Friday, March 27, 2020

The Virus Chronicles (continued)

25 March 2020

New York is the hottest of hot zones in the country, but Virginia is warming up, especially in the urbanized area of northern Virginia near DC. Presumably Tidewater won't be far behind, since it has significant interchange with the Pentagon/Northern Virginia DoD complex. The first few COVID-19 cases have shown up in the fleet, but they are isolated.

A Few Observations

The President is not entirely wrong, but he doesn't understand why or how. It's related to the difference between the United States and China, or between any national dictatorship and a democratic republic based on federal principles. China was able to completely close off the affected area in the vicinity of Wuhan Province, and expand it as necessary. That permitted the reminder of the country to function. What made this possible was the absolute power of the Chinese Communist Party, and the relatively complaint nature of the population rooted in Chinese culture.

The political organization of the United States makes this nearly impossible. States are relatively sovereign entities. The federal government cannot quarantine a state, or a region (for example, NY City, the immediate northern counties, and Long Island). If it attempted to do so, it would have to declare martial law, and bring out troops. The population might boil up in rebellion. The likes of Fox News and Mark Levin would keep the current president from doing such a thing, yet that is how China dealt with their outbreak. They did not bring the entire country to its knees. Dictatorship has its advantages.

The President, as a narcissist, cannot stop himself from trying to answer every question from the press. He stands on the podium each night, acting as the countries's epidemiologist in chief and ringmaster. As reporters throw questions at him more appropriate for doctors, he flubs around, in no position to handle them. All he needs to do is pass the questions on to the doctors behind him on the stage, but he can't bear to not be the center of attention. So he accuses each reporter of fake news for throwing questions at him that he can't answer. It has been a pitiful scene.

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