Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Kurt Eichenwald: Govt's initial response to Spanish Flu in 1918 parallels Trump admin's response 👀
Kurt Eichenwald ✔@kurteichenwald
1. In 2017, Smithsonian Mag ran a fascinating article about the the 1918 flu that killed more than WW1 & WW2 combined. The piece was about how the flu spread across USA and killed so many people.
Key takeaways: Government lying played a huge role....
2....when you read what government officials said in the buildup, as the disease was spreading in only a couple of locations in two states, it sounds shockingly similar to what the Trump Admin is saying now. Examples....
3...(again, these words were said by government officials as the 1918 flu was spreading. These are not Trump Admin words, even though they sound almost identical.)
We have "“confine this disease to its present limits, and in this we are sure to be successful."....
4... "No fatalities have been recorded. No concern whatever is felt.”
We will "nip the epidemic in the bud.”
"“There is no cause for alarm if precautions are observed.”
"If ordinary precautions are observed there is no cause for alarm.”....
5... (an ode to Limbaugh, who said coronavirus was just a cold.) “Spanish influenza is plain la grippe—same old fever and chills.”
Because the fears of the disease were a "hoax" (kidding, thats Trump's words) a big parade was not canceled. Many people got infected there...
6... Which goes to the problem. Trump tells his followers that concern about the disease is "a hoax." Other members of the Admin say it is simply people trying to "bring down Trump." This constant refrain of "it's not real" is leading to Trumpers declaring it is false....
7...and spreading conspiracy theories. This is a public health crisis. It is not about politics. It can explode into a disaster, or it can be defeated with smart public policy. But telling people it isn't a real problem means that they will not take reasonable precautions...
8...this means the reality that everyone must wash their hands multiple times a day, not shake hands, stay home if they don't need to go out, telecommute as much as you can, etc etc, will be ignored. Why take precautions for a disease that is just a cold, no big deal, a hoax?...
9...that was why so many people went to the Liberty Day Parade in Philadelphia, because the government said "meh" in the face of experts saying "STOP!" The infections from that event were mammoth....
10...the 1918 flu had a 2-3 day incubation period. That meant, whatever the number of people infected on Monday would show up on Wednesday or Thursday. For those two days, they would spread it if they didn't believe it was real.
Coronavirus is 14 days. That means the number....
11...of people infected TODAY will not be known until mid-March. Worse, government bumbling has left us with only a handful of counties having testing kits. That means we don't even know how many people were infected in mid-February. All of those people have been walking around..
12...I am not saying this is the next 1918 flu. I am not saying this is the "big one" or global pandemics, or that it will grow to historic significance at all. What I *AM* saying is that this constant refrain of "it's no problem" is potentially deadly.
13....bottom line, the Trump Admin treats this as a PR problem. It's not. It's not time to panic, but it IS time to take precautions (hands, stay home when you can, etc). Corona might not explode. But our government is making things worse by lying. Get your info from @WHO.
1. In 2017, Smithsonian Mag ran a fascinating article about the the 1918 flu that killed more than WW1 & WW2 combined. The piece was about how the flu spread across USA and killed so many people.
Key takeaways: Government lying played a huge role....
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/ …
2....when you read what government officials said in the buildup, as the disease was spreading in only a couple of locations in two states, it sounds shockingly similar to what the Trump Admin is saying now. Examples....
3...(again, these words were said by government officials as the 1918 flu was spreading. These are not Trump Admin words, even though they sound almost identical.)
We have "“confine this disease to its present limits, and in this we are sure to be successful."....
4... "No fatalities have been recorded. No concern whatever is felt.”
We will "nip the epidemic in the bud.”
"“There is no cause for alarm if precautions are observed.”
"If ordinary precautions are observed there is no cause for alarm.”....
5... (an ode to Limbaugh, who said coronavirus was just a cold.) “Spanish influenza is plain la grippe—same old fever and chills.”
Because the fears of the disease were a "hoax" (kidding, thats Trump's words) a big parade was not canceled. Many people got infected there...
6... Which goes to the problem. Trump tells his followers that concern about the disease is "a hoax." Other members of the Admin say it is simply people trying to "bring down Trump." This constant refrain of "it's not real" is leading to Trumpers declaring it is false....
7...and spreading conspiracy theories. This is a public health crisis. It is not about politics. It can explode into a disaster, or it can be defeated with smart public policy. But telling people it isn't a real problem means that they will not take reasonable precautions...
8...this means the reality that everyone must wash their hands multiple times a day, not shake hands, stay home if they don't need to go out, telecommute as much as you can, etc etc, will be ignored. Why take precautions for a disease that is just a cold, no big deal, a hoax?...
9...that was why so many people went to the Liberty Day Parade in Philadelphia, because the government said "meh" in the face of experts saying "STOP!" The infections from that event were mammoth....
10...the 1918 flu had a 2-3 day incubation period. That meant, whatever the number of people infected on Monday would show up on Wednesday or Thursday. For those two days, they would spread it if they didn't believe it was real.
Coronavirus is 14 days. That means the number....
11...of people infected TODAY will not be known until mid-March. Worse, government bumbling has left us with only a handful of counties having testing kits. That means we don't even know how many people were infected in mid-February. All of those people have been walking around..
12...I am not saying this is the next 1918 flu. I am not saying this is the "big one" or global pandemics, or that it will grow to historic significance at all. What I *AM* saying is that this constant refrain of "it's no problem" is potentially deadly.
13....bottom line, the Trump Admin treats this as a PR problem. It's not. It's not time to panic, but it IS time to take precautions (hands, stay home when you can, etc). Corona might not explode. But our government is making things worse by lying. Get your info from @WHO.
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
