Incompetence is as incompetence does ...

Trump shut down travel, and hundreds of thousands still got in.

Please think before writing.

 

I am particularly afraid of the media in the US. There's a LOT of political BS going around. I guess that's the fault of Freedom of Speech? Even if all you've got is a bunch of BS to peddle to the public?

And half a school year is simply not enough for a good course in Civics. Given that schooling in the subject has become so politicized, I don't see an easy way out. And apparently any rudimentary analysis of the matter shows how little we Yanks are taught about one of the most important elements of living. That is, making the right choices in politics.

And, no, I don't mean either Right or Left. Because the best set of political beliefs are somewhere in the middle between the extremes of either Right or Left; and they depend heavily upon a thoughtful analysis of complex circumstances on both sides and effective implementation of policy.

Which is why I think the key blocking-factor in political ideology is the mindless BS that comes across American TV. Which is coupled with the undying belief that "civic duty" is singular and not plural in nature. Any good lesson in Economics teaches "first and foremost" that the whole is far more important politically than the individual.

But, we have grave difficulty understanding that notion in America. For reasons I cannot possibly understand making one helluva-lotta muney has become the Sacred Goal of Success for most American males. (I am not sure that women are as attached to that notion as men.) ...

 

Only China could have isolated and quarantined the virus back in Nov/Dec, and they didn't. They decided to "share the love" with the rest of the world.

 

So why shut down travel at all then?

 

Very few people who run for Congress, men or women, are not motivated by power and the money that comes with the power. Some may start with good intentions, but money and power corrupt.

Over a decade ago, I cut the cable and don't follow what passes for "news", except for amusement mixed with disgust. I started turning on C-SPAN and listening the live Congressional sessions as background noise. The "source" of political news is the Congressional session and other political leaders' press conferences. If after getting the full context from listening to the source, one compares what was actually said to the bits and snippets of out-of-context quotes used by the "news", followed by much opinion by the news' host, the bias is obvious. True journalism is mostly dead. The amount of spin on both sides is really remarkable.

It's almost as if they have an intention to divide the country and start a civil war.

 

To sloooooowwwww the spread. It couldn't be stopped after China allowed millions and millions of people in and out of Wuhan. We needed 30-45 days to beef up our hospital resources. Right now, we have millions of hospital beds across the country sitting empty and healthcare workers on furlough because the huge wave didn't hit anywhere but New York and the tri-state area. People who should be in the hospital with heart, kidney and other issues are dying at home.

We have focused too much on one new health threat to the detriment of all others.

 

Strange how your arguments sound so aligned with right wing media

 

Does this look like it would slow anything?

 

Not completely. I'm an Independent, but I am a Conservative Libertarian-Independent, so your observation is neither completely off-base nor terribly surprising.

As far as media opinion shows, I dislike Sean Hannity as much as Don Lemon, in terms of casting off their biased opinions to the public as "news". If you listen to both, you may achieve some sort of "truthiness" in the middle, but it's still mostly media opinion based loosely on a tiny grain of what's really happening in politics.

 

When was the photo taken? I've seen a "journalist" add a two-year old photo of a crowded beach to a "current" news article about a governor shutting down said beach. Consumer of media, "Beware".

 

That photo was taken in early March. There are many more like it since it occurred at THIRTEEN airports around the country

And despite your protestations...your post shows that you are quite the consumer of MSM

Hmmmm

 

It slows down the impact.

 

Your posts show that you are quite the one to assume that you know what other people think better than they know themselves, and to put words in other peoples' mouths.

Hmmmmm

 

No doubt. But it is one that all humans have. We started the last century almost wholly, as a people, believing that BigBusiness was the way-to-go.

After all, the Industrial Age brought with it machines-powered-by-electricity. Edison was not the only one see the vastness of possibilities that electricity would bring. Along two/three other key technologies. All of which generated jobs. Lots 'n lots of jobs. With technology pushed along by WW2 that may have ended in 1946, but it sparked an enormous boon-time for the American economy.

Like it or not - that Industrial Age has come to an end (for the most part) in America. We are well into the Information Age. OK, all that is very good, but What Is the Lesson Learned?

That "ages" will be a key part of our existence. They define our way of life, often in shorter and shorter timelines.

We need to get used to them and the changes in lifestyle that they bring. Which means primarily one word. Education, education, education. We must assure that we maintain the highest level of education possible to assimilate whatever New Age may present itself. Leaving people behind and hoping their children will do better is simply not on. It wont work as well as it should.

We must make Tertiary-education like Primary- and Secondary. That is, available free, gratis and for nothing. Because what we must learn will determine our skillset. And our skills will permit us to find the work necessary to allow families to subsist and flourish ...

NB: If I make the point that change is going to be the central part of our lifestyle it's because that is not the way-of-life we pursue today. If Covid-19 teaches us anything it is this: We should have been prepared for this kind of highly-complex threat, and we were not. As a result, a great many people have had to die.

 

People have been writing since around 2016, that the Information Age has ended. No one seems to agree on what we've entered though. If you ask me, we entered the Age of Ignorance and Confusion a while back. Seriously, we are obviously about to enter an age of increased robotics and Artificial Intelligence. If we come to rely on Artificial Intelligence, how much need will there be for that many humans to know much of anything? Only the few, brightest programmers and coders will have tremendous value. The rest of us might as well be extinct as we decide there is something artificial which some think will be superior to human.

Not everyone excels at education, education, education. Some with a lot of book smarts have a complete lack of common sense. College-for-everyone is not the answer. Some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs and innovators dropped out of college or didn't go to begin with. They had the right idea at the right time and were sharp enough, and had the street smarts to launch the idea or product into a successful reality. Plus, even a genius will need a plumber to fix their toilet once in a while.

Certainly, you're thoughts about needing to change with the "Ages" is true and reflects an old theory on survival: The only thing certain is change.

 

I guess you missed the point -- it's the voters in those districts that keep voting for them -- unless of course you are inferring that your politicians have somehow rigged the elections. Is that what you are suggesting?

 

I made no inference at all to rigging. If Congressmen had term limits, like the president has, then they couldn't run again and wouldn't be on the ballot after their number of term-limited years expired.

 

I used to think term limits was an answer, but no longer due because it's not going to solve anything, not to mention, why do you want to disenfranchise voters that way?

If a politician is doing a good job for their constituents, it is up to them to vote him/her out. Don't you think?

What these elected officials should be banned from doing is redrawing their districts to obtain more favorable election results.

 

Voters for the Presidency are not disenfranchised: such a foolish though.

 

Purely cosmetic. All it does is "increase the Vote-count". Most haven't even a inkling of what constitutes a True Democracy. How will they ever know how to distinguish one election platform from another.

And given the pathetic palaver that the candidates pursue, it is unlikely migrants have even an inkling of what constitutes "American democracy". A country has the right to pick&chose its immigrants. We should be selecting amongst only the better educated, who arrive with a entry-visa obtained in their home country from an American embassy ...

 

I propose, rather, that the political system is infested by BigMoney.

The key parameters for an acceptable system of voting:
*Only voters registered to vote can support a candidate financially. And
*The amount is both fixed (by law) and deductible from taxation.
*No TV-advertising, but a minimum number of televised debates amongst the candidates.
*All candidates must publish a Political Platform explaining their propositions, or be fined for not doing so.
*No candidate can have a criminal record whatsoever.

 

The first one if you pretend he's the only one on the planet maybe....

 

The chart I put up shows the difference between High-School and Post-secondary Education, which is startling.

And that is due to the fact that post-secondary degree, from a state school, on average costs $14K a year.

My point was that:
*Anybody who really needed an education to get out of the Poverty Threshold ($25K income per year for a family of four) cannot even afford to send their children.
*So they remain blocked below the threshold, and constitute most of the prison population today in America.
*Post-secondary education therefore must be very low-cost and students subsidized (modest living-standard salaried) to attend.
*States must allow free attendance to all with a valid high-school diploma.
*The range of studies should include Vocational, Associates, Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate.

 

The two-party system is obsolescent. Multiple parties engender more debate about key issues. This forces people to think.

Provoking thought (about political initiatives) is what any Real Democracy needs. Debating various options is well worth the mental exercise as well.

The problem, I suggest, with two-party American political voting is that it is given the same status as any sport. All that matters is who wins.

That's pathetic ...

 

You are very seriously wrong. He refused to accept the notion that Covid-19 was very dangerous. As had been proven already in both China and Europe.

Whyzzat? Becuase he was scared itless the impact it would have upon his Hotel Business.

The man is single-minded and - and he proves his endemic inadequacy day-after-day-after-day with his mindless twit-twittering ...