[BostonCard]

The United States was probably one of the top 2-3 most prepared countries to deal with a pandemic. There was a 60+ page pandemic response manual prepared for the White House. When the transition from 44 to 45 happened, someone who was since fired or otherwise removed from a position of influence to use it, was really happy to have and appreciated the guidance because he planned to have the new administration use it if ever faced with the need, so he thought.

IOW, the White House had an instruction manual to follow - probably few countries had - but never took it out of the proverbial drawer and totally pissed away the first mover advantage the U.S. had. Who the hell knows why the manual was ignored, but anyone who thinks the White House hasn't failed spectacularly really needs to read this:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25...cil-149285 

No, the virus couldn't have been completely stopped, but had recommendations that were available and produced by people who knew WTF they were doing actually been followed, which includes responding quickly and in a coordinated fashion, we wouldn't be facing the catastraf*ck on the scale we are now.  

Highlighting failures and blaming people are two sides of the same coin. This post isn't an effort to blame anyone as much as it is to highlight the value of having the best people in charge, and the importance of holding those who screw up accountable. Because without accountability, there will be nothing but more disaster ahead.

I'll take a somewhat contrarian response.  While ultimately, the president signed up for this and the buck has to stop with him, I am not entirely convinced that under a different election result in 2016 that things would be that much better.  To quote Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.  And this virus has come out punching hard.  We've had decades where pandemic preparedness has been an afterthought, a distant hypothetical exercise akin to scenarios planning for something like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan war game.  Is it a surprise that things haven't entirely gone according to plan?  It worth noting that that the South Korea is the exception that proves the rule, and they (and other East Asian countries) had SARS as a warning sign.  That the pandemic has been devastating (or is becoming devastating) to most Western European countries, many with very different health systems and strategies than the US suggests that this is hardly a problem unique to the US.

Now, I don't have much confidence in our current leadership.  There are obviously a lot of things Donald Trump says and does that I disagree with, and that I think make things worse.  But, on the whole, this crisis is bigger than the administration, and I think has become a challenge for administrations of all stripes.  While it looks like California and Washington are doing a bit better than average, New York is obviously a nightmare and Louisiana (also with a Democratic governor) looks to be the next hotspot.  I've praised (Republican) Mike DeWine for his decisive action but Ron DeSantis (Florida) has deservedly come under criticism.

But the bottom line is that while I think we could have been much better prepared, I doubt this could have been prevented entirely.  There is just too much global travel and coronavirus spreads much to easily undetected to have truly allowed us to prevent the pandemic entirely.

BC

[BostonCard]

The United States was probably one of the top 2-3 most prepared countries to deal with a pandemic. There was a 60+ page pandemic response manual prepared for the White House. When the transition from 44 to 45 happened, someone who was since fired or otherwise removed from a position of influence to use it, was really happy to have and appreciated the guidance because he planned to have the new administration use it if ever faced with the need, so he thought.

IOW, the White House had an instruction manual to follow - probably few countries had - but never took it out of the proverbial drawer and totally pissed away the first mover advantage the U.S. had. Who the hell knows why the manual was ignored, but anyone who thinks the White House hasn't failed spectacularly really needs to read this:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25...cil-149285 

No, the virus couldn't have been completely stopped, but had recommendations that were available and produced by people who knew WTF they were doing actually been followed, which includes responding quickly and in a coordinated fashion, we wouldn't be facing the catastraf*ck on the scale we are now.  

Highlighting failures and blaming people are two sides of the same coin. This post isn't an effort to blame anyone as much as it is to highlight the value of having the best people in charge, and the importance of holding those who screw up accountable. Because without accountability, there will be nothing but more disaster ahead.

I'll take a somewhat contrarian response.  While ultimately, the president signed up for this and the buck has to stop with him, I am not entirely convinced that under a different election result in 2016 that things would be that much better.  To quote Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.  And this virus has come out punching hard.  We've had decades where pandemic preparedness has been an afterthought, a distant hypothetical exercise akin to scenarios planning for something like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan war game.  Is it a surprise that things haven't entirely gone according to plan?  It worth noting that that the South Korea is the exception that proves the rule, and they (and other East Asian countries) had SARS as a warning sign.  That the pandemic has been devastating (or is becoming devastating) to most Western European countries, many with very different health systems and strategies than the US suggests that this is hardly a problem unique to the US.

Now, I don't have much confidence in our current leadership.  There are obviously a lot of things Donald Trump says and does that I disagree with, and that I think make things worse.  But, on the whole, this crisis is bigger than the administration, and I think has become a challenge for administrations of all stripes.  While it looks like California and Washington are doing a bit better than average, New York is obviously a nightmare and Louisiana (also with a Democratic governor) looks to be the next hotspot.  I've praised (Republican) Mike DeWine for his decisive action but Ron DeSantis (Florida) has deservedly come under criticism.

But the bottom line is that while I think we could have been much better prepared, I doubt this could have been prevented entirely.  There is just too much global travel and coronavirus spreads much to easily undetected to have truly allowed us to prevent the pandemic entirely.

BC