"GET THE STUFF !!!!!"

     Full disclosure: yesterday I gave in and allowed myself a peek into one of the new reality show's episodes, the daily farce of the Trump briefing. What a disaster. What a mess. To use the phrase of one reporter, there is a "storm of misinformation" coming out of these TV spots and no one could be blamed for leaving them confused and dazed, thinking they need a visit to a doctor for a hearing test or a brain check! The contents of these briefing s are so contradictory to each other that one does not know what to believe. Personally, the answer, I believe, is not to believe a word that man says unless corroborated by Fauci or Birx or one of the many governors, Democrat and Republican, who are desperately trying to help their states maintain an even keel and cut deaths.
     One usually rabid supporter of Trump, wrote of his frustration with Trump and his statements, his lack of true attack on the virus. “Don’t give me the MyPillow guy doing a song-and-dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens,” Francesa said. “Get the stuff made, get the stuff where it needs to go, and get the boots on the ground! Treat this like the crisis it is!”     This, essentially, is the feeling of most as they listen in or read about it. It is a disaster. Get the stuff! Get the masks. Get the ventilators. Get the respirators. Get the beds themselves. Get the medical equipment needed. Get some real help in there and stop reacting rather than being proactive! Get the stuff! Do the right thing!
     Listening in, one was "gifted" with the sight of a man constantly reading, looking down at a paper, speaking in a souless monotone, showing no empathy, no concern for people, only looking to get this part over with and return to his usual nitpicking and complaints about others. Enough! Enough. The TV stations, the cable channels, none of them should broadcast these briefings daily. Report a gist on the news or analytic shows and stop giving this man a platform for his reality TV without a soul.
     We are not making masks by the millions. A refitted Ford factory and a GM facility are making masks level one and face shields on a voluntary basis and are not tuned up yet to maximum, but what we need is more - more of everything. N95 masks, gowns, gloves, on and on. He blocks progress at every point and then blames the companies who were trying to get this done. Yet he reveled in the Monday briefing when each one rose up to praise him. This man is truly like a king of old who demanded groveling, body and soul, from his subjects. Sickening. Useless. Worse than that, for as he dithers around, impressed only with his own importance and grievances, people are dying. Dying. One does not need his imagery of people dying like flies, in subways, in halls. Etc. We know that, we have all of us by now, lost someone to this virus, or at least one who is ailing with it. It is right outside the door, or even inside, as we are not in sterile lab conditions at maximum levels.
     We are now afraid of each other, veering away from others, hiding from them, as we fear contamination. Yet it is a part of being human that one needs the companionship of others. What is one to do? Cannot really tell you, as each and every one of us must make the decision for him/her self. There is no other way. But, a great big but, if we do not bite the bullet now, we will all be shot with that same bullet later on. In fact, even as things - hopefully - return to what might pass for the new normal , we still must be careful. We must watch for new upsurges. We must be careful with flights and flying, with crowding and mob scenes. What hapens to concerts? To theaters? To subways? To ballgames? To simply walking the sidewalks of Manhattan during a workday?
     These are questions that all need to be carefully pondered, answered with care. What to do with our armed forces as the virus spreads? Are we to remain essentially defenseless? What about our first responders, medical and otherwise? What about the highly vulnerable? What about the trauma to our kids as theygo without their friends, develop an actual physically felt longing to be with them in real life and time? How to get the economy rolling once again and somehow get people back on their feet even as their savings and retirement accounts are gutted, as food and other banks run out of material and aid for people in great need? How do we restructure our medical field, the approach to pandemics in the future? We were warned in 2019 that this was  coming and that ass ignored it, havig disbanded the office of preparedness for pandemics the year before.
     Most important, we must sit on this idiot until he cries uncle and is out of office. We need to watch that he does not follow the paths of some in Europe and Asia who are rescinding civil rights and protective legislation in their countries. We msut insure that America remain America, a proud democracy. A strong democracy. A country which remembers her duty to the world and to the entire population, not only the industrialists and financiers of Wall Street.
     Can we get there? Can we restart the engine at different speeds and gears? Can we bring in new accessories that will help us remain safe and as sure as possible? I hope so. I truly do. But am I optimistic? That will take a whole lot more than this at the moment. A whole lot more. From each and every one of us. And then, more than that. And certainly a better leadership of country and world. That is on us.
      Meanwhile, again, stay well, be safe.