Month: April 2020

What’s your feeling about this coronavirus and its effect on the US and the world? Are you optimistic that life can return to “near normal” by July? After all, sunshine and life outdoors in warm weather should kill off the virus.

Or are you pessimistic? Do you expect most of the country will stay shut down until sometime next year? No baseball or football games, or at least no fans in the seats? November voting only by mail? Celebrating Christmas with the family on Zoom?

Or are you realistic? That’s the option in the middle. Instead of placing bets on either an early or late resumption of business, take it one day at a time. Maybe most folks can go back to work but the old folks and anyone with lung problems remain cautious. Many will continue to work from home. If you’re in a crowd, on a subway or airplane, wear a mask and don’t touch anything. Just be glad that, unlike after 9/11, everyone can keep their shoes on. Masks won’t do anything for smelly socks.

Don’t compare this coronavirus to previous coronaviruses or other major causes of death.  This one from Wuhan is more contagious and easily passed along, even by a person with no symptoms. The good news is that a lot of people have already had Covid-19 and didn’t know it. And once you’ve had it, like mumps and German measles, you probably won’t get again.

Do you remember a couple of months ago the medical professionals predicted between one million and two million would die? That estimate may seem like many moons ago. Unless too many of us start disobeying the recommended practices, we may get by with fewer than 100,000 this year.

You probably agree that President Trump is an optimist. He would like the parts of the country with few cases to go back to work next week. A previous president, Franklin Roosevelt was also an optimist. When President Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, the country had gone through more than 3 years of ‘Don’t rock the boat.’ Will Rogers described the attitude of the country on his first day in office, “Just so he does something. If he burned down the Capitol we would cheer and say, ‘Well, we at least got a fire started anyhow.’”

Did you hear that President Trump considered a regular radio talk show from the White House? He probably got the idea from President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats. FDR had 30 radio broadcasts over 12 years. Trump would burn through 30 in the first month.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Mr. Roosevelt stepped to the microphone last night and knocked another home run [his first so-called Fireside Chat]. His message was not only a great comfort to the people, but it pointed a lesson to all radio announcers and public speakers what to do with a big vocabulary: leave it at home in the dictionary.” DT #2061, March 13, 1933

Columbus: Easter Sunday was unlike any in recent memory. In many churches it kinda resembled the first one: only two people there. Today it was the preacher and the person running the camera.

This coronavirus from China has crowded everything else off television except an occasional tornado. The number of cases seems to be leveling off, at least in New York. The U.S. has had over 500,000 cases and 20,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Still have a ways to go. Could be a few weeks. Or a few months.

Governor Cuomo of New York pleaded for 30,000 additional beds and ventilators from the federal government. President Trump raised doubts, but still sent a Navy hospital ship and had the Army fill a convention center with beds. So far, only a handful of those 2000 extra beds have been filled.

The demand for ventilators has dropped. Folks found out that three-fourths of patients put on ventilators died, so they backed off, “I think I’ll take my chances with that hydroxychloroquine instead.”

Already in Washington the blame game has started. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats are demanding, “When did Trump know, and why didn’t he do anything about it?”

I have an additional question, “When did the Chair of the House Intel Committee know about the virus in China, and why didn’t he sound an alarm?”

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the one who should have sounded the alarm. But he lied to protect the Chinese Communist rulers; he only closed the barn door after the horse escaped. The Chinese government lied, murdered any doctor who tried to expose the lies, and probably buried ten times as many victims as they report to WHO (could be over 20 million).

The top folks at WHO need to be fired. We can probably do that with help from a few other countries. The top Communists in China need to be fired, too. But that’s up to the Chinese people, and if you want to know how hard it is to replace a Communist ask the people in Hong Kong.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“There is quite a big communistic hold in certain parts of China. The influence is growing rapidly.” WA #520, Dec. 11, 1932

Easter Sunday was unlike any in recent memory. In many churches it kinda resembled the first one: only two people there. Today it was the preacher and the person running the camera.

This coronavirus from China has crowded everything else off television except an occasional tornado. The number of cases seems to be leveling off, at least in New York. The U.S. has had over 500,000 cases and 20,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Still have a ways to go. Could be a few weeks. Or a few months.

Governor Cuomo of New York pleaded for 30,000 additional beds and ventilators from the federal government. President Trump raised doubts, but still sent a Navy hospital ship and had the Army fill a convention center with beds. So far, only a handful of those 2000 extra beds have been filled. The demand for ventilators has dropped. Folks found out that three-fourths of patients put on ventilators died, so they backed off, “I think I’ll take my chances with that hydroxychloroquine instead.”

Already in Washington the blame game has started. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats are demanding, “When did Trump know, and why didn’t he do anything about it?”

I have an additional question, “When did the Chair of the House Intel Committee know about the virus in China, and why didn’t he sound an alarm?”

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the one who should have sounded the alarm. But he lied to protect the Chinese Communist rulers; he only closed the barn door after the horse escaped. The Chinese government lied, murdered any doctor who tried to expose the lies, and probably buried ten times as many victims as they report to WHO (could be over 20 million).

The top folks at WHO need to be fired. We can probably do that with help from a few other countries. The top Communists in China need to be fired, too. But that’s up to the Chinese people, and if you want to know how hard it is to replace a Communist ask the people in Hong Kong.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
          “There is quite a big communistic hold in certain parts of China. The influence is growing rapidly.” WA #520, Dec. 11, 1932

Two weeks ago I covered the reaction of President Hoover after the stock market crash in October 1929.

Today it’s President Roosevelt’s turn. Remember, he had three years to come up with a plan. And, kinda like Trump listening to Shawn Hannity, FDR listened to Will Rogers.

(Selected quotes. The last one could be written today.)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers: (from Daily Telegrams, March 5 to May 5, 1933

“America hasn’t been as happy in three years as they are today.” Mar. 5

“Say this Roosevelt is a fast worker… (He) closed all the banks and called Congress into extra session.” [banks reopened 4 days later] Mar. 6

“For three years we have had nothing but ‘America is fundamentally sound.’ It should have been ‘America is fundamentally cuckoo.’ The worse off we get the louder we laugh, which is a great thing.” Mar. 8

“Mr. Roosevelt stepped to the microphone last night and knocked another home run [his first ‘fireside chat’]. His message was not only a great comfort to the people, but it pointed a lesson to all radio announcers and public speakers what to do with a big vocabulary: leave it at home in the dictionary. Some people spend a lifetime juggling with words, with not an idea in a carload. Our President took such a dry subject as banking (and) he made everybody understand it, even the bankers.” Mar. 13

“I tell you things never was looking better. And Congress! I want to go on record as giving those rascals a world of credit. They have reformed and they look like they are sorry for what they have done for years.” Mar. 17

“The House passed the farm relief bill and now are starting on an unemployment relief bill. Well, the farm relief bill relieves the unemployed; it gives everybody that isn’t working a job to watch the farmer.” Mar. 23

“Papers all state Hitler is trying to copy Mussolini. Looks to me like it’s the Ku Klux that he is copying.” Mar. 27

“Beer is supposed to be coming.” Mar. 29

“Glad to see that reforestation and employment bill pass.” [Created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)] Mar. 30

(Concerning beer and Prohibition) “I have always claimed America didn’t want a drink as bad as they wanted the right to take a drink if they did happen to want one.” Apr. 7

“Some sort of hand clapping is due the Republican Newspapers for their generous support of the administration, for nothing is as bull-headed as a party newspaper, be it Republican or Democratic.” Apr. 11

“Since the bankers have finally seen the errors of their ways and started banking instead of gambling, there just ain’t much left a poor writer to pick on.” Apr. 16

“Every day just shows us what a lucky country we are [with Freedom of the Press]. Here you can write whatever you want to. The only trouble is getting somebody that will read it.” Apr. 17

“They say we are off the gold [Standard]. The best way to tell when each one of us went off the gold is to figure back how many years it was since we had any. Well, that’s when we went off.” Apr. 20

“This (Secretary of) Labor (Frances) Perkins looks like she is not only going to do something for labor, but is going to be a real contribution to women in politics. She has put common sense ahead of lip rouge and the petticoat.” Apr. 26

“Big U. S. Chamber of Commerce dinner in Washington was fine. The humorous part of it was that all the big manufacturers and producers in there had been all their lives hollering ‘Keep the government out of business.’  There is not a business that the government hasn’t been asked to join. Nothing makes a man broad-minded like adversity.” May 5