Unfulfilled Promises

I don't really get into politics here. I have mentioned things that the president and other politicians have said or done, but don't usually interject my own opinions. However, an article has come out from NPR today checking on the status of the promises the president made in his Rose Garden address one month ago. I am very familiar with that address, because I watched it and wrote about it here. Turns out, most of the partnerships and tools being developed never came to pass. 

The problem with implementing any type of large-scale nationwide policies, or the type of national testing and tracking that would make reopening the economy possible, is that our government is currently run by a party that believes in the smallest government possible, minimal oversight, and "liberty," leaving things up to states and even individuals. The result is that states and municipalities are left scrambling to figure things out for themselves, without guidance and support or any kind of coordinated effort from the federal government. 

Another problem with not having a consistent national policy is that the US numbers for COVID-19 cases and deaths are misleading. For example, in areas that started a shelter-in-place policy earlier, cases actually seem like they're flattening at the moment. But nationwide, numbers are going up - because not everyone has been following the same guidelines the whole time. Infections will also spread through different areas at different times, but the speed of response plays a part in how quickly the curve flattens.

We're under a tornado watch here today. There are storms going up the whole east coast. I have friends in another state who had a tornado touch down just a few miles from their home early this morning. In other natural disaster news, the locusts in Africa are getting worse, the Krakatoa volcano erupted over the weekend, and radiation levels are spiking because Chernobyl is on fire.