Tag Archives: coronavirus

media news

Media earn a shout out on pandemic coverage

I imagine you’ve heard the gripes, mostly from conservatives, who bitch about the media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

They complain that the media are covering this matter so intensely for the so political harm to Donald John Trump

Their complaints are without basis. They are dubious in the extreme.

The media have done a spectacular job covering this crisis. And it is a crisis, no matter how many times some of our political leaders — such as The Donald — might seek to understate its impact on the world.

The media coverage arc has tracked like many of these events often do: They report on an incident, give it the attention it deserves; they follow its progression, then report on increases of incidents; then the story explodes when governments start reacting to the increasing instances of illness … and death.

The World Health Organization has weighed in with a declaration that the coronavirus outbreak has reached pandemic status, which quite obviously is a major development. The media have covered the WHO involvement carefully and thoroughly.

What’s more, the media have explored the nuts and bolts, the ins and outs, the zigs and zags of this issue from damn near every angle imaginable. There are quite likely to be even more angles to cover.

As for the political impact, well, let me just declare that the media only have reported the stumbles, bumbles, bungles that have come from the U.S. government’s highest levels. There can be no way for the media to paper it over. Has it harmed Donald Trump? Yes, more than likely. Is it the media’s fault? Hell no! The media are simply the messengers delivering the news.

So it has gone. The media are charged with the responsibility of chronicling what government does for us … and to us. The Constitution protects the rights of a “free press” and the media seek to be true to the document that informs government that it cannot interfere with or manipulate them.

The media will continue to do their job as the pandemic likely worsens. They will report to the world what they see without regard to the political consequences, which are of no concern to journalists who simply are doing their job.

medical news

A new term arises from coronavirus crisis

As if we didn’t have enough terminology that still needs to be logged into dictionaries and various glossaries for the English language.

Social distancing is the newest term of art. Who comes up with these additions to our contemporary lexicon.

The coronavirus pandemic has made us all just a bit more conscious of mingling too tightly in crowds. We now have to maintain adequate “social distancing” from others around us.

I have noted already whether it’s a verb or a noun. I have concluded, at least for the time being, that “social distancing” is a noun. I haven’t heard anyone yet refer to someone keeping a proper “social distance,” which I suppose would be more surely a noun version of the term.

How would one use the term as a verb? Hmm. “Be sure you ‘distance socially’ from other people.” How’s that? Does it work for you?

All of this I suppose is my way of suggesting my reluctance to use the term in an every-day sort of manner. It’s one of those new, suddenly cool terms that arises from time to time. I’ll leave it to the medical experts to warn us about the potential hazard associated with getting too close to strangers.

We need to maintain proper “social distancing.”

medical news, science news

Trump’s crisis bumbling might have done politically mortal damage

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has proved to be one of the nation’s most remarkable political survivors. Concerns over his boorishness, bullying, bravado all have washed away as his base of supporters continue to hang with him.

Now comes this, the pandemic that has swept around Earth and has killed dozens of Americans while infecting thousands more.

Trump’s response has been, well, let’s just say it’s been as un-presidential as one can imagine. The difference this time as compared to earlier un-presidential responses is that lives are at stake.

Is this the turning point, the tipping point that Trump so far — until right now — has managed to avoid?

I am not going to make any predictions. I mean, this individual has proven me wrong countless times ever since he declared his presidential candidacy in 2015; my goodness, it seems like a dozen lifetimes ago!

The current president of the United States has acted time and again since the coronavirus became a household term as if his main concern centers on his re-election. At what cost? His downplaying of the pandemic’s severity while at the same time medical and scientific experts say precisely the opposite tell us all a tale of presidential incompetence.

That is precisely the kind of ineptitude that many of us saw coming. Thus, it does not surprise many of us that Donald Trump has continued to fail this fundamental test of leadership.

The Liar in Chief worries that a cruise ship docking in California will drive up the numbers of infected Americans. He likes the numbers of stricken Americans “where they are.” He continues to boast about the economy while trillions of dollars in Americans’ retirement investments are being flushed away.

Donald Trump is masquerading as president.

I take no pleasure in any of this, given the impact this crisis is having on my life and that lives of my loved ones. However, we well might be witnessing the dousing of a political career that had no business igniting in the first place.

national news

Local governments are taking lead on crisis management

The good news about the president’s national emergency declaration this afternoon is that states, counties and cities already are way ahead of the federal government in managing the coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump stood in the White House Rose Garden, bragged a bit about how well he’s done, heard slobbering praise from Mike Pence and then declared he bears “no responsibility at all” for many of the federal missteps that have occurred along the way.

Meanwhile, governors and other state and local officials are making their own declarations and announcing plans on how they intend to deal with the crisis.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was one of the governors who today announced a disaster declaration in Texas. He has mobilized local authorities and has made some key executive decisions. Gov. Abbott sounded like someone in charge. The president? Well, not so much.

Counties, too, have taken action. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has ordered a ban on all activities that attract crowds of 250 people or more.

The crisis has been real since it broke some weeks ago. The president has sought to downplay what the World Health Organization has labeled a pandemic, which means it’s bad and likely to get worse.

So, with that I’ll listen more intently to messages coming from City Hall, from the county courthouse and from the State Capitol before I heed the words spewing from the White House.

Hey, I mean no disrespect. I just need guidance and steady counsel … neither of which is coming from the office of the president of the United States.

national news

This crisis seems vastly different from previous crises

I’ve been around awhile, a bit more than 70 years.

In my lifetime I have endured a presidential assassination, global warfare. I have witnessed a volcano erupt in real time. And yes, I have lived through health crises of all sorts.

None of those events has delivered quite the impact on our lives as the one that’s evolving at this moment. The coronavirus pandemic has brought a temporary (I hope) collapse of our national culture.

Think of this: Professional basketball, hockey and baseball have suspended their seasons; college basketball has canceled its men’s and women’s tournaments; Disneyland and Walt Disney World have closed; public schools are closing or are delaying their reopening after spring break; pro golf tournaments have been canceled or postponed; late-night comedians have suspended production of their shows, given that they cannot welcome audiences into their studios.

The president has declared a national emergency. Governors around the country are declaring disasters are at hand. Cities are banning events that bring crowds of assorted sizes.

Our popular culture is being affected in a major way by this coronavirus.

I am trying to remember a single event bringing this kind of disruption to our lives. I can’t remember it.

When the Japanese navy and air force attacked us at Pearl Harbor, the nation mobilized immediately but went about its life as we prepared to go to war. Our nation’s commercial air traffic was suspended for a time after 9/11, but yet we went to work the next day and our children went to school.

Yes, this one feels different. Our media are covering the ramifications of this crisis 24/7. They are far from exhausting every possible angle on this still-developing story.

As a former colleague of mine wondered on social media, he now will get to experience what he’s pondered over the years: How do people cope without being able to watch any sporting activity? I guess I can expand that to include going to any sort of event that brings crowds that get to laugh and cheer.

I long have called for patience and perseverance when government undertakes a project. My reference usually is of road projects or any sort of infrastructure capital construction.

We’ll need patience and perseverance in spades as we work our way through this health crisis. I also must add prudence.

local news

This virus crisis is getting to at least one local official

I placed a phone call today to the office of Collin County Judge Chris Hill. I left a message with his secretary, asking if he could call me back; I didn’t specify the issue about which I wanted to talk to him.

A couple of hours later, my phone rang and it was a spokesman for the county who was calling me back. He said the judge was concerned that my call dealt with the coronavirus. I told the spokesman my call was on another issue relating to a story I am covering for the Farmersville Times, for which I am working on a freelance basis.

The spokesman laughed. He said Judge Hill has been “bombarded” with calls about the coronavirus outbreak, so he passed the call off to the county staffer. Indeed, Collin County has reported a handful of positive coronavirus test results … so there’s that.

My point is that this crisis seems to be stressing local officials out, if Chris Hill’s reaction to my phone call is any indication.

I cannot realistically insert myself into their roles, or walk in their shoes … to borrow a phrase. However, this is why folks such as Judge Hill sign on to serve the public. They simply take an oath to deal with crises as they emerge.

State news

Gov. Abbott to the public: No need to hoard household supplies

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this morning went on the air to make a statewide disaster declaration in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

He issued a number of directives and said that state medical providers are going to ensure that testing equipment is available to those who need to be checked for the virus. It’s all worthwhile and needed under the current circumstance that has created a sense of international near-panic.

But …

The governor also urged us to avoid hoarding household items. My wife and I went to our neighborhood supermarket this morning. We glanced down the aisle where they peddle toilet tissue and paper towels. We saw empty shelf space. It was all gone! All of it!

So, I hope that the governor’s words do not fall on deaf ears all across Texas.

medical news

Get tested, Mr. President!

Readers of this blog, Mr. President — and I wish you were one of them — are likely to be surprised to learn that I do not wish ill health on you while you are in office.

Therefore, I believe it is incumbent on you to take the test to determine whether your body is infected with the coronavirus that is infecting so many others around the world.

You have shaken hands with attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference who have tested positive for the virus; you have rubbed shoulders with foreign dignitaries. You are about to declare a national emergency as we all seek to cope with this pandemic. Have you failed to hear the warning issued by Dr. Anthony Fauci? He said you need to take the test. Listen to the man. He’s the world’s pre-eminent expert on this stuff!

So, there you have it. You need to test yourself and you need to determine whether you and your family should isolate yourself from others with whom you are doing the work on our behalf.

May I remind you, Mr. President, that you are part of an “at-risk” group of Americans. You are a good bit north of 70 years of age (and, hey, I am not that far behind you). Those around you tell us that you don’t get enough sleep and that you’re too busy working on the nation’s problems. It makes me say, “Hello? Sleep is essential to good presidential health … especially now that this deadly virus is striking us all across the land.”

Get the damn test, Mr. President! I am sure your position would allow your doctor to expedite delivery of the test kit, unlike what many millions of other Americans are facing if they want to be tested. But, what the heck. That’s another story for another time.

I want to know if the president of the United States is in danger of getting quite sick.

medical news

Waiting for the current president to lead

I am having difficulty watching and listening to the president discuss the medical pandemic that is sweeping around the world.

He portrays an image of toughness when it’s easy to do so. When the time presents itself for Donald Trump to actually perform as a leader, he chokes. As The New York Times reported today:

While he presents himself as the nation’s commanding figure, Mr. Trump has essentially become a bystander as school superintendents, sports commissioners, college presidents, governors and business owners across the country take it upon themselves to shut down much of American life without clear guidance from the president.

He has contradicted medical experts’ analysis of the coronavirus crisis. The president spoke to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday about a travel ban he was imposing on Europe, only to have the White House “clarify” Trump’s remarks two or three minutes after he signed off. Trump acts more like a man desperate to ignite a Wall Street rally if only to help his re-election chances.

Donald Trump cannot get it right. He cannot lend an air of competence at a time when the nation desperately needs it from the center of executive power.

I have to arc back to a point I have sought to make on this blog since Donald Trump began seeking the presidency in the summer of 2015. It is simply that this man’s background has taught him nothing about the complexities of the federal government and the nuance of public service leadership.

It is absent as this individual flails and flutters while wishing for a medical “miracle” that will not occur.

medical news

We’re entering a phase of one issue eclipsing all others

It’s just me, perhaps, but I’ll offer this perspective anyway: It seems that we have entered a phase in which one issue renders all others petty and picayune.

The world is becoming swallowed up by the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly all of our 50 states now report cases. The president is trying to get his footing, but so far is failing to tell us the whole truth about what to expect.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is running for re-election. He is canceling rallies. So are the two major Democratic candidates still running for president.

There’s plenty of important matters going on right now. I consider the presidential campaign to be a big deal. Except that in the current environment and in the context of the health crisis that is growing all over the planet, the campaign seems decidedly less important than it otherwise would seem to be.

Our focus is riveted on where it needs to be. We need to deal with this coronavirus matter. I need to ensure continued good health in our household and in the households of those we love dearly.

So I am going to focus more on that and less on the politics of the moment. I won’t ignore that other stuff. It’s going to have to be pretty big, though, to get my attention.

Stay tuned … and stay well.