Democrat Monday Morning Quarterbacks on Coronavirus
There are few things more annoying than a Monday morning quarterback, someone who, long after the game is over, knows with certainty what the quarterback should have done on each and every play.
If retired hall of fame quarterbacks like John Elway or Brett Favre want to critique last Sunday’s game, I’m fine with that. But not so much for the average NFL fanboy, who might have played high school football, but is as far removed from being an NFL quarterback as imprisoned Creepy Porn Lawyer Michael Avenatti is from sitting on the US Supreme Court.
President Trump is the focus of many “Wednesday morning presidents” (the day after a presidential election), those who know far better than the ignorant rube in the White House. But none of those backseat drivers have accomplished what only 45 men in the history of America have achieved, getting elected president.
The current after-the-fact experts are weighing in on how President Trump handled and continues to manage the Coronavirus outbreak. The two leading candidates battling for the Democrat Party nomination, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, have had plenty to say about how Trump has responded to Coronavirus.
Joe Biden was on ABC’s This Week. It’s not clear if he forgot the host’s name, as he did recently on Fox News Sunday, calling host Chris Wallace, “Chuck”. Sleepy Joe had this to say about Trump,
“I see no preparedness other than political talking points, putting someone in charge who is not a scientist and muzzling the scientists," Joe Biden says on Trump's response to the coronavirus.
"This is not a Democratic hoax, this is incompetence ...”
Bernie Sanders, appearing on the same show, had this to say,
“How pathetic is it that in the midst of an international health care crisis, you’ve got a president running into South Carolina trying to steal some media attention away from Democrats.”
MSNBC, not running for president as a candidate but running nonetheless, knows better who should be on the task force. They asked,
Would now be a good time to ask what exactly the qualifications are for those with formal roles on the White House Coronavirus Taskforce?
Including Carson seemed odd, though he did have a successful career as a physician.
Yes, it’s so odd to have an accomplished neurosurgeon on a medical task force. Trump instead should have found an “aspiring novelist” to be his Coronavirus guru, as Obama did with Ben Rhodes, making him a foreign policy expert. And giving us the catastrophic Iran nuke deal.
Or a scientist like Rep. Hank Johnson who worried Guam could tip over and capsize due to a Marine buildup on the island.
Joe, Bernie, and MSNBC all believe they know better. Remember that Joe Biden is a serial plagiarist who graduated law school 76th in a class of 85. Who better to manage a viral epidemic than a Better Call Saul quality lawyer?
Who actually is on the task force? Anthony Fauci, MD has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Robert Redfield, MD is the head of the CDC with over 30 years’ experience with HIV/AIDS, another viral illness.
The Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, has a public health degree, ideal for this current task force. Dr. Adams, much to CNN’s consternation, is black, destroying CNN’s narrative from January where they complained, “Coronavirus task force another example of Trump administration's lack of diversity.” Another CNN face-plant if anyone is keeping track. I’m not as I lost count years ago.
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Trump assembled a “dream team” task force, yet the Monday morning quarterbacks of the left think they know better.
Other members of the task force are quite logical, given the implications of an international virus outbreak, such as the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, and the National Security Advisor. Who do the Democrats want on the task force? One of the doctors from the TV series Gray’s Anatomy?
Another aspect of Monday morning quarterbacking is Trump’s travel ban from January 31, blocking entry to the US of Chinese nationals, with very few exceptions, since the outbreak originated in China. Trump was three steps ahead of the Democrats, still licking their wounds over their impeachment debacle.
Trump was protecting Americans while Democrats were trying to protect their incumbency. Dr. Fauci wrote in a NEJM op-ed that the travel ban, “May have helped slow the spread of the virus.”
Right on schedule, big media shouted “racist!” From The Hill,
New travel ban reflects Trump administration's discriminatory intent.
Executive actions by the Trump administration seemingly designed to curtail legal immigration by nonwhite people, Muslims and those with lower incomes.
The New York Times sang in perfect harmony with their own headline, “The racism at the heart of Trump’s travel ban.” Joe Biden called it “hysteria and xenophobia”, unlike his hysteria when he claimed that 150 million people were killed by guns since 2007.
Obviously big media and Democrats don’t understand infectious diseases and quarantines, else they wouldn’t be backseat driving Trump’s timely executive order. The Atlantic declares, “Guiding Trump’s response is a hardheaded nationalism.”
If protecting Americans from a viral pandemic is nationalism, whether hard or soft headed, I’m all for it, as I’m sure most Americans are. If Democrats want to run on opening America to hordes of potentially coronavirus-infected foreigners, they can make that one of their key campaign issues. Along with free healthcare for all the illegals sick in the US with the virus.
Senator Tom Cotton, called the China travel ban, “The single most consequential and valuable thing done to slow coronavirus.” Researchers from University of Washington and Johns Hopkins University reluctantly agree.
Some of the evidence suggests that a travel ban may delay the arrival of an infectious disease in a country by days or weeks. However, there is very little evidence to suggest that a travel ban eliminates the risk of the disease crossing borders in the long term.
A delay is potentially lifesaving as it allows public health officials and organizations to prepare, just as advance notice of a hurricane can be lifesaving to those in its path.
But not to the Monday morning quarterbacks in the Democrat Party and media, where “Orange Man Bad” rules the day. They eagerly cast stones but have no concrete suggestions as to what they might have done better.
In 2018, while Democrats were only preparing for impeachment, the Trump administration was getting ready for just this type of event. From the National Biodefense Strategy of 2018,
It is a vital interest of the United States to manage the risk of biological incidents. In today’s interconnected world, biological incidents have the potential to cost thousands of American lives, cause significant anxiety, and greatly impact travel and trade.
Trump prepared while Democrats dithered and preened. And now they dare criticize the President’s response?
How refreshing if journalists asked candidates for specifics as to what they would have done differently, including an evidence-based explanation of why their approach would be better. Sorry Monday morning quarterbacks, Trump was right, and your ideas would have only made things worse.
Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a Denver based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum.