Normally crowded, now nearly empty Sixth Ave. in Manhattan
Donald Trump‘s timeline of failures in addressing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) health emergency is now well-known. This includes severely downplaying the crisis, even calling it a “hoax,” for many crucial weeks; failing to take strong action such as ordering a national lockdown or even using the Defense Production Act; and having his subordinates say things like:
–the spread of Coronavirus in China will “help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America” (Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross); and
–“We have contained this …. it’s pretty close to airtight” (National Economic Council Director Lawrence Kudlow).
Unfortunately, Trump’s lack of preparedness for the Coronavirus even after being warned of a possible pandemic, and lack of action after the crisis began, reflects the Republican philosophy of government, and is something we have seen from Republicans before.
For example, in 1986, Ronald Reagan stated that “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'” Reagan lived up to those anti-government words and failed to provide help many times when Americans needed it, including blowing up America’s deficit and debt, helping to create Al Qaeda and strengthen its leader Osama bin Laden, increasing unemployment and bankruptcies, ignoring the AIDS epidemic, and more.
George W. Bush continued this Republican legacy of failed government in overseeing two particularly deadly failures. First, Bush was caught unprepared by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, even though he received plenty of warnings about the Al Qaeda terrorist threat from Richard Clarke and other counter-terrorism officials, and even received a President’s Daily Brief (PDB) on August 6, 2001 entitled “Bin Ladin [sic] Determined to Strike in US.”
Likewise, Bush installed a head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) named Michael Brown, whose background was as a politically-connected official with the International Arabian Horse Association. When Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans and a giant, multi-state surrounding area, Bush was off in Arizona and California, celebrating John McCain‘s birthday and holding staged events, and FEMA failed to prepare, including pre-positioning crucial supplies such as water. In the first days after the Hurricane hit and the storm surge was battering Americans, Bush’s government couldn’t even get water to these victims. But none of that stopped Bush from stating infamously to his FEMA Director, as the bodies were floating by in New Orleans, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
And finally, we have Trump himself in 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, throwing paper towels at the victims instead of providing them with meaningful, long-term assistance. Then, last December, as millions of Americans were still suffering in Puerto Rico, Trump slashed billions of dollars from their Medicaid funding.
As we are now learning with Donald Trump’s failures during the Coronavirus emergency, the nine most terrifying words in the English language really are, “I’m from the Republicans, and I’m running your government.”
Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/0g0PqX
