While Canadians have mostly been enjoying the unusual unanimity of their federal and provincial leaders in this time of the pandemic, the situation in the U.S. is reversed. In a frightening replay of the Spanish flu of 100 years ago, the states and their federal government are fighting their own battles. Last time, about 675,000 Americans died. With today’s modern medicine, only 20,000 Americans have died from covid-19, so far. President Trump is impatient for it to be over and wants to declare the pandemic has been beaten.
With the patchwork solutions—or lack of solutions—by the various states, there is no way to reasonably predict any resolution of the pandemic in the country. President Trump will have to keep moving his end dates. He blithely missed his first prediction of Easter. Undaunted, the blowhard-in-chief has now predicted the end of the pandemic is the end of April. He will be likely to keep moving his dates and his followers will believe his excuses.
What he really should be thinking about is the need for the states to agree to mail-in ballots for the November election. The reality is that the Americans are likely to want to vote in unprecedented numbers in November. And if the recent Wisconsin primary experience is any indication, the election officials will be loath to help people mark their ballots. Long line-ups with angry, frustrated voters are not a good idea.
If Trump continues to move his forecast to end of the pandemic, month by month, it could even shake the confidence of some of his followers. If someone lies to you for eight months in a row, would you not be taking his opinion for what it is worth—nothing.
What is really concerning in all of this is that Donald Trump has available to him some of the best medical science laboratories in the world and some of the finest minds in the medical sciences. If he would just listen to these experts for a change, think of the good he could do.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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