The Impossible Task?

The Covid-19 pandemic is a huge problem. But it is not impossible to defeat.

I do believe we can defeat it if we all work together. But it is very difficult to work together when the leader of the country is seeking to divide people for political purposes.

That creates the impossible task. We cannot be united when a large portion of the country follows this leader like a cult. Although he has no medical expertise or scientific expertise, his followers believe him over the doctors and scientists. Although he lies with almost every breath, they cling to his every word as if it were gospel.

They are the classic definition of a cult. He could tell them that the only way to heaven is to drink the kool-aid and they would take a big gulp. They would compete to see who could take the biggest gulp.

There is no changing their minds. A deadly pandemic, a depression economy, a stock market crash, they will still stick with him. Because they are a cult.

So, the question is: How do you de-program a cult of this nature?

That seems to be the impossible task.

When the economy is opened back up, how long before we will see a spike in CV-19 cases?

From what I have read, it can take 10-15 days to show symptoms?

So the moral of the story is, don't do anything different until two weeks have passed. Then you can be more assured that there is not going to be a spike in new cases.

157 Riverside Avenue

The Silent Republicans

Lady GaGa speaking about mental illness on Morning Joe.

She recognizes the problems of mental illness and believes this pandemic and the way it has been handled is going to make a serious problem much worse than it is already.

This is not something many people are comfortable talking about. They, or someone they know, may suffer some sort of mental illness?

Joe asked her about the impact it has on healthcare workers and how it was going to affect them when this is all over?

We tend to overlook mental illness when we are focused on physical health but it can be just as harmful, or moreso, than physical illness.

This is something we should recognize and be aware that there are many folks that are having a very difficult time coping with what is happening.

Working On A Building

Trump whining about Congress holding up his judicial appointments.

How does he think he got so many judicial appointments in the first place?

Mitch McConnell and the Republicans used the same "pro-forma" strategy to keep Obama from appointing judges during the Obama presidency.

When he came into office, and Republicans were in charge of everything, they filled the backlog they created by not approving Obama's judges, including a Supreme Court Justice.

And now, he is crying about what the Democrats are doing?

And threatens to send all of them home?

What a cry baby!

Did anyone hear the question by the FOX reporter to Trump at yesterday's briefing?

About how the virus may have started?

He asked if there was any intelligence to verify that it started from the Wuhan laboratory and that some lady that worked there had sex with some guy who had gone to the "wet market" and that was how the virus began? I don't recall if Trump gave any specific response?

Did anyone else see that segment?

Americans may have to make some very tough decisions.

We hear that the CV-19 cases in NY have leveled off and appear to be declining. This is very good news if it is true.

However, it is being reported that the CV-19 is spiking in other cities and states, including California.

We may have a long road ahead of us. If true, a large number of people will not be able to return to work in the near future.

The decisions that will need to be made will be about who is necessary and essential to return to work? Employees will need to be tested before they return to work. That is why we may have to start with the smallest businesses and work our way up, as the workers are tested and as the number of cases decrease.

In a worse-case scenario, the food and energy supply lines must be organized and managed. There may have to be some rationing. Hopefully, it will not come to that.

Also, people will need unemployment payments or some sort of guaranteed income provided by the government, in order to survive, until this crisis is over.

This CV-19 is very contagious. On the Navy ship, the Theodore Roosevelt, over 600 sailors have become infected with the virus. That is a very high percentage. It is much higher than the common flu, by multiple times.

We should try to be prepared if this CV-19 takes a turn for the worse. We must guard against becoming complacent or careless at this time. There may be some very tough decisions ahead.

But, we should remain hopeful and determined that we can defeat this virus. We need to remain compassionate and community-minded. We can still remain positive as we struggle to survive in these times. We need to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

There could be some tough decisions ahead for all of us. We cannot afford to panic or be alarmists.

These are just my thoughts.

Pretty Polly