Maybe we should have taken Tater a little more seriously last week. Lesson learned.
Looks like we're going to be tested over the next few weeks. We'll find out how well we've learned our lessons.
In less than two weeks the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the U.S. has gone from less than 100 to over 6,000. The Dow Jones has lost a quarter of it's value. Government offices and many businesses are closed in several states including this one.
Two and a half weeks ago the Donald said this was a liberal media hoax. Today it's a national emergency and he wants to send everybody a check for $1000 to forget.
In just a week we've all had a good lesson in social distancing. We've also had a good lesson in leadership versus pretending to give a damn. Take a look at Governor Beshear's daily briefings.
He's calm, firm but reassuring. He tells us what is happening and discourages speculation. He encourages and praises the people doing the hard work. This is what good governance look like.
In DC, the Squirmer-In-Chief looks like he's having a prostate exam. He's looking for someone to blame. Since he can't pass it off as a hoax anymore, it must be a Chinese plot. But don't worry, everything's going to be fine because he knew this was a pandemic before the WHO did.
The last things you'll get from the Donald are facts and this is the basis for the biggest lesson I hope we take from this.
When you're dealing with pandemics, ideologies and beliefs don't help. In times of disaster, what is actually happening on the ground dictates appropriate reaction, not political expediency.
In times of disaster, you need a government that functions for the good of the people. Wouldn't having a national healthcare model actually help in times of disease based crisis? And definitely having leadership who made decisions based on facts and science instead of the highest bidder might be good.
Once upon a time, being a Republican meant being for reliable, functioning government. That's turned to being for no government at all. Donald Trump in the White House is the ultimate statement of where the party has gone.
Unfortunately, this is one of those times a country needs a functioning infrastructure. A healthcare system based on quality of life instead of stock values. Leaders who believe in the value of government, not the dangers of government.
Our current government shut down a Pandemic response team, has tried to take healthcare from millions, turned down a test for Coronavirus in the early stages, and played politics with people's lives when it could have been preparing for the inevitable.
They're trying to find ways to profit from this pandemic, not ways to minimize the loss of life. And, of course, give their bosses a tax cut.
In 1918 my mother's maternal grandparents died in the Spanish Flu pandemic. It's not in my DNA to joke around about these things. We are at the early stages of a pandemic that could turn out to be a short economic inconvenience with a few thousand dead or a world wide disaster with millions lost.
Wouldn't it be reassuring to have a government in Washington that wanted to function for its population?