Policy Collapse In US
| Date :18-Jun-2020 |
By JOEL WENDLAND-LIU :
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently believes that 4 million Americans will contract the virus, and 500,000 will die as a result. But fearing more negative publicity, the Trump administration has simply stopped talking about the pandemic and refuses to give a platform for science-based public health information to the people.
TRUMP lies. Habitual dishonesty, whether it is masking the jobs crisis, the pandemic, or downplaying racism, is his signature feature. It has cost lives and threatens democracy. Trump’s lies have never been more deadly than in the past three months. Two million U.S. cases of COVID-19 have been accompanied by more than 117,000 deaths. Experts believe that data collected by public health agencies undercounts the pandemic’s true extent. Few believe that those undercounts are simple mathematical errors, but appear to be driven by Trumpian political pressure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently believes that 4 million Americans will contract the virus, and 500,000 will die as a result. But fearing more negative publicity, the Trump administration has simply stopped talking about the pandemic and refuses to give a platform for science-based public health information to the people. From the beginning of the crisis, Trump saw his leadership as a public relations battle. Administration officials downplayed the pandemic’s severity. Economic advisor Larry Kudlow insisted in March that “America should stay at work.” Later that month, Kellyanne Conway falsely claimed the virus was being “contained.” Trump callously smirked, “I like the numbers being where they are,” and “we have it well under control.” Reality, however, forced establishments to close to contain the disease. Instead of leading by example, Trump mocked safety measures such as physical distancing and masks. He taunted Governors who refused to applaud his leadership.
He orchestrated armed Republican Party rallies against “stay home” policies. Instead, he has pushed for early economic “reopenings,” despite the advice of public health officials. Trump’s ally Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida pressured public health officials there to hide data about the pandemic to support an early “reopening.” Now, new data spikes have upended much of the confidence public health officials held for containing the pandemic. Trump has manipulated an undercount of unemployed workers, as well. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the workforce has shrunk by one-third. About 50 million workers since March 1, even before the onset of “stay home” policies, have applied for unemployment benefits. U.S. Government agencies have hidden this reality.
On June 3, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 13.3% for May, lower than expected. This “good news” sent Wall Street speculators into a frenzy, boosting the stock markets by hundreds of points. Later that day, Trump delivered a speech that stupidly and callously bragged about the jobs report and weakly attempted to co-opt public opinion about the racist police murder of George Floyd to rally his sinking approval ratings. Meanwhile, the public conversation has taken new and exciting turns–without permission from Trump or other politicians, millionaire media commentators, or billionaire monopolists. We see people now questioning seriously the value and worth of the whole U.S. system–the system of capitalism and white supremacy as a co-dependent force. Right now, residents of Seattle have occupied a section of the city—the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ—designating it a police-free zone, erecting barriers, demanding the resignation of the city’s Mayor for his role in the violent attacks by Seattle police on protesters during the uprising.
On June 2, in offering a solution to the racist policing crisis in their city that led to the death of George Floyd, Minneapolis City Council members called for the disbanding of the city’s police force and resources for community-based forms of public safety. Numerous local school districts are ending contracts with police departments, which has been a major tool in the racist school-to-prison pipeline. Louisville Metro Council has now banned “no-knock” warrants that allow the police to invade a home—the type of warrant which led to the racist slaying of Breonna Taylor, who had committed no crimes. No-knock warrants have been a massive source of police abuse of power and violence. Instead of deferring to presidential power, mayors and governors are increasingly defying Trump’s demands for swift and violent police actions against protestors. Many are mocking him for hiding in a bunker during the uprising. A large swath of public figures, even within his own party, are denouncing him for ordering the military to attack protesters. This turn of events signals a further collapse of Trump’s governing authority. (IPA) (Courtesy: People’s World)