Well aren't you Mr. sunshine...
This is what I was getting at. Do the difficult, but necessary action, rather than the easy incorrect one.The better comparison would be to our presidents and governors who have straddled this across administrations. The overwhelming majority have left a void of leadership shown in the other presidents’ quotes. The better point is that they historically weren’t trying to appease their base and thereby alienating everyone else. That goes for both parties and a lot of sound bites along the way. Say the hard thing, lead from the top, and let the experts figure out how to get it done. I posted a few days ago the text of our superintendent’s email to school staff. It was difficult but stern leadership, political fallout be damned. He earned a lot of my respect (has been all along, tbh), but he answers only to the board here and not all voters.
Steve Jobs didn’t invent the modern handheld computing ecosystem all by himself. He’s the one with the vision and leadership to have seen it to fruition. Same for Bezos and Branson pioneering space tourism. From industrialists to presidents, they’re all flawed people that we can pick apart, but we can’t question their grit and fearless leadership. Churchill was no saint, but he was a pretty good John Lithgow in Britain’s hour of need.
You probably do not recall the idiot Richard Reid from a flight from Paris to Miami who hid something in his shoes on a flight hence take off your shoes before the x ray at the TSA checkpoint.
I’m going to nit pick a bit, so I apologize in advance.
I did forget about that. I've had pre-check for several years so I don't have to do that nonsense anymore.
But we do have a very obtainable endpoint (possibly, you never know how exactly these things will pan out)- Vaccinate!
I wanted to get to a desktop and illustrate a few points in just my state of MT. Since nobody lives here, but those that do live in just a few pockets. I still laugh when people refer to "the big city," when it's barely a Cincinnati suburb where I grew up. I have recently visited or live in each of these areas for youth fencing and swim tournaments, so can speak to local attitudes. Hospitalizations per county are pointless, as we do so much transferring and intake of underserved, ultra-rural areas.
To be fair, vaccinate or “better off” are not endpoints, and “better off” is subjective. They are stepping stones to an endpoint. I’m not saying there even is a clearly definable endpoint to Covid as it may not be possible. But I don’t think there could be much argument that if we could say our goal was the complete eradication of Covid by summer 2022 the response would be better. Again, I’m not saying that’s possible, but human nature responds to that better.
They weren't very clear about it at the time, but I feel the CDC did have an endpoint in mind when they let their foot off the gas in their guidance back in May. Hospitalizations, cases, positivity, and deaths were all headed the right way. The leadership within the CDC and likely other Executive agencies knew people were getting itchy, and the went from Ridiculous Speed to idle overnight. Going forward, it would be ideal to at least get a framework from the top about what we are aiming to achieve to "live with the virus." Not just our color-coded levels of transmission chart, but clear, actionable endpoints and steps along the way. In the program I work, post-op nurses have a multi-system flow chart that illustrates just what meaningful recovery to discharge should look like. Nothing is expected to be linear, and if one system faults the rest of the patient is put on standby/observed until recovery resumes. Americans could handle that, if we were fed more than soundbites. It wouldn't be perfect, but we'd reach a lot more people with consistent and non-abrasive language. The recent WH briefings led by Zients are pretty good in this regard, but aren't mass communicated like the previous circus - and they still lack a definition of endpoints and our progress toward them. After 18 months, the communication is still the biggest disaster.
I was very recently in Missoula and I can confirm that there is essentially no mitigation of any kind. The problem with mitigating until enough people are vaccinated is that it doesn't seem like there are that many people still getting vaccinated, at least not at a rate that the end date will be measured in months. The only significant increase will come from whoever decides to vaccinate their 5-11 year old children once that is an option.
It is apparent that when you are in an area that people are masked up it triggers unpleasant emotions to yourself. I would trigger pleasant emotions in that people are doing the right thing in masking up. It goes the other way also and that's why this is one of the reasons of the pandemic of the unvaccinated where a number refuse to get vaccinated before it infringes on their freedom and liberty. The anxiety of people unmasked while I am in close quarters while I am masked - count me in with unpleasant emotions.
Were you at Trampled by Turtles and Caamp, by chance? If so, nice - and a killer show! Kettlehouse is a great place for a show - and dang good beer.
