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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis wouldn't have happened if Hillary Clinton had won
ByMax Boot
Columnist
March 21, 2020 at 6:35 p.m. EDT
Utterly lacking in empathy, Trump is incapable of rallying a shell-shocked nation. When asked on Friday, What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?, Trump launched into a tirade against the reporter who asked the question. Like the snake-oil salesman that he is, his version of reassurance is to tout miracle cures that have not been verified by medical science.
I weep in anger and frustration imagining what might have been if Hillary Clinton a sane, sensible adult had won. We couldnt have avoided the coronavirus, but we could have ameliorated its effects. We could be South Korea (102 deaths) rather than Italy (4,825 deaths and counting).
It was precisely because we were afraid of how Trump would mishandle his weighty responsibilities that some Never Trump conservatives supported Clinton in 2016. On May 8, 2016, I wrote in the Los Angeles Times: There has never been a major party nominee in U.S. history as unqualified for the presidency. The risk of Trump winning, however remote, represents the biggest national security threat that the United States faces today.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/21/this-wouldnt-have-happened-if-hillary-clinton-had-won/
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)The insane hatred that trump would be pumping out if Hillary were in the White House?
OnlinePoker
(5,724 posts)Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)I can scream pretty damn loud though, but I need to save my lung power just in case, cause of this monster!
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,855 posts)... the conspiracy theories about FEMA camps and government takeover among the right-wing idiots if Hillary Clinton tried to quarantine people and shut down business operations? (On the other hand, maybe those types would huddle together in acts of protest, and thereby help rid us of their pestilence!)
I have no doubt that everything else wouldve been better e.g., greater respect for science, swifter acknowledgement of the dangers, more effective communication, more protective equipment for healthcare workers, etc.
Hamlette
(15,412 posts)remember the fight for a stimulus package under Obama? No republican help.
That's what pisses me off the most. It is still all politics to them.
budkin
(6,707 posts)Fuck all this shit.
With taco trucks, too!
PA Democrat
(13,225 posts)who appoints people to cabinet and senior positions within the executive branch based upon their knowledge and skills, rather than their ability to kiss ass; who cares more about the American people than her own ratings; who uses press conferences to inform and comfort the American people and enlist their help in this battle, rather than as a substitute MAGA rally to stroke one's ego and spew lies.
Today, I cried for where our country is today and for how it could have been so much better poised to prevent the level of catastrophe that we are facing.
The suffering, the death, the economic hardships will be significantly greater because of this abysmal failure of a leader, this preening, ignorant narcissist squatting in the Oval Office.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,380 posts)mcar
(42,350 posts)CousinIT
(9,251 posts)...the god damned job went to a much lesser qualified MAN.
It pays to have a penis to keep your brain in. Even if you don't HAVE a brain (Trump).
BigmanPigman
(51,614 posts)I think that they got caught in his zipper years ago.
Sunriser13
(612 posts)CousinIT
(9,251 posts)Thanks. I needed that.
iluvtennis
(19,864 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,712 posts)SunSeeker
(51,583 posts)William769
(55,147 posts)Cha
(297,414 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)And the State Department.
Cha
(297,414 posts)StaySafe, treestar!
Baltimike
(4,146 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,588 posts)on our elections.
Notice we haven't got any word about the effects COVID-19 is having on the Russian population.
Upthevibe
(8,059 posts)My question to myself is, "Why am I bingeing on old episodes of The Twilight Zone when I'm LIVING in The Twilight Zone?!?!?! WTF is wrong with me?!?!?!
ailsagirl
(22,897 posts)Demonaut
(8,921 posts)some "told you so's" suck
Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)W_HAMILTON
(7,870 posts)Some "told you so's" are necessary.
This is one of them.
NewEnglandAutumn
(184 posts)she did win
Initech
(100,088 posts)And that his sole mission was to undo the previous administration. That's what got us into this mess. Obama knew he was president of the whole nation. And that his job was to protect us. Trump only does what's good for the interest of Fox News viewers. That's the entirety of the problem.
Freddie
(9,269 posts)The whole administration could give a flying fuck about us, we should just die. No other president, not even GWB, has such venom and disregard for those who dared not support him (and was so public about it).
Nikki28
(557 posts)did win the 2016 election. Russia just stepped in as the last tally's were cast and gave Rump some bot as well as tampering along with James.C break in with the email nonsense. She won just like 2000 election was won by Al Gore. When or if the Democrats every get all three bodies,;I hope they make sure another election will be stolen again. Let them put in place the system that is needed to stop this if it is not too late.
Historic NY
(37,452 posts)Now architects of the NSC reorganization are speaking out, defending the White Houses decision by arguing that they merely streamlined a bloated organization and put pandemic and bioweapons experts in the same room, a move that was tested in real time by the 2018 upsurge in cases of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Former officials say that the outbreak has been largely defeated, proof that the current White House can readily respond to such threats if given enough warning.
Former officials say that the outbreak has been largely defeated, proof that the current White House can readily respond to such threats if given enough warning. They instead blame China, claiming the country waited weeks, if not months, to warn the world early enough to stop the spread of COVID-19, with Trump and other officials now calling it the Chinese virus. China alerted the World Health Organization to several unusual cases of pneumonia on Dec. 31.
[link:https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/487581-bolton-defends-decision-to-shutter-nsc-pandemic-office|]
BlueDot uses an AI-driven algorithm that scours foreign-language news reports, animal and plant disease networks, and official proclamations to give its clients advance warning to avoid danger zones like Wuhan.
We know that governments may not be relied upon to provide information in a timely fashion, says Kamran Khan, BlueDots founder and CEO. We can pick up news of possible outbreaks, little murmurs or forums or blogs of indications of some kind of unusual events going on.
[link:https://www.wired.com/story/ai-epidemiologist-wuhan-public-health-warnings/|]
Chainfire
(17,576 posts)Even in times of crisis, logic and truth are important.
The country would have had to face this virus if Clinton was in the White House, but we can safely assume that Ms. Clinton, who does believe in science, and who is not an blathering idiot, would have listened to the health professionals, would have quickly followed their recommendations, and would have greatly diminished the effects that we are now facing. However, that is theoretical. She would have had no magic powers to keep the virus completely out of the country, nor would she have been able to prevent all subsequent community transmission.
Trump has made this issue far worse than it should have been, and his lack of intelligence and leadership, and his arrogance is going to be killing thousands of Americans, that may not have died with better leadership, but he is not solely responsible for the virus in America, even if he is a moron and a lying sack of shit.
Remember that there are a lot of countries that are battling for the health of their nations that do not have Trump for president.
We don't have to bear false witness, or use silly emotional arguments to disparage the President. We do not have to be like Trump and the Republican thugs to make the point that he is a perfect example of the Peter Principle and is incapable of leading a two man parade.
Lets call him out for his actual failings, which are so great as to be criminal, and don't go making pie in the sky claims that can be easily disproven by our enemies across the street.
(I am putting on my asbestos drawers and you may begin the hate fest now)
stopdiggin
(11,325 posts)The article the OP presents is fine. The headline on the OP is a bust.
We would still be confronting serious problems with a different administration in place.
(which doesn't AT ALL minimize the incompetence and mismanagement of the current gang!)
Exactly right!
jimlup
(7,968 posts)but it still would'a happened.