The 15 days slow the spread are up this weekend. [Updated]

UPDATE: 
Stop the Spread measures to be extended through April. 

by unseen1 via Threadreader

The 15 days slow the spread are up this weekend. VP Pence stated Friday that the task force will present data and advice to the President over the weekend so that he can make a decision on the way forward. 

Dr. Brix also stated Friday that with testing now online and using the Flu surveillance system along with rapid response by CDC contact tracing, they can keep an eye out for any new hotspots. They have done a great job so far predicting the current hotspots. The next ones will most likely be in Wayne county (Detroit) Mi and Cook county, (Chicago) IL

She further stated that 55% of all cases and 55% of all new cases are occurring in NYC metro area. All the hotspots are in urban areas. Additionally she mentioned that 19 states or 40% of the country is not impacted in any meaningful way. They had early cases but do not have spread and have a total of less than 200 cases. In other words 40% of our country really isn't being impacted. The testing is continuing to occur in these regions and they just aren't picking anything up.

What does all this mean? 

While from a decision stand point, Pres Trump will be given data showing that 19 states are fine, that there are a couple hotspots with NYC being the biggest one, that our testing ability is strong enough now to pick up any new outbreaks. CDC can trace contacts of new cases. So what decision would you make? 

We will be opening up at least 40% of the country next week to full production and local and state governments will either fall in line or they will be besieged by their voters and business owners and will lose their elections in Nov. The 15 day slow the spread guidelines gave many of these governors the fig leaf to lock every thing down. Remove that and they are faced with revolt in their states. Trump will remove that fig leaf starting next week.

After that, I would assume the other 31 states or 60% will be prodded to loosen restrictions on counties not impacted and concentrate on those hotspots within their own states. This will open up more of the country. Until by Easter or a week later 80-90+% of the country will be open for business. That's all assuming the data about the clinical trails of the malaria drug is not good news. If that is good news the opening up will be much quicker.

Yes, the dems are going to fight this tooth and nail

Yes, the fake media are going to fight this tooth and nail

No, neither the dems nor fake media can change the outcome. The only real weapon they have is fear. By implementing this common sense plan the President will take that weapon, fear, away from them. At that point the ones pushing for lockdowns, when there are no or little risk, will be exposed and the people/business owners will rebel against their dictator like moves. 

If they don't lift the lockdowns the economic ramifications for them and their state/cities will force them to comply as their neighbors steal the jobs, tax revenues, investments, and consumer spending. If that happens they will lose their elections come Nov. The dems'/fake media's entire plan rests on all of us being miserable. It's the only way they can keep this going. 

It's the Berlin wall scenario all over again for them. How can they keep their population under control when those across the border are living free lives? They can't in this country and their edicts will be either quickly rescinded or totally ignored by the population.

Freedom is like that. You can't keep it down for long and when you try it kicks you in the teeth.

WHO Doctor Blows Off Question About Taiwan And Praises China

Tristan Justice reporting for The Federalist

World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward avoided answering questions about Taiwan Saturday by pretending not to catch the question a Hong Kong reporter asked repeatedly.

“Will the WHO reconsider Taiwan’s membership?” asked Yvonne Tong.

Her question was met with an awkward silence prompting a “hello?” from the interviewer.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear your question, Yvonne,” said Aylward.

“Let me repeat the question,” Yvonne said back.

“No, that’s okay. Let’s move on to another one then,” said Aylward.

When Yvonne refused, Aylward ended the interview and logged off. After reconnecting, Yvonne asked about Taiwan again, and Aylward declined to discuss the topic.

“We’ve already talked about China, and you know, when you look across all the different areas of China, they’ve actually all done quite a good job, so with that, I’d like to thank you very much for inviting us to participate and good luck as you go forward with the battle in Hong Kong.”

‼️WOW‼️ Bruce Aylward/@WHO did an interview with HK's @rthk_news & when asked about #Taiwan he pretended not to hear the question. The journalist asks again & he hangs up!

She calls back & he said "Well, we've already talked about China."

ENJOY+SHARE THE MADNESS! #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/jgpHRVHjNX

— 😷Hong Kong World City 🖐🏻☔️ (@HKWORLDCITY) March 28, 2020

While China has been reporting a sharp decline in the number of new Wuhan virus cases, the Chinese data is almost certainly inaccurate given the East Asian nation’s early decisions to suppress whistleblowers at the onset of the outbreak and to turn a blind eye to the virus’ threat.

What the left is destroying goes far beyond politics and the economy

Article by Diana Mary Sitek in "The American Thinker":

My good friend, a highly educated, life-long Democrat, informed me a few days ago that President Trump was an ego-maniacal, narcissist liar and that he had made a complete botch of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. A short time before, at a family gathering, one of our dear relatives let slip that Donald Trump was nothing but a rapist (not racist, rapist!) and to add insult to injury, she apotheosized Michelle Obama’s “Becoming.” I felt myself becoming nauseous, so dashed to the bathroom.

The political animosity characterizing our society has taken a heavy toll on that quality of “respect” due to each of us, despite our opinions. Respect for the human qua human, is not an assessment of someone’s ideology or values. It is a mutually agreed, unwritten contract guiding the courteous conduct of interpersonal relations. However, the left presumes if we do not support their agenda, then we have defiantly forfeited claims to respect as humans. Nancy Pelosi demonstrated this by tearing up the President’s State of the Union address on camera. Conservatives no longer qualify.

For some time, I’ve struggled on, trying to maintain friendly communication (out of love), yet feeling intense frustration at the disguise I need to assume, in order not to offend my leftwing family and friends. One whiff of pro-Trumpism is enough to send them into a pandemic of hysteria. 

Yet, if respect is established on a concept of human nature inherited from the legacy of Moses, Plato, Aristotle and Christ, through to the natural law and humanism of the Renaissance, it is a notion the left (via post-modernism) has chosen to deconstruct and possibly even eradicate. They have gutted it. All that remains for them is a mawkish, kitsch, Hollywood sentimentality reserved for those who share their Globalist, Left, LGBT+, victim-worshiping program, and hatefully excludes the rest of the population.

Central to respect is the traditional understanding of human nature based on truth. But, “Truth is not a left-wing value”, as Denis Prager reminds us weekly. Post-Modernism doesn’t accept there is such a thing. Truth has been demoted to mere opinion.  So, for as long as the fraudulent MSM enjoys their freedom to lie, for as long as the rule of law is a dissimulation and academia no more than a propaganda sheep-wash, there is no longer a foundation for respect!

The fate of former eminent, conservative British philosopher Roger Scruton is a case in point. In 2019 he was publicly slandered by “New Statesman” deputy editor, George Eaton and as a result there was a PC feeding frenzy and the elderly Scruton was instantly deprived of his position on a government advisory body. But the good man fought back, was re-instated and Eaton lost his job. 

As conservative writer, James Delingpole remarked, 

“For these leftists, the end always justifies the means. What does it matter if you use lies and subterfuge to trash a man’s reputation and get him sacked if it means you can claim a conservative scalp at the end of it? It is time we reclaimed our culture from these scumbags. They are a poisonous minority and we have surrendered to their bullying for far too long.”

But fighting back places a severe strain on one’s health. Sir Roger Scruton died of cancer less than 12 months later. He was only 75. 

Tragic!

Russian born British academic Svetlana Lokhora was smeared by Stefan Halper of Spygate. She brought a defamation suit against him, and the WSJ, NYT, “The Post”, NBC (MSNBC), “The Guardian” and “The Times”.  Sadly, her case was thrown out in February by Clinton-appointed Federal judge, Leonie Brinkema, who was also responsible for blocking President Trump’s temporary travel ban on refugees and people from seven majority-Muslim nations.

It is clear that reconciliation with the left is a pipedream! They reject reciprocal respect, based on a mutual agreement about human nature. They can’t have it both ways. They can’t demand our politeness while we are insulted by them. They can’t fabricate “crimes”, knock together “evidence” and call it “justice”, as Sidney Powell exposes. They can’t pathologize human nature into a slew of “selfdoms” and bank on us accepting those contortions as the new norm and conventional standard. They can’t butcher the record to fit in with their slanted ideology and pretend it’s “history”. They can’t stake out adolescent absurdity as the correct response to the world, and expect us not to interrogate their wisdom.

If honorableness in communication is the shining standard we aim for between human beings, it has suffered the same fate as every other aspect of culture the left touches. It’s been destroyed. And that ought to make us very angry indeed.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/what_the_left_is_destroying_goes_far_beyond_politics_and_the_economy_.html#ixzz6I5n71tyc

The Real Reason Why Such Elderly People Run America

 
Article by Deborah C. Tyler in "The American Thinker":

The far-left news chooser Drudge Report recently linked to an article in ultra-progressive Atlantic magazine, "Why Do Such Elderly People Run America?"  The author is an über-prog who appears from his photo to have undergone the popular left-wing cosmetic surgical procedure called smirk-work.  Eliminating any question about his political views, not to mention his rationality, the author identifies climate change as "the most important challenge before the U.S. and the world."  The article attempts to explain why the leading presidential candidates ("[a]ll three white men were born in the 1940s") are so darn old.  The author is perfectly clueless regarding the question he has chosen to address.  Here is the real reason why the leading presidential candidates are in their seventies, why the left wing no longer produces national leaders at all, and why young people like the Atlantic staff writer are patronizing nincompoops.

America is a post-paradigmatic nation.  Americans no longer share a functional, unifying ethos of national identity or purpose.  America now has two oppositional and incompatible paradigms of national identity: the foundational paradigm One nation under God vs. the modern summative Our diversity is our strength.  One nation under God encapsulates America's true, eternal, and viable understanding of identity and purpose.  Though implicitly a statement of theistic faith, the identity "One nation under God" does not involve an individual test of religion or belief.  It does imply an individual responsibility to maintain the unity of the nation as a constitutional republic.  On the other hand, Our diversity is our strength (ODIOS) sounds virtuous, but it is a self-destructive and ultimately suicidal ethos of national identity.  The word diversity comes from the same root as division, divisiveness, divorce.  ODIOS is a godless formulation that literally means that the states and traits dividing us up are the most important thing about us.

Donald Trump was elected following eight years of relentless divisiveness and post-Americanism from the Obama administration.  He won not only because Hillary was a deplorable candidate, but also because the American people were at least dimly aware of what they were losing with the planned obsolescence of national unity and godfulness.  Trump was elected because he was the only candidate brash and bull-headed enough to single-handedly restore the socio-politically defunct ethos, "One nation under God."

ODIOS slithered quietly into American consciousness in the 1950s, years before it became the rallying cry of the pervasive hostility and unhappiness in American public life.  Joe Biden exhibits undeniable neuropsychological symptoms of cognitive decline.  Nevertheless, he is the Democrat frontrunner because he is sentimentally associated with the long-past heyday of ODIOS.  Biden is the diversity nostalgia candidate, which makes him very old in more ways than one.

Because only government can enforce fairness among official diversities, Bernie Sanders represents the inevitable terminus of ODIOS in the ethos "One nation under government."  That paradigm is the waste product clogging the lower entrails of the collective left, which the Dem establishment is trying to hold in.  God makes America good, so there is liberty.  Government enforces "fairness" upon America, ergo socialism.  Every generation thinks it invented sex, but Bernie Bros think they invented socialism.  One Nation Under Government (ONUGov) is the glorious dream of unenterprising "folks" who sneer at One nation under God.  Most conveniently, they have little sense of duty to such a racist nation while expecting the "government" to provide for them.

The mighty hoax of "climate change" is the grandchild of ODIOS and the child of ONUGov.  As the Atlantic writer clarified, the greatest problem facing the American people is exactly the same one facing people in North Korea, Lichtenstein, Burundi, and everywhere else.  There are differences everywhere.  We have no reason to defend what mitigates those differences for Americans, such as our sovereignty and Constitution.

Since the founding, American greatness derived from the ethos of God-given rights protected by the Constitution.  This paradigm of freedom holds that America is a good and blessed nation.  The good fortune of being an American carries the responsibility to learn the language, celebrate the culture, and follow the law.  Most importantly, every American has a duty to preserve this indivisible nation and to protect its Constitution even at the risk of his own life.  The original Pledge of Allegiance was popularized in 1892.  It included the key phrase "one nation, indivisible."  The words "under God" were added in 1954 at the urging of President Eisenhower, who believed they would "reaffirm the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future."  Ike was too late.

The catastrophic shift from One nation under God to Our diversity is or strength came in with what sociologists call post-scarcity society.  When physical survival is dissociated from work, material abundance seems unending, and disease is something that happens to bad people because they smoke, the need for national unity with its demands of sacrifice declines.  We are witnessing a retrogression to ONUGod with the Wuhan flu crisis.

ODIOS arose as race and sex discrimination were ending in America.  ODIOS re-segregates the nation along political lines.  It grants to the vast government, education, and media syndicate first political power and then complete mental control over the gullible and godless in America.  The left's psychotic hatred for Trump is a reaction to the terrible thing he did to them: he shattered their ethos of superiority and self-justified parasitism toward the patriotic deplorables on the other side.

The left wing has an age problem; the right wing does not.  Trump's long, superlative career in business protected him from the full brunt of ODIOS, but he was elected not for his seniority, but for his Trumpness.  Jeb Bush (b. 1953) was el candidato ODIOS del establecimiento.  The other Republican candidates had to spend their careers kowtowing to ODIOS.  Scott Walker (b. 1967), Ted Cruz (b. 1970), and Marco Rubio (b. 1971) were youngsters in 2016.  After eight years of Trump restoring One nation under God, they will be among many middle-aged and younger Republican candidates.

On the other hand, ODIOS and ONUGov have no young political leaders because these are no longer a political movement at all.  The left has become a slobbering cult of victimization, privileging, climate incantations, and repulsive anti-God rituals such as sanctimonious baby-killing.  Its lipsticked loudmouths like Tlaib, Omar, Pressley, and The Occasional Cortex are not political leaders; they are human designer drugs ingested for quick trips of egomania and rage, with no practical relevance to political problems at all.  ODIOS and ONUGov resulted in a recent parade of Democrat candidates as pitiful farce: three fake candidates wearing false beards (de Blasio, Deval, and Bloomberg) and several younger candidates whose hypocritical preaching, extremism, or looniness forced the Dems to railroad in a demented "the way we were" candidate.

The Atlantic author cites "youth disengagement from politics" and observes that the median age of local voters is "nearly a generation older than the median age of eligible voters."  He promotes a tautology of youth disengagement for why old people still run things.  He lacks curiosity or intellectual capacity to explore why youths disengaged in the first place.  Here's why.  Most older people still feel gratitude to be Americans and are willing to serve their nation and community, whereas, after 60 years of ODIOS, many left-wing youths no longer believe in the goodness of America or accept responsibility to preserve their birthright of liberty, not even the basic civic duty of voting.

Why are the elderly still running things?  Now you know.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/03/the_real_reason_why_such_elderly_people_run_america.html#ixzz6I5hHKmte

Paranoid and Unstable Michigan Governor Claims Vast Conspiracy Because Medical Vendors Not Providing Equipment

With a review of her incompetent action plan so far it is obvious that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is overwhelmed with the responsibilities of her position during crisis.

Now that a complete lack of preparation is surfacing; to make matters worse the governor is making up paranoid stories about vendors not providing products or fulfilling orders to her state.

Governor Whitmer claimed President Trump was orchestrating a plot against her by telling medical vendors not to supply Michigan. However, when pressed on the issue the governor refuses to provide any evidence. 

This is not a stable person.

DETROIT – […] “When the federal government told us that we needed to go it ourselves, we started procuring every item we could get our hands on,” Whitmer said Friday on WWJ 950AM. “What I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we had contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan. It’s really concerning.”

Whitmer didn’t say who has told vendors to stop sending medical supplies to the state, but strongly implied the order came from President Donald Trump’s administration.

[…] “We’ve entered into a number of contracts and as we are getting closer to the date when shipments are supposed to come in, they’re getting canceled or they’re getting delayed,” Whitmer said. “We’ve been told they’re going first to the federal government.”

[…] Whitmer did not specify in the radio interview Friday which vendors or specific medical equipment is being blocked by federal authorities from being sent to Michigan.

[…] Crain’s sought clarity from Whitmer’s office midday Friday and the names of vendors under contract that the governor referenced. Whitmer’s spokeswoman had no additional information.

[…] The FEMA Region 5 officials told congressional members there were no vendor shipments being diverted from Michigan and that “they would reach out (to suppliers) and try to solve the uncertainty,” Mitchell said. (more)

Two Nuts…

Who Runs America? The Media or the American People?

 
Article by Jeffrey Lord in "mrcNewsBusters":

Call me crazy. But I had this strange idea that Americans ran America. I was under the apparently mistaken impression that every four years Americans elected a president. And that when times of crisis hit, as they occasionally do, the American people turn on their televisions, radios or, in today’s world, their computers - and listen to their freely elected leader update them on the crisis.

Having lived a bit, I recall President John F. Kennedy taking to the airwaves to discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis. Or Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon updating on the Vietnam War. Once on the White House staff myself I recall being in the Oval Office with President Reagan shortly after he returned from the White House briefing room to discuss the Iran-Contra affair in front of the cameras.

So imagine my surprise as America is in the midst of the Chinese virus pandemic (which, by the way, as with Lyme Disease, Marburg Virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola and a slew of other plagues listed on the website of the World Health Organization is named after a geographic location) only to learn various media outlets have decided to effectively silence the current president so that they - and only they - can tell America what is going on.

Yes, you read that right. Let’s start with this headline: “Seattle NPR-Affiliated Station Announces They Won't Be Airing Trump's Coronavirus Press Briefings.”

“KUOW Public Radio, which provides news for the Seattle and Tacoma area, announced on Tuesday they will no longer be airing President Trump's daily coronavirus task force press conference.
The station said they will be keeping track of what is being said, but ‘we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.’”

And like clockwork, James Fallows of the far-left The Atlantic (that would be the self-same magazine that hired conservative writer Kevin Williamson and immediately fired him because the “tolerant” staff of the magazine objected to his presence) showcased the larger left-wing journalistic community’s visceral intolerance. Fallows ran a list of almost 100 lefty journo’s who applauded the decision by KUOW to silence the President.

In other words? The message was crystal clear: Hey you rubes out there, stop listening to your president. We, the media elites - and we alone - get to decide what the “narrative of the day” is going to be. You will get your news from us - and you will damn well like it.

Who cares whether many of these same journalists - make that “journalists” - have been reporting flat-out falsehoods for the past four years. From “Hillary will win in a landslide” to Trump-Russia collusion to the phony impeachment, these people couldn’t report the truth if their reputations depended on it - and in fact they did. Which is exactly why so many Americans simply refuse to trust them anymore.

It is nothing short of hilarious to re-read that KUOW statement. Again, it said this: ‘We will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.’”

Did these “journalists” fact check the “Hillary will win in a landslide” garbage? No. Did they run with the “pattern of false or misleading information” that was Trump-Russia collusion? Yes. Did they make sure the entire impeachment phoniness was “fact checked in real time”? No.

In other words, what we have here is in fact a group of self-selected media elites who see these presidential briefings as a threat to their power to set, in this case, the anti-Trump narrative that the President is a racist/sexist/xenophobic monster who, by the way, is utterly incompetent and dangerous.

What really alarms them are headlines like this from Bloomberg: “Trump’s Handling of Coronavirus Approved by 60% in Gallup Poll.”

There is a reason for findings like this, and it is exactly why these people are so determined to silence the President. Americans are, quite naturally, watching these briefings live and in color. And what they are in fact seeing for themselves is a perfectly in-control president who calmly gives his assessment-of-the-moment about where we stand and then turns to a deeply well-credentialed group of doctors and scientists who explain in layman’s terms what the status of the battle against the virus is and what’s new and what to expect. The briefings are, in short, nothing if not authentic.

And that - to all these would-be media totalitarians who believe they and they alone get to tell Americans what’s going on - is utterly unacceptable.

So the solution? Silence the President. Silence him by simply refusing to cover him - and replacing him with their narrative of the moment.

Which brings us back to the central question. Who runs America? The media - or Americans?

If Americans have learned nothing else in the Age of Trump, it is the realization that media elites really do think they have the God-given right to run America.

Which is exactly why they are determined to silence the elected President.

Shocking. Not.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jeffrey-lord/2020/03/28/who-runs-america-media-or-american-people 

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti Admits Using Cell Phone Tracking to Monitor Coronavirus Compliance

Many people suspected this would eventually happen, including us.  Follow the sequencing here; watch the natural progression of the authoritarian state. This is important.

First LA Mayor Eric Garcetti released 1,700 inmates.  Then the LA Sheriff tried to shut down all gun stores. Next, Garcetti appointed neighborhood monitors and threatened to shut down electricity and water services to non-compliant citizens.  In his most recent action, the mayor admits to using Big Tech to monitor the location of residents and track their coronavirus compliance.

During an interview with Chris Cuomo [segment @14:19 to 14:28] Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti discussing the ‘stay-at-home’ order says (emphasis mine):

…”but this has been marvelously embraced by 99.9 percent of people; we see it in the traffic data, we see it in the cell phone data; but we’re going to hunt down that last point-one percent and say: ‘you’ve gotta get inside, you gotta cut it out, and you gotta distance”…

Notice how flippant and easily the totalitarian language rolls from the tongue?

Comrade citizens, we have been warning everyone about the use of their hand-held transponder (cell phone) during national and local emergencies.  As the state attempts to enforce its dictates, the totalitarians will increasingly use their allies in Big Tech to enforce the rules.  Here’s the video:

…”The easiest way to avoid a visit” from the LA storm-troopers “is to follow the rules”… “Your behavior can save a life” Garcetti said, “And that life could be yours.”… (link)

Funny how L.A. Antifa just shrug it off…  Meh, lets get through this COVID-19 lockdown thingy so we can go back to protesting fascist Trump.  Wait, what?

Why Are Republicans and Democrats So Divided Over the Coronavirus?

Article by Wayne Allyn Root in "Townhall":

Obviously, we are a very badly divided nation: so divided we agree on virtually nothing; so divided we can't even talk to one another anymore; so divided one side doesn't believe in anything the other side says; so divided California, New York and Illinois might as well be on a different planet than Texas.

We can't even agree on how to respond to the novel coronavirus, and when to get back to business.

Check out the latest Rasmussen poll. Sixty-one percent of Republicans believe America will rise from the dead by Easter. Count me among them.

But only 41% of all likely voters somewhat believe the USA can get back to work by Easter. Among Democrats, the number must be in the teens. 

In the past few days, President Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that Americans need to get back to work. 

I have said repeatedly on my nationally syndicated radio show: "The business of America is business. It's time to get back to work because the deadly virus is temporary, but the economic disaster we're causing could last a lifetime and prove far more deadly in the long run."

Many conservatives such as myself have also pointed out that the mortality rates of the coronavirus have been greatly exaggerated. On Thursday, Dr. Deborah Birx, "America's Doctor," said the same thing in a press conference: There will not be millions dead in the USA. The math doesn't add up. 

She reported how computer models predicting 500,000 dead in the U.K. have been downgraded to 20,000. She reported how the terrible death count in Italy just doesn't add up to millions of Americans dead, not even close. 

President Trump and Republican businessmen like me remain steadfast and optimistic that we can start bringing this terrible pandemic to a close and be back to business (or at least a limited business rollout) by Easter.

It's not because we don't take this pandemic seriously but because we believe in our hearts that we can't allow the U.S. economy to die. We can't allow another Great Depression. We can't honor the sick or dying by losing our job, income and life savings.

Someone has to mind the store, keep the economy going, pay the bills and pay the taxes so that after we win this war -- and we will win -- there is something for the older, the weak and the vulnerable to come back to.

We believe in our hearts and souls there is a way to restart this economy and to do it carefully, reasonably and responsibly while protecting the oldest, weakest and most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Democratic politicians and liberal Hollywood activists scream about millions dying and about keeping the nation locked down for months. And they call Trump and Republicans all kinds of terrible names.

What accounts for this difference? I believe I've figured it out. It's all about personality. 

Most every Republican I know is positive, outgoing and relentless, won't take no for an answer and has can-do spirit. That's why so many Republicans are successful in the business world. That's why we're proud to create the jobs and pay the taxes. We are the workers, makers and producers of America. We turn lemons into lemonade. We see the glass as half full, not half empty. We love working. We see it as our American way of life. We desperately want and need to get back to work.

Democrats are the polar opposite. They are cynical, negative and always finding fault with America, capitalism and business. That's why conservative talk radio is so successful whereas there is virtually no liberal talk radio. It's just too negative, too dark, too depressing. Liberals are always complaining, offering no solutions other than bigger government.

That explains the differences in how we see the coronavirus. Republicans have everything to lose if they don't get back to work. We see our business, career, job as our calling in life, our baby. It is who we are. Taking that away from us is like death.

Democrats are made up of groups who don't see anything to gain by rushing back to work. Some of them didn't work before this crisis. Some are protected by union contracts and union pensions. Some work for the government -- and they have jobs for life. Some have lived on a welfare check for much of their life. Some want to be paid bigger checks for being unemployed than for working. In the end, they feel they can stay home, take no risk and have the government pay them.

It's a completely different mindset. Democrats depend on government. Republicans depend on God, prayer, self-reliance and personal responsibility. Our lives are wrapped up in our work. We're risk-takers. We must get back to work or risk losing everything we've worked our whole lives to build. It's what makes us who we are.

Yes, we're a divided nation. It's like we're from different planets. I'm proud to be from the planet where the glass is always half full, where America, with the greatest health care system in the world and the strongest economy in the world, will always prove victorious. 

Yes, it's true that "the business of America is business." Let the people who want to get back to it get back to it.

https://townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2020/03/29/why-are-republicans-and-democrats-so-divided-over-the-coronavirus-n2565895

NYC’s Leaders Set the Stage for Becoming America's Sino-Virus Epicenter

by Tom Elliott at Grabien News

For months city officials assured New Yorkers 

they should continue life as usual

That New York City has become America’s coronavirus epicenter is the predictable result of how city officials handled the early stages of the crisis. 

When the Coronavirus first came onto the national radar, the scary, potentially fatal virus was contained to China. But after early steps from the Trump Administration to limit the United States’ exposure to the risk — limiting travel from China to the United States, quarantining those coming from Coronavirus hotspots — many of his critics derided the moves as racist and xenophobic. 

In so doing, many government officials, particularly in New York City, offered Americans a false sense of safety.

In the weeks after Trump banned travel from China to the United States, New City Mayor De Blasio called on New Yorkers to defy the administration and attend large gatherings, specifically the Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown. 

The Coronavirus, De Blasio said February 14^th, "should not stop you from going about your life, should not stop you from going to Chinatown and going out to eat. I’m going to do that today myself."

New York City’s health commissioner, ostensibly responsible for advising New Yorkers on best health practices, largely spent the last two months encouraging Gothamites to defy popular guidance for avoiding crowds as well as people recently back from China. 

Oxiris Barbot, the city’s health czar, said that riding public transit and going out into public — including attending the Chinese Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown, were not just responsible behaviors, but would additionally help defeat anti-Asian prejudices. 

“We are encouraging New Yorkers to go about their everyday lives and suggest practicing everyday precautions that we do through the flu season,” Barbot said on January 26th. She even added that those “who had recently traveled from Wuhan were not being urged to self-quarantine or avoid large public gatherings.”

On February 2nd, she urged the same lack of caution: “The risk to New Yorkers for Coronavirus is low, and our preparedness as a city is very high. There is no reason not to take the subway, not to take the bus, not to go out to your favorite restaurant, and certainly not to miss the parade next Sunday.”

“I’m going to be there,” she added for extra reassurance.

The same day, New York State Senator John Liu likewise urged New Yorkers to avoid “social distancing.” 

“There is no need to panic and to avoid activities that we always do as New Yorkers,” Liu said at a press conference. “We are hardy people. As an Asian-American, I’ve been disturbed if not outright appalled by some of the comments or gestures that I have seen. Diseases originate from anywhere or from particular places in the world.”

On Twitter, she suggested it would be racist not to attend the Chinatown parade.

“As we gear up to celebrate the #LunarNewYear in NYC, I want to assure New Yorkers that there is no reason for anyone to change their holiday plans, avoid the subway, or certain parts of the city because of #coronavirus,” she tweeted. “I want to be clear, this is about a virus, not a group of people. There is NO excuse for anyone to discriminate or stigmatize people of Asian heritage. We are here today to urge all New Yorkers to continue to live their lives as usual.”

On February 7th, Barbot offered New Yorker’s the same bad advice, telling NY1: “The important thing for New Yorkers to know is that in the city currently their risk is low and our city preparedness is high. And so we know that this virus can be transmitted from one individual to another, but that it’s typically people who live together. That there’s no risk at this point in time — we’re always learning more — about having it be transmitted in casual contact, right?”

“So we’re telling New Yorkers, go about your lives, take the subway, go out, enjoy life, but practice everyday precautions,” she said. 

Around this time, the media was largely focused on President Trump’s recent ban on travel from China to the United States. New York City’s Chinatown parade was being portrayed as an act of defiance against what was described as a prejudiced policy. Americans who began “social distancing” were in some cases labeled racist. 

New York Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez said: “Honestly, it sounds almost so silly to say, but there’s a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism, where people are literally not patroning [sic] Chinese restaurants, they’re not patroning [sic] Asian restaurants because of just straight up racism around the Coronavirus.”

By March, these lawmakers were still dispensing advice that likely resulted in a much more expansive mass infection than would otherwise have been the case. 

On March 2^nd, De Blasio said during a Coronavirus press conference that there was no reason to take any precautions behind basic hygiene: “In fact, the facts are reassuring, all New Yorkers should really pay attention to this. We have a lot of information now. Information is actually showing us things that should give us more reason to stay calm and go about our lives.”

By March 10^th, De Blasio was still urging New Yorkers to congregate in mass gatherings. 

“For the vast majority of New Yorkers, life is going on pretty normally right now; we want to encourage that,” De Blasio told MSBNBC. “We have to look out for people here, especially those who are over 50 years old and have pre-existing conditions, like lung disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes. These are the folks we really, really need to be careful for. But if you’re under 50 and you’re healthy, which is most New Yorkers, there’s very little threat here. This disease, even if you were to get it, basically acts like a common cold or flu. And transmission is not that easy. I think there has been a misperception that Coronavirus hangs in the air, waiting to catch you. No. It takes direct person-to-person contact, direct transmission of fluids.” 

Today New York City is begging the federal government for help as it struggles to contain the Coronavirus’ spread across its five boroughs and across the tri-state area. Of the United States’ 111,980 cases of Coronavirus, more than 52,000 are based in New York. 

Rhode Island Governor Tells New Yorkers They'll Hunt Them Down to Stop Wuhan Coronavirus Spread

 
Article by Matt Vespa in "Townhall":

President Trump is mulling a 14-day quarantine for the Tri-State area, but Rhode Island’s Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo has already gone DEFCON 1 with regards to containing the spread into her state: she’s giving the green light for the National Guard and state law enforcement agencies to stop New Yorkers from coming into the state. It’s no exaggeration. Some New Yorkers have summer homes in the state and Gov. Raimondo said they will be going door-to-door to search these residences. Anyone from New York discovered will be ordered into self-quarantine for 14 days.

Anyone driving into the state with New York license plates can be pulled over by the police. As for bus stops, airports, and Amtrak stations, the National Guard will be stationed there. Raimondo’s order is clear to those from the Empire State: We’re closed. Of course, the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter is crying foul (via Bloomberg):

jon gabriel ✔ @exjon

"Hunting license required, but no bag limit.
Rhode Island Police to hunt down New Yorkers seeking refuge."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/rhode-island-police-to-hunt-down-new-yorkers-seeking-refuge

Rhode Island police began stopping cars with New York plates Friday. On Saturday, the National Guard will help them conduct house-to-house searches to find people who traveled from New York and demand 14 days of self-quarantine.
“Right now we have a pinpointed risk,” Governor Gina Raimondo said. “That risk is called New York City.”
[…]
Many New Yorkers have summer houses in Rhode Island, especially in tony Newport, and the governor said the authorities would be checking there.
“Yesterday I announced and today I reiterated: Anyone coming to Rhode Island in any way from New York must be quarantined,” the governor said. “By order. Will be enforced. Enforceable by law.”
[…]
National Guard members will be stationed at the T.F. Green airport, Amtrak train stations and at bus stops. The citizen-soldiers will be following up with people at local residences. The maximum penalty for not complying: a fine of $500 and 90 days in prison.
[…]
While the Governor may have the power to suspend some state laws and regulations to address this medical emergency, she cannot suspend the Constitution,” Rhode Island ACLU executive director Steven Brown said in a statement. “Under the Fourth Amendment, having a New York state license plate simply does not, and cannot, constitute ‘probable cause’ to allow police to stop a car and interrogate the driver, no matter how laudable the goal of the stop may be.”

Gov. Raimondo signed this executive order on Thursday. The publication added that signs concerning the quarantine were set up near the Connecticut border ordering all drivers from New York to pull into the nearest rest stop area where the police would be waiting. The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. has led to over 100,000 people being infected with close to 2,000 deaths. It’s highly contagious. And young people can still get extremely ill from the virus, though they’re the age group that has a better chance of surviving infection. The elderly and the immunocompromised are at the greatest risk of death from infection. This virus can last on some surfaces for up to three days and in the air for hours. On average, an infected person spreads the disease to at least two-to-three people on average, whereas the flu is a one-to-one ratio. New York City makes up close to half of all cases in the U.S. New Orleans is also looking like another hotbed. The two cities celebrated Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras respectively which explains the Wuhan virus exploding in those areas. 

Rhode Island is pushing the limits on the Constitution. It’s not pretty, but here we are. 

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/03/28/rhode-island-hunts-new-yorkers-to-curb-wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak-n2565901