How (Fill In Republican-Run State) Lost Control Of Coronavirus

Look at this chart and see if you can identify a common denominator (click to enlarge):

(Source: Washington Post, 6/26/20)

If you said "Republican governance," you're likely a faithful reader of this blog (or maybe just read the header).

Arizona is the current hot spot (with Texas and Florida in close pursuit), so let's take a quick look at how the government of Trumpy Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lost control of the pandemic:

... [P]hysicians, public health experts, advocates and local officials say the crisis was predictable in Arizona, where local ordinances requiring masks were forbidden until Gov. Doug Ducey (R) reversed course last week. State leaders did not take the necessary precautions or model safe behavior, these observers maintain, even in the face of compelling evidence and repeated pleas from authoritative voices.

“We have failed on so many levels,” said Dana Marie Kennedy, the Arizona director of AARP, who said her organization has yet to receive a response to four letters outlining concerns to the governor. She is working on a fifth. [snip]

At critical junctures, blunders by top officials undermined faith in the data purportedly driving decision-making, according to experts monitoring Arizona’s response. And when forbearance was most required, as the state began to reopen despite continued community transmission, an abrupt and uniform approach — without transparent benchmarks or latitude for stricken areas to hold back — led large parts of the public to believe the pandemic was over.

And now, Arizona is facing more per capita cases than recorded by any country in Europe or even by hard-hit Brazil. Among states with at least 20 people hospitalized for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, no state has seen its rate of hospitalizations increase more rapidly since Memorial Day.  (our emphasis)

Arizona, like Texas and Florida and other states in the Sun Belt, has its share of loud Trump- led Covidiots, willing to politicize a health emergency:

...[R]esistance to health precautions remains pronounced. At an anti-mask rally Wednesday, a member of the Scottsdale City Council, Republican Guy Phillips, shouted the dying words of George Floyd — “I can’t breathe” — before ripping off his mask, enlisting a rallying cry of the nationwide protests against racial injustice to inveigh against face coverings that reduce airborne transmission of tiny droplets. Hours later, he issued an apology “to anyone who became offended.”  (our emphasis)

These knuckle- draggers and the knuckle- draggers that cheer them have tied the precautionary and effective practice of mask- wearing to a threat to their Constitutional rights and freedumb! because it's the message they've received from the mask- less Covidiot- in- chief and his sycophants, who want everybody back to work and shopping, to hell with the cost.  So, in Arizona, and elsewhere, people elected to look out for the common good ended up prematurely and  shortsightedly looking out for the business community's bottom line, while trying desperately to please the Covidiot- in- chief:

Ducey’s original order reopening the state — and preventing local officials from setting their own rules despite mounting evidence about the benefits of masks and social distancing — was in keeping with a top-down approach to governance that critics say has characterized his tenure. In 2017, he signed a bill approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that allowed any state legislator to direct the Arizona attorney general to investigate a local regulation for a possible violation of state law. Consequences included potentially losing revenue from the state.

“The biggest challenge has been Governor Ducey tying the hands of mayors and county health departments,” said Regina Romero, the Democratic mayor of Tucson, who said she weighed an emergency proclamation mandating masks in mid-March but was advised against it by her city attorney. Her city’s budget is about $566 million, Romero said, more than a fifth of which comes from the state.  (our emphasis)

The full article is a good read and, with minor variations, tells a story that could be told of late closing and too- early opening blunders by Republican governors in other states now seeing spikes.

BONUS:  And no, don't let anyone "both sides" this --

Don't bothsides this pandemic. America's epic, lethal fail was driven by the fecklessness of an anti-science party that didn't want to face reality https://t.co/mYAz77G3IJ

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 26, 2020

BONUS II:  The Government Accountability Office weighs in --

New independent GAO report on Trump admin response to COVID is out. Lemme break it down for you:

Trump f*cked up bad.

He is still doing so.

And he will continue to do so as long as he is in office.

My biggest takeaway? Vote!https://t.co/9wH4woaHgr

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) June 26, 2020

BONUS III:  What a difference a competent leader would have made--

Eight months ago yesterday. https://t.co/1XzAvx7daa

— Bill Russo (@BillR) June 26, 2020

 

The Plan? Silly, There Is No Plan! (UPDATED)

Surprise, surprise!

A set of detailed documents created by the nation’s top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit, day care centers and restaurants during the still-raging pandemic has been shelved by the Trump administration.

The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen.

It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance “would never see the light of day,” according to a CDC official. The official was not authorized to talk to reporters and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

We already are learning from whistleblowers how the 4th- rate team of schmendricks that constitutes the Trump regime botched procuring PPE and wasted time and resources on the Trump- favored hydroxychloroquine "silver bullet," so continued bungling is par for the course. And it will only get worse:

Traditionally, it’s been the CDC’s role to give the public and local officials guidance and science-based information during public health crises. During this one, however, the CDC has not had a regular, pandemic-related news briefing in nearly two months. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has been a member of the White House coronavirus task force, but largely absent from public appearances.

The dearth of real-time, public information from the nation’s experts has struck many current and former government health officials as dangerous. [snip]

The Trump administration has instead sought to put the onus on states to handle COVID-19 response. This approach to managing the pandemic has been reflected in President Donald Trump’s public statements, from the assertion that he isn’t responsible for the country’s lackluster early testing efforts, to his description last week of the federal government’s role as a “supplier of last resort” for states in need of testing aid.

While the incompetent Trump regime continues to shirk its responsibilities and downplay the dangers of "re- opening," various Republican governors are following the regime's model of denial, coverup, and reckless disregard.  Florida's Department of Health, under repugnant Trump ass- kisser Gov. Ron "One Glove" DeSantis, has been caught trying to control the release of death counts reported by county coroners, to minimize the count.  In Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug "Deuce" Ducey disbanded his advisory panel of health experts just as Arizona is set to "re- open";  the experts had inconveniently forecasted a peak not occurring for another two weeks.

This should all work out well.

UPDATE: A military valet who is one of Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus. Chickens, welcome home:

The valet showed “symptoms” Wednesday morning, a source told CNN, which also reported that “the news that someone close to Trump had tested positive for coronavirus was ‘hitting the fan’ in the West Wing.”

A White House official told NBC that the valet serves meals to Trump, and that valets have not been wearing masks.

The man’s diagnosis raises the possibility that Trump has been exposed to the coronavirus at the same time he and his administration have downplayed the pandemic’s magnitude.  (our emphasis)

Schadenfreude, Lysol and hydroxychloroquine stat!

(Gif: via Giphy)