Did Trump listen to the experts?
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my confidence, and my credibility, is this high!
(Edited to include the inadvertently omitted “past 75” in the quote of Dr. Emanuel)
Trump was, and still is, blasted by the media and its scribes for “not following the science” and “refusing to listen to his own experts”. I thought it’d be interesting to see what those experts were saying while Trump was fighting impeachment, the expansion of China’s military adventurism around the globe, and, you know, world affairs.
First up is Trump’s Covid Task Force’s Ezekiel Manuel (brother of Rahm), urging Americans to “calm down”.
January 30, 2020;
Americans are too worried about the new coronavirus that’s spreading rapidly across China, former White House health advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel told CNBC on Thursday
“Everyone in America should take a very big breath, slow down and stop panicking and being hysterical,” said Emanuel.
“I think we need to put it into context, the death rate is much lower than for SARS,” he added.
Dr. Emanuel, a medical ethicist, and not an epidemiologist, can be forgiven for not worrying about a disease that mostly kills old people; he’s famous for saying life past 75 is not worth living, and disputed claims that seniors could still be productive members of society; instead, they’re a useless drain on resources and fulfill no useful role, even seniors still active:
"These people who live a vigorous life to 70, 80, 90 years of age — when I look at what those people 'do,' almost all of it is what I classify as play. It's not meaningful work. They're riding motorcycles; they're hiking. Which can all have value — don't get me wrong. But if it's the main thing in your life? Ummm, that's not probably a meaningful life."
Okay, but how about St. Fauci? Didn’t he warn the president of impending doom? Er, no. January 21, 2020:
“This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now.”
MIT Medical/CDC? “Hey, don’t sweat this China thing”.
January 31, 2020: While new evidence indicates that people who are infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) may become contagious before symptoms are noticeable, neither the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) nor WHO (World Health Organization) have changed their recommendations regarding the treatment of asymptomatic individuals who may have been exposed to 2019 n-CoV while traveling.
MIT and MIT Medical are closely monitoring the situation and will promptly implement any new recommendations. However, at this point, MIT is not recommending quarantine or isolation for any member of our community, nor is it necessary for MIT Medical to “clear” individuals returning from affected areas before they are allowed to go to work or school.
If you have traveled from China within the last 14 days, you should continue to be vigilant about monitoring yourself for fever and lower respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath. However, not all affected individuals will exhibit all symptoms, and if you have any symptoms at all, call MIT Medical right away at 617-253-4865.
Again, like Dr. Death Emanuel’s comments, some context is required here. The MIT statement was released on the same day that Trump imposed his racist ban on foreign travelers from China, so a response from the disloyal opposition was clearly called for. The good wokettes at MIT were happy to oblige.
Sadly but not unexpectedly, “following the science” lost its appeal to Red State Governors this week. While last year they gleefully imposed mask mandates and shutdowns on the excuse that they were just obeying CDC ‘s scientific guidelines, when the masks came off at the CDC Thursday, months overdue, the new guidelines were dismissed as “politics, not science”.
Power will be retrieved from the bureaucrats/and Nomenklatura only when we pry it from their cold, stiff fingers.
Circling Back: While I’m on this riff, let’s not forget De Blasio assuring New Yorkers that the subways were safe to ride, on March 5, 2020:
Mayor de Blasio took a short, rare subway ride to demonstrate to New Yorkers the coronavirus shouldn’t alter their habits.
"I’m here on the subway to say to people nothing to fear, go about your lives and we will tell you if you have to change your habits but that's not now,” Hizzoner said on a packed C train he caught at the Fulton St. stop Downtown.
“We have the best public health professionals protecting us,” he added. “All over the city there are doctors, nurses and disease detectives trying to keep everyone safe and so far we have had really good results.
What, you worry? Hizzoner rides the rails 3/4/2020
(On March 9, 2020, De Blasio finally lifted his ban on subway workers wearing face masks).
[This] was a departure from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s stance on the issue last week, when agency’s Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren said “medical guidance indicates that respiratory masks do not protect healthy people” and “at this time they may not be worn by uniformed MTA employees.”
And of course, who can forget our Speaker of the House’s counterattack against Trump’s anti-Asian hate?
