09-10-2020, 07:33 PM
(09-10-2020, 07:19 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I'm trying to imagine what a "mass hysteria" if he told the truth would look like.
Would it look like people assaulting and robbing each other for masks and breaking into hospitals to murder people who have the virus in the hope that it will slow the spread if the infected people are no longer breathing?
Or would it look like mass quarantines, mask requirements and general advisement to only go out if absolutely necessary, resulting in a lot of lay offs and a lot of people working from home indefinitely.
Because the latter basically happened anyway.
I think we can all safely assume that the former would not happen. At least as long as the message put out was one of reason and safety rather than hysteria.
For example, if Trump had come out and said "GUYS, THIS SHIT SPREADS THROUGH THE AIR! IF YOU BREATH IN WITHOUT A MASK WHEN YOU'RE NEAR ANYONE, YOU'RE GUARANTEED TO DIE!" then yea, maybe the former could possibly happen....But if it was a well reasoned caution and advisory announcement about, essentially, the things reasonable people have been saying for a few months now, there's no reason to believe mass hysteria in the form of crime and lawlessness would occur.
Unless you're convinced the people in your country are a bunch of witless children. Which, to be fair, maybe Trump thinks that about Americans. Who knows what's going on in his head.
So, let's be charitable and say that Trump genuinely did not want to cause a panic and therefore withheld crucial information about how to safeguard yourself and your loved ones from contracting this virus. He didn't do it to keep the economy afloat in an election year. He didn't do it because he was just mindlessly hoping it would go away anyway. He didn't do it because the stock market is the only thing that truly matters to him and any "hysteria" would affect the stock market, in his mind (in reality, the lack of a federal response was probably just as damaging to the market. Uncertainty and the stock market do not play well together). He did it because he truly, honestly cares about American lives and thought that not knowing the mode of transmission and fatality rate of a virus that was active and present in this country was best for the American people...
Even in this most charitable interpretation of his actions...he still was wrong.
His decision was blatantly and obviously incorrect to withhold this information. There are studies out that say that even 1 week made the difference of thousands of lives. His decision to withhold the truth cost lives. That is virtually indisputable. Can we all at least agree on this?
I think if Trump told the truth the doomsday prepares would buy up all the toilet paper. Thankfully, we didn’t have to live through that hell.
