Those of us of a certain age probably remember this. Before clothes dryers became mainstream, most households had something called a clothesline. It was a line that we used clothes pins to hold freshly washed clothes in place to air dry. The heat from the sun would usually dry the fabric to a point where you could collect the clothes and put them in a designated location. As we know kids have to be reminded to handle their chores occasionally. My mom or dad would tell me to get those clothes off the line and my reply might have been I’ll get them, albeit not immediately but when they said that sky looks cloudy and it looks like it’s going to rain I knew that meant get those clothes now before they got wet. I had to be vigilant and try to complete this task before it was too late. Did it start raining before I got finished? Sometimes maybe so, but most of the load came away unscathed. I wasn’t collecting the clothes in the rain. It was already done. The crisis was diverted.
I will admit I am not a huge fan of President Donald Trump. Politics aside this man’s demeanor just rubs me the wrong way. Confidence is one thing but his smug attitude, and overall arrogance despite his lack of intelligence on particular subjects baffles me. Being a public figure, you must be open and receptive to criticism. He’s not the first and not the last president to be criticized for his actions. George W. Bush even did a Neo from the Matrix imitation after dodging a shoe that was tossed at him by a reporter who was highly critical of him while speaking at a podium. Barrack Obama was given his fair share of criticism as well. Trump believes that these same rules somehow don’t apply to him. He’s somehow above reproach. Well sorry Donald, the world doesn’t work like that. You hold the highest office in the land and there are certain expectations that come with that.
One of the many job expectations of the President of the United States is to ensure the health and general welfare of his/her citizens. That would mean any unforeseeable threats that could endanger their citizens needs to be taken seriously. Those threats that seem minuscule for the present moment , with potential to grow exponentially should be taken seriously, just in case. Isn’t that why we have insurance for our homes, our health, our automobiles, etc. We don’t physically see the issue presently , but we envision what could happen potentially.
Due to the authoritative role relationship between parents and their kids, my clothesline analogy doesn’t completely align with Trump and our current state here in America. In my instance my parents gave me the warning and I heeded their advice partly due to the fact they provided for me and kids are to obey their parents, but their assessment of the imminent threat was correct. For months Trump has been forewarned about this corona virus. Unfortunately, he holds the highest office in the land and despite warnings from public health officials he blew them off. He couldn’t envision what this had potential to become. As long as things, specifically the economy was going strong, he didn’t feel a need to address it. America is a strong nation, but one man’s elitist attitude doesn’t speak for our country as a whole. We aren’t exempt from the world’s calamities , what we are is better positioned to fight off those problems which may arise such as pandemics. To listen to this man disregard this virus as little to no respect for its impact for months is discouraging. Especially since his legions of fans continue to admonish him as though he’s the 2nd coming. The Chosen One. He’s the “Chosen One” alright. The “One” who helped send this country into a free fall. In January why didn’t health organizations try to acquire test kits? Why weren’t companies that make ventilators told to increase production? Why didn't Trump want to put more emphasis on this issue despite the events in China and Italy? I get it. This can’t all be on Trump, but he could have been more vigilant,his cavalier attitude towards this issue has left us behind. Reassuring the citizens that this was no threat although not taking any real action is borderline sabotage. If you argue otherwise you’re being delusional. I could be asymptomatic and still be spreading this virus unknowingly. If test kits were available for everyone we’d be in better position to combat this. The right people would be truly isolated, limiting exposure to the masses.
The first reported case of this virus may have been from China, but this is not a Chinese virus. It’s taking on every country, every ethnicity, rich and poor. Speaking on China, did we not see what they went through? Nothing said lets put some measures in place besides banning air travel to China to possibly stay ahead of this thing. No, because Trump disbanded Obama’s pandemic response team, but still saw it fit to want to start a Space Force. I heard Buzz Lightyear maybe his first hire. Thanos better be ready. Seriously, this man discredits something that has more of an immediate impact on our lives for alleged outer space threats. We already have NASA for that and besides which one is more costly. I digress. Now he wants to put the most susceptible citizens at risk to offset some of the financial loss by doing a defacto Thanos snap, to get the economy going again., by freeing businesses up to operate as normal by Easter. I understand it. It’s frustrating he probably feels he let himself, his billionaire brethren, and to a lesser extent the American people down. Yes you did Mr President. The best time to make adjustments was when the first warnings came. I didn’t get the clothes off the line when the rain came. At that point it would have been a futile effort. I was told the rain was coming so I acted accordingly. Had I not , I would have made it harder on myself and pretty much had to start over again.
The Bible speaks about leaders with no vision, their people perish. That rah rah rhetoric only works for your idols Mr Trump.. Don’t tell me things are good. Tell me we will have over 1 million more additional test kits within the week or give me specifics on the amount of people recovering from this virus. Reporters asking questions requiring a tangible answer aren’t being mean to you. They want to hear specifics. Man up and answer the questions. If you can’t, let your advisers handle it. Its not the time to pout about CNN, lead this country. You are our nation's appointed leader its time to act like it.
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