My letter to the editor was published this morning in the Washington Post:

[Nitram]

I strongly disagreed with the sub-headline on the March 27 editorial “Congress to the rescue — for now”: “A unanimous vote reflects the no-fault nature of the crisis.” As early as January, our intelligence agencies warned the Trump administration of the possibility that a virus outbreak in China could develop into a dangerous worldwide pandemic. President Trump had already dismantled key elements of the nation’s disease control apparatus and failed to implement guidance from experts who had recommended steps to take in the wake of the Ebola virus scare. When it became clear that a pandemic was on its way, Mr. Trump and his supporters in the right-wing media loudly pooh-poohed the danger and wasted precious time that was needed to prepare for a possible outbreak in the United States. The vote in the House, contrary to the editorial, was made despite egregious inaction and misleading statements by the administration. The vote reflected a willingness by Democrats to temporarily look past obvious mistakes and incompetence in the interest of the greater good. The obvious faults of this administration will be addressed in the voting booth in November.

Martin Johnson, Charlottesville

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/looking-for-leadership-amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic/2020/03/29/d8afb3ba-7034-11ea-a156-0048b62cdb51_story.html

[UpInArms]

1. Well said

Thank you

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Well done

[JustAnotherGen]

11. Kicking up

When a member speaks to the 'world' - it deserves to be on the front page of DU.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

3. Thanks...

We must continue to pound his inadequate responses into the brains of the general public.

[DaBronx]

4. Damn straight! Keep banging the reality drum in these dark times!

Excellent points made—thank you!

[hwmnbn]

5. Crisp and concise...

great work.

[Snarkoleptic]

6. Trump's an empty vessel, by which The Federalist Society et al are dismantling America for profit.

Sure he's an evil, corrupt, ignorant, hateful, traitorous, malignant narcissist, but he's incapable of coming up with this stuff on his own.
His only real concerns are money, power, and obsequious praise.

[Cozmo]

22. Spot On

Here's hoping the asshole doesn't find a way to put the kibosh on the coming election.

[flying_wahini]

38. This picture makes me want to puke.

Hate that man with every fiber of my being.

[Karadeniz]

39. That photo wonderfully exposes his evil nature.

[flor-de-jasmim]

7. Excellent! Thank you.

[FM123]

8. Wow!

Great letter to the editor!

[Freedomofspeech]

9. Wonderful letter..

Thank you.

[LiberalLoner]

10. Bravo!

[llmart]

12. Wonderful!

Call the media out on their "both sides are to blame" crapola.

Thanks for speaking truth to power.

[McKim]

13. Well Done!!!!

Well done!!!!!! People need to know that Democrats are supporting The Greater Good. Meanwhile many of us are stuck at home and so it is an excellent time to think deeply and act politically!

[johnthewoodworker]

14. Nicely done.

[barbtries]

15. Congratulations.

fuck false equivalencies. it is true that this virus was coming down the pike. it is decidedly not true that the response had to be so poor. #ETTD

[onecaliberal]

16. Good job!

[shockey80]

17. Good job, thank you.

[gademocrat7]

18. Bravo👏

[KY_EnviroGuy]

19. K&R. We wish you could read this aloud on Faux News.....

one hundred times.......

Good audience through WaPo though. Nice job, easy to read and to the point.........

[DFW]

20. Well done!

The Post doesn't print just anything.

[DanieRains]

21. This Nightmare Is 100% Trump's Fault And No One Will Say It

To heck with eyeballs.

[groundloop]

23. Well, tRump didn't start the outbreak..... but his inaction sure made things a hell of a lot worse.

And yes, the fact that he dismantled our nation's pandemic response team needs to be repeated daily until our lame-stream media get the picture.

[PatrickforO]

24. OK, Nitram...Martin...I get it!

As to your letter, very well said!

I'm bookmarking to use your verbiage in future, if that's OK.

[SWBTATTReg]

25. Well done.

[pandr32]

26. Well done

[Anon-C]

27. You set the record straight!

[Scruffy1]

28. Excellent writing.

Concise and to the point.

[warmfeet]

29. Very well said.

[defacto7]

30. Excellent

[SunSeeker]

31. Perfect. nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

32. ...And his supporters in the right wing media... Yep,

We’re being poisoned by rw propaganda. Lord how I wish there was a way to make it stop!

[still_one]

33. Excellent

[zentrum]

34. Kick

[cp]

35. Well done, sir!

Well written, too. Thank you.

[calimary]

36. BRAVO, Nitram!!!!!!

Somebody has to blow the whistle when white-washing attempts are made.

I'm sure those white-washing attempts are, themselves, attempted in good faith. "Let's all accentuate the positive..." But the problem then is, a lot of wrongdoing, wrong decisions from the top, and just plain ol' negligence and outright DENIAL have handicapped us and slowed our response.

And we HAVE TO face that, and, as you stated, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT - in November, if indeed not sooner.

WE can't be in denial even though our "dear leader" and his apologists and amen-choruses all have been, and in many ways, all still are.

SUPERB letter! They obviously thought so, too, because they chose it to run. Also means your letter is representative of TONS of others saying the same thing, but maybe not quite as eloquently. You speak for them all, and us all.

[maryallen]

37. Good job.

Much needed explanation regarding the six weeks Trump fiddled after receiving warnings from intelligence.

[Karadeniz]

40. Congratulations...well done!

[Lonestarblue]

41. Both the Post and the NYT headline writers soft pedal any criticism of Trump.

Sometimes their headlines are totally opposite what the article is reporting. Last week the Post had an article about Rosneft in Venezuela, “Rosneft pulls out of Venezuela amid US squeeze on Maduro.” One might conclude that Trump’s pressure tactics to force Maduro, who has been supported by Russia, out of office was being successful by getting rid of Russian investment in Venezuela’s oil industry. Totally misleading. All the assets of Rosneft were sold to the Russian government, so Putin now has direct control. I have seen no announcement that Russia is pulling out of Venezuela, and given that both MBS and Putin are trying to drive smaller US oil companies out of business by increasing production to lower oil prices to an unprofitable point for US producers, who knows what will happen next.

That was just one recent example. There are many more. That’s my long-winded way of saying that headline writers contribute to the perception that Trump is accomplishing good things when he isn’t. The media is letting the American people down. Than God for broadcast people who are now challenging Trump.

[Nitram]

45. The Post doesn't usually soft peddle criticism of Trump. That's why I wrote the letter.

Their journalism is usually world class.

[mikeargo]

42. Great job!

[Joinfortmill]

43. Bravo! And good for WaPo for printing it.

[PCIntern]

44. Good for you.

Well done - keep these bastards honest.

[Blue Owl]

46. K&R

[Duppers]

47. Excellent! K&R

Bravo to a fellow Virginian.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

48. Congrats, and thank you!

That needed to be said. That kind of nonsense empowers right wingers and shouldn't be allowed to go unchallenged.

[Sunlei]

49. well said! great letter! Obamas ebola plan worked well to keep America safe-Trump failed!

Trumps such a failure along with his Republican party of Advisor failures & enablers.

[malaise]

50. Most excellent