If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb - Printable Version
+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: Emergency (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-11.html)
+--- Forum: Covid-19 (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-12.html)
+--- Thread: If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb (/thread-19564.html)
+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: Emergency (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-11.html)
+--- Forum: Covid-19 (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-12.html)
+--- Thread: If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb (/thread-19564.html)
If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb - BostonCard - 04-27-2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/presidents
Let me rephrase that, if only the President read the daily intelligence briefings.
Quote:U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The idea that we were blinded to what was going on because China was minimizing the extent of COVID is laughable. It imagines a world in which we don't devote large amounts of money to gathering our own intelligence on all sorts of threats, including pandemic threats, and that there isn't a dedicated way to communicate those threats to the President.
Quote:But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience even for the oral summary he now takes two or three times per week, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink; likewise, you can't make the President read or pay attention to intelligence briefings.
BC
RE: If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb - OutsiderFan - 04-28-2020
(04-27-2020, 03:58 PM)BostonCard Wrote: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/presidents
Let me rephrase that, if only the President read the daily intelligence briefings.
Quote:U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The idea that we were blinded to what was going on because China was minimizing the extent of COVID is laughable. It imagines a world in which we don't devote large amounts of money to gathering our own intelligence on all sorts of threats, including pandemic threats, and that there isn't a dedicated way to communicate those threats to the President.
Quote:But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience even for the oral summary he now takes two or three times per week, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink; likewise, you can't make the President read or pay attention to intelligence briefings.
BC
Or more simply, can’t fix stupid or malignant narcissism. We’ve now reached the point anyone defending him has to rationalize how it makes sense to inject Lysol, or even better, justify joking about a global health emergency that has killed over 50,000 people, put millions out of work, and cost the country he is suppose to be leading, trillions of dollars in less than two months.
I’d like to see a calculation of how much it costs U.S. taxpayers and the lives that are put on the line to produce each DPB, to illustrate how wasteful, disrespectful, and the dereliction of duty not paying attention to them adds up to. Just saying he skips them does not do it justice. We see the opportunity cost of not paying attention. I want to know what is wasted on the daily. Anyone fit for service would recognize these costs and feel honored, let alone obligated to spend the minimal time it takes to be informed by them.
RE: If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb - Farm93 - 04-28-2020
(04-28-2020, 04:13 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote:That's easy. Here I will give you the six pack.(04-27-2020, 03:58 PM)BostonCard Wrote: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/presidents
Let me rephrase that, if only the President read the daily intelligence briefings.
Quote:U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The idea that we were blinded to what was going on because China was minimizing the extent of COVID is laughable. It imagines a world in which we don't devote large amounts of money to gathering our own intelligence on all sorts of threats, including pandemic threats, and that there isn't a dedicated way to communicate those threats to the President.
Quote:But the alarms appear to have failed to register with the president, who routinely skips reading the PDB and has at times shown little patience even for the oral summary he now takes two or three times per week, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified material.
You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink; likewise, you can't make the President read or pay attention to intelligence briefings.
BC
Or more simply, can’t fix stupid or malignant narcissism. We’ve now reached the point anyone defending him has to rationalize how it makes sense to inject Lysol, or even better, justify joking about a global health emergency that has killed over 50,000 people, put millions out of work, and cost the country he is suppose to be leading, trillions of dollars in less than two months.
I’d like to see a calculation of how much it costs U.S. taxpayers and the lives that are put on the line to produce each DPB, to illustrate how wasteful, disrespectful, and the dereliction of duty not paying attention to them adds up to. Just saying he skips them does not do it justice. We see the opportunity cost of not paying attention. I want to know what is wasted on the daily. Anyone fit for service would recognize these costs and feel honored, let alone obligated to spend the minimal time it takes to be informed by them.
Fake news. Lamestream media. Deep State. Hoax. Alternative facts. Sarcasm.
No matter the issue, or failure, the solution one might need to create is available with the 6 explanations above.
RE: If only the president had been briefed by intelligence in Jan/Feb - oregontim - 04-28-2020
(04-28-2020, 07:38 AM)Farm93 Wrote: Fake news. Lamestream media. Deep State. Hoax. Alternative facts. Sarcasm.
Yes. The president used the first five of these six in February and early March to publicly dismiss the virus, in what seemed like his narcissistic concern for his "numbers," mainly the Dow Jones Index. How much better off would we be in this country if we'd had a competent president respecting the science and mobilizing the country for massive testing, PPE, etc.