Corona Katrina Let's call the whole thing off

I am the virus
I am a siren in the rain
I am a courier
Bring the spiral into your brain

~~ "Virus" by Duran Duran

During President Obama's eight years in office, numerous things were considered to be his "Katrina." (It's hard to forget the image of George W. Bush gazing out the window of Air Force One as he looked at the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.)

This isn't a full list, but among the things that various right-wing (and even some left-leaning) media outlets speculated could be Obama's Katrina are these:

Rollout of the healthcare website

Benghazi

Sexual assault in the military

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Isaac

Washington, D.C. power outage

S&P downgrade

Alabama tornadoes

Wikileaks

BP oil spill

Unemployment rate

Crisis in Haiti

Underwear bomber

Fort Hood

The stimulus package

The auto company bailout

Georgia flooding

Swine flu

Kentucky ice storm

In fact, some super geniuses proclaimed that Hurricane Katrina was Obama's Katrina...despite the fact that it happened on W's watch in 2005.

So I am always hesitant to use that cliché when it comes to disasters. "Whoever's Katrina." It's usually hyperbole.

However, I have been deploying it recently as we watch this administration attempt to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak.

I really think this could be Trump's Katrina.

The response has been so poor, so mishandled, so far behind other countries' responses that it's hard to not make the comparison. There is plenty of blame to go around. The lack of sufficient testing is terrible, and while some would blame the CDC, it is important to remember that Trump has significantly defunded the CDC and other organizations, gutted the pandemic response team put in place by Obama to deal with Ebola and other public health issues, and has generally pooh-poohed the importance of preparation for such a response, not to mention the very notion of scientific fact itself.

This is criminal negligence. Anyone with even the faintest inkling of healthcare and public health has known that a widespread pandemic was not a matter of if but when and has known it for years. This was a predictable event but this administration has bungled the handling of it so horribly that it would be laughable if there weren't people actually dying from this virus.

As I have preached for years, the disruption to society that would result from such an infection will be devastating. I don't think many people have a comprehension of how disruptive such an event could and will be. But we are seeing it now. The worst part is seeing the complete lack of leadership all the way at the top, the denial of reality, and the lack of empathy that anyone, no matter their position, should have for anyone dealing with this. The only thing that this so-called president cares about is how things will affect him.

This is the opposite of good leadership. This is pure, unfettered, narcissistic ego. It is an absolutely disgusting display of all that is craven and horrid about this administration. The sycophantic toadies surrounding this man-baby and enabling him is sickening to see.

This is shaping up to be a true nightmare, especially for those of us who have elderly or immunocompromised loved ones. We'll see how it plays out, and I hope we can at least mitigate the damage, but I think it is showing a lot of people just how unfit this person is to be president.

Stay safe out there, pals, and wash your hands a lot!