[Genuine Realist]

So can we move forward?

The leader of this country spends half his day on twitter dropping playground insults on most of the people responsible for helping us "move forward" or else subverting them through quasi-calls to arms on twitter. The other half of the day he stands behind a podium spouting lies and disclaiming any responsibility for our national crisis.

Most of us in this forum have devoted serious time and energy to mapping the virus, tracking potential treatments and remedies, discussing the efficacy of various social distancing efforts, anticipating how the economy will (and won't) recover, and sharing tips on how to cope during this crisis.

So you tell me, who is the impediment to moving forward?

This positively is the last.

I've had a pox-a'-both-your-houses position for some time. Trump is an obnoxious narcissistic spoiled rich kid, who is only happy when he is the center of attention. He could have made friends instead of enemies, since he has controlled the political dialog for four years now. (I hope future leaders will learn from him on how to use Twitter, only with more style and grace.) 

However, the opposition has fallen into line completely, ALSO making the persona of Trump the central issue. The basic platform of the Democratic PArty has become, If He's For It, We're Against It'. The more substantive causes for Trump's elevation to the office, which have more to do in my view with abandonment of the traditional Democratic FDR liberalism than anything Trump did, have not been addressed. Trump was actually elected DESPITE his personal defects, rather than because of them, because of the Democratic failure in principle, and because it managed to nominate the second worst Presidential candidate in US political history.

Bringing this back to C-19, between the two of them, the partisans made the political consensus that is the necessary prerequisite for acceptance of a regime this drastic, and this unprecedented, impossible to achieve. You can cite disgracefully insouciant tweets by Trump, or disgracefully insouciant criticism by Democrats. Take your pick. It gets you nowhere. This would have been a tough sell even for a super-popular President, and it just wasn't there. The public had to have its nose rubbed in the reality of this thing, and you can't do that while everyone is sniping on a personality (or anti-personality) basis.

That's my take, and now I am done.

[Genuine Realist]

So can we move forward?

The leader of this country spends half his day on twitter dropping playground insults on most of the people responsible for helping us "move forward" or else subverting them through quasi-calls to arms on twitter. The other half of the day he stands behind a podium spouting lies and disclaiming any responsibility for our national crisis.

Most of us in this forum have devoted serious time and energy to mapping the virus, tracking potential treatments and remedies, discussing the efficacy of various social distancing efforts, anticipating how the economy will (and won't) recover, and sharing tips on how to cope during this crisis.

So you tell me, who is the impediment to moving forward?

This positively is the last.

I've had a pox-a'-both-your-houses position for some time. Trump is an obnoxious narcissistic spoiled rich kid, who is only happy when he is the center of attention. He could have made friends instead of enemies, since he has controlled the political dialog for four years now. (I hope future leaders will learn from him on how to use Twitter, only with more style and grace.) 

However, the opposition has fallen into line completely, ALSO making the persona of Trump the central issue. The basic platform of the Democratic PArty has become, If He's For It, We're Against It'. The more substantive causes for Trump's elevation to the office, which have more to do in my view with abandonment of the traditional Democratic FDR liberalism than anything Trump did, have not been addressed. Trump was actually elected DESPITE his personal defects, rather than because of them, because of the Democratic failure in principle, and because it managed to nominate the second worst Presidential candidate in US political history.

Bringing this back to C-19, between the two of them, the partisans made the political consensus that is the necessary prerequisite for acceptance of a regime this drastic, and this unprecedented, impossible to achieve. You can cite disgracefully insouciant tweets by Trump, or disgracefully insouciant criticism by Democrats. Take your pick. It gets you nowhere. This would have been a tough sell even for a super-popular President, and it just wasn't there. The public had to have its nose rubbed in the reality of this thing, and you can't do that while everyone is sniping on a personality (or anti-personality) basis.

That's my take, and now I am done.