It’s become fashionable to criticize the US response to coronavirus. Perhaps that’s warranted. But cases are spiking across Europe and it’s gone unremarked across much of the media.
I ran the numbers. It’s grim, particularly compared to new US cases.
France
New cases: 29,641
Population: 67 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 145,108
Actual US cases: 55,291
There’s still apples to oranges a bit, here, but for context, that would be about double the highest single-day case total in the US so far.
United Kingdom
It isn’t just France, either. This is all over Europe.
New cases: 17,502
Population: 67 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 85,681
Actual US cases: 55,291
Spain
New cases: 12,052
Population: 47 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 84,107
Actual US cases: 55,291
Belgium
New cases: 7,425
Population: 11.5 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 211,773 (!!)
Actual US cases: 55,291
The Netherlands
New cases: 9,720
Population: 17.3 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 184,286
Actual US cases: 55,291
Poland
New cases: 8,099
Population: 38 million
Cases adjusted for US pop: 69,907
Actual US cases: 55,291
To be clear, the number of US cases is still going up, and doing so rapidly. Plus, we’re heading for flu season, which could cause additional problems and complications, as could holiday travel/having to be inside. The US system may be particularly ill equipped for this.
Also, as I’ve pointed out time and time again, the number of cases is not nearly as important as the number of deaths.
But a few months ago, when the numbers were inverted, we got a lecture about how bad America’s response was. These were the parameters they had used.
Remember when @nytimes interviewed a bunch of fake concerned Europeans about how terrible America’s response was?
Remember @AP’s coverage of the “astonishment and alarm” among Europeans?
Remember this sentiment - expressed by @AbdulElSayed here and plenty of others across social media - that a US passport is no longer good for anything?
Where are all the follow up takes? Where’s the concerned coverage about the problems with Europe’s response? Is @nytimes going to interview any Americans about how we “feel sorry” for Europeans? My DMs are open.
There’s a lot of power in what media covers versus what they don’t. This feels like an example of inconvenient information - suggesting that America’s response (and by extension, President Trump’s) may be better than originally thought - being ignored.
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1) I don’t get why these personal moments are newsworthy 2) they’re heartbreaking, and the type of heartbreak that anyone who has had a loved one battle addiction knows 3) this does more to humanize Joe Biden than any campaign ad. nypost.com/2020/10/16/tex…
More succinctly: dunking on a man for comforting his addict son is fucked, and if your politics leads you to do it, that’s fucked, too.
We are in the midst of the greatest addiction and overdose crisis this country has ever seen.
And we’re dedicating time and attention to dunk on a man struggling with addiction and a father who cares for him?
Much like Antifa in the Democratic telling, libertarians are an idea, a loose collection of ne’er-do-wells, marching under the same banner, burning cities in their wake.
Every time a man between the ages of 18 and 22 waxes poetic about the power of the inv*sible h*nd, a new libertarian hatches.
By now you’ve heard that @SteveScully’s allegation of being hacked was a lie.
I thought that, surely, there wouldn’t be a need for a thread on this, because no one could have possibly believed his original claim, but...
Nope. We had bad takes.
Starting off, we have the inimitable @joelockhart who thinks you are - I kid you not - “a damn liar” for so much as QUESTIONING Scully’s allegation that he was hacked.
I thought it would only be Joe out on gullible ledge on this one.
The bombshell @nypost story about Joe & Hunter Biden has caused some bluechecks to suddenly worry about pushing a story that may not be true.
Where was that sentiment during the Russian collusion hoax?
Your latest class of the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame. #HypocrisyHOF
Perhaps the richest about-face comes from @jonathanchait. The same guy who suggested, with a straight face, that Trump has been a Russian asset since the 1980s & endlessly pushed the Steele dossier is worried that the Post’s story is a Russian hack. True #HypocrisyHOF material.
Right behind him in lack of self awareness is @kylegriffin1.
He didn’t want anyone sharing the link to the Post story, but he was happy to share @RepAdamSchiff’s conspiracy about Russian collusion even post-Mueller report.