We now know that the White House knew as early as January, very likely even sooner, that something wicked this way comes. There were carefully thought out plans available to deal with a pandemic, but apparently they ended up in the circular file. Why, we're not sure. Maybe because Obama was in charge of crafting those plans. Maybe because Trump didn't want to spook Wall Street. Probably both. Pretty sure when he said he didn't want to cause panic, he wasn't talking about We the People. We were left in the dark while he publicly insisted that it was cool, just the flu, don't worry, be happy.
But look what happened. Three months in, the bad news finally got out. Without guidance from the federal government which had access to all the information and the agencies in place to get right on it, cities and states panicked and shut down cold. People panicked and hoarded essential supplies. The economy (Trump's only valid brag going into this election year) panicked and tanked. And it's lasted almost the entire year! Oh yeah, and way too many people died.
It didn't have to be like this. We could have implemented those guidelines right away and minimized both the scope and the duration of the damage. I don't know what was in Obama's plans, but common sense gives us an idea.
Wash hands.
Extra surface cleaning.
Social distancing.
Avoid large crowds, especially in enclosed spaces.
Masks and distancing when groups are unavoidable.
Temporarily close down non-essential gatherings where people are crammed together, such as bars, etc.
Adjust school and church activies, and travel, to follow guidelines.
Work from home if possible.
Quarantine if you're sick or test positive.
If we had done all those things immediately, we might be easing back into a more normal life instead of seeing cases and deaths keep going up while Trump rants about everything except what we should be doing.
It didn't have to be this way, and it's never going to go completely back to normal. That old normal is gone.
tnt
