America has no leadership during pandemic or anything else
Here we are, barely a third of the way into June, 2020, and it’s already a rough month for our government. Uncle Sam must be sad.
Letter opinion
Right now, the American Dream is blurring into a nightmare.
America deserves and desperately needs better leadership!
Letter opinion
Right now, the American Dream is blurring into a nightmare.
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| The American dream is fading because Donald Trump has failed to provide patriotic leadership. |
An opinion echo letter in the Idaho Moscow-Pullman Daily News
A major health emergency, coronavirus, which has killed two Vietnam wars worth of Americans, continues to stalk the the United States and the world.
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| ."...coronavirus has killed more than two Vietnam wars worth of Americans...." |
Widespread social unrest generated by huge job losses, overt racial injustice (Black Lives Matter), and police brutality has sparked rioting in cities from coast to coast.
The final ingredient in this dysfunctional cocktail is an absolute lack of leadership from the White House. Other than tweeting and posing for ludicrous photos, Donald Trump has abdicated his responsibility to the nation.
With our current (failed!) president on the sidelines, the nation’s governors are doing the best they can with what they’ve got.
This sorry state of affairs begs some basic questions: 1) Is America prepared for anything? 2) Is there a shred of coherent leadership left in the #WhiteHouse executive branch?
With a penchant for upheaval and a ceaselessly churning roster of interim advisors, President Chaos has shown his disdain for measured, strategic thought. The entire apparatus of U.S. government now operates at the whim of one capricious man. His sole ambition is pandering to the lowest common denominator among poorly educated, white conservatives.
It’s a toxic formula in the best of times, and these are not the best of times.
COVID-19 has killed nearly 120,000 (++) Americans, which is the equivalent of erasing Allentown, Penn., or Abilene, Texas, or Berkeley, Calif., from the face of the earth. Despite cries of “Fake News!” from Trump’s toadies, those are 120,000 real deaths, with real tears and real funerals.
Statistically however, those deaths are just a drop in the bucket. In a nation of more than 328 million, the risk posed by COVID-19 is still pretty abstract for most Americans. For them, the pandemic is killing “other people,” who are “not like us” and “not from around here.”
Of more immediate concern to many people is the economic damage wrought by months of confinement and the inability to earn a paycheck.
The service industry has been particularly hard hit, as have the building trades. The upshot is millions of workers are going broke because of a threat that doesn’t seem like much of a threat.
With our current (failed!) president on the sidelines, the nation’s governors are doing the best they can with what they’ve got.
This sorry state of affairs begs some basic questions: 1) Is America prepared for anything? 2) Is there a shred of coherent leadership left in the #WhiteHouse executive branch?
With a penchant for upheaval and a ceaselessly churning roster of interim advisors, President Chaos has shown his disdain for measured, strategic thought. The entire apparatus of U.S. government now operates at the whim of one capricious man. His sole ambition is pandering to the lowest common denominator among poorly educated, white conservatives.
It’s a toxic formula in the best of times, and these are not the best of times.
COVID-19 has killed nearly 120,000 (++) Americans, which is the equivalent of erasing Allentown, Penn., or Abilene, Texas, or Berkeley, Calif., from the face of the earth. Despite cries of “Fake News!” from Trump’s toadies, those are 120,000 real deaths, with real tears and real funerals.
Statistically however, those deaths are just a drop in the bucket. In a nation of more than 328 million, the risk posed by COVID-19 is still pretty abstract for most Americans. For them, the pandemic is killing “other people,” who are “not like us” and “not from around here.”
Of more immediate concern to many people is the economic damage wrought by months of confinement and the inability to earn a paycheck.
The service industry has been particularly hard hit, as have the building trades. The upshot is millions of workers are going broke because of a threat that doesn’t seem like much of a threat.
In their eyes, the solution is wildly disproportionate to the problem.
Some people can “go to work” with a laptop computer at the kitchen table, but many others don’t have that luxury. For them, the extended confinement has been a government-imposed kick in the guts as the bills keep coming even though the paychecks ended months ago.
Unprecedented economic insecurity. Highly publicized assaults on people of color by overzealous white cops. An inflammatory president seeking to stir up conflict and division. Add it all up, and it’s hardly surprising the fabric of civil society is beginning to fray.
Just as 1967, spawned the Summer of Love, 2020, is shaping up as the Summer of Discontent.
With restrictions beginning to ease and more people returning to work, it’s tempting to assume the pandemic is on its last legs. Unfortunately, the worst is not behind us – especially in college towns such as Pullman and Moscow.
Here on the Palouse, our relatively low rates of infection have nowhere to go but up when tens of thousands of college students return in the fall. As a group, college undergraduates are as sociable as a box of puppies, so a second, steeper wave of infections is almost inevitable.
The bad news is that COVID-19 will be with us for a while.
The good news is that smart, capable people are providing sound leadership at the state and local level. Let’s repay that good work by heeding their advice.
Some people can “go to work” with a laptop computer at the kitchen table, but many others don’t have that luxury. For them, the extended confinement has been a government-imposed kick in the guts as the bills keep coming even though the paychecks ended months ago.
Unprecedented economic insecurity. Highly publicized assaults on people of color by overzealous white cops. An inflammatory president seeking to stir up conflict and division. Add it all up, and it’s hardly surprising the fabric of civil society is beginning to fray.
Just as 1967, spawned the Summer of Love, 2020, is shaping up as the Summer of Discontent.
With restrictions beginning to ease and more people returning to work, it’s tempting to assume the pandemic is on its last legs. Unfortunately, the worst is not behind us – especially in college towns such as Pullman and Moscow.
Here on the Palouse, our relatively low rates of infection have nowhere to go but up when tens of thousands of college students return in the fall. As a group, college undergraduates are as sociable as a box of puppies, so a second, steeper wave of infections is almost inevitable.
The bad news is that COVID-19 will be with us for a while.
The good news is that smart, capable people are providing sound leadership at the state and local level. Let’s repay that good work by heeding their advice.
As for national leadership, well, America’s current (fake!) president simply isn’t up to the job. Next time, Americans must elect a better one.
William Brock, lives in Pullman, Washington.
William Brock, lives in Pullman, Washington.
Labels: Idaho
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 5:32 PM
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