All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (9 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[Humperdoo]

I don't think there's any credibility to that, sorry.

No apology needed. I don’t believe it either. It’s just piqued my curiosity.

 

[N.O.Bronco]

It's true that you could be negative today, and then get it later, but you're wrong about asymptomatic people not testing positive. I've read many reports, for example from the cruise ships, where many people that were asymptomatic tested positive, and later developed the symptoms. Besides, testing doesn't have to be a one time thing. People should be able to test more than once. The worst thing we're doing is not testing people that have been exposed that aren't symptomatic. Those people are much more likely to be sick and vectors.

By the way, we are effectively asking people to lock themselves down, but that is definitely not the only way it would help, because every person that has it asymptomatically could be eliminated from becoming vectors by at a minimum putting those people on lockdown. Furthermore, once people know they are sick, everyone can be more careful around that person. The only justification for not testing everyone repeatedly is the cost and logistics of doing it. It would definitely help curtail the spread dramatically.

Supply is the real reason.

We just don’t have the tests.

Here in Houston there was a multi hour line for the one drive thru testing center that finally opened. Others being delayed due to lack of supplies. Which was on the heels of only being able to test around 39 people a day. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of areas, testing all but the most symptomatic is still infeasible.

What is really concerning is we are about two weeks behind Italy, with more cases and a greater growth pattern, and while that might be reflective of the disparity in testing, Italy experienced insane exponential growth over the following ten days. While we look on pace to surpass that. While also taking slower steps than Italy did. While potentially having an even larger supply crisis looming.

 

[Humperdoo]

Supply is the real reason.

We just don’t have the tests.

Here in Houston there was a multi hour line for the one drive thru testing center that finally opened. Others being delayed due to lack of supplies. Which was on the heels of only being able to test around 39 people a day. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of areas, testing all but the most symptomatic is still infeasible.

What is really concerning is we are about two weeks behind Italy, with more cases and a greater growth pattern, and while that might be reflective of the disparity in testing, Italy experienced insane exponential growth over the following ten days. While we look on pace to surpass that. While also taking slower steps than Italy did. While potentially having an even larger supply crisis looming.

Stay well. I feel bad for you just reading that you’re in Houston. I worked there for many years up until 2018. That is the ugliest place I’ve ever lived. And the weather holy cow. Oppressively hot.

 

[SFIDC3]

Here's why testing everyone won't really help.

You are asymptomatic, you get tested, the test comes back negative. Now what? That means that you didn't have it enough to register a positive when they tested you. However, that doesn't mean that you hadn't been exposed and it hadn't developed enough yet. It doesn't mean that you haven't been exposed to it and developed a testable level since you were tested. It doesn't mean you won't be exposed tomorrow.

Testing everyone will simply show us who has it at that very moment. What about your coworker? You both got tested three days ago, your test came back negative, his came back positive. Now you may have caught it from him two days ago, and exposed everyone you have come in contact with since then.

The only way that testing everyone would be effective was if we locked everyone down and waited, say, 5 days, and then went house to house testing everyone. Then we could isolate those who had it.

I agree mostly, my first thought was that we are currently to far down the rabbit hole for testing to make a significant difference in minimizing the spread. And that those resources may be better used elsewhere....

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[Farb]

I have no idea what happened before this video....BUT, I am on that guys side.

Whoever is holding office right now should not be allowed to hold office ever again. City, county/parish, state and federal.

 

[CajuninVA]

Just a quick opinion and reminder that votes have consequences:

I'm a left of center moderate who supported Gore in 2000, but when 9/11 happened I was glad Bush was in charge because initially I thought he handled it better than I would have imagined Gore. George the right temperament and tone for what the country needed. Gore seemed too stiff and awkward to fill that role. Down the road my perspective changed, but I felt he was the right person for that moment. Fast forward to now. I'm not a fan of Hillary at all. Held my nose and voted for her because it was obvious to me that Trump is everything I felt he would be. I haven't been surprised one bit by his selfishness, narcissism, lack of empathy, or pure stupidity. If Kasich or someone like that had been the Republican, I would have voted for him. All that being said, Hillary would be doing better now. We need science and facts, not feelings and NPD. And all the people who hated Hillary should be asking in a crisis like this is, "was that hate enough of a justification to put an incompetent, uncaring, self absorbed rear end" in charge of our country. I don't think it was...

 

[GMRfellowtraveller]

“No one could have predicted this!”

Something something theyre going to fly planes into buildings

 

[Beach Friends]

So, is this stimulus bill going to take into account that the shutdown is hurting men more than women? We are losing $1 for every .79 they are losing.

 

[N.O.Bronco]

Stay well. I feel bad for you just reading that you’re in Houston. I worked there for many years up until 2018. That is the ugliest place I’ve ever lived. And the weather holy cow. Oppressively hot.

Just here temporarily(possibly much shorter than anticipated). The city is all around pretty solid. very rich in diversity which makes the food culture on par with some of the great culinary cities. It certainly has it’s drawbacks like the complete lack of city planning and structure, so things are spread out way too much(imo) and without a lot of functionality, public transit is non existent and the architectural bones of the city lack any defining character because of that libertarian do-whatever-the-heck-you-want approach.

But I am a New York/New Orleans kind of person. I like walkability and well used space. Some people love Houston’s sprawl, I wouldn’t want to retire here but I don’t hate it.

 

[SaintForLife]

1. Who gave you this talking point?
2. Are you saying we should be more specific like TrumpRidesPutin’sJockGate?

That's an even weaker response than I expected. Your answer is just a question.

 

[SaintForLife]

ummmmm,. we did gag our doctors and force them to not address the concerns except via the mouth of Mike Pence.

That's not accurate.

NIH's Dr. Fauci: "I've Never Been Muzzled" By The Trump Administration; "A Real Misrepresentation" By Media

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Saturday that he has never been "muzzled" by the White House after reports said all government medical professionals would need to seek approval to speak to the media about the coronavirus. The New...

www.realclearpolitics.com

 

[SaintForLife]

U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with spy agency reporting.

The intelligence reports didn’t predict when the virus might land on U.S. shores or recommend particular steps that public health officials should take, issues outside the purview of the intelligence agencies.

But they did track the spread of the virus in China, and later in other countries, and warned that Chinese officials appeared to be minimizing the severity of the outbreak.

Taken together, the reports and warnings painted an early picture of a virus that showed the characteristics of a globe-encircling pandemic that could require governments to take swift actions to contain it.

But despite that constant flow of reporting, Trump continued publicly and privately to play down the threat the virus posed to Americans.

Lawmakers, too, did not grapple with the virus in earnest until this month, as officials scrambled to keep citizens in their homes and hospitals braced for a surge in patients suffering from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Intelligence agencies “have been warning on this since January,” said a U.S. official who had access to intelligence reporting that was disseminated to members of Congress and their staffs as well as to officials in the Trump administration, and who, along with others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive information...........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic/2020/03/20/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1-a5a804158597_story.html

I was wondering when the anonymous intelligence sources would pop up.

 

[dtc]

That's not accurate.

NIH's Dr. Fauci: "I've Never Been Muzzled" By The Trump Administration; "A Real Misrepresentation" By Media

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Saturday that he has never been "muzzled" by the White House after reports said all government medical professionals would need to seek approval to speak to the media about the coronavirus. The New...

www.realclearpolitics.com

The heck it's not. Read up.

Trump Slaps Gag Order on Corona Virus News

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been ordered by the Trump regime to clam up about any further developments as to the spread of the virus or the regime’s response to it without first getting...

www.dailykos.com

.https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/mike-pence-coronavirus-gag-rule

Trump barred a top health expert from speaking freely about the coronavirus. It's one of many ways the administration has muzzled scientists.

The Trump administration reportedly barred a top US health official from discussing the coronavirus. It follows a pattern of science censorship.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[GMRfellowtraveller]

So, is this stimulus bill going to take into account that the shutdown is hurting men more than women? We are losing $1 for every .79 they are losing.

seems like the virus is trying to redress that imbalance by killing men more at about the wage gap %

 

[Beach Friends]

seems like the virus is trying to redress that imbalance by killing men more at about the wage gap %

As long we are personally, spared - that's good news.

 

[Humperdoo]

Just here temporarily(possibly much shorter than anticipated). The city is all around pretty solid. very rich in diversity which makes the food culture on par with some of the great culinary cities. It certainly has it’s drawbacks like the complete lack of city planning and structure, so things are spread out way too much(imo) and without a lot of functionality, public transit is non existent and the architectural bones of the city lack any defining character because of that libertarian do-whatever-the-heck-you-want approach.

But I am a New York/New Orleans kind of person. I like walkability and well used space. Some people love Houston’s sprawl, I wouldn’t want to retire here but I don’t hate it.

Agreed on the food and the diversity. I still have great friends there. And the hill country, Canyon Lake areas are nice. The medical sector there is also second to none and saved my life. I made good money there too. (Oil, heavy trucks)

Guess I just like mountains and green, with snow and such.

 

[Humperdoo]

Just a quick opinion and reminder that votes have consequences:

I'm a left of center moderate who supported Gore in 2000, but when 9/11 happened I was glad Bush was in charge because initially I thought he handled it better than I would have imagined Gore. George the right temperament and tone for what the country needed. Gore seemed too stiff and awkward to fill that role. Down the road my perspective changed, but I felt he was the right person for that moment. Fast forward to now. I'm not a fan of Hillary at all. Held my nose and voted for her because it was obvious to me that Trump is everything I felt he would be. I haven't been surprised one bit by his selfishness, narcissism, lack of empathy, or pure stupidity. If Kasich or someone like that had been the Republican, I would have voted for him. All that being said, Hillary would be doing better now. We need science and facts, not feelings and NPD. And all the people who hated Hillary should be asking in a crisis like this is, "was that hate enough of a justification to put an incompetent, uncaring, self absorbed rear end" in charge of our country. I don't think it was...

I’m a slightly right of center moderate.....
I understand your POV, but at the same time the way you feel about Trump I feel about Hillary. To not get banned I won’t delve into just how much I despise her. And why.