Trump, His Critics, and the Eventual New Normal

Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker (Wikipedia)

There was a lot of push-back against the President when he said he wanted to open America back up a while back. At the time, we had not yet reached the peak of the COVID crisis. There were projections as high as 250,000 people dying from this virus . (We seem to be over the hump now and we are nowhere near that number with about 45,000 deaths so far - as the rate of increase continues to decline. Still a lot of people, though. And a lot of bereavement!)

The media was all over the President for putting the economy - whose health had been his major achievement in office - ahead of our health.  He was accused of caring more about winning the next election than saving lives. This is what Democratic politicians and Republican Never-Trumpers typically do when this President makes even the slightest suggestion that does not fit with their preconceived notions of what he meant. They automatically assume the worst. Something the media happily goes along with and reports that way to a consuming public.

The fact is that the President was indeed concerned about the economy then. As he should have been and still is. However the assumption that the President was a sociopath willing to sacrifice lives in order to be re-elected is false. Sure he wants to be re-elected. But not at the expense of American lives. And he would never prematurely open up the country if it meant increased deaths. This was made clear when his top health adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci explained almost immediately that what will determine when and how to re-open America will be data driven. Something the President never contradicted and has thus far followed.

Add yet all anti Trump politicians and the media still characterized his comments as cynically as they could. I am sure they believed it, too. Just about everything the President says seems to be characterized as negatively as possible. 

Another example of this is when he said that the states should decided when and how to open up. This was condemned too by the all the same critics as lacking leadership. The charge (demand even) was that The President wasn't showing any leadership. That he should have just declared a national stay at home / social distancing  policy for every state until it is lifted nationally. The President countered that not all areas of the country are equally affected and may not need the same measures taken by a state like New York where the infection rate is highest by far. 

Well it seems some states are in fact starting to open things up, including Illinois, whose Democratic Governor, Jay Pritzker was one of the loudest and most frequent critics of the President.

What about the spike in infections that every one of his critics feared would happen if one state opened up too soon. After all - there is no stopping people from traveling from one highly infected state to another. And since this disease is so infectious, it could indeed spike very badly if one state lifts the restrictions prematurely.  

I guess the answer to that is when a Democratic governor makes that determination, it is a wise, well thought out one where every possible expert was consulted before making it. Whereas when the President makes it, he is an ignorant fool who defies his own advisers. Such is the nature of politics in our world today. The world of the Trump Presidency.

Which is understandable considering the nature and character of man whose narcissistic ego is bigger than the state of Texas. 

A man that hits back at his enemies harder than they hit him. A man who is ignorant of the limits of his power and whose policies go against so much of what used to pass for conventional wisdom. Policies that are anathema to the liberal mindset. A man who is as politically incorrect as could be. A man whose behavior is generally an embarrassment to this country. A man whose Jekyll and Hyde personality generates one outrageous tweet after another while governing as though he never said any of it. Tweets that are mostly designed to energize his base. Or to emphasize a point he made about the public will - as he did in a recent tweet encouraging protesters to demand their states open up so they can get back to work - even though it went against his own policy. 

His governing style is so unconventional that it defies any sense of propriety. Trump is a man so full of contradictions; his demeanor in office so un-presidential - it is easy for his critics to constantly bash him successfully. At every opportunity. Which as noted he returns in spades. This contributes mightily to his malign image. 

It is easy to see his critics as legitimate in the face of all that.

But as I repeatedly say, one has to see through all of the ‘noise’. And judge him by how successful his polices are. Not only by his character. Which is indeed important. But should not be used as the only measure by which to judge him. It is a matter mostly of style versus substance... personal character versus policy. A legitimate debate.

Until this crisis hit, his policies were working pretty well for the American pocket book. But this crisis changed everything! In my view the jury is still out on how successful his policies have been with respect to the pandemic, despite the fact that his critics have all already judged him unfavorably in this regard. It is also impossible to know whether the successful economy he had presided over will be restored.

What has also changed  is that  his desire to re-open the country is now shared by many of his critics. Even though they couldn’t wait to point out that the President's desire to do that was reckless and selfish. He was criticized for even mentioning the economy in the same breath as our health. 

But now they are all saying what the President said. The country must open up. The country needs to get back to work. People have mortgages or rent to pay, college tuition to pay for; they need to feed their families. 

There is a lot of protest all over the country in many states all over the country by people wanting to do that. Although a lot of them are MAGA (Trump) people, not all of them are. Despite accusations to the contrary by Trump critics who describe them all as ignorant gun toting, bullies, racists, idiots and  fools. Many governors (even Democrats) have nevertheless noticed them and are sensitive to those needs. They are about to implement a process of reopening their states and getting people back to work. (How ‘Trumpian’ of them!) 

They want people back into move theaters, churches, mosques, Shuls and stores. They want sporting events to begin taking place. They want to allow more people out and about - albeit perhaps wearing masks in all of cases.

On that score, there is interesting letter (published in Matzav) being circulated in Lakewood written by BMG CEO, Rabbi Aaron Kotler. Which involves an ‘approved model’ for Orthodox Jewish weddings to resume.

What about the feared spike this might generate? Which so many critics cited a a concern when the President suggested it? Obviously that is a legitimate risk. But it is a calculated risk that can be controlled if social distancing polices are implemented and scrupulously followed.

The new normal of the immediate future will not look like it did before this pandemic hit. Here is how I see things developing. 

Before this happens a robust testing program with immediate results needs to be in place. So too should a test for antibodies so that those who had the virus and now test negative can be given the green light to fully integrate without worrying that they will become infected. And to be able to harvest those antibodies and injected into those that have not been affected - so as to give them some form of immunity too. (A sort of pre-vaccine). I also believe that some treatments have been developed with promising results – helping to minimize the severity of the symptoms and save some lives.

If all these things come into play, and people are diligent. - I think we can can have some semblance of a return to normal. I do not think, however, that we will be able to return to what we had before in the near future. There won’t be any high-fiving; or hugs; or even handshakes. People will probably still be required to social distance from each other at a minimum of 6 feet. That will have to be carefully monitored.

Until a successful vaccine is developed, most people get vaccinated,  and those than can’t (for a variety of reasons) will be protected by herd immunity - we will only have this new normal. I think  a full return to what we have before is at least a year away.

One more thing. I have said this before. But it bears repeating every time I discuss this subject. I know there are a lot of anti Trumpers here that get every upset when I defend the President. They simply cannot understand how I can do that! Or why! 

I understand why they feel that way. They are all good people. Many of whom I respect and admire. People with great values who are pained at any defense of a man who seems to be the antithesis of those values. 

But as I repeatedly say, I defend only what I see as the truth. Which is sometimes hard to see through all the fog that is Donald Trump. He is the President and I truly believe he is acting in the best interests of the country as he understands it. That is what many people fail to see and are in strong disagreement with me about. They see absolutely no redeeming quality in him at all. 

I feel badly about that. But I am going to continue to try and ferret out the truth as I understand it from every situation I see. Whether it’s popular or not.