A 9/11 every day
On September 11, 2001, thousands of Americans were killed in a terrorist attack that shocked the world.
To be exact: there were 2,977 victims.
Today, the Trump administration is projecting that we’ll see that many deaths every single day as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s the NYTimes headline:
In terms of deaths, that’s a 9/11 every day due to coronavirus.
Meanwhile, in Taiwan — a densely populated island state of over 23 million people — there have been zero new cases in over three weeks. During that same three-week period, the United States has seen over half-a-million new reported cases.
The coronavirus response has been completely mismanaged by the Trump administration from the start. And even though the death toll is rising, Republican Governors are rushing to throw people back into an economy that’s going to spit them out dead.
Take Georgia, for example, and its Republican governor Brian Kemp. The White House guidelines state that there should be a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period” before states should start thinking about a “phased comeback.”
Georgia’s comeback was initiated on April 24. Here is the trajectory of coronavirus cases in Georgia before and after that date (marked with a red dot):
Does it look like Georgia had a “downward trajectory” in the 14 days proceeding April 24? Nope! And the growth rate in coronavirus cases since the 24th has stayed roughly the same.
The date to keep an eye on is May 8th. We know that coronavirus symptoms hit two weeks after initial infection, and May 8 will be two weeks after Brian Kemp decided to put profits above the lives of Georgia residents.
This is demonstrated by the fact that — just today — Kemp did a press conference with far-right organizations “Committee to Unleash Prosperity” and “Freedom Works,” the latter of which was founded and funded by the infamous Koch brothers.
At this press conference, Stephen Moore — affiliated with the above groups — lamented about “body bags of businesses” piling up, which is absolutely disgusting rhetoric during a time when thousands of body bags are piling up with American coronavirus victims.
But it shows you what his priority is; and it shows the priorities of the people who stand beside him, like Governor Brian Kemp.
They don’t care that America is staring down the barrel of a 9/11 every single day. They just want to keep business as normal, no matter how many lives are sacrificed.
Shame.
