Biden Working Incredibly Hard And Productively To Pull Us Out Of The Pandemic
Republicans Try To Halt Progress And Steal Credit
My friends will grind their teeth a little as I quickly(?) tell my tale of realizing that a year ago that we were on our way down a swirling hole of pandemic and isolation unless there were some real leadership unlike this country had seen since FDR, HST and JFK. Trump had already had a month to do something and had made it pretty obvious he didn’t care to deal with something that would take some real effort.
The best we could hope for is that he would kind of make himself scarce while someone else sort of took the reins and drove us through the pitfalls of the pandemic. Sadly we got the worst possible response we could have. Trump decided it was a good time for some On The Job Training plus a good opportunity to score some big bucks during a crisis. The very worst of all possible worlds.
As for us, somewhere around March 10th I was watching some basketball at my desk. The NBA was announcing an interruption to their season. Actually I can’t remember all what was happening over 2 or 3 days. All I can remember was that news of closings were coming in fast and furious. Who could keep track.
I had the oddest reaction. I thought to myself – “Oh boy, I will be forced to stay home, so I can watch the NCAA tournament almost undisturbed!” Then in a flash I realized just how ludicrous my first thought had been:
“There won’t be any tournament. There won’t be any baseball season. There probably won’t be any football season and there probably won’t be any basketball next year at any level. As a matter of fact you’d better start thinking about where you are going to be getting food, because trucks may be pulled off the road and store shelves will be wiped out in a day.”
I took a trip to the grocery the next day and got some immediate supplies. Reports continued to speak of doom while trying to keep us somewhat calm. One thing was for sure. The Administration only seemed to care about how they looked as leaders while while it was really apparent they had no idea what to do and didn’t care about the citizens.
I distinctly remember that our hunker down day was March 13th. From there, top priority was food and staying home as much as possible. Since my wife has some severe disabilities it was pretty obvious any outside forays would be conducted by me with a maximum of concern about safety and keeping the virus out of our house.
Purchasing trips were put together like battle plans. We got lots of ready to eat type meals, maxed out our freezer capacity and grabbed whatever cleaning supplies might be left on the shelf. Thanks to Costco’s large sizes we were already pretty well stocked on cleaning supplies.
Things we seldom thought about like cat food and cat litter became real important. Toilet paper? Fortunately I had just bought a large supply so we were good for a while.
Trips were planned with as few stops as possible. All items were wiped with alcohol. Trips were very early in the morning to minimize crowds. Stripping and washing were mandated as soon as I got home. It was kind of exhausting those first couple months with all the planning and the precise execution.
We now look back with a year’s perspective. One thing for sure is that the response of the Republican Party en masse was the worst possible response America has ever seen to any crisis. Had America simply surrendered to Hitler after Hitler’s first provocation is the only thing I can think that might have been comparable had it happened.
Not only did the Republican Party surrender to the corona virus, but they also created public policy such as opening restaurants and bars that almost guaranteed the virus an environment to spread far and wide.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was one of the leaders in the surrender to the corona virus. Even this week she continues to run perhaps the worst vaccination program in the country. In typical Republican fashion, her response has been to find somebody else to blame.
The Biden Administration has shown the guts and the grit to ta take the virus on toe to toe. Unfortunately the previous administration and governors such as Reynolds, DeSantis, Abbott, Noem, Ricketts and many other Republicans gave the virus such a head start catching up to it may be an extraordinary challenge.
Here is hoping that next year when we remember the start of Covid week, we can be looking back at something we believe to be conquered.
Raise a glass to the scientists who created the vaccines, the health care workers who have fought on the front lines of the disease and to everyone who has the civility to wear a mask to help stem the disease in their own little way.
Reporter tries to give response credit to Trump Administration, is remonstrated:
Every ten years the state redraws legislative and congressional district maps. Senator Zach Wahls discussed the process at the Johnson County League of Women Voters legislative forum. Also present were, Democrats Joe Bolkcom, Mary Mascher, Christina Bohannan, Dave Jacoby, and Kevin Kinney. Absent: Republican Bobby Kaufmann.
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