New Mexico shut down nearly everything to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by covid. It wasn't enough.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The governor had been sounding the alarm for more than a month. But by mid-November, it was clear to Michelle Lujan Grisham that she would need to take extreme measures to head off the "most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced."
With covid-19 cases rising exponentially and hospital beds dwindling, she dragged her state back to the darkest days of spring, when restaurant dining was banned, nonessential businesses were closed and residents were ordered to stay inside unless absolutely necessary.
She hoped it might be enough to avert catastrophe this winter.
"New Mexico has crushed this virus before - twice," she told her state's 2 million citizens. "We're going to do it again."
Three weeks later, victory remains a distant prospect. Instead, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, is on the verge of acknowledging just how grim conditions have become: She will, she said in an interview, soon allow hospitals to move to "crisis standards," a move that frees them to ration care depending on a patient's likelihood of surviving.
It is a step that she and other governors have avoided through nine months of battling the pandemic, and one that doctors dread.
"That's a physician's nightmare," said Jason Mitchell, chief medical officer at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, one of the state's largest providers. "We want to save every life we can."
But given the severe strain on medical systems statewide and the lack of available ICU beds as covid hospitalizations near 1,000 statewide, Mitchell said there was likely no other choice.
"We're headed there very quickly," he said. "There's no more room at the inn."
The dire state of New Mexico's covid fight reflects just how pernicious an opponent the coronavirus really is, and how it can outlast or outmaneuver even the most stalwart efforts to keep it in check.
New Mexico has consistently won praise among public health experts for its aggressive approach to combating the virus. Lujan Grisham issued a stay-at-home order in March when there were fewer than 100 cases statewide, and she has gone as far as locking down entire cities to stem the spread.
A study by Oxford University found that the state's approach was among the most restrictive - and also the most successful, with New Mexico dodging the spring and summer surges that afflicted so many other states.
But with pandemic fatigue growing and political resistance building - including from the White House - New Mexico has not escaped the outbreak raging nationwide this fall. And even though there is evidence that the governor's November shutdown orders are helping to reduce case numbers, experts say there is only so much good they can do with a virus that zealously exploits any weakness.
"If it's cold outside and you have shut seven windows, but you leave one open, it's still going to be cold inside, isn't it?" said Rohini McKee, University of New Mexico Hospital's chief quality and safety officer. "Doing 90% is not enough."
The open window with this round of covid, McKee said, is as simple as human nature. People want to get together with friends and relatives, and they resent being told by political leaders or health experts that they can't.
"There's a need for instant gratification," she said. "We're not used to delaying gratification."
But that lack of constraint is having deadly consequences: More than 1,700 New Mexicans have already succumbed to covid-19. An average of nearly 30 people are added to the tally each day.
At the University of New Mexico's six hospitals, ICU capacity is already near its max, with normally single-occupancy rooms getting doubled up. Models suggest that demand for beds will continue to grow at least until mid-month.
"It is safe to say that our hospital systems are going to be overwhelmed," McKee said.
The only question now is how long the onslaught lasts.
Lujan Grisham said the restrictions she announced Nov. 13 were intended to keep it to a minimum and free up health-care resources, so we "don't put physicians in those really difficult situations" of having to decide who receives care.
To an extent, she said, the "reset" had worked.
"We dropped the positivity rate, we dropped our rate of infection and we slowed hospitalizations per capita, which is exactly what we needed," she said.
But she acknowledged that it was too late to avoid some of the worst impacts: A declaration allowing hospitals to move to "crisis standards of care" would likely come by Monday, she said. The move enables hospitals to switch to a commonly agreed plan for triaging care, though each will decide on its own whether the shift is necessary.
New Mexico has one of the lowest numbers of per capita hospital beds of any state in the nation. That, combined with an unusually high percentage of elderly and low-income residents, makes the state particularly vulnerable to a covid surge.
Lujan Grisham said she and other officials had seen the potential for hospitals to be overwhelmed much earlier this fall, and she repeatedly warned her state of what was coming as rates jumped in October.
She pleaded for citizens to take the threat seriously - to mask up, socially distance and limit their gatherings. At a time when President Trump was sending a very different message - hosting mass, and largely maskless, rallies nationwide - not everyone listened.
"We have constituents here - and I would argue in every state - that still believe that this is not a deadly, contagious virus, and you don't have to practice any public health measures," she said in a Thursday phone interview. "That makes it really complicated."
Adding to the challenge, she said, was a lack of federal stimulus funding. Without a better safety net, she was reluctant to take the dramatic step of shutting down large segments of the state's economy.
Since the November order, New Mexico has moved to a three-tiered system for reopening, though the vast majority of the state remains in the most restrictive phase - the red zone.
Lujan Grisham, who is a co-chair of President-elect Joe Biden's transition, has been pitched by Latino lawmakers and others as a Health and Human Services secretary in the next administration. She said in the interview that she was "flattered" by the suggestion, but that she had not had conversations with the Biden team about the job.
As is true of other governors who have imposed stiff restrictions to check covid's spread, Lujan Grisham has been met with intense resistance.
"The situation in New Mexico is desperate," said Carol Wight, chief executive of the New Mexico Restaurant Association. "Without federal relief, we're going to start losing restaurants. Two-hundred have closed already."
Wight, whose organization backed an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging the governor's authority to impose limits earlier this year, said the governor's new red-zone restrictions give her members no reason for hope.
"Allowing 25 percent capacity for outdoor dining doesn't help any restaurant in the middle of winter," she said.
Stevan Pearce, the Republican Party chair in New Mexico, said Lujan Grisham would be better off following the lead of GOP governors who have taken a hands-off approach and favored "personal responsibility" over government interventions.
"We've been one of the most restrictive states in the nation yet we're still seeing the spike," said Pearce, who lost a 2018 election to Lujan Grisham. "So obviously the controls didn't work. We may have to just learn to live with this."
Yet health authorities say such an approach would have meant overwhelmed hospitals at a much earlier point in the pandemic and a much higher death count by now.
"The governor follows the science, and she's not afraid to take action," said Mitchell, the chief medical officer at Presbyterian Health. "That helped us avoid a catastrophe at the very beginning. It saved a lot of lives."
The decision to shut down again in November, Mitchell said, was also well-justified by the data.
Had the governor not acted, the leader of the state's largest city said he would have. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in an interview that he was relieved that wasn't necessary, as it has been for other municipal leaders in states where the governor has declined to step in.
"The need for action was clear," said Keller, a Democratic ally of Lujan Grisham. "We're always better off when the state moves as a whole because the virus doesn't obey county or city lines."
Keller said the cumulative impact of the shutdowns had certainly taken a toll on his city, but that state and municipal stimulus spending had helped to soften the blow.
With a vaccine on the horizon, Keller said his biggest concern was fatigue - for a general population that long ago grew sick of covid restrictions, but especially for medical workers whose most harrowing stretch may still lie ahead.
"There is no doubt that every nurse and doctor in this town is absolutely exhausted," he said. "You can only do this for so long."
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Wonder if she remembers the 19 Pueblos and 5 Tribes/Nations as part of her concern? After all, she is the "Governor" of the state and should be "helping" all NM citizenry.
I don't see any reason to assume she doesn't.
Do you have any information/instances where she is not treating the Tribes and Pubelo's the same as the rest of the state? You, being Indian and living in close proximity to numerous tribes and pueblo's should find that information easily available.
What would be of greater concern is why IHS closing a birthing center and cutting back on services at other IHS facilities. That of course would fall under the feds and the Department of the Interior.
I "personally" have not been to the Native tribes/nations/pueblos and know only of what I have read/heard through the Native Grapevine. The Feds delivered and set up emergency centers with tents/food/medicines to seven, if that information is correct (again - Native Grapevine) locations accessible to the tribes/nations/pueblos. The state did nothing - at that time.
The Feds and localities are all cutting back on services - not just to the tribes/nations/pueblos. Example - Las Cruces has shut down medical treatments in hospitals on all instances of non-necessity for all persons.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham used her line-item veto power to preserve executive control over hundreds of millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief funding, a move that could mean the loss of additional financial assistance for some Native American communities.
Lujan Grisham used her veto pen to scratch out entire paragraphs of the budget to prevent the Legislature from earmarking $318 million in federal virus relief funding for local governments.
State lawmakers during the special legislative session had prioritized the Native American communities by setting aside $23 million for tribal governments and another $15 million specifically for counties in the northwest with large Indigenous populations. That was in addition to allocating the funds statewide based on population numbers.
Panelists told members of the Legislative Finance Committee that the coronavirus pandemic has set schools back in all areas, including meeting requirements to improve instruction for at-risk students.
The education lawsuit covers New Mexico students who are English language learners, Native American and those who have specific mobility or learning impediments.
The challenges extend to rural communities in the corners of the state, where limited internet access is compounding unequal access to education.
While schools have mobilized to bring Wi-Fi hotspots to rural homes, connections are spotty or non-existent in areas without the cell towers needed to power the hot spots.
Around half of Native American children have been unable to connect with online learning this year, according to a report to the Legislative Finance Committee.
In July, state District Judge Matthew Wilson rejected a request from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to dismiss the case, saying the state hadn’t complied with a 2018 ruling to provide “adequate” education as required by the state constitution.
A couple of things come to mind. The Cares act had provisions in it for Tribal governments which amounted to $8 billion dollars. Of course, this was totally screwed up by the feds from the get-go and it took months for all of it to be distributed. That has put some tribes in a tough position since the monies are to be spent before January 1st, 2021 and they cannot complete their projects in that time frame..One would be the Navajo nation getting electricity to many of the homes on the rez that do not have power. They are working 10 hour days, seven days per week to try to get as much done in the allotted time.
It's understandable that the state is cutting back since their revenue flow has been interrupted, and the state requires a balanced budget. The feds on the other hand do not have that restriction and can ''print money'' so to speak. So other than Washington holding up relief while the states, including NM, slowly sink into cutting many services drastically we have a federal government problem, not a state problem.
The ''Navajo Times'' is a good source of information and it's online for free.
This is really the crux of the issue across the country. The states and cities cannot address the economic needs of their citizens because they cant print money and thus cannot sustain huge debt over a protracted period of time. The federal government can however. We should have "gone big" and gave all affected business the funds to continue on without customers and gave all the state and local governments what they needed to continue their necessary services, and if the national debt grew by a considerable figure, deal with that later.
No scientific evidence that lockdowns work.
Lockdowns do work if you have a system in place like China. Though I doubt any US citizen would tolerate armed troops at every corner monitoring and enforcing strict governmental regulations of only 1 person per household going out to buy only essential goods on certain days.
Problem with lockdowns is that they have to end at sometime; and the Covid 19 doesn't. So long as a single individual has it the ability to again cause a spike; and become a pandemic again.
NY managed to break its spike with a lockdown and not even one like China.
The issue is that people just don't follow the guidelines. All our current spikes have come from places where the guidelines were ignored.
Just bending the curves can be enough till we get a vaccine.
It is more mind-boggling to me that while NM is discussing who shall live and who shall die decisions, that people are still arguing over controlling their impulses. It's all fine and dandy until it's you, or someone you love.
Exactly. We haven't actually had a lockdown, in most places. We've had a half-assed attempt at one.
That's like when the Socialist defends Socialism by saying it has never really been tried.
Sure, sure. So tell us all, Vic - do you think that, if we all avoided nonessential contact with people other than the ones with whom we share a household for the duration of the virus's incubation period, that numbers of new cases would continue to increase? Or do you think they would likely decrease sharply? If the former, please explain your rationale.
Or a non-socialist explaining reality to someone whose understanding of socialism is based on labels deemed by dictators rather than the underlying theory.
The scientists don't know the answer. I always like to lean to what is least destructive. As far as I can see the three items I named have kept me safe and nobody gets hurt.
So, "sure, sure, you are all too willing to put others out of work.
Of course they do. No contact = no spread. Viruses don't travel on their own steam. They go where we take them.
You realize that a true lockdown would likely put me out of work, too, yes?
Controlling their impulses? Yeah, kinda like our Governor having a jewelry store open up so she could go get some jewelry without any form of social distancing, face masking, non-essential, etc.. - those impulses?
That's not exactly true.
Sorry - not the correct news. All non-essential businesses were closed by the state in April - she got her jewelry in April - the allowance of "curb-side" delivery wasn't given authorization until 1 May - after the Gov got her jewelry.
But you said there was no social distancing. It was a contact-free delivery. That's social distancing. Maybe she exercised privilege she shouldn't have, but she endangered nobody. There was no face-to-face contact.
Sandy - you're a health professional. If you were advised NOT to do something that may/had the potential of causing harm or violates your safety/security, would you do it? Remember the "Butterfly Effect" - each wrong has the potential of creating a greater wrong? The Governor "locked" the state down to everything except essential services - "EVERYTHING EXCEPT ESSENTIAL SERVICES".
So, kinda explain to me/us how having someone violate the lock-down is not endangering someone - specifically the one violating the lock-down and going out into public space, with the potentiality of endangering others besides themselves through a chance encounter. Chance plays a big part and a person's life/health is not something to put in the grasp of "chance".
I already explained that, but ok, I will again. It wasn't dangerous because there was no contact. She ordered by phone. The order was placed outside the door for pickup. Neither the jeweler's employee nor the person picking up the package were in contact with anyone. She abused a privilege, but she endangered nobody.
I would be much more concerned about the violations of state COVID19 guidelines than one incident where no one was exposed.
Yesterday in Valdosta GA the president of the US violated a standing order from the Governor of GA regarding the number of people that can be at a gathering. This has been done time and again by the president of the US.
Here is the restrictions for GA. and it sure looked like there were more than 50 people at the so-called rally.
Yea, what could people, not interacting with other people, do to lessen the spread of a virus that spreads via people to people interactions...?
Really Vic, not bean a dick, but WTF ! Common Sense, though quite obviously rare in the US, tells N E ONE N EVERYONE, that the spread WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE FASTEST and in the most expeditious manner, if people do not interact.
One American dies from Covid EVERY 30 SECONDS. Would your Scientific Method be to hold SUPER SPREADER RALLIES, like your dear should be feared Leader, cause that's Science Fiction you are in the process of the depiction, and not reality, as any person with half a functioning brain should be able to ascertain, others, "insane in the membrane, insane in the brain"!
Common sense social distancing, wearing masks and washing your hands is what we should be doing. People losing their livelihoods or children forfeiting their education is not necessary, especially when there is no science to back it up. It's easy for the elite tech class that works from home to endorse lockdowns. It was easy for some egomaniac who heads the National institute of infectious disease to roll the dice with the lives of millions on a new virus he knew little about.
like your dear should be feared Leader,
You have three weeks left and I expect you to honor your debts.
How/Why is it, you expect an anonymous poster with opposing view points to honor a "debt", yet, Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, arguably the most powerful and formerly respected person in the world, who IS NOT HONORING HIS OATH TO THE CONSTITUTION, the AMERICAN PEOPLE, and THE WORLD, somehow gets a pass by you. He hasn't conceded the LOSS yet, and will he ? If Obama had refused to leave office, what do you suppose you and your GOP gang would do....if he had accepted election help from Russia, (WHICH HE MOST CERTAINLY DID) as he was impeached for using his leverage on a Foreign President to come up with evidence on his rival or he would withhold Military supplies for his at War country, (WHICH HE MOST CERTAINLY DID THREATEN), AND Obama would have been like $hit through a goose, OUTTA HERE, but due to Trump "grabbing pussies" cause they "just let him" Trump remained in office, and will until he is removed, by force i'm hoping.
In a world where COUNTRY came before any GOP (or Democratic) Party, the President would of, and should have, been impeached and REMOVED FROM OFFICE.
Since Republicans apparently respect the Law of Russia over our own Laws, and allowed the one Putin place as our president, one who is 24/7 attempting top find ways to pardon his FAMILY and HIMSELF, cause thats' what people who are NOT GUILTY DO, Right Vic....? i haven't yet decided, cause you have NO RESPECT FOR HONOR as proven daily. Time will tell Vic, dependent on the actions of the Dik, in the White House.
how would whatever Trump says or does have any effect on your debt?
do you know what debt i don't owe yet ?
As Vic and i had a one month wager as to a one month self imposed ban from commenting here. That somehow got increased but forget Y. Haven't given it much thought till just posed by Vic in those terms. Since i AM honorable, i might entertain taking a one month Vinecation, but then, i think about what our bet was over. Trump SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM OFFICE, but due to Pussie GOP'ers he remains, and his unstable ever able disability can't accept[t he LOST THE FCKN ELECTION, and is attempting to pardon ALL those CLOWNS who Coulda Woulda and certainly SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM DOOWN< but are now being rewarded by the pardoning Clown who should of went down faster than an aging Asian hooker in China town.
Yours and his claims of a Russian Hoax are a fckn JOKE !
Cause it WILL eventual;ly BE FULLY PROVEN, cause people will confess to how Trump DID and WAS/IS a Putin pawn, and since he is named as a co-conspirator along with his imprisoned attorney, it is obvious, Trump would be behind bars if not for the Low ones he appointed and holds high, so i float, as up in the air about how i forge forward after Trump's termination.
I had discussed how i did not plan to hold Vic to terms of any self expulsion, as this place is his life, for me, i have a real life in the real world, but enjoy reading opinions and making comments, as i can't talk politicks off too many friends.
Just amazes me that Trump was able to go free, and how Vic and your gang, FORGIVE EVERYTHING TRUMP, but an anonymous poster, must be held in contempt.
hmmm.
very good DEFLECTION!!!!!!
Why not ask Vic? He's the one who brought it up.
This isn't about Trump - stay on topic please.
Trump is not the topic.
[deleted]
WTF are you babbling on about NOW?
Ah, never mind, I am sure it isn't worth my time or effort to wade through more of the word salad.
Toodles!
all [apologies,deleted] I certainly hope ALL are taken care of and treated equally and fairly in New Mexico. I have respect for our countries indigenous peoples, and believe they have NOT been treated equally here in the US
Trump is mentioned in the article, and is being discussed here by conservatives.
So are Republicans, the White House, CDC, Democrats - but the discussion is what is occurring in NM and in the other states - not with Trump.
If he's in the article, he's on topic.
Democrats are mentioned in the article, too.
And 1st has not tried to declare them off topic. Only Trump, and only when he's mentioned by a liberal. Several conservatives have mentioned him elsewhere on this discussion, and not a word was said to them about being off topic.
I kept a copy of the NT article.
Wrong!
The lefties here do it all the time and it's wrong.
That is not true. Every paragraph should include a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the paragraph. A topic sentence also states the point the writer wishes to make about that subject. Generally, the topic sentence appears at the beginning of the paragraph. It is often the paragraph's very first sentence.
Each paragraph written has a topic sentence - and the President nor his administration are written within the framework of a TOPIC SENTENCE anywhere in the thread/article.
This is not a court of law where the mere mention of "something" opens the universe to introspection by opposing factors. "Common Sense" tells anyone who reads the thread/article that the thread/article is NOT ABOUT TRUMP.
However, there are folks who will take the slightest whisper and attempt to turn it into THEIR personal hurricane/tornado/studio rock concert in Central Park - to do what??? There is/are no comparative illustrations of anything other than NM's handling of the Covid virus - and the President of the U.S. nor the governors of the other 49 states have had any participation in the development of NM's practices in handling THEIR Covid virus.
As the author/seeder of the thread/article, I did not open the floodgates for spurious and copious "off topic" discussion and have asked that they (the discussions) stay on track with the TOPIC of the thread/article - NM's handling of the Covid virus concerns for NM, not the U.S. nor the other 49 states.
If that can not be done, I have no problem of shutting discussion down and deleting the thread, which I don't want to do. This is a viable topic - excuse me - TOPIC - that has garnered good discussion. Let's not ruin it by defeating the purpose and subject of the TOPIC - NM's handling of the Covid virus cases.
Thanks.
You can keep saying that Trump isn't THE topic
But this paragraph says he is included as a factor in NM's responses and experience.
It's very pertinent, and on topic as to why NM failed or succeeded.
I am not going to argue it, I have better things to do today.
OMG - OK then - "the" is on topic - "if" is on topic - "where" is on topic - "vote" is on topic - "then" is on topic - "what" is on topic - "etc" is on topic - "NT" is on topic - ""phone" is on topic - etc., etc., etc.,.
Anything else??? I'm quite sure the NT "public" would just love to disrupt a good discussion thread/seed because they want to discuss what they want, and not what the author has posted.
Thread/seed is closed. Thanks for not participating.
I think it's common sense that if people avoid each other, they can't transmit the disease. Getting people to do that, though, is kind of a problem.
It's a problem because you have an essential working class which makes the world go round. They are the ones deliving groceries to the wife of Gov Cuomo while she sits at home.
I mean, I guess if we had the resources to lock every man, woman, and child in their home for two weeks, that might help. But I don't know how you do that.
Morning Vic..Does not have to be scientific evidence..it is called plain common sense..Yes lock downs do work..Call up New Zealand and the Capital of my State in Victoria, Melbourne.
We have gone from nearly a thousand infections a day to zero..has been zero for 36 days now and no more deaths for that time. Yes it involved a lock down of nearly 3 months in Melbourne. We lost 800 souls and to us that was totally unacceptable and devastating.. It is hard and people will kick and scream but what would you rather..a horrendous death toll or a chance of at least containing the virus and then squashing it as it appears.
Yes it can come back at anytime. We are all aware of that and for us we are on high alert as it is Summer here and we saw what happened in Europe and the US..That was enough for us.
Just 3 basic and common sense approaches can make the world of difference..wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands..It worked in New Zealand and so far has worked here...
Good Morning Shona 1:
I hope all is well in my second favorite country.
If anything, the evidence points elsewhere:
"Government officials in Sweden announced this week that the government expects to maintain its mild restrictions on gatherings “for at least another year” to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Unlike most other European countries and nations around the world, Sweden declined to initiate a nationwide lockdown or mask mandates, opting instead for a policy that restricted large gatherings and relied on social responsibility to slow transmission of the virus.
For months, Sweden was criticized for its decision to forego an economic lockdown.
“Sweden becomes an example of how not to handle COVID-19,” CBS declared in its headline in a July article.
Sweden had become a “cautionary tale,” the New York Times declared the same month."
Just 3 basic and common sense approaches can make the world of difference..wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands..It worked in New Zealand and so far has worked here...
That is what I believe in!
The Swedish folks don't have the "I gotta have RIGHT NOW" attitude that the U.S. has. If the Swedes have been asked to conduct social distancing/responsibility/large gatherings, you know damn well that they conduct social distancing/responsibility/large gatherings, most anyone who is familiar with their culture knows that they will, indeed, practice what is needed.
Not so in the U.S.
You may have a point. It works best if everyone elects to do it. That is hard to do. Are the Swedes more likely to come together and act in unison? I'm not sure.
Demonstrably false! We've seen lockdowns work in countries like China, Spain, Italy and Germany. It does limit or prevent socialization which limits the opportunity for the virus to spread. It's a simple premise. Lockdowns have also been shown to work here in our country too. Of course, lockdowns only work if people actually adhere to it. So there's your scientific evidence Vic.
Uh yeah, they do. They know how the virus is transmitted, how long it takes to develop symptoms (if it does), and how contagious it is.
You know what else puts others out of work? Contracting Covid and/or infecting others. Some are also willing to do what is necessary to stop the pandemic. Being "out of work" will not be an issue if we can get the virus under control.
Boy, we can't go one pandemic story without taking a shot at the president for not using his magical powers to end disease. The mayor of Albuquerque can't stop the thing. The governor of New Mexico can't stop it. Neither can the governors of 49 other states. But if only Trump would get off his ass, this problem would be solved. Does no one yet realize how absurd that is?
The absurdity has been Trumps' assertion that it will "just go away", his commentary during Covid press conferences that contradicted Faucci and other experts, his suggestions that certain drugs would be the Cure, and his general dismissal of the truly dangerous virus, as it did not benefit HIM, and his reelection chances. We NEEDED a UNIVERSAL message and consistency from our "Leaders", instead we got in constant can't sees, due to LIES spread by Trump and other girls and guys who are murdering US without masks, or the disguise, as this guise has been not to nice as a predicted possible 400,000 may be dead by February,(In FIVE days in December, 1,000,000 new confirmed Covid cases here in the US) but, but it
Could NEVER BE BY WHAT WAS OR WHAT WAS NOT SAID....????
Please Tacos, give it a break, cause your assertion that Trump and the GOP stating the opposite of the EXPERTS, is the only absurdity , eye, and many do see.
My main concern behind my comment was why mention the White House at all? That's never explained. What is this resistance they refer to? They don't say. It's like a pointless partisan jab. Here's the thing, though: I don't care that someone in the world wants to take shots at Trump. I don't like him, so jab away! It's for journalism's sake. Just do the story without that bullshit. Manipulative propaganda like that makes me wonder about the validity of everything else they write.
Yeah, he was wrong about that. But would saying it or not have changed anything? I think so, but I can't measure how much.
I agree with your further criticisms of his response. I would like to have seen him respond differently. I have been very unhappy with the communication from Washington. I even think it could have cost lives.
But at some point, we have to point some fingers at the American people, our society, our systems of government, and also at the virus itself.
We aren't talking about an unbroken trend of infection and death dating back to March. That, I think, would implicate Trump.
On the contrary, things actually looked pretty good (relatively speaking) as we entered October. But since then, the pandemic has not only gotten worse, we are setting records beyond anything that happened in Spring or Summer. Is that because of Trump? Everywhere?
In New Mexico? In California? In Washington? Vermont? Massachusetts? Illinois? Those places aren't really Trump territory but they are setting records for new cases. Why is there a surge of cases in liberal Los Angeles and uber-liberal San Francisco? Trump? Really?
What about Europe? Trump again? Come on!
Europe’s Deadly Second Wave: How Did It Happen Again?
In most countries. Higher than ever before. That's not Trump. It's something else.
Some good points, but still pushing the envelope making Trump your primary target.
The thread is about NM and what is happening there and the actions/activities the state is taking to curtail exposure. But, if you wish, you can include the other 49 states in your discussion as it, per the article/thread, describes some of the actions/activities the other states are attempting to utilize.
i can respect and agree with some of your points, but that does not get Trump off the hook. The US is #1 in the developed world in numbers and deaths, WTF does that say about leadership ?
OK - the President sez do this and the governor's say screw you, we'll do it our way. Now, who's on the hook?
Keep this discussion on the thread/article - and Trump is not the subject of the thread/article.
thanks First, but i got an alcohol thirst, out
They know!
The election is over: Mission Accomplished!