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But you’re right. American politicians should work together rather than try to pin it on the other side.

This is actually how most Democrats feel on this issue. Just so you know.

I can't stand the guy, but he's the one in the chair. And if he screws up, people will die. I don't want people to die, so I REALLY hope he doesn't screw this up. We can fight all day about partisan issues. This isn't one.

Thank you for adding your Democratic Party voice to mine. It should not surprise anyone that most Republicans probably hope the system works, also. Most people don't want tragedies to befall others. We don't want bad outcomes for the other guy that hurt innocent people. Hannity may say we do. But, he is an aberation. Most conservatives know that we are all hoping and praying for the best. I am a lifelong liberal, although in the current climate I hear myself called a moderate in comparison to others. I live in the Springfield, OR, which is part of a larger community that includes Eugene. We are home to the University of Oregon, where my daughter works. With a large student population, including many international students, we are vulnerable to the spread of communicable diseases, like the Coronavirus. Because of liberal policies about lifestyle, we also have a large transient homeless population. I anticipate local spread of the disease, if it gets a foothold in the region. I have good reason to hope for a good outcome.

No one should ever listen to the opinions of Hannity, or really anyone on the 24 hr news networks, without first paying attention to the actual news. One dead in the US. New cases popping up along the coasts. Scientists projecting possible rapid spread. It’s relatively easy to avoid transmission. Everything else is opinion, and should be taken as such.

A successful handling of this situation will not save the dumpster fire that is Trump’s legacy, or improve his chances at a second term. And it will save lots of lives without costing any others theirs. All it takes is for one of those to be true for me to cut the partisanship. So I hope they get at least this one thing right.

We are all instinctively partisan. I get that and accept it. But, I worked in health care management for 35-years, about half of it focused on public affairs. I know that, in spite of the politically motivated comments on our favorite cable news shows, the people who will meet this challenge where the rubber meets the road, are the best and brightest professional health care workers in the world. You can take whatever shot you want to at health care policy and those who formulate and institute it. But, our succcess in keeping this disease from killing our fellow Americans, regardless of their political stripes, has already been determined.

In America, we hear a lot about how expensive and unfair our health care system is. Some 90% of us have some sort of health care coverage. In the universal coverage UK, their system may collapse under the weight of the anticipated Coronovirus epidemic. It barely makes it through the normal Winter's flu season every year. Their system is planned to use tax dollars efficiently with no room for error or extra service. That is probably why there is a current scandal in the UK over falling life expecctency. We have the kind of care we need to meet this epidemic, on top of taking care of kids' broken arms, opioid overdoses and baby arrivals.

The AIDS crisis set the table for our response to infectious disease challenges. Because of it, any health care worker worth their salt practices "Universal Precautions." While it is not perfect, this practice helps isolate infections on a basic level. It does not rise to the gown, glove and facemask response now in place, it is better than nothing.

We have a large network of doctors, nurses and other professionals in place. We have an excess capacity of hospital beds, in large enough numbers that we can adapt units to isolate patients, if necessary. We appear to know how to test for the disease. After a shakiy start, the system is working, in getting tests out. Treatments will be focused on the symptoms of individual patients and on experience that is being gathered and shared daily.

I am confident that, in America, we have the perfect/imperfect system to deal with this and most other similar problems. I know that professionals put on a good front. But, when this disease has taken months of their lives and worn them to the nub, we shouldn't pile a bunch of political bile in the public squares. It is demoralizing. We need to tell out politicians, "Shut up!"

I did read the whole post, but that last sentence... THANK. 👏🏽 YOU.👏🏽

Damnit Larry, stop being so sane and rational!

The Dems have some weaponization to attend to!!!

I would hope that both sides would deal with this as a shared problem.

I agree. From what I've seen though, they're attempting to use the situation against Trump. If they focused that energy on solving the problem... on doing what's best for the American people, and all people in the world, it would probably be solved much sooner.

But noooooo, they're going to turn it on Trump, because... orange man bad! Must use any means necessary, to get him out of office.

Maybe I'm just tired of believing that deep down, they're decent human beings, because I see so much evidence to the contrary.

I don't think it is one sided. I caught wind of accusations by Trump's kid, that were inappropriate. I suspect that there is a place where politics and emergency response actions should not converge. I also would bet that, after the emergency has passed, objective analyses will find that most people did their best most of the time. Trump has to depoliticize his end and encourage Democrats to reach a "cease fire," on the operational end of this. It is up to him to lead the defusing because he is the president. It goes with the territory. Unfortunately, his history does not suggest he is willing to leave the politics out of this. I hope I am wrong. And, I hope that my fellow Democrats use appropriate discretion. We need leadership now more than any time in the past three years, from both sides.

You're making so much sense, and being so rational, that it's hard to believe this is a post on imgflip!

The one thing that I also hope is true, is this: "I also would bet that, after the emergency has passed, objective analyses will find that most people did their best most of the time. "

However, even if it's true, nobody in the progressive wing of your party would be willing to admit that Trump, or any of the people working on this did their best. Why? Because it would be too close for them, to actually admitting that Trump did something good. They just can't have that. They're actually not capable of it.

Most people who will be doing the work involved in solving this problem are not political appointees. This is a real problem being addressed on the operational level by health care professionals. The roles the political types will play will be to figure out how to pay for it and how to get the most credit for the success that is likely to evolve. I think the side that will win the political contest on this one, will be the side that sees it as a public health challenge, not a political event. There will be miscreants on both sides. But, staying out of the he said/they said finger pointing will benefit those who do so.

Truth. The only partisan people involved in this process are the people who allocate funds. Everyone else works for the Government, regardless of who the president is, and their decisions are not allowed to be affected by politics. Their only job is to save lives, or make the saving of lives possible.

For thirty years I worked in Health Care Management and Public Affairs for the VA. I saw the people who worked day in and day out to save the lives of people most of America forgot about, except on a few holidays or when one drove his jeep into a waiting room, etc. I was a spokesman during the Reagan years, when he "sequestered," (didn't let us spend) billions of dollars. This led to denial of access to lower priority Veterans. When the newspeople brought complaints to us, we explained the priority system which put those with injuries and illnesses incurred in the line of duty, first, to them. We did not address the sequestering of funds. That was up to members of congress or leaders of veterans organizations to raise. No civil service employees should feel compelled to do anything but their jobs in this case. That is the correct way for things to work.