Anti-science, Anti-life and My Vote

Anti-science, Anti-life and My Vote

     Time magazine reported that in May 2018, a year and a half before the coronavirus began in Wuhan, China, President Trump authorized his national security adviser, John Bolton, to eliminate the National Security Council’s (NSC) global health security unit and demote its pandemic experts.  This unit or council was focused on pandemic preparedness.  Bolton claims that he simply reorganized the NSC and it did not impair country’s bio defenses.  Bolton is a Trumpster, so I will leave it there except to say that after this pandemic is over, the Congress should hold hearings and get to the truth because, Dr. Anthony Faucci told the present Congress that, “It would be nice if the office were still there.” Let me put words in his mouth, “If it was still there, we would be better prepared”.

      The Center for Strategic & International studies [CSIS] a respected think tank in the US, sponsored a two-year commission, which just a month before coronavirus was reported in China, rang the “now hear this warning”, and recommended the White House restore health security leadership at the NSC.  In short, the seven recommendations were a response to the conclusion that we are not prepared for a global pandemic.  Despite the fact that this distinguished CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security included six members of Congress, health experts, and US government and military officials it was ignored by the Trump administration.   The CSIS Commission included Kelly Ayotte, former Senator (R-NH) who had chaired the Armed Services subcommittee on Readiness, Julie Gerberding, MD.,MPH and former president of Merck Vaccines, Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA), who  before being elected to Congress practiced medicine, served as Chief Medical  Officer for Sacramento County, and taught medicine at the University of California, Davis.  Also, Ambassador Mark Dybul, faculty director of the Center for Global Health and Quality at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Admiral Jonathan Greenert, former US Navy and Chair of the National Security Studies at the National Bureau of Asian Research; plus Christine  Wormuth, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at RAND Corporation,  to name just a few. [see healthsecuritiy.csis.org/members/] for complete list of outstanding experts.

     Worst of all, President Trump continues to mislead the public by discrediting the scientists.  Epidemiologists stress that social distancing is critical in saving lives by slowing the transmission of the virus, and that such measures must be in place for weeks to show results.  Trump tweets that, “We cannot let the cure be worse than the disease”. Perhaps he doesn’t even believe that white lives matter.  Meanwhile, outbreak information from New York City shows accelerating increase in cases and hospital beds being hastily dispersed at the Javits Convention Center and naval hospital ships rushing to both coasts to add a thousand beds each.

      My conclusion: I am voting for Joe Biden.  He was a Boy Scout and knows what being prepared is all about.

March 25, 2020