Pathetic

This is our leadership for the pandemic practicing “social distancing.” Can you say, awareness? Can you say, self-awareness? Obviously, they are unfamiliar with those terms. Couldn’t they squeeze in any tighter?

Don’t touch your face — unless you are a leader. Don’t shake hands with everyone — unless you are president. Don’t fondle the microphone — unless you are Donald J. Trump. Do as we say, not as we do.

Not all of our pathetic leaders are pictured here. Missing are such stalwarts as Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They struggled heroically to deliver a limited sick leave bill that covers a massive 20% of the labor force. And then there’s Moscow Mitch holding back tears as he agonizes over how to keep that bill from passing in one of Capital Hill’s Greatest Deliberative Bodies.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio cogently explained why he didn’t closed his city’s schools. It went something like this: NYC has 400,000 teenagers. Should they just be left to their own devices, roaming around looking for some way to fight their boredom. And, all of those children whose only meal, or only decent meal, is provided by the schools.

It makes no sense to send kids home so their parents can miss work — and a paycheck. There is also the consideration of youngsters becoming infected but not symptomatic being babysat by an elderly grandparent.

All of those are rational reasons for keeping the schools open. So, it is later announced that the city has capitulated and closed the schools. Why? So that every other mayor won’t be seen as pushing the panic button without taking a breath and making a rational decision?

More Social Distancing

For the sake of transparency, I remind my readers that I served as a  mayor and was employed by Delta Air Lines in Atlanta. This picture shows the results of Trump’s panicking people with his closing of Europe. It appears that most Americans in Europe thought that they needed to get home immediately.

Actually, citizens and those holding green cards could return whenever they wanted. Well, they could have if there was no such announcement, resulting in a massive termination of flights. The virus is already here. Trying to keep it out at this juncture only diverts the needed focus on dealing with the present, not worrying about water that has already passed over the dam.

Then, there was the failure of the federal government to maximize immigration staff at the airports and require the airlines to stagger arrivals. Hours of such close quarters as this, plus being confined for hours in fully-booked planes makes it difficult to maintain that 3-foot separation our leaders warn is so necessary.

It has become tiresome to hear the constant braggadocio that this is the greatest country in the world and we have the best medical system and the best government organizing effort and the best leadership. At the age of 80, I’m not favorably impressed with a life-expectancy that is lower than several developing countries and is declining. I’m embarrassed by every press conference the White House orchestrates and the Greek chorus that obediently lends the president what little credibility they may have remaining.

This group of professionals can’t even muster an eye roll at his all too frequent misstatements and outright lies to pat himself on the back and blame the Democrats and the media, though both are far from blameless. There is so little courage remaining in our government that we would be surprised were someone to step up and counter his lies and startled us with the truth.

Pathetic. Indeed.

If you found this educational, edifying, interesting or otherwise worth your time, this geezer would appreciate a little supplement to those Social Security checks, They forgot to factor in the cost of publishing a blog.

Many thanks,

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Tagged as: atlanta, Bill de Blasio, delta air, europe, immigration, mitch, Mnuchin, Moscow, new york, NYC, pelosi, school, sick leave, trump, virus, white house