Coronavirus

[Superbone]

Trump is such an asshole telling states to liberate themselves. Wow. The president of United States is an instigator. Unbelievable.

[3rdside]

Trump is such an asshole telling states to liberate themselves. Wow. The president of United States is an instigator. Unbelievable.

It's mind blowing listening to Warren and Klobuchar etc (sadly not exactly Biden) then listening to Trump and realising that solid vs full of shit is somehow a race too close to call in 2020.

Biden can offset himself with either of them and he'd be doing well...Warren all the way for VP for me.

[AmareIsGod]

https://nypost.com/2020/04/19/trump-bla ... lockdowns/

Of course. Trump believes $$$ > American lives. He rips China and says they're responsible for thousands of dead American lives, defecting any blame and trying to paint the picture that he's done a tremendous job. Meanwhile he's pressing to get everyone back out and about yesterday.

[3rdside]

This is great. I look forward to the mental contortions R's will convince themselves of that straight up propaganda is okay.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... tter-mess/

[Superbone]

From the NY Times:

Republicans think blaming China for the coronavirus is a winning strategy for the November elections. But President Trump keeps going off message.

Republican senators locked in difficult races are preparing commercials that will condemn China. Party officials are brandishing polling data in hopes that Mr. Trump will confront Beijing. But with a reliance on China’s manufacturers for lifesaving medical supplies as well as trade talks and unstable markets to consider, Mr. Trump has repeatedly muddied those efforts.

[ShelC]

If Trump isn't attacking China it's because money's involved. Follow the money and patents given to Ivanka. Trump's the biggest globalist of anyone so long as he's lining his pockets.

[Flagrant Fowl]

It doesn't matter if he attacks China today because he'll just say the opposite tomorrow. Double speak is his go-to move.

[BigLewy]

Lost my job on Friday, so that's great. Thanks China and Trump. Nothing like going from promoted up to management to the unemployment line in 3 months.

[Superbone]

Lost my job on Friday, so that's great. Thanks China and Trump. Nothing like going from promoted up to management to the unemployment line in 3 months.

That sucks, man. Really sorry to hear that! Hang in there best you can.

[3rdside]

Sorry to hear that BL ..

[Nodack]

Sorry BigLewy.

[ShelC]

Really sorry to hear that man.

[Indy]

Sorry BL. That really sucks. Any chance that they will be re-hiring you once things are back to quasi-normal?

[BigLewy]

Sorry BL. That really sucks. Any chance that they will be re-hiring you once things are back to quasi-normal?

One can hope, but I'm not going to count on it. This pandemic can't end quick enough. Even the thought of interviewing and training now, all virtual? So hard to do.

[Mori Chu]

Sorry about the bad news, BigLewy. Hang in there. It's a really tough time, and I'm sure that you and many others will be in a better state before long.

[Mori Chu]

This messaging war between Trump/Dems/Biden on China is perplexing to me. I don't see why the argument is about who is appropriately "tough on China" or "soft on China." It's such adversarial, isolationist, war-like thinking. Yes, the virus comes from China, and their handling of it deserves criticism and perhaps international response or sanctions. But China is not to blame for Trump utterly bungling the US response to COVID-19. China didn't force us to avoid ramping up testing, nor to tear down our Obama-era pandemic task force, nor to completely abdicate federal responsibility for helping states acquire and manage urgently needed equipment like masks and ventilators. China didn't force Trump to sit around doing nothing for a month or more, claiming that the virus was a Democrat hoax and overblown. China didn't cause 60,000+ Americans to die when reputable studies show that 90% or more of those deaths were unnecessary. China didn't force us to ignore loud warnings from the WHO, from Italy, from many other ally nations and medical experts. Plenty of other nations listened to the warnings and instituted mass testing, ramped up medical supply acquisition, isolated and contact-traced known infected persons, mandated nation-wide quarantines, and many other measures that Trump simply refused to consider.

So why is the discussion suddenly about whether Trump or Biden was "soft" or "tough" on China? What exactly does being "tough" on them constitute here? Should we bomb or nuke them for the fact that the virus originated there? How exactly would being "tough" on China have saved us here?

[ShelC]

I think China is responsible for the virus, it's global spread and a possible cover up. I think the country should be held accountable for the global financial ramifications. You shouldn't be able to singlehandedly crash the global economy and not pay up in some way. And I'd say that of any country. If we're being forced to print money and tack on more debt, which can and will cause a recession, possible inflation and make things that much harder for future generations, China should foot at least part of the bill. For us, for Italy, for Spain, etc. Even shutting down the country earlier and minimizing the spread would've caused an economic shutdown, lost jobs, furloughs, and a stimulus package.

We know the admin did next to nothing early on and has been dragging its feet now in most instances and using the pandemic to politicize things and divide people. But only Americans can hold the admin accountable, which should happen in November (though my thoughts on the election have been made clear).

In terms of being "tough" or "soft", China is a major world/economic power so the pols want/need to tip-toe around the issue as to not to piss them off. And given the economic circumstances, we wouldn't be fighting from a position of strength or have much leverage. Trump's trade war was mostly nonsense that's still costing the country, so if China were to tighten the screws it'd be even worse.

[Indy]

The virus would exist and would have spread whether the Chinese government were transparent or not up front. It likely would have spread less quickly so the world could have prepared better, but that would be very hard to quantify.

[Nodack]

I don’t believe China fabricated the virus to take down the world. It happens in nature and we never know when it will occur. What if the virus started in the US? Would we be responsible for paying back the world? How many viruses had happened in the past and how many times did the world want payment from those countries for being the country where it started. It just seems like the blame game has gotten a little out of hand. Blame mother nature. You can blame people for not responding to the crisis but, I don’t see going after a country because a virus started in that country unless that country deliberately started it to use as a weapon. I don’t believe this is the case.

[BigLewy]

I don’t believe China fabricated the virus to take down the world. It happens in nature and we never know when it will occur. What if the virus started in the US? Would we be responsible for paying back the world? How many viruses had happened in the past and how many times did the world want payment from those countries for being the country where it started. It just seems like the blame game has gotten a little out of hand. Blame mother nature. You can blame people for not responding to the crisis but, I don’t see going after a country because a virus started in that country unless that country deliberately started it to use as a weapon. I don’t believe this is the case.

I'm starting to read more about how it was potentially developed in a lab and due to their lax security or what have you, it accidentally got out. Is it possible that someone in the lab contracted it, brought it home unknowingly to their significant other, who then unknowingly had it and spread it further? I think so. Do I think China made it and released it as a biological weapon? I doubt it and certainly would hope not. If that is somehow ever proven, the entire world would cripple them.

But, I do think that China has engaged in a fairly significant coverup regarding their death tolls and even the time it was released in Wuhan.