Chuck Todd Is Wrong (Again): There Are Huge Downsides To Media Alarmism thefederalist.com/2020/04/09/chu…
Being alarmist about this specific challenge could have a disturbing result in the fall and winter. By hyping the early (bad data) models highlighting millions of deaths, the media set expectations very high.
Now, because deaths are thankfully not coming in at such feared rates, and because we have not seen the other million-plus deaths from overwhelmed hospital systems, people may become overly confident...
When we need to be clear-eyed and prepared for this to come back with a vengeance in the fall.
Also everyone who closed parks should reevaluate for the fall hiking season. Sunlight and outdoor activity is the opposite of being confined to buildings full of surfaces where this lives.
We need to be evaluating responsibly the risks attendant with school, work, and normal activities in the fall, as opposed to obsessing about models that, even factoring in distancing and self quarantine, turned out to be so wrong.
Our priorities have to include ensuring the safety of public transit for working class Americans. People can't afford to stop traveling that way, and that drives this to a huge degree. And those jobs can't be done remotely.
They also can't afford to have their kids not go to public school. It may be worthwhile to consider a serious adjustment to the school schedule, with more classes starting earlier in the summer and a longer winter break.
One other thing that is long overdue: we have got to have the conversation about decoupling health insurance from your job. Right and left policy folks all know this is a stupid vestige of almost century old policy. It must end.
With the massive unemployment we are facing right now, it is perhaps the best time to have this conversation and ensure that your health insurance follows you regardless of your employer.
These are all conversations - along with ones about decoupling from China, forming a new WHO replacement, and bolstering towns and counties who are losing tax money every day - that the media ought to focus on, instead of driving panic.
But hey, alarmism sells! At least for now.
The alarmism was accelerated by useful idiots in the media and expert class who pretended the numbers from China were real and repeated them.
Unfollow those people. They are worse than dumb. They parroted the lies of the Red Chinese Communists as truth. Do not trust them.
Unfollow those people. They are worse than dumb. They parroted the lies of the Red Chinese Communists as truth. Do not trust them.
