Just happened to turn on the TV when Governor DeWine was making his announcement this afternoon.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he's trying to do the right thing, to get out ahead of this thing to "flatten the curve".
I got the sense that he'd worked with others to come up with the solutions he's implementing, and that the unemployment thing is designed to help paycheck to paycheck workers who will be flattened by this economic crunch. Have all the states' reactions been perfect? No, but I'm of the mind that I'm pleased they're at least doing something decisive and not sticking their heads in the sand.
I was pleased to hear Dr Acton make her comment that it's not the time to politicize this virus crisis, but the time for everyone to work together with the goal of saving lives. That seemed like a sincere and reasonable comment.
So we're going to war with a virus - well dandy out-fucking standing. I hope we don't half-ass it and are in it to win it, and that we support out medical folks and first responders better than we have our military thru the last campaigns. 20 years fucking around in the sandbox without a decisive victory - and i submit to you that most of America hasn't sacrificed a goddamned thing, other than Gold Star families and our shellshocked vets. The rest of us all speak our platitudes about "support the troops" and "thank you for your service" (at least we learned that lesson from Vietnam, that's one good thing) - but the rest of us haven't sacrificed a goddamned thing. We watch our cable and follow the Kardashians and nobody has sacrificed a single meal or experienced a single shortage or had a single thing denied to them because of our "war effort". Not a single thing has been rationed. None of us have "tightened the belt" or done without. We're used to getting what we want, when we want it, and our whole lifestyle and economy, dare I say our whole culture has been geared in that direction. (And the market delivers, because that's what's profitable - and makes us comfortable.)
So now we're at war - with a fucking bug - and I hope to hell we change some of our culture, and come together and kick this things ass.
Just like at Pearl Harbor, we've been caught with our pants down - we should have been monitoring, we should have been better prepared, and now we're gonna get hit and be behind the 8ball for a while. This is real, people are about to die, and we need to come together as communities, States, and as a nation to try and save not just ourselves but those around us. Yes, we need to have our shit together as individuals and families, but we also have to be ready to help the rest of our communities.
There are going to be some lowlife cocksuckers who try to take advantage of the assistance the government is going to offer (unemployment and such). But there are also going to be a whole lot of folks who'll legitimately need a little help to get them thru to the other side. So let's not begrudge those folks.
Maybe it's time for Americans to think about something other than their own comfort.
If there are positive things that comes out of this crisis, maybe that will be one.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he's trying to do the right thing, to get out ahead of this thing to "flatten the curve".
I got the sense that he'd worked with others to come up with the solutions he's implementing, and that the unemployment thing is designed to help paycheck to paycheck workers who will be flattened by this economic crunch. Have all the states' reactions been perfect? No, but I'm of the mind that I'm pleased they're at least doing something decisive and not sticking their heads in the sand.
I was pleased to hear Dr Acton make her comment that it's not the time to politicize this virus crisis, but the time for everyone to work together with the goal of saving lives. That seemed like a sincere and reasonable comment.
So we're going to war with a virus - well dandy out-fucking standing. I hope we don't half-ass it and are in it to win it, and that we support out medical folks and first responders better than we have our military thru the last campaigns. 20 years fucking around in the sandbox without a decisive victory - and i submit to you that most of America hasn't sacrificed a goddamned thing, other than Gold Star families and our shellshocked vets. The rest of us all speak our platitudes about "support the troops" and "thank you for your service" (at least we learned that lesson from Vietnam, that's one good thing) - but the rest of us haven't sacrificed a goddamned thing. We watch our cable and follow the Kardashians and nobody has sacrificed a single meal or experienced a single shortage or had a single thing denied to them because of our "war effort". Not a single thing has been rationed. None of us have "tightened the belt" or done without. We're used to getting what we want, when we want it, and our whole lifestyle and economy, dare I say our whole culture has been geared in that direction. (And the market delivers, because that's what's profitable - and makes us comfortable.)
So now we're at war - with a fucking bug - and I hope to hell we change some of our culture, and come together and kick this things ass.
Just like at Pearl Harbor, we've been caught with our pants down - we should have been monitoring, we should have been better prepared, and now we're gonna get hit and be behind the 8ball for a while. This is real, people are about to die, and we need to come together as communities, States, and as a nation to try and save not just ourselves but those around us. Yes, we need to have our shit together as individuals and families, but we also have to be ready to help the rest of our communities.
There are going to be some lowlife cocksuckers who try to take advantage of the assistance the government is going to offer (unemployment and such). But there are also going to be a whole lot of folks who'll legitimately need a little help to get them thru to the other side. So let's not begrudge those folks.
Maybe it's time for Americans to think about something other than their own comfort.
If there are positive things that comes out of this crisis, maybe that will be one.