We
are in the midst of a worldwide health pandemic according to the World Health Organization.
The President asked Vice President Pence to lead a blue-ribbon task force to
manage the outbreak. He gathered agency heads, healthcare professionals, and
others to help him. He holds daily briefings to keep people up to date. The
experts, not the politicians make the major presentations and appear on the
Sunday morning news shows. I give them the benefit of the doubt. I think they
are trying to be as helpful as possible within the limits of their political
world.
The
task force does a much better job when President Trump doesn’t participate. What
we do with the information is interesting. In the worse health scare in
American history, our beliefs, and actions are dictated by which political party
we belong to instead of facts and science.
According
to a national poll published this morning[i],
45% of voting Americans approve of how Trump is handling the pandemic. Only 51%
disapprove. A deeper dive into the data, however, indicates that 81% of
Republican voters approve the administration’s actions and 84% of Democrats disapprove.
The divide is wide and deep.
How
did we get to the point where our party affiliation influences our acceptance
of facts, data, science, health warnings, and general overall behavior in the
midst of a major health outbreak?
The
health scientists, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others are telling elderly people,
anyone over 60 years old, to stay home, to isolate themselves, to stay away
from other people who might be carrying the virus without knowing it. They are
discouraging young people from visiting their grandparents and other elderly.
The
poll also indicated that 56% of Democrats expect major changes in their lives
because of the virus. Only 26% of Republicans think the outbreak will result
in major changes in their lives.
Schools
are closed, college students won’t return from spring break, the Fed reduced
interest rates to 0%, MLB is shut down, the NBA is waiting it out, March Madness
is canceled. Even pro golf is in a hiatus. If you have seen all the classic
movies three times, can’t watch one more reality TV program, and there are no sports
on the screen, it’s safe to say that our lives are changed.
We
are told that this coronavirus has the potential for killing thousands of
people if we don’t hunker down. Its not the flu and should not be taken
lightly. We, unlike many other countries, do not have working test kits to
measure how bad the situation really is. We do know that the virus doubles its
attacks every two weeks. Much of the leadership in combating the virus is
coming, not from the federal government, but from the states and local
governments who are relying on the science to take action. The governors of
Illinois and Ohio closed all restaurants and bars today. The Governor of
California ordered all wineries, brewpubs, and bars to close, and for
restaurants to slash seating by half. At the same time, Congressman Nunes[ii]
was on TV encouraging people to ignore the health experts, and get out to the
restaurants and mingle with crowds. As we get more facts, day by day, the
recommendations for self-isolation are expected to increase, hospitals will be
overwhelmed with sick people, and supplies will be in short supply. The mixed
messages from political toadies and the scientist are confusing.
The
President made a major speech to the nation from the Oval Office last Wednesday
night, trying to calm the panic, bolster recognition for the work he had done
to date, and to tell the people that this too will pass. At best, he fumbled
it. It was poorly written, and it was poorly delivered. It created uncertainty.
The markets hate uncertainty, and they tanked the next morning as never before.
Rachel
Maddow on MSBC interviewed experts who had managed pandemic situations in the
past, who knew something about testing and why we didn’t have kits, and filled
in most of the blank spaces with opinion unfavorable to the speech and/or the
administration. In an attempt to be fair and balanced, I switched to Fox News.
Hannity
was extolling the outstanding job President Trump had done to curb the virus
and how test kits were available all over the country for those who needed
them. He said you could not expect a greater response than what the administration
had done. He suggested that if anyone had any suggestions for improving the
response they should email him.
On
Friday afternoon I experienced another surprise on Fox News. One of the shows
was talking about the coronavirus in the same way that other cable channels
reported the news. That’s when I remembered that there are two Fox News if you
will: the news department and the talking heads. Then my head spun again when
Tucker Carlson, not the most unbiased right-wing commentator, warned people
that the pandemic is real, and not a conspiracy by the leftist socialists.
Most
Republicans trend toward Fox News and most Democrats lean toward CNN and MSNBC.
In a time of crisis, like the one we are experiencing, we should expect that
cable news outlets could take the politics out of the equation and report the
news: who, what, where, when. This is a time when scientists should be the
guests on interview shows, not politicians, or those with a political bias.
Its
time to stop the flat-earth approach to science, health, and well-being. We could
use some more leadership from Fox News and MSBC, the two cable outlets who have
done more than most to divide the nation.
[i] NBC
News/Wall Street Journal Poll – March 15, 2020
[ii] Devan
Nunes – California 22nd District – Sometimes referred to as the poster boy of Trump sycophants?
