Our Leaders Are Failing Us During This Coronavirus Pandemic

In this image, Trump and Mike Pence can be seen giving a press briefing during a Coronavirus Task Force Meeting on February 29, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. Trump’s administration has provided no real confidence that this country is taking the pandemic seriously. Image provided by The White House via Flickr. (Public Domain)

So … how’s your 2020 going? Not so great, right? I honestly had no expectations for this year beyond meeting a few personal goals, but the coronavirus pandemic (this virus is called COVID-19) has already ruined this year for many. Not only are people dying, but many have either lost their jobs or have been furloughed. They will not have money to pay all their bills or buy essentials to make it past this indefinite crisis period (which could last for at least six months).

Instead of talking about statistics — at least in this post — I wanted to briefly write about what we need from our leaders to stop the spread of the virus and help people recover.

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News Roundup Special: How the Last Government Shutdown Was Defeated

On December 11, 2018, Donald Trump (center right) met with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer (right) in the Oval Office to try to head off a government shutdown. Mike Pence (center left) was present, by he added nothing to the discussion. This image was taken via screenshot (video).

Will there be another government shutdown? Likely not, given how the latest shutdown just ended last month.

Congress had avoided a government shutdown for 10 months after the last one in early 2018, but after Democrats took over the House following the midterm elections, Trump ramped up his threats to shut down the government if he didn’t get money for his border wall. He made good on those threats in late December 2018 and dragged things out for 35 days, which was the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Tonight, Donald Trump will give his second State of the Union speech. This was nearly cancelled because to the shutdown. What will Trump talk about? My guess is he will mention the wall, but in doing so he will remind people of his greatest defeat as president.

On that note, I want to make this post as a reminder of what happened over the five weeks of the shutdown. I would also like to talk about the effects of it, who really ended it, and how we can avoid more shutdowns in the future.

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Table of Contents

• What Unfolded During This Shutdown? (Timeline)
• Who Deserves the Credit for Ending the Shutdown?
• How Can We Avoid Shutdowns in the Future?
• Are You Watching the State of the Union Address?

What Can Prevent a Blue Wave? The Democratic Party Can.

Chuck Schumer is the Senate Majority Leader, but he is the worst leaders Democrats could have at the worst time. In this screenshot (video), he is seen during a press conference, attended by a few other congressional Democrats and representatives for teachers’ unions in May 2018. The Democrats were introducing a plank of their “Better Deal” platform. I believe that the Democrats came up with a newer slogan, but I forgot how it went. That’s how forgettable it was.

What could threaten a blue wave in 2018? Quite frankly, the Democratic establishment could. Other top Democratic leaders can, as well.

These midterms should be a referendum on Donald Trump and the Republican agenda, but for both to be successfully rebuked, the opposition needs to be united and to have a cohesive message. Unfortunately, far too many Democratic leaders have gotten in the way of the messages presented by progressives while presenting none of their own. On top of that, these so-called leaders have failed to capitalize on the Republicans’ forced errors and have committed a series of their own missteps.

All these things have threatened to depress the vote and to undermine the energy on the left and make the notion of a blue wave seem like a distant dream. In this post (another LAP — sorry), I will explain why I’ve come to that conclusion.

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The Rift on the Left: The Current State of the Democratic Party

No, it’s not fine.

What can I say about the current state of the Democratic Party? Oh, boy …

In late July 2017, the Democratic National Committee’s Deputy Vice Chair of Civic Engagement Frank Spencer spoke during a #DNCTakeBack news conference at Politicon. Mr. Spencer took around ten minutes clarifying some parts of the Democrats’ “bold” new platform. Spencer said that the party had listened to the people and would thus promote a populist platform. During the question and answer section, Spencer admitted that the Democrats tried to run as centrists largely because the party’s donors wouldn’t let the party’s candidates run on populist issues.

As it turns out, that news conference in Pasadena, CA was a fake one. It was staged by The Yes Men, with the help of grassroots activists, for a bipartisan audience of 100 people. Andy Bichlaum of the parody duo played the part of a DNC representative who came to talk about the Democrats’ “A Better Deal,” the platform the party had released a week prior.

Bichlaum had a few people going for a while. Yet sadly, in telling people things they wanted to hear, he made a commentary on the sad state of affairs in “the party of the people.”

With that in mind, Let’s review some things I have already talked about in this series, while discussing what has transpired over the past year-and a half.