COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[JWags85]

Cmon man.  Body positive.  No problem at all with 300LBs.  Well, the only problem is that is too slender.

"Weight is not a good indicator of health" is my favorite. While it can certainly be true within reason, it's too often used as an absurd defense for people that are SIGNIFICANTLY overweight

[Warriors4ever]

Spain had 3,000+ cases Monday,  and France had like 600. They didn't have zero cases, just to be accurate.
But it is hard to look at that and wonder where we might have been

[The Sultan]

SHEESH that's a hot take. The US has handled this poorly but nothing you could base the "decline" of the US vs other Western nations (education, life span, infant mortality, per capita GDP, etc...) will be long term seismically shifted in ways that didn't affect other nations. This is a "rah rah US NUMBA 1" objection as much as pointing out how quickly people make incorrect long term assessments based on short term situations.

I think the statement was a little hyperbolic, but the analogy pointed out in in the article is a good one.  The virus is like water.  It enters every crack relentlessly, and frankly we have been too busy prettying up our house that we haven't paid attention to its foundation.  And the virus is showing why this is a problem.

**We don't value science enough to trust it.  The anti-intellectuals on one side are balanced out by the sometimes haughty intellectualism on the other.

**We have spent too long buying into conspiracy theories.

**We have devalued the importance of a strong, efficient federal bureaucracy by starving it of resources and labelling its members as grifters.

**We have allowed the political discourse to degrade completely.  I mean, we have a President who most people realize is an immoral, self-dealing liar, but people still like him because he "owns the libs."  But "the libs" aren't exactly engaging in helpful discourse either by never ackowledging that some of the policies they oppose have actually worked.  IOW, we care more about winning than anything.

**We don't love our neighbor as ourselves.

So now our basement is flooded.  Are we going to spend the time and money it will take to fix the above problems?  I mean, it will take decades to do so.  Or are we going to keep working on the house and ignoring the problem.  Because one day the house will collapse.

We will get through the pandemic.  But I doubt we will learn lessons from it.

[Warriors4ever]

Ok I just reread you meant deaths -it was late and I couldn't sleep. Brain fog.

[Pakuni]

Hoo boy ... watch the video

@axios: .@jonathanvswan: "Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. I'm talking about death as a proportion of population. That's where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc."

@realdonaldtrump: "You can't do that."

Swan: "Why can't I do that?" https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096/video/1

[pbiflyer]

Hoo boy ... watch the video

@axios: .@jonathanvswan: "Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. I'm talking about death as a proportion of population. That's where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc."

@realdonaldtrump: "You can't do that."

Swan: "Why can't I do that?" https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096/video/1

If you watch that interview, you will realize that we are so screwed.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

If you watch that interview, you will realize that we are so screwed.

It's really disheartening.  Congress needs to start acting.

[wadesworld]

"We're better than the world."

Nice.

And people worry about "Sleepy Joe's" mental capacity. 

[The Lens]

It's really disheartening.  Congress needs to start acting.

I am surprised that Pence hasn't rallied GOP Senators, telling them: I can both keep the economy on track and portray a sense of humility / concern over the virus; Impeach POTUS and I can deliver November.   

[Babybluejeans]

SHEESH that's a hot take. The US has handled this poorly but nothing you could base the "decline" of the US vs other Western nations (education, life span, infant mortality, per capita GDP, etc...) will be long term seismically shifted in ways that didn't affect other nations. This is a "rah rah US NUMBA 1" objection as much as pointing out how quickly people make incorrect long term assessments based on short term

Thing is it's not a short term conclusion. We've been on the way down for a while now. People who cling to the notion of "American exceptionalism" (not accusing you of that btw) can do so only by ignoring that we've been long passed in nearly every major metric—including those you mentioned. The pandemic didn't cause the decline, but it will mark its completion.

[Galway Eagle]

Thing is it's not a short term conclusion. We've been on the way down for a while now. People who cling to the notion of "American exceptionalism" (not accusing you of that btw) can do so only by ignoring that we've been long passed in nearly every major metric—including those you mentioned. The pandemic didn't cause the decline, but it will mark its completion.

Wow you're just going to ignore obesity?! Murica!

[The Sultan]

I don't think Trump is completely wrong here.  We do a good job with people when they are sick.  But that really is about the only good thing you can say about our response because too many are getting sick.

[MarquetteDano]

I am surprised that Pence hasn't rallied GOP Senators, telling them: I can both keep the economy on track and portray a sense of humility / concern over the virus; Impeach POTUS and I can deliver November.   

Too late for that now.  I wonder if Trump had been impeached in January how much better Republicans would be looking right now.  The impeachment process would have bled into the start of the virus so Democrats could been blamed for the poor response at the start.  I think Pence would have taken the virus more seriously and thus less deaths and less of an economic hit.

I think Pence-Biden on that scenario would be probably a 50-50 poll at this point.  Plus conservatives would be looking better in other races as well.

[Galway Eagle]

Too late for that now.  I wonder if Trump had been impeached in January how much better Republicans would be looking right now.  The impeachment process would have bled into the start of the virus so Democrats could been blamed for the poor response at the start.  I think Pence would have taken the virus more seriously and thus less deaths and less of an economic hit.

I think Pence-Biden on that scenario would be probably a 50-50 poll at this point.  Plus conservatives would be looking better in other races as well.

Wow great point

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I am surprised that Pence hasn't rallied GOP Senators, telling them: I can both keep the economy on track and portray a sense of humility / concern over the virus; Impeach POTUS and I can deliver November.   

I meant legislating to force our agencies to act/pulling the levers of government.  I think any other action would just further distract and put us in worse shape with the pandemic.

[tower912]

If you want to watch a Trump voter's head explode, tell them COVID is clearly God's punishment of America for not removing Trump from office.    Then start the timer to see how long it is until they stop yelling at you.

[forgetful]

I don't think Trump is completely wrong here.  We do a good job with people when they are sick.  But that really is about the only good thing you can say about our response because too many are getting sick.

You really can't make a conclusion there one way or the other. We do not know the number of cases, or the number of deaths in any country right now. So knowing an accurate case/fatality ratio is impossible, including in the US.

We can compare "excess deaths" per capita. There, we are doing terrible. So that means either we are doing a poor job in mitigating spread (more cases than the rest of the world), or a poor job treating it.

It's likely a mixture of both. We do a great job in treating some, but the inequities in the health care system are an embarrassment.

[The Sultan]

You really can't make a conclusion there one way or the other. We do not know the number of cases, or the number of deaths in any country right now. So knowing an accurate case/fatality ratio is impossible, including in the US.

We can compare "excess deaths" per capita. There, we are doing terrible. So that means either we are doing a poor job in mitigating spread (more cases than the rest of the world), or a poor job treating it.

It's likely a mixture of both. We do a great job in treating some, but the inequities in the health care system are an embarrassment.

I'm sure you are more right than I am.

[buckchuckler]

nm

[tower912]

I don't know whose cheese that is.   I just know it is nacho cheese.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I am surprised that Pence hasn't rallied GOP Senators, telling them: I can both keep the economy on track and portray a sense of humility / concern over the virus; Impeach POTUS and I can deliver November.   

I'm not.  There is nothing inspiring about Mike Pence. 

[The Lens]

I'm not.  There is nothing inspiring about Mike Pence.

My original post said "if Pence had any ambition"  I edited bc I thought that might be too political.

[The Sultan]

My original post said "if Pence had any ambition"  I edited bc I thought that might be too political.

You think alligning yourselft against Trump is a good career move in today's Republican party?  He is plenty ambitious.  The best way to get there is be the loyal soldier.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Interesting article by NYT on immune response. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/health/coronavirus-immune-system.html

[GB Warrior]

Hoo boy ... watch the video

@axios: .@jonathanvswan: "Oh, you're doing death as a proportion of cases. I'm talking about death as a proportion of population. That's where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc."

@realdonaldtrump: "You can't do that."

Swan: "Why can't I do that?" https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096/video/1

It's not that we learned that he's breathtakingly stupid enough to say the things he said... It's that he's stupid enough to have agreed to that interview to say the things he said. Unless this is a coup from within, Trump should be on his next campaign manager already.