much he thinks of the crisis. A real leader would be working on the weekends to coordinate the response to this crisis. It's just pathetic.
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This is one time that it's good to know that Trump is in the 1%!
I sadly think your assessment may fall short - no matter how many die from the virus or lose their savings or fortunes in the stock market, you may be giving some Americans too much credit to recognize that this president is at the core of the rot of this nation. His incessant lies and flim-flam excuses seem to be readily embraced by way too many citizens and his foreign conspirators alike. I cannot imagine how they support him now along with his evil and imbecilic governance. But they do... and his disciples would rather see their fellow citizens perish than call out the revered king with no clothes - as Pence demo's every day. If his campaign rally at the CDC yesterday isn't proof enough of this idiocy I don't know what is.
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If Sanders has any shot he needs a massive plan to confront the Corona virus head on. Details on top of details. How he will call out the national guard . How he will take over drug labs and produce anti virus for massive distribution. Jump strap N95 masks and gowns Be 100 miles ahead of Biden and Trump.
'The President got his percentages all wrong, shouted a public expert on the phone'. 'It's all right, Pence rectified and corrected the above, although we are not paying much attention to W.H.O., and the public-at-large probably believes that the above global health organization is the social directory of 'Who's Who'.
Mr. Douthat is taking his readership back to the Past of the 'If-onlys and what should have been done' to avert the spreading of Coronavius in our States.
Let's address what can be done now in the Ides of March. We have begun. The disease is here, and we are here to help each and every one, who needs help in our community.
The Superpowers of the world, China and America, are under the weather, temporarily weakened, and leaving its People vulnerable to other health ills, social and economic. Our president is not to be blamed if he does not want to find himself boxed in by 'Panic'.
Let us be quiet, and leave him to his pad in Florida. We do not need a disgruntled bull in the China closet. Many of us are taking precautions, while going about our daily business.
We can place the words 'Hoax' and political 'Fabrication' in the washer now, prepare for disruption, while looking to the most vulnerable in our midst and our children.
Wishing Pope Francis a fine recovery from his bout with a long cold, and on this day of sunlight and tempest gales, thoughts are with our folks in Tennessee. What can we do, those of us capable, to help the above in deeds?
Finger pointing will lead to the loss of a pointing finger
Huh? There is way too much sophistication attributed to the simple, and simplistic response and rhetoric that has come out of the administration. From out here in the provences, it looks and sounds like just more buffoonery and bluster.
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Hope China makes enough masks!
Poe's "Masque of the Red Death," in which Prince Prospero hides in his abbey from a plague which manages to sneak inside, presages King Trump hiding in his Mar-a-Lago.
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"Our inability to roll out testing rapidly, even when thousands of cases are probably in circulation, owes a lot to the inherent problems of medical bureaucracy and the regulatory state, and to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level."
Oh, hogwash. After 15 years as an epidemiologist, I can attest that the public health infrastructure, from the local rural county health departments to the highest levels of the CDC, are filled with public-minded, patriotic, dedicated professionals who spend their lives terribly, terribly bored. Public health just ain't that exciting.
Except when it is. And when it is, these guys find their life's calling and jump into the fray with both feet. H1N1. Zika. Ebola. West Nile. The anthrax scare after 9/11.
To attribute the failure to decadence is, itself, decadent, ignorant, hypocritical. This administration has wantonly cancelled or reversed every single policy that had Obama's name on it, and it finally came back around and bit them in the rear, hard. That's it. Full stop.
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Unlikely. The coronavirus currently affects significantly less than 1% of the US population.
Currently, at it's worst is expected to all affect a small amount of the population in the US. You have over 325 million people.
The ones with the most to fear are the elderly and those with poor immune systems.
Right now it's an insane amount of hype for such a significantly small number of people affected.
Do people react this way for the flu? No. People are scared because it's a mutated strain of the coronavirus that has no known cure yet. And most purely have no clue if it'll plateau soon like it did in China.
It's the fear of the unknown more than the fear of the virus. When you're freaking out that one person in a city of millions has it, then you are simply over reacting especially if you don't react the same way to the flu.
This won't affect Trump currently and there's zero reason to believe it will. Because right now, hate him or not, it's an overblown hype machine.
Omg what are we gonna do. A country with 325 million people and only 300-something cases of it. My How are we gonna survive. What are we gonna do? lol
Wash your hands and stop touching your hands and fingers on your face. Use common sense. You'll be fine.
Most will only have flu like symptoms. Many will have it and not realize it. China has billions and most never have gotten it with the numbers declining.
This is hype on the worst scale. 1 person gets it and a city of millions freaks.
I keep on thinking of George W. Bush on his visit to New Orleans after Katrina, the city under water with dead bodies in the Super Dome visiting FEMA's operations center and telling his friend, the then Director of FEMA, "your doing a great job Brownie".
Trump now says he has a real talent with these medical issues.
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The so-called president wore his red MAGA hat while visiting the CDC in Atlanta.
There can be no mistaking what his priority (singular) is.
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Well said!
We had a two month running head start, as we watched the suffering in China unfold, and all Trump did was restrict air travel.
Is that all you got?
At least 6 weeks wasted.
When South Korea is conducting 10,000 tests a day, which include drive-through testing, our total (cumulative) testing was less than 2,000. If you can't test, you can't define the problem.
The president is 100% responsible for this. It's his job to keep the American people safe, or at least do everything humanely possible to try and keep them safe, and he has failed miserably. Mostly we get rosy and unreal pronouncements and we see a total lack of proactive preparedness.
Mr. Trump your final grade for leadership is: F (for failed).
The headline for this piece - "The Coronavirus Is Coming for Trump’s Presidency; Will a nationalist president be undone by his underreaction to a foreign threat?" - sounds accurate enough. Instead, Douthat, as usual, cites liberals and government using tired, inaccurate, lame bromides about the left. Is the headline clickbait? In my naivete I clicked on it thinking that maybe after 3.5 years of Trump and Vichy Republicans, Douthat had perhaps seen the truth of their malignant corruption. Yea, no; he's still with the cult.
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Oh no, a scary pandemic!
Thank God that guy from The Apprentice is on the case, we’ll surely be fine!
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Another NYT article quotes the president about not wanting to let the cruise ship passengers in, because it would make the numbers look worse.
This is the whole administration in a nutball - no one cares how bad things are - they care about the appearance and how it can be spun in their favor. There is no fundamental interest in the running of government or public policy. On the Wire they called it Juking the Stats
Juking the stats is humanity's moral & ethical pandemic and it's been far more lethal than the cornavirus.
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"Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response."
Hey Ross, check out the reporting currently on the Washington Post's website. It's worse than you think.
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"Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response."
No, the rest of the blame goes to the greedy Republicans who made tax relief for the uber-rich as their #1 priority and let the repair of our aging and rotten infrastructure go. We can no longer even respond to a national crisis. Shame on all of them."Obviously the White House isn’t to blame for everything that’s gone wrong with the coronavirus response."
No, the rest of the blame goes to the greedy Republicans who made tax relief for the uber rich as their #1 priority and let the repair of our aging and rotten infrastructure go. We can no longer even respond to a national crisis. Shame on all of them.
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What will the liberal left do if with the warm weather it dissipates as some scientists believe? Who will be undone then? Will the media be taken to task for the hysteria it promoted?
It's interesting that Ross should trot out a phrase like "the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level," and thoughtfully provide a hyperlink to his recent book devoted to that theme. A bit self-serving, no?
And then there's that other phrase, "cosmopolitan sophisticates." Where have I heard that one before? Was it perhaps one of the anti-Semitic tropes of Stalinist Russia?
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Douthat doesn't mention the budget cuts by Dim Donnie and the positions he's left unfilled. It never should have gotten to this point but any member of the informed public shouldn't be surprised by the incompetent crack-pottery of trump and his gang of lickspittles.
1
Douthat presents a case full of holes. Where are /were all of these "cosmopolitan sophisticates" complaining about travel restrictions? Douthat must have been tuned into FOX noise. Face it Ross, trump couldn't manage an outbreak of head lice at the local elementary school. He would have cut out the funding to prepare for it as he did with the NIH and CDC. The incompetency of the Republicans is overwhelming, vote them all out.
2
Why call it a “ foreign threat?” This fear of the “otherness” of this is virus is only contributing to xenonohobia and racism (e.g.the attack of a student from Singapore in London as the attackers shouted “we don’t want your coronavirus in our country!”). It is a public health threat. Period. Full stop.
The European Council on Foreign Relations conducted a 14 country 60,000 survey on "do you trust
Donald Trump ?"
FORBES Magazine published the result at the end of 2019. -don't trust me, look at it yourself:
The result was: 4%-no.no. not 40% : 4 (four %).
Just today, I heard a reporter ask an elderly women in the mid-west about the Corona Virus. She just made a blanket statement: "I don't trust any information coming from Democrats."
Einstein said: Two things will always exist:
The Universe and Human Stupidity
1
"Now he is in danger of losing his presidency because ... " Because of the fact that he has never been qualified to be POTUS, and never will be. The man is a disgrace, plain and simple, take away the snark and there's nothing there.
2
His typical response--spinning, fabrication, and prevarication--which has been so successful in past, has finally met its match. The virus will hear none of it.
1
"Cosmopolitan sophisticates"...
Gee, I wonder what that's code for.
1
As usual, on the mark! But keep using "globalism" and "globalists" as you did in a previous column describing how global capitalists were in denial because of the perils to their economic blueprints for f "one world" markets with supply chains heavily based in China; and how cultural globalists feared for their politically-correct vision of a multicultural, harmonious, no-borders utopia. (These are the "cosmopolitan sophisticates.") These dual denials, rooted in complimentary globalist blueprints, explains a lot.
He is not a nationalist. He is a narcissist. You know the difference, Ross - stop papering it over. Your reliable equivocations mask a conscience that will wake one day, probably not in time.
1
@Rune, He is a narcissistic nationalist. One does not exclude the other. Too bad you’re giving Ross a hard time! His column was excellent!
Breaking news - Trump's moving his Vice Poodle Mike Pence from Virus control to head up The Department of Forest Raking starting tomorrow. Here is a copy of his leaked speech - I'm making Jared Kushner the head of the Contras virus, seeing he's brought peace to the Middle Yeast. My special advisor Ivanka, who's doing an amazing job by the way, told me Jared is super qualified as he's already watched the movie Contagion twice this week. He also fixed Ivanka's dishwasher, which by the way many experts on cleaning dishes, our best people, have told me the dishwasher had a very bad virus, and like the Middle Yeast the dishwasher runs like a charm now. I've instructed Jared to bring in the heads of Norton, and McAFee and many other heads to the White House to find a high tech solution to the problem.
Many people, a lot of people, very special people, some people almost as smart and stable as me but without the great hair. These people have told me 'April comes after March', so we won't have to worry about the current Contras virus in China soon. I know more about this virus than the World Heath Organization. Which not very many people or a lot of people know was started by Doctor WHO from the BBC which stands for British Bacterial Care. See this is not a new virus, that's fake news, the Contras Virus first appeared and infected many of the socialist Bernie Sandersnista in Nicaraguan, and also there was a small outbreak in the Italian city of Marla Naples back in the Eighties.
1
Trump bungled Cornavirus because he's a bungler. He doesn't have the intellect to understand things, he doesn't have the mental wherewithal to listen to experts and understand what they're saying, and he surrounds himself with sycophants who tell him what he wants to believe. So as he fell into denial about the pandemic, there was no way to get him turned around.
It might not cost him the presidency though. National crisis may mean the electorate rallies around him. And that is something that Trump's reptilian brain can understand. So maybe that's an extra incentive for him to drag his feet in responding to the disease.
1
Murika gets what it deserves. It is the land of magical thinking.
1
The only irony is that this **might** be a tipping point in the realization that he really is not qualified for this job. Given all of his missteps and criminal behavior, that lack of a government response (a result of his "small gov" approach) will be his achilles heel.
Sorry, but I don't think this will doom his presidency. This has very little to do with why he was elected and what his base voters care about. I don't think Trump's base thinks the virus is anything more than an overstated, elitist-scientific plot against them.
1
You knuckleheads don't know when to quit with pushing another false narrative: Russia collusion, obstruction, Ukraine, killing Soleimani - enough. The virus erupted in January. The Trump administration is well prepared and things are going well except in three Democratic bastions: California, NY and Washington State. Interesting.
But hey, hope springs eternal in those hoping for the demise of America in order to damage Trump's reputation.
Trump needs to hightail it to Mar-a-Lago. He said warmer weather is the real knock out punch for this virus.
I can't afford to go south like our president, but I do have my heat cranked to 85.
This is fine.
1
I can answer the question in your subtitle. No. The people who are loyal to him are willfully ignorant people. They do not like facts. They will always blame others, usually Dems, for whatever issues #45, his administration, and the fasco-republican senate have brought upon us. They cannot think critically, and they do not at all understand how our government is 'supposed' to work. They gobble up the lies he spews forth, and the lies of the propaganda news network known as fox.
2
I remember when trump was merely incompetent and not deadly incompetent.
ha ha...those were fun times....
Killing off the old and infirm IS the Republicans’ health care plan that they have not been willing to say out loud.
1
This article’s contention that Trump’s basic ideas and anti-globalism are correct, but that his (and the government’s) operational inabilities have caused failure, is just shy of a defense of Trump. What?
Trump is a fool and an idiot, and his principles — if you can call them that — are harmful to our people and corrosive to our nation. The price for electing him will come due again and again in the coming decades. Coronavirus is only today’s exhibit.
Trump’s policy appears to be willful failure to test. When actual numbers are obtained, they will be horrifying. Trump’s continued insistence that he is succeeding at containment, his minimization of the disease, and his contradiction of scientists, will cause more Americans to die than should have happened. This is not to be laid at the feet of governmental agencies that have been gutted by this fool.
The only aspect of this article that warrants mention, and optimism, is the hope that this latest display of incompetence will sink Trump in November.
And about that anti-globalism thing: if the world were better connected and better aligned under strong, globalist American leadership, then coordinated global reaction to the coronavirus would shorten the pandemic and reduce deaths. Unfortunately, Trump has shredded the global alliances that would have helped.
1
Let us hope so.
This Republican administration can lie, twist and spin the Mueller Report and impeachment all they want. Broadly, people won't die. But turning this COVID-19 epidemic into a face-saving political boondoggle will. That should be something no Republican in or out of office can run away from. No get-out-of moral depravity free card here.
1
Save it. Biden is clearly dead on arrival. The lights are on in the Biden house, but no one is home.
Trump will eat him alive and feast on his dead body during a debate and then use his bones as toothpicks.
Game over. Trump wins 2020.
Has Trump consulted Putin on how he should handle this?
Trump cut the White House office for Pandemic response, and the same at the NSA, and he redeployed the Admiral in charge back to the Pentagon.
He had huge cuts in the budget for CDC and NIH this year and has constantly seen scientific and research spending as a waste.
Much better to build a monumental wall to himself and his bluster.
This man is anti-science, and fact, and anti knowledge, and to this very moment TRULY BELIEVES that he knows more about any subject than anyone on planet earth.
A smart POTUS would work to calm and reassure the nation and the world with facts and data, and work nonstop on funding and supply chains to keep everything up and running. And leave politics at the door.
Not Trump.
He is the most dangerous fool that this country has ever produced.
Some cabinet members should seriously invoke the 25th for total incompetence.
2
Amee Vanderpool
@girlsreallyrule
The CDC has contracted with a company for coronavirus test kits that Trump previously owned stock and he has shown NO PROOF of divestment. There has been NO explanation about WHY he refused the WHO kits in Feb.
"According to the Associated Press, Donald Trump, the current President of the United States who is supposed to be managing the Coronavirus epidemic and how the testing is conducted, has listed investments in V.F. Corp (VFC) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Corporation (TMO), both of which moved jobs out of the U.S. in high profile outsourcing deals. There is reason to believe that Donald Trump stands to profit from medical testing of coronavirus that will now take place in the United States."
https://shero.substack.com/p/trump-could-profit-from-coronavirus?r=1ejbr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy&fbclid=IwAR1Gt9DssW_mKzLKjAdf0J00Nievz4lYbVEYaIhP2wsOZgTVK_aGxzBlxSs
1
You cannot vote if you are dead.
The dead feel no pain
We have fought an epidemic before and done well. Of course we had steady and measured presidential leadership at the time. But of course, Trump had to undo what Obama put in place because he's jealous of Obama in everything and automatically has undone one policy after another.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-deborah-birx.html
1
Trump accomplished NOTHING with the travel ban because containment has been a failure!! Good God all China accomplished was to give a brief delay. It's in 60+ countries. Trump did NOTHING useful. The ban didn't work! It could have given us precious time to prepare but in typical Trump fashion it was only done for optics while he squandered MILLIONS of taxpayers dollars on a luxury Indian rally publicity stunt and vacation. He should have been mobilizing testing and contingency plans to prepare for the virus but he did NOTHING. He is still doing NOTHING beyond spreading disinformation and blame.
I hope EVERY Republican politician responsible for keeping this sick evil creature in office gets yanked out of office permanently. Trump isn't a man, he's a whiney little narcissist baby that can't take personal responsibility for ANYTHING and he will get more people killed them need to be by trying to cover his gross incompetence. God we need to get this creature out of office fast.
Always something coming that will prove to be the magic bullet, the old audiotape, Russia, Mueller, dodgy associates, emoluments, tax returns, impeachment, a respiratory virus, until they aren't and the herd turns to run toward the next false alarm.
1
I'm a rural bumpkin who doesn't know what's meant by "cosmopolitan" here....sounds like a dog whistle, but to who, about what?
1
Great picture of Trump pretending to try to figure it out.
1
This column is false equivalency at its worst. The incompetence of the response is entirely on Trump’s unchecked ego and his disregard for science.
1
His handling of the Coronavirus only adds to the extremely long list of what will be his undoing. Between him and pence their imbecilic advise is totally irresponsible. Since when are they experts ( on anything )?. The only experts we should listen to are the Doctors and the Scientists, they will not lie to the public like the incompetents in the White House.
This is going to be Trump's undoing. The country is tired of this reckless, ill-informed, power hungry dunce who has undermined our scientific experts. The stock market is Trump's bottom line and he has managed to bring us close to bear market territory with his incompetence. Time to go
The bad news for Trumpists is that a virus cannot be bullied. It only wants (pardon the anthropomorphism) to proliferate. And absent a vaccine and endogenous antibodies capable of fighting the virus the quickly and decisively in an infected host, proliferate it will -- especially given that it can be spread by virtually asymptomatic individuals for two weeks or more. Covid-19 does not care who is in charge. But we should. An idiot in the oval office will not affect what the virus does. But an idiot will surely hinder our capacity as human beings to do what must be done to mitigate its threat.
1
Interesting that republicans who claimed Obamacare was going to kill grandma with death panels seem to dismiss coronavirus by claiming it only kills old people.
2
Give me a break. Who are these straw men who protested travel restrictions? That’s all a fantasy to try to blame liberals for the utter depravity, dishonesty and incompetence of the worst President in the history of our country, give us all a break.
3
I’ve read that Trump is a germaphobe. Perhaps that is good instinct on his part since it appears a germ is going to ruin his presidency.
My prediction is that he will not be undone by it.
Every corrupt, stupid, cruel thing that this president does is either touted by him as the perfect act of a very stable genius, or ultimately blamed on the opposition, and his followers simply accept this as truth trumpeted from the mouth of god.
Human beings are fools, and any nation with officials that are elected by its citizens, ultimately gets the leader that it deserves.
As revolting as it may be, it seems that Trump is what we deserve now. Perhaps our children will be wiser than us- assuming that this country survives another four years, of course.
As for me, I am not filled with hope.
Another pitiful column by this author.
By the 2nd paragraph he's already bashing liberals, the dreaded boogeyman to the right. Then he goes on to plug his book. Good grief, what a huckster.
In a perfect trifecta of conservative orthodoxy he goes on to blame the medical bureaucracy, regulatory state and American institutions. Did Steve Bannon write this for him? Recall Bannon's boasting to CPAC two years ago that "deconstruction of the administrative state has begun."
Let's refresh Mr. Douthat's memory. Two years ago his boy Trump FIRED the pandemic czar and CUT the CDC budget which set us up for this failure. This is 100% Trump's failure. It was Trump who deconstructed the very machinery which we crafted over many years to protect us from this sort of medical nightmare. Now we need two cures, one for the nightmare virus and one for the nightmare in the Oval Office,
Trump and Michael "pray away the virus" Pence now muzzle the scientists who can fight this virus. Meanwhile, the WaPo tells us our glorious HUD chief, who is a doctor, has no plans for how to house people coming off that cruise ship in CA. But Douthat wants to blame liberals? Gimme a break.
I found the only honest line in Douthat's screed: "...on all counts the White House has been failing...." No kidding.
2
Please give the straw men a rest. I think most Democrats are quite happy with limiting entrance to foreign nationals from virus-infested areas. I think most Democrats also recognize that we got an extra month to prepare that China did not have, and in spite of that we have botched the response big time. I don't know how much of this can legitimately laid at Trump's feet, but his attempts to minimize the threat at a time when he has no information on the extent of spread in the US is absolute contemptible and is probably bad politics. We cannot know the breadth of infection in the US because there has been essentially no testing, less than 1% of the amount in South Korea. But, you know, if you test, you may discover something you don't want to see, but as a leader, that is your responsibility.
2
Douthat crafts his column to get in his vituperation of liberals, medical bureaucracy, & the regulatory state;Like misanthrope Bannon he cannot write a reasonable article without including his conservative attacks on everything he disapproves of; What he disapproves of does not make him right, just arrogantly assured in his own, non-Christian view of others;like Barr, the most pius are also the most deceptive;The Virus should come for trump's presidency;He is a failed leader who is a serial liar who has told over 17,000 fact checked lies & not including lies he told about the C-virus:It's a dems hoax, & his supporters cheered;it will just go away in spring,& they cheered,& its not worse than regular flu & they cheered;his supporters don't read so they believe his lies &he is endangering them;this is negligence on his part &;he fired the entire CDC pandemic staff based on his know nothing arrogance; he cut the CDC budget because he has to cut everything but the illegitimate free pass on tax he gave to himself,the 1%, most of the GOP Congress,the Kochs& the greedy health insurance industry;he contradicted the doctors of WHO & no doctor said its amazing how much he understands, that comes from the voices in his head that you hear when he kills the language when he rambles & goes off script; making excuses for him is irresponsible; making those people stay on the cruise ship is essentially a death sentence because anyone with a brain knows recycled air will infect everyone.
4
Trump rules with the pettiness side of his brain and he gets a stoner’s high off other people misery. His closing of the NY borders will do nothing to stop this virus most. How many private jets go in and out of all our airports carrying this disease with no restrictions.
3
That's right, it is the fault of cosmopolitan jet set (by the way, is that code for Jewish? It does in Central Europe. Never underestimate Douthat's subtlety.)
If only the Ugliest American had listened to his better angels!
But there is still time to cover up and the administration's policies will do wonders.
How many "illegals" do you think will show up in hospitals and clinics to get tested, with the chance to get picked up by la Migra and tossed out of the country?
If they start sneezing and coughing, how many will stay home thus risking losing their jobs picking lettuce, washing dishes in restaurants, re-roofing your house, tending your yard?
3
Trump wanted a coronation but instead begot a corona-nation.
6
I don't know who these "cosmopolitan sophisticates" are, but I can tell you one thing: Trump's reckless public statements have nothing to do with attempting to assuage people's concerns and quell a panic. The man is an idiot. He is completely incapable of understanding how illnesses spread and why (as he himself said) proactive measures are key.
He should never have been president in the first place, but more than any other embarrassing display of incompetence—and there have been many of those—this episode shows how completely incapable he is. An utter disaster who is going to get people killed.
6
Ok, Russ, this is one of your dumbest articles ever, pointing to a perfect decision by Trump to "forbade most foreign nationals from entering the United States if they had recently traveled to China." Travel from China to the US should have been banned for anyone, not just foreign nationals ( do they carry the coronavirus and US citizens returning from China not carry the virus). This is so absurb! And what are you talking about "cosmopolitan sophistication?" Total nonsense. Our government is in total disarray and lack of trust due to Trump and your Republican friends in the Senate. They have eviscerated key agencies including the CDC and the NIH and have fostered fake news that nothing coming from our government can be believed. Trump and his cronies and the fool Pence ought to be removed from office now. Why wait until the pandemic creates more pandemonium.
4
The Unfettered Greed of so many powerful leaders in this United States comes with a price to the system; a system many of these leaders hate and are insanely so dependent on.
The Money God they worship so fervently happened to create Nature as well as money, however these particular hypocritical “Christians” just don’t understand that you can’t lie about the reality of this planet. To survive let alone ensure the survival of others dependent upon the same blind leadership, these folks will need to be destroyed like a disease upon our nation. The GOP is the corona virus and we will recover when it is eradicated.
It would be ironic indeed, if this sickness of a Presidency was cured by a virus, oblivious to lies & insane tweets.
3
It's a far faster response from the president than we gays got during the AIDS epidemic. That inaction had zero impact on Reagan.
Has anyone heard Trump express any sympathy for the thousands of people already suffering from this new disease?
3
Ironic. All of the evil and unkind behavior of Trump. And the small bit of DNA that is a corona virus tips the balance against big blustery Trump.
Sad that so many have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to rid us of this malevolent man.
Trump proved himself a criminal disaster well before the current crisis. Now we must see if this newest, overwhelming evidence of his mental infantilism and managerial incompetence will challenge the faith of any in his heretofore unshakable base.
1
It is true - Trump is terrible!
"There should have been a public face of the anti-coronavirus effort long before Mike Pence was finally elevated,"
It absolutely kills me, the mindless grooves your thoughts run in. That you immediately step to "public face," as the first order of business, as if we are all just so stupid that as long as you tell us SOMEONE is in charge, we'll all calm down.
My favorite Trump coronavirus statement is that "it wasn't our fault." Need we look further for an insight into the man's stupidity?
4
It will be Obama’s fault when the coronavirus comes for Trump.
1
Leadership requires . . . a leader. Leadership takes courage. Donald J. Trump is nothing more than a blustering, bilious coward. We shall all pay a dear price for that cowardice - and the willful ignorance of those who voted for him.
4
The month that trump and his moronic administration “took off” after the China travel ban proves that the ban was an end in itself, not part of any reasoned response strategy. There still isn’t a reasoned response strategy from trump, just a PR strategy. The hollowing out of the medical and response “bureaucracy” you’re so eager to blame made a rapid, organized and effective response difficult under the best of circumstances let alone when an incompetent buffoon at the top is sabotaging and vilifying it.
If our nation is lucky, this president will be ultimately undone by his vast ignorance and arrogance. It's up to Americans to understand how dreadfully ill-equipped he is. And then vote.
1
Education is costly but ignorance is costlier. In electing the most ignorant person possible for public service, the ignorant half of the US aided and abetted by Mr. Murdoch’s news channel, the world is headed for turbulent times. Fasten your seatbelt and of course wash your hands !!
1
No, Ross, Trump's doom wouldn't be the least bit ironic! The man is a walking crisis who couldn't find a clue if he tripped over it. Cosmopolitans? Sophisticates? Liberals? Superstitions? Stop! Who cares about any of that in this situation? Trump hadn't/hasn't ever had a clue about much of anything, and he certainly couldn't care less about any of this beyond what "it is doing to me". You keep writing like the snotty "do-gooders" are somehow "attacking" Trump because their teacup pinkies got stuck up their noses all in a much ado about nothing blather! Only a fool would "blame" Trump for this crisis. But the chaos he adds to everything he touches was absolutely predictable by anyone with a brain. Even a proud MAGA-hatter - in the deepest depths of delusion - could have seen exactly where Trump would immediately, inevitably go with something like this which threatens his yuge bigness.
2
Agree 100%.
Never pass on an opportunity to blast liberals, however irrelevant the context.
You never disappoint, Ross.
1
Coronavirus Precautions
A story to tell re Michael Crichton
A virus, most fell, made deadly to frighten
Old folks and wimps who’ll stock up on wipes
Cleaning back where no skeeter bites;
Cough hard as you please on your near neighbor,
Sneeze with abandon, dispense any flavor;
No one in this life will get out alive –
Don’t Puerile first, let’s have a high five.
Trump is very clever. He very publicly made Mike Pence the face of his administration's response. If Coronavirus spreads and there are many deaths and problems with the govt's response in the coming months, Trump will call Pence an incompetent buffoon and a gay-obsessed weirdo that he barely knew, and then dump him for a new VP running mate. If the virus is contained and the disaster is averted, Trump will jump in to soak up all the praise and adulation on his way to the election in November.
Selfish and heartless Trump might be figuratively impeached by a tiny virus born in China. How appropriate is that? Karma?
Unfortunately, millions will suffer and many will die. If this does not justify a change of government, then call me blind.
Ross, I guess we just didn’t know that Trump understands ALL about infectious diseases and if he hadn’t run for President he’d be at the CDC as their star employee! The MDs are sooo impressed. Gag! When I heard that proclamation I doubled over half laughing, half throwing up. What a ridiculous, infuriating, flaming ignoramus! May the Coronavirus bite where it counts.
2
while NO ONE wants “ millions to die” as Trump Junior said of Democracts (as if he would or could know), the virus could well be a stunning deus ex machina come to save the Republic.
You just can't let go. In the midst of what could become one of the most dangerous diseases in history, you have to go after "cosmopolitan sophisticates." (You are a model for cosmopolitan sophisticates. Thank God you (and the Stable Genius) managed to see The Truth that we can't. From my position, stupid, venal blind, self-centered, do not belong to any "group." Thus, you can ignore the anti-science beliefs of Trump (excluding the knowledge he gained from his gut and his mega-genius uncle) and the right that much more responsible for Donald Trump's disastrous response.
"The Coronavirus Is Coming for Trump’s Presidency"
So, there is a silver lining to this coronavirus threat.
Given Trump's abject incompetence in handling this emergency, just imagine the catastrophe he'd cause if Putin decided to annex the Baltics like he did to Crimea.
1
Brilliant analysis.
CDC report
"At least 14,000 people have died and 250,000 have already been hospitalized during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"
Mr Douthat, is it really so hard to understand where your journalism is coming from?
Ross, it’s all about the numbers.
For more than three years, it has been radio station "KDON. All Trump, All the Time." With the advent of the coronavirus, we are facing a bully with even less empathy than Trump. At least Trump loves himself. "OK, Donnie." This is no joke, no hoax. YOU stay home for two weeks and every day YOU wonder which of the Big Mac wrappers your intern coughed on. I can't wait for your next rally, the masked ball. I'm sure your jabberwocky speech will be an act of genius, nothing to sneeze at. The good news... For the first time ever, the people of the Earth are united. We are all now lab rats.
The "language of cosmopolitan sophistication"? That's YOUR affectation. How about the language of common decency?
1
And he went to play golf. That is all ye know and all ye need to know!
1
The Secret Service code name for Pence on the Washington covid 19 trip is "Expendable".
You can bet he and his staff are tested hourly despite the short supply of test kits.
Worry about a deep state democrat scientist giving a false negative and sending a virus laden bomb back at the White House is real in Trumplandia.
The people on this trip will not be allowed near the President for two weeks just in case.
Ross,
You didn’t have to put all the partisan sewage in there, you could have said just this much;
“when the great test came, in the form of a virus carried by global trade routes from Communist China, he didn’t take the danger seriously”.
Bill
Ross, does it ever bother you that most of the people who read you are the cosmopolitans you so often deride? In the Catholic school I went to, this would be seen as a classic case of bad faith.
But perhaps that is too traditional for your version of revisionism?
Trump cannot disguise his incompetence in this crisis. It shines a light on how much we really need government. Taxes going to a wall that blows over, paying Trump hotels exorbitant fees to protect the man during a golf junket, and other jigger poker that pulled money from health care and the CDC are now in focus.
Trump called former Gov of Wa Inslee a “snake” . We need snakes. Snakes eat vermin and keep the ecosystem clean. The Dems need as many snakes as they can get to clean up the mess by Trump, the New York rat.
1
Right now, as we read this column, Trump is hitting a golf ball.
1
The MSM media sure is making a mountain out a molehill.The death rate from corovirus is about double that of regular flu.
But OK to scare people and possibly cause panic. The MSM is still trying to nullify the 2016 presidential election.
"the coronavirus seems very likely to doom Trump’s re-election effort, no matter where he casts the blame."
-------
This is probably Karma
Who are the cosmopolitan sophistochasts? Name one, Ross.
1
Are "cosmopolitan sophisticates" the new "coastal elite"?
1
Why no link on Ross’s snarky comment about objections from all those cosmopolitan sophisticates?
Somehow, this is going to be good for Trump. It has already allowed him to take interest rates down, which is good for his businesses. He will get them down to zero or negative before he is through. So, win for Trump personally once again.
I predict the virus will retreat during the summer months before returning with a vengeance next fall, just in time to delay the general election. Trump will continue in office, as the un-elected dictator. I've seen him rise out of every pile of filth he himself has caused, stronger than ever.
1
You can’t win. Russia collusion. Ukrainian interference. And now Corona virus. The death rate will fall below 1% once they test everyone. And Trump will beat Biden.
It's disingenuous to suggest that there was outrage at Trump's decision to restrict travel to China. Airlines had halted flights to China before Trump restricted travel from China, Eritrea, and Nigeria...the latter being the source of the contemptuous response.
However, you are right. Trump wasted time and dithered. His CDC insisted on a homegrown solution, and pretense of normalcy. Now we have an idiot president, and uncontrolled virus.
You forgot to list his petulant compulsion to deconstruct everything President Obama put in place to guard against a pandemic
Somehow, though, Trump will manage to blame the coronavirus on Hunter Biden, James Comey, Hillary, Lisa Page, and Obama (actually, he already blamed Obama). And FoxNews will repeat it, and the deplorables will believe it. It's like half the country got a vaccine against intelligence and common sense.
Good thing, COVID-19 is just a hoax.
Imagine if it is real.
And has started infecting the MAGA crowd in CPAC events and the Show Daddy Some Love rallies.
The Reverend Mike Pence’s prayers and gay-free thoughts might not work.
The idea that liberals don't approve of travel restrictions during a pandemic is a phony one. What does your grudge against liberals have to do with Trump's handling of the coronavirus? Why bring liberals up at all?
1
I was much impressed with Douthat on Real Time.
That said this is a religious issue not a political issue and Quebec cannot build a wall to keep out pathogen transporters. I am at high risk and will not do stupid and I am not an American and I do not hate my fellow citizens.
I remember when parents sent their children to visit their sick friends to acquire immunity to diseases that devastated adults.
We live in a global village and we remember the story of typhoid Mary.
There is a reason Universal healthcare will be mandatory in a decade. We are beginning to see the end of population growth and people are living longer and the fertility rate is not high enough to keep our numbers where they are now.
That is how my God works as miracles are forbidden and replace too many with longevity.
Corona virus does not seem capable of destroying civilization but who knows about the next one.
I don't care if Americans think they can defecate wherever they want, universal healthcare is right because America or anybody else cannot be trusted to take care of the least of us.
Communicable diseases need to be discovered early and cannot wait for the next free clinic.
I really don't want any contact with any country where public health is a profit maker for those that own the government.
I know what my brother Jesus said about caring for the sick and it wasn't cash, credit or whose is your insurer before the doctor will see you.
1
Why is cosmopolitan such an ugly word in the USA? For me it show someone who sees the « cosmos » in a larger way than a provincial. Neither person is better but a cosmopolitan certainly does not deserve the journalist’s narrow-minded disgust.
Stalin and Hitler used it as a slur against Jews. Rootless Cosmopolitans.
Trump is obsessed with demonstrating how tough and how insignificant the Coronavirus is by continuing to shake hands and hold rallies. This is a president who cares not one wit about the health of our nation. All he cares about is getting reelected, and if thousands die by his lies and incompetence, oh well!
How ironic that Trump is building a 30 foot high concrete and steel wall along the southern border...
When the “invader that’s does him in” is a nanometer in length...microscope...
So much for science...
3
"...to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level."
Oh those paper pushing decadent bureaucrats and their unclean thoughts! There's were the virus lies!
Call for a new Inquisition Mr. Douthat.
1
they who bow to the enemy abroad, will not be of power to subdue the conspirator at home
Like the diluting and eliminating of the banking rules and regulations, so too, the underfunding of the healthcare system will end in catastrophe. Financially, the brilliant cosmopolitans gave us the 2008 Great Recession; the Tea Party acolytes of Trump, the all time idiot, will give us a pandemic and economic collapse. Neither the brilliant cosmopolitans nor the Trumpians think regulating the system is necessary.
It is fortunate that our criminal president is not smart. His lack of real leadership is showing.
Wouldn’t you just love to run against Congressman Gaetz can’t you just see the ads, him in his gas mask and a rolling pictures of the deceases.
If your a parent and you deliberately put your child in danger you are held by legal authorities to account.
Well Trump and his increasingly ignorant minions have put the country at risk
Trumps incompetence is on full display and his ignorant minions are just ridiculous on the world stage
If your still healthy in November please vote blue we can’t live another four years of sheer stupidity
Life is not a tv show, even the trump wife is sending out pictures of a tennis court, people are quarantined and she is being some tone death First Lady
God help us all and not the fake god of Pence but the real one who loves us.
Great Scot, call a spade a spade, you are way too soft on Trump. His incompetence and outright lies have made the situation far worse. And you should point out that it continues. He is a horrible leader and does not belong in the White House. It is irresponsible for you to excuse him. Have yoiu no decency either?
It is coming for all lying republicans, not just their leader who they support 100%.
Crush the liars in November. Vote Democrat for liberty, freedom and transparency.
1
Heroes ain't really born...they are backed into corners. Most people have it in them, but never face the conditions that would bring it out.
Trump doesn't posses the traits for heroism. What he has in large amounts is the nature to lash out...like a cornered rodent.
Its what his dad taught him. Its what Cohn taught him. And its what most worked for him in the insular NYC RE business. Lashing out is his natural and only reaction to adversity. Like the spoiled, teen boy he never left behind...every thing about Trump is analogous to the archetypal spoiled teen boy of privilege...
1
It's almost... biblical!
Talk about a false equivalency! Trump is daily screwing up the nation's response to the threat, but somehow "cosmopolitan sophisticates" share the blame. These "cosmopolitans" even cleverly lured Trump into pronouncing the epidemic a "Democrat hoax" and inciting his Fox News parrots into a month of mocking the health fears.
No, Ross, no bunch of "cosmopolitan" pundits made Trump do anything. Trump is just the same ignorant, incompetent, perpetually angry and belligerent, paranoid crazy man he always has been.
1
This is just wishful thinking by liberals who are deeply disappointed that the Mueller report didn’t end Trump’s presidency and then impeachment didn’t work. They should prepare to be disappointed again, because the world is overreacting to the virus. I found the following quote at www.statnews.com:
"Overall, China CDC found, 2.3% of confirmed cases died. But the fatality rate was 14.8% in people 80 or older, likely reflecting the presence of other diseases, a weaker immune system, or simply worse overall health. By contrast, the fatality rate was 1.3% in 50-somethings, 0.4% in 40-somethings, and 0.2% in people 10 to 39."
What that means is the fatality rate for people in their 40's, which includes me, is about 1 in 250. Under 40 and it's more like 1 in 500. This is like a bad flu season. We don't shut down the economy over the flu. In the end, Trump will be seen as a voice of reason when the whole world was going crazy and it will help his re-election.
COVID-19 is a real-world lesson. Good health is a human and national priority and requisite for economic vitality; it depends on a strong, intelligent, well funded, and trustworthy public health infrastructure; it depends on easy access to robust healthcare for everyone; and it benefits from government-led cooperative action at every level from community to global. COVID-19 cannot be solved by cutting taxes, raising tariffs, deporting young immigrants, and criminalizing abortion. In short: compare the platforms of our two major political parties.
6
Even Trump's supporters know that Trump is first and foremost interested in Trump. They give him a pass on that because they credit him with a strong economy and believe the ends justify the means. Results are what matter. But like Presidential candidate Martin Sheen in the movie The Dead Zone lifting the baby to protect himself from gunshots there comes a point where Trump's self interest can no longer be stomached by even some of his very strong supporters. I think his luck is running out.
1
@Felix LaCapria valid point.
Nothing says "I'm taking this seriously" like doing the hokey-pokey around deciding to go the CDC and - then - when he gets there, looking like he took a side trip on the way to a round of golf throwing on a sweat jacket and a logo hat.
The video accompanying this - equating it to his impeachment, the blatant lies, the incoherence, should be exhibit A for his removal under the 25th amendment. This is not political; the nation's economic and physical health is at stake.
You know it's bad when Pence exudes competency.
2
At this moment it appears better decisions are being made, so the President may not involved. Sure, he blesses them, when he is not criticizing them publicly, e.g., his opposition to letting a cruise ship dock to unload passengers and crew and put them in proper quarantine.
If so, for the first time since John Kelly, someone (Mike Pence?) has found a degree of persuasive power. Another possibility, there was hope that Ivanka and Jared could exercise a calming influence. Did it finally happen? It's for Post reporters to find out.
If there's ever a moment for Trump's evangelical base to recognize Trump is a biblical "man of recklessness" it's now.
They will get sick, just like the rest of us. Will they think it's the "rapture" or bad government?
Whatever the case, we're not out of the woods. Time for honest religious leaders of all persuasions to call on the President to stop being a Bad Samaritan, concerned mostly about prestige and provide scientists and caregivers with the tools to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
Americans must hope Justice Brandeis was correct when he said, "the States are the laboratory of democracy". States, municipalities and medical institutions will bear the greatest burden. It is good to see some governors, Democratic and Republican, trying to rise to the challenge.
We won't know until the election whether Trump has lost his strange immunity to the consequences of his failures.
I don't think that Trump has ever really cared about globalization, immigration, or even China. These were merely convenient stepping stones for his rise to power. He would have used whatever pain points were available to him to create and stoke his base of support. Trump has always been about Trump, nothing more. His reaction to every major crisis, including the coronavirus, has always centered around his narcissism.
6
Huh. Yes. This: "owes a lot to the inherent problems of medical bureaucracy and the regulatory state, and to the decadence that afflicts American institutions at almost every level.", is clearly a problem. But Trump, just as the progressives have done through Bernie, used fear instead of ideas to begin his campaign, advocating red meat to the populace, and this has been the case since Augustine, the Church Father, who thought the average Joe and Joan were not bright enough to hear the unvarnished truth. Well Joe and Joan can search whatever they want to know and understand, and what they have wanted, was to isolate into their group and block out those
who do not share their values. Those days have to be over, and now, we must not only work with those whose values we share, but also with others who do not share our values; you know, the basic premise of democracy. Because the most powerful man in the world quite openly uses fear to lead, we now have a world aflame with fear. Coincidence? Not likely.
1
"Combine this scenario’s inevitable economic consequences with the optics of the president’s blundering and solipsistic response, and the coronavirus seems very likely to doom Trump’s re-election effort, no matter where he casts the blame."
Will Trump's Republican enablers turn on him?
I wouldn't count on it.
We are dependent on the "judgement" of the voter, and the track record is not encouraging.
3
The Democrats need to coalesce behind one candidate soon. Biden needs to totally ramp up VP selection work- and of course keep his marbles. If Sanders loses Michigan he should fall on his sword, drop out and endorse Biden. All of this needs to happen sooner rather than later to enhance the chance to beat Trump.
I was not a Biden supporter until the choice was him or Sanders. Biden can win- even as an uninspiring guy who is too old. He just needs to securely stand for the anti-Trump crowd. His campaign and Bloomberg’s financial backing need to take this approach without delay- as if it were the Manhattan Project. Sanders exit will help immensely.
PS. Trump will almost certainly dump Pence for Nikki Haley.
Watch "Look back at Palin, Biden VP debate" on youtube. A lot has changed in 12 years, and not for the better.
Well Ross, doesn't the history of authoritarian governments suggest that a 'Strong Man' is usually installed by a people who are worried that their countries needs for safety and prosperity are not being met? And doesn't a deeper look into history also suggest that the end of the Strong Man's regime usually comes about when it becomes apparent that he or she (Margaret Thatcher?) no longer is able to deliver the Goods? So, unless I miss my guess or misread recent history, our own current Beloved Leader's time, mercifully, seems to be numbered.
Oh, please, Ross -- your critique of "cosmopolitan sophisticates" is way off base. Sure, some urban liberals might have decried the travel restrictions, but the vast majority support the CDC, the NIH, and science-based responses. It's Trump and the GOP who are working to tear those institutions apart. Don't lump the two together.
10
You define "cosmopolitan sophisticates" as liberals who defend civil rights and then use that phrase to tag the conservatives who downplayed the spread of the virus, confusing the reader and confounding your argument.
This is what happens when stereotypical thinking expresses itself in ad hominem language and abandons the canons of reliable analytical thinking.
The rest of the article makes a lot of sense. Check the politics at the outset, and you will greatly improve your columns. Just a suggestion.
BTW, "cosmopolitan" (world citizen) and "sophisticate" (a person exhibiting wisdom) denote things to be admired. Hijacking words and using them to denote something not to be admired is an offense against the English language, except when used satirically.
7
@HLR Yes. And I'd add: a) 'cosmopolitan' and 'sophisticate' are soiled epithets-- they were coined and used by Nazi ideologues, beginning in the 1920s. Ross should be aware of that. b) Ross might more honestly talk about "knee-jerk multiculturalists." c) Donald isn't a "nationalist" because "nationalism" isn't a characteristic of an imperial power. The word is "ethnic/racial nationalist."
It takes one virus to defeat another. So the Coronavirus gets to Trump and his policies before he gets to it and the result is chaos. Or the Virus in the White House manages to become a leader overnight and beats it back. Somehow, the latter does not seem like a high probability scenario. So face masks and antibacterial wipes, people. Go get 'em.
1
Yes. It is coming for us. The poor have no insurance and no sick leave. They, along with our undocumented immigrants will not be able to get medical care, except in our emergency rooms. Our greed, our inability to share or have compassion for our neighbors, our desire to take away comfort and consolation from others, our duplicity in the world will lead us here.
If we do not learn that we are all connected, this epidemic and the next and the next will get bigger and more fierce wreaking havoc and killing us all. This will be like a biblical telling of how a great society was undone. I hope we learn that the health of our communities are all infinitely intertwined.
7
Cosmopolitan sophisticates?! Who the heck is Douthat talking about? Does he mean the scientific and public health communities that responded so effectively to the threat of ebola, and which Trump did so much to dismantle? Those same sophisticates recognized the threat of covid-19 in the earliest stages of the epidemic in China and advocated for pro-active mobilization by the CDC and NIH, which were weakened by Trump's political appointees and gutted pandemic programs. The wasted month when we should have been preparing for covid coming to a neighborhood near all of us is entirely the fault of Trump's ineptitude and disdain of science.
9
Notably, Trump only stumbled onto one correct decision...temporarily ban entry of people from China...because it coincided with his xenophobia, germophobia and desire to ban entry permanently. Even Americans would be denied reentry; even Americans on a cruise ship would be kept out.
1
First, "cosmopolitan sophisticates" is an ad hominem strawman and such FALLACIOUS training should NOT have made it to print.
Second, the bureaucratic "decadence" is not there reason treats aren't widely available: plenty of larger, more socialized and bureaucratic states have managed to get tests. This is ideological-driven hogwash, or hobgoblin-thinking and a foolish consistency that SHOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT TO PRINT!
Also, Ross, bureaucracy is just as prominent in the private sector (seen Ford verses Ferrari yet?).
2
The difference between the behavior of Pence versus Trump is stark.
We would have been better off if Pence had replaced Trump after the Impeachment proceedings.
@Jean Every time Pence gets up to talk about the Coronavirus he has to say something slavishly worshipful about the great leader. It's really getting disgusting.
People, including many pundits like Douthat, continue to think that trump actually has beliefs and some sort of philosophical direction. He's a malignant narcissist; if he accomplishes anything substantive it's from the efforts of others or an accident. He is only motivated, and if you're looking it's obvious, by gratifying himself with a sense of power, and especially if it comes sadistically, with the palpable suffering of others.
3
"Under my administration, we have a big, beautiful pandemic. (crowd cheers) They tell me it's the biggest since the Spanish Flu, but I think it's bigger, maybe the biggest in history. (crowd cheers) Obama....(crowd boos) under Obama and the do-nothing Democrats (crowd boos)...the Ebola didn't come close to our numbers. Purell, Chlorox and Lysol selling very, very strongly (crowd cheers). They say our test kits will be ready this week--dozens of perfect test kits. (crowd cheers)"
The Trump administration has been a carnival of disasters from before it even began. Every time something happens or he says some totally off the wall lies the media thinks this is going to be the one thing that brings him down and every time the slime just slides off of him onto someone else.
4
This is the Earth's antibodies attacking its most virulent geophage (please feel free to plagiarize)...Trump and his Republican fellow travelers. By November, even today's most enthusiastic MAGA-Trumpist, will be desperate to get rid of this self promoting jester, and elect a serious administration with competence and purpose to confront this disease.
1
"....Weeks ago, the government should have promised to cover the cost of testing, instead of leaving it to the tangle of insurance...."
Ooooo, that would be socialism!
2
What has happened to shrinking the federal government so it could be drowned in a bathtub?
1
In War of the Worlds the evil monsters were stopped by a simple cold. Same story line but it’s real this time. Guess who plays the monster?
1
You failed to mention Trump and Bolton getting rid of the agency that was responsible for preparing us for a reaction to pandemics. Of course it was started by Obama so it had to go. It shows how Trump and his followers hatred of Obama distorts their thinking.
3
A thoughtful, mindful response combined with agencies at the ready for action. Federal and state agencies working together to proactively address new infections and suppress the spread of the virus. Americans feel confident in their government, esp after Hurricane Katrina a few years ago......
Oh sorry, I was dreaming about how Obama's government would have reacted to the Coronavirus. Trump's own incompetence is at the core of this nightmare. Several bankruptcies didn't convince the voting public that this man is a fool. Perhaps after a virus-induced recession and thousands of deaths this man's nightmare might be truly over.
Waaaay to early to tell. We’ll know by November though. That’s for sure.
President Mar-A-Lago and his cabal of lackeys don't have the remotest idea how to deal with an actual problem, much less a health crises. Obviously Trump set up witless Pence to take a fall, but if the US goes full Italy, things will get chaotic fast and Trump will be virtually paralyzed.
2
He didn't take the threat seriously? You're kidding. As soon as he saw that the was any political danger to him he responded swiftly and decisively. "The stock market looks cheap to me!" "It's a Democrat hoax!" "It's Obama's fault" etc.
It's a matter of understanding priorities.
4
Italy has just shut down a part of it's northern region in an effort to contain the Coronavirus...despite that region being vital to it's overall economic well-being.
Undoubtedly, the Trump administration will view this as a possibility for this country; what a frightening prospect.
It's quite possible that we are about to witness the unraveling of rights and freedoms we never dreamed would ever be in doubt in this country.
We are also about to witness our culture of entitlement rear its ugly head to reveal truths about who we have become as a nation...realities we have been unwilling to recognize and instead have normalized and allowed.
My hope is that sooner, rather than later, we will remember that without our humanity...nothing we possess is of any real value.
May God bless America...we need it.
2
The article ignores Trump's mental condition.
People with narcissistic personality disorder do not accept reality. They bend reality to beef up their egos. They need assurance that they are brilliant.
Dealing with a crisis requires decisions, trade offs, pragmatism. Trump is incapable of that. He seems highly irritated by facts, hence his constant lying.
Obviously, this only works for him. The reality doesn't change.
4
You fail to mention that Trump has previously abused travel restrictions to enact a cruel racist agenda. That likely has a big part in why there is no good faith or encouraging words for a person that occasionally does the right thing. Even a stopped clock is more honest than trump.
You are wrong again.
It is not also fault of dems, cosmopolitan sophisticated.
Trump’s ignorance and incompetence is staggering. While not his fault, his behavior in the crisis is incompetent and, frankly, negligent.
Not to mention his emphasis on propoganda rather than science. Defending of science agencies.
Putting Pence in charge? Really.
2
"Cosmopolitan sophisticates?"
You mean educated people who can't be led around by the nose like cattle? People who read? Who travel and understand that the USA is not the centre of the Universe? Those people?
2
At least Trump believes in the germ theory of disease. However, he has completely dropped the ball on climate change, the biggest threat that faces America, and has even kicked the ball for good measure. If Americans are foolish enough to vote for someone who calls climate change a hoax is there really anything Trump can do that will lose him votes from the Fox News crowd? As long as Fox News is up and running and churning out lie after lie Trump will have solid political support.
1
How many thousands needlessly died of AIDS because of the botched response of the Reagan administration. This present mis-administration seems like déjà vu all over again.
1
That’s a good analogy. For Reagan, all disease was bad UNLESS it’s only affecting those immoral homosexuals. How many years did he dally? Long enough to kill a lot of people.
That blood is on Reagan’s hands. The impending death and life disruption from Coronavirus will be on Trump’s hands.
And the markets see through Trump. This will create a global recession which is already underway. It’s a high price to pay in human lives and the financial well being of many. This will undo Trump in November, and while that’s a relief, the price will be way too high.
Now go wash your hands!
Yet the floating petri dishes we call cruise ships continue to operate, even aiming to lure suckets with discounted amenities. Why no moratorium on cruises?
1
USA has the 37th best health care system in the world (WHO), at twice the per capita spending of better systems. Decadence indeed. And still there is a widespread belief it will get worse not better if it is moved more towards the more effective and demonstrably cheaper approaches used elsewhere in the world. The per capita spending stat just tells you that like all else in USA, health care is for the rich.
2
I would guess that most people like me are more concerned about the cost of Corona virus hospitalization and/or follow up care than with the cost of the test. Yes, the cost of the test should be free, but even more importantly, all of the necessary treatment if people will opt for the test in the first place.
1
Engineers increase safety and reliability with redundancy, building backup and fail-safe systems into their designs.
There’s also the concept of tail risk in finance. Sometimes rare events happen, sometimes rare events are catastrophic, and that should be factored into how investments are managed.
I’ve long thought that people who focus on the efficiencies of trade should do a better job of looking at what would happen if trade is disrupted for any one of a number of reasons, particularly with agriculture, public health, and defense. (Perhaps they do pay enough attention with defense.)
And it sure seemed to me that the financial crash in 2008 involved Wall Street paying insufficient attention to tail risk.
Seems like two areas where regulation is needed to ensure people don’t become overly focused on efficiency and profit.
1
"Talk to your healthcare provider" is the advice given for someone who might be hit with the virus. Really?? Thanks to Trump decimating the ACA, a lot of people don't have a healthcare provider. So, then what?
7
Much to take away and chew on, as with all Ross's columns. Regarding the inertia's of our bureaucratic state, it's worth noting that Obama used that very same bureaucratic state to vastly greater effect during the Ebola crisis. As for chances that the White House might exhibit strong leadership going forward, it is worth noting that Trump either will not, or cannot -- and it no longer matters which of these two it is -- get himself out of the way and give experts the unhindered power and visibility they need to be most effective during any crisis. As such, Trump himself is a major risk factor, and always will be to the degree an issue needs clarity, expertise and sociocentric thinking.
2
"This move was immediately attacked in the language of cosmopolitan sophistication,"
Note the sleight of hand here. It wasn't liberals who attacked the travel restrictions; it was people who used their language. So who exactly was it? Perhaps it was the same conservatives who believe in minimalist government, the ones who were happy to see John Bolton fire the pandemic rapid response team Obama had set up in the NSC. The US government needs to be staffed and have resources to deal with emergencies like this, but there's no room for that in the conservative worldview Douthat espouses, lest we raise taxes to pay for it.
8
This is one of the more short-sighted pieces of opinion writing I've seen from the NYT in a long time. Sometimes one needs historical perspective and institutional memory to truly understand the etiology of error. The medical profession as a whole and the public health professionals in particular have known for a very long time that the next epidemic after SARS, MERS and Ebola was not a matter of "if", but "when", yet this administration did all it could to dismantle expertise, preparedness and administrative proficiency long before this recent outbreak. Unfortunately, contrary to what is stated here, the WH IS responsible for a great deal of what went wrong with the response. The core of the problem isn't only on account of what didn't happen weeks ago as probably rightly reported here, but what did happen two years ago. Acknowledging that requires institutional memory which is, from the evidence, sadly lacking here as well as in large swathes of the public, which may explain why the WH and its band of incompetents, sadly, may yet get away with it again.
9
The single most important test of a leader is how he or she handles a national emergency, a natural or manmade crisis. Trump has already had several, which he mishandled, including the hurricane in Puerto Rico and the crisis at the southern border during which children were separated from their families and put in cages. Many are still unreunited, some may never see their families again. But in the Trump playbook, these situations involved foreigners - yes, he and his followers consider Puerto Ricans as non-American as those from south of the border, so the political damage from his base has been pretty much non-existant. The Coronavirus, an equally non-partisan threat for all, may engender a different reaction. Today. as Trump battled to keep Americans exposed to the virus confined to a cruise ship so he can argue how few cases exist in the U.S., it became clear he's less concerned with the threat than the optics. However, just as Katrina was the deathknell for GWB's popularity, this may well be remembered as the beginning of the end of the reign of Trump.
1204
@Randy If Katrina happened in 2004 not 2005, I doubt Bush would have been (re)elected that year.
24
@Lisa
Yes but by definition the virus will spread to rural states more slowly and with less impact. Trump was never planning on winning New York or California anyway. By controlling the optics, he was trying to minimize damage to voters he actually wants to win.
For better or worse, Trump underestimated the impact to swing states. The cat is out of the bag. The horse is out of the barn. Trump is desperately trying to look busy when the situation is already out of control. Once again, Fox News is supporting the false narrative.
Now it's nothing but optics. It's too late. Start counting bodies, not infections.
72
@Randy
Perhaps true this may point towards the end of Trump.
However one must ask. What took America so long to recognize that Trump is a lying incompetent charlatan?
105
The biggest demonstration of this administrations incompetence can be seen in the number of tests conducted in this and all other countries. South Korea has tested almost 100 times more people than we have. Everybody got the sequence of this virus the same day when China released it. Why did it take so much longer for US to get testing going? There are dozens of stories of patients and doctors who wanted these test available but could not get them.
650
@Ivan Why is it taking so much longer? The Trump administration rejected the World Health Organization's offer of testing kits and decided the US/CDC would develop its own.
135
@Ivan I do hope you realize that some will see your criticism as partisan quibbling. NYT readers WANT to see Trump in the worst possible light and interpret everything through a dark lens.
But many neutral observers might not go along with your interpretation. People can see very well that the epidemic began in China and that the countries most affected are South Korea, Iran and Italy, not the US (yet). Putting the VP in charge will seem to many as real action.
I hope that this administration puts up a vigorous defense against the coronavirus, and if it ends up helping Trump, that is a price we are all going to have to pay.
Or, did you wish that the response was inadequate, and that the US suffers a lot JUST to make sure that Trump loses in November? I do hope I am not reading your mind!
1
@Ivan "Why did it take much longer for US to get testing going?" South Korea, China and every other country have a national health infrastructure. In the US, we are still arguing about who will pay for your test.
100
Trump worried about the "numbers" that would affect his presidency and his ability to be re-elected. He worried how the "numbers" would affect financial markets and how those same "numbers" would make him look ineffective.
It was all about the "numbers".
We can't trust Trump to be honest, forthright, factual, seriously interested, inquisitive, or even when facts are presented to him, we can't trust him to act with good judgement or common sense.
The health officials had already been removed from positions at the National Security Council and the debate that took place was about political numbers not about the rates of infection, how to prevent further spread of the contagion and how to handle the people already infected.
Trump was patently dishonest, deceitful and interested first and foremost in his political interest not the interests of the health and welfare of the citizens of the United States.
Trump is guilty of dereliction of his duty. His conduct is egregious. Since Mr. Trump is so interested in numbers he ought to consider this. The number of people, Republicans, Democrats and Independents who are demanding responsiveness and integrity from the White House are demanding accountability and change.
902
@Jack Frost
And isn't it appalling in the first instance that "numbers" is actual people suffering from the disease. They aren't people in Trump's mind, they are hindrances to his re-election.
96
@Jack Frost Does anyone seriously expect Trump to care about other people contracting this virus? What has he ever done to give us that idea?
54
@Jack Frost Remarkably ! about Half the voting citizens in this country Dont Care if what he thinks is accurate or 'right' and they Dont Care what he Does as log as it plays into their biases and hate, and 'entertains' Them....
48
There is no irony. This was all predictable. Anyone paying attention knew the moment a real crisis struck - whether financial, terror related, or public health - this administration and its “post truth” philosophy leading to a rejection of expertise would collapse. We all just hoped they didn’t take the country down with them.
1135
@Ben Yes. This was all predictable. I was more concerned that the crisis would be terror-related. In a sense, it is.
23
@Ben The problem is people are not paying attention, even now. I recently spoke to two people in the 30s who thought our current vice president is Joe Biden!
And those who do pay attention, if all they watch is Fox News, how will that help?
This pandemic shows our interconnectedness and the impossibility to form self bubbles, individually or nationally. Unfortunately, the delusion of some of us is like this coronavirus, it will bring us all down if it is not over powered and contained.
29
@Ben
Yes, very predictable.
When Trump & the Republics excoriate Obamacare and millions cheer about taking healthcare away from the poor and the undocumented dooming millions to probable infection and thousands to their deaths we know that we are in for a very rough ride.
When Trump and co send mixed messages on infection rates and lie about availability of testing and there sheep like followers believe that COVID 19 is fake news be scared.
A few days ago there were 250 confirmed cases in the US today there are 450 by next weekend we could have 2,000 confirmed cases (assuming they deploy enough test kits or allow suitably equipped labs to test) and over 100 deaths.
Ammo sales are up, so the NRA and the gun lobby must be happy. I am just waiting for a gun crazed nut to shoot somebody after they cough. Time to hunker down.
36
Just a small correction. The virus was in China in November, the Administration was aware of it and took no measures until the 31st of January, some two months late. Even with the outbreak accelerating on a daily basis, Trump is still not on board with the seriousness or leadership one would expect from the chief executive. One can almost hear the outcry from Fox news if Obama had performed so poorly.
If coronavirus takes down the Trump Presidency, then so be it. It is not his first mistake, but the biggest to date. Thinking it will be his last is a "fools errand".
2
The hatred of "big government" has gutted the bureaucracy that would (and in the past usually did) protect public health. That's the reason for the "bureaucratic bottlenecks" that Douthat blames. The public health bureaucracy has neither the power nor the resources needed.
1
Nice try, Mr. Douthat.
Your selective history of our current predicament neatly avoids mentioning that in his effort to undo all that President Obama had done, Trump eliminated a National Security Council position dedicated to coordinating our responses to an epidemic. And he defunded CDC programs aimed at preventing and treating an epidemic.
Obviously, you present selective facts in order to shore up your "conservative bonafides" at a time when criticism of the president could devalue your stock in certain circles.
So, using his late, ineffective ban on travel from China as an example of something Trump did right is risible.
And your criticism that follows isn't courageous, it is mush.
6
I can't help but think the spread of the virus bolsters the case for electing Bernie Sanders and recognizing healthcare as a human right.
2
That Trump is in danger of losing the presidency is possibly the best new this nation can receive.
3
Knowing trumps history, why would anyone assume that he announced the travel ban specifically to slow the spread of a disease? His actions regarding Covid-19 since have shown his real lack of concern and his personal brand of incompetence. His initial travel ban was simply done to show his base that he was going to protect them from 'the other'.
1
To discuss the current occupant of the White House in terms that would draw even the slightest equivalency with any preceding presidency is absurd, and an act of intellectual dishonesty.
What reasonable mind would have expected Donald Trump to act appropriately in ANY circumstance? And didn't we know it already before we voted (or FAILED to) in 2016?
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The The NY Times op-ed writer who says, "Trump fell into the same trap as the cosmopolitan sophisticates," I say, "Look in the mirror."
Hindsight is so great if all your job requires is carping and lecturing. Impossible to err. Predicting is also easy. I'm sure Trump will pivot any moment now and become presidential.
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I have one question: when is Trump going to call off his public virus incubators??? In short, no one has yet posed the question: "When are you going to eliminate the risk posed by your public political gatherings?"
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The stock market overrides everything else for this narcissistic excuse for a human being, since collapsing stock market and economic downturn that comes with it kills his chances of reelection. As simple as that. No need for a more complex analysis of what he did with coronavirus.
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It's already too late, unless the virus goes away on its own or mutates in the right direction, i.e., to less lethal. Apparently it's easily transmissible, and if a 2 percent death rate is an accurate figure, everyday life is going to be severely disrupted and the economy will take a huge hit.
The administration's mishandling of the crisis reminds me of Katrina, but on a national scale. We pay a price when we elect people like Bush and Trump to office. It's interesting to me that graduates of very prestigious schools can be so ill-informed and, well, stupid. I've worked with people who graduated from the very top universities in this country but couldn't write a grammatical sentence; others were capable of doing things like issuing payroll checks that bounced when the employees took them to the bank. Strange country we live in.
5
What caught my eye in this article was the writer’s reference to the molasses effect of the “tangle of insurance”, an unintended shout-out to Medicare for all.
4
In trump’s America, the saying has been revised to “while the bucks stop here, responsibly for anything and everything wrong stops elsewhere” (default Obama).
3
Um, so it is bureaucratic decadence that was responsible for dismantling the public health emergency response team in the National Security Council?
3
Reagan won the White House from Carter by asking a simple question, the answer to which everyone knew: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Trump can be defeated by this simple question, the answer to which everyone, even the most partisan republicans, already know: If your life depended on it, can you trust Trump to tell the truth?
3
No need to worry. We have a president that is a very, very, stable genius. Whose grandfather was a super genius who taught longer than anyone at MIT. He amazed the doctors at the CDC with his knowledge of gene sequencing and virus containment protocols. He actually knew more than they did but kept listening, lest he might have embarrassed them with his superior knowledge.
Between his expertise in all matters of human endeavor and Mike Pence’s close relationship with the almighty, what could go wrong?
Now, the fact that every endeavor that the man has undertaken has ended in bankruptcy is irrelevant. Virus beware! The Great One is coming after you!
1
Unfortunately, continually tooting the Trump administration's horn for instituting the travel ban well after the horses had left the barn, is just one more falsehood stacked on the existing grotesque presidential praise-heap. A month late is nonetheless a month late and trolling for underserved credit for a job poorly done, makes one look petty. Can we set the bar any lower?
1
Nope , Trump is impossible .
A leader of any kind cannot claim know everything.
He stood in between CDC scientist and claim that he can be a genius scientist as his uncle, he can do it he asserted.
What kind of childish rivalry against science and scientist that very petulant posturing.
Trump is a moral carcass of humanity's worst instincts nothing else.
I agree 100% with Rex Tillerson assessment about Trump.
1
who would have thought that China's coronavirus was the "import" that Donald "Le Horrible" should have attacked?
His "good relationship" with Xi and his burning desire to develop "Trump Hotel" in China is now coming back to haunt him...
Murphy's Law works every time, even to Donald!
2
Or maybe it's just another desperate hope of the never-Trumpers, and what will really happen is that people will remember the problem was the Democrats who opposed Trump's restrictions on the entry of foreigners (let alone "undocumented" foreigners) as "racist" and "xenophobic."
Nice try, but the main domestic driver of this pandemic is overseas travel by tourists and business people, not refugees from South America and Central America.
2
Too many Republicans have sanctioned Trump's habitual lies and self interest and his willing to fire anyone who contradicts his lies or questions his interest. Now, during a deadly crisis, let's hope that some Republicans are also left wondering whether Trump and his administration can be trusted.
2
Oh, the irony. A virus, not one of this administration’s many scandals, crimes or political opponents, will take down President Trump. Trump, the germophobe, the fast food gobbling, science defying “expert”, beaten by the ultimate force, Mother Nature. A virus has it’s own power. Trump, with all of his bullying and lies cannot simply wash this away in 20 seconds. A virus will not cower to a barrage of Trump tweets. Trump’s strongman tactics cannot manipulate a virus. A virus will smash through Trump’s wall of bravado. A virus is 100% truth, a truth that Trump is completely incapable of dealing with. Oh, the irony, indeed.
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Do you mean to say that you took it seriously when he threatened his "complete shutdown," and promised to put the national interest first?
Only fools take anything that Donald Trump says at face value. And that was true before he became president. (No president has ever made the national interest such a low priority, in fact--far below lining his pockets and protecting his ego,)
Also, what do you mean by saying that he pulled "a certain percentage of his co-partisans into irresponsibility"?
If you mean the Republican Party, it became a criminal conspiracy long before the coronavirus outbreak. It has long dismissed science, vaccines, climate change, balanced budgets, minorities, women, working people, and common sense.
And don't they bear responsibility for what they do, even if their president is the Devil in the flesh? don't we still believe in individual responsibility?
Your column was quite good until you wandered down those two dead ends....
"
If the coronavirus comes for Trump’s presidency, he will have one last card to play: declare a national emergency and suspend the election. Sound crazy? Maybe. But so did the sound of “President Donald J. Trump” four short years ago.
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