Some notes about the Epidemic and our response to it.

Okay gang. quick note: Back in 2015, there was a disease scare. (Zika Virus) At that time, I tried hard to warn people that we are woefully unprepared for a large scale outbreak. My words went largely unheeded. Mostly because I have the "Reach" of a man whispering down a well at midnight. In other words, none. Not my fault -- I'm not popular. I'm not wealthy, I'm not a famous person. But I felt I had to make the effort, and so I did. Well, 5 years on, we had changed little (although Obama made a start ) and now we desperately need to change, and due to the ineptitude of our national leadership, we are not. But this isn't about the President. I've ranted quite a lot about the President, not just because he is politically opposite to me. But now it's time to talk about the elephant in the room, and I do not mean the political party.  What I am referring to here is this: We largely owe this shit-poor response to the desire long-inculcated in a large segment of our population to see "The Administrative State" dismantled. To increase chaos. Most recently you've seen this in the character of one Steve Bannon. This is not a personal diatribe against Bannon. He's entitled to his opinions, and to be wrong, and to act on his opinions. But, you are now seeing the fruit of his labors. The United States was woefully unprepared for this crisis. There is NO saying "nobody knew this could happen. A Pandemic situation was gamed out in the White House, during the Trump Administration. These sorts of disaster scenarios are run in the National Security Council at regular intervals. This is done not just to explore the possibilities of various horrible events but to help train up the NSC staff in how to get things done. They have a simulation, with game referees providing the scenario, and introducing complications. Afterward there is a debriefing session called "The Hot Washup," wherein the scenario is discussed, and the decisions taken by the participants are examined and critiqued in a constructive manner. The Trump NSC, such of it as still exists, has been through this at least once that I am aware of. But when things 'got real', they seem to have folded. Nothing was done that would anger or embarrass Trump. The President may not even have been fully briefed on matters. I know for a fact that there was publicly available news of the Wuhan outbreak in late December. By mid-January, not even an ostrich could have not known of this outbreak. The Administration should have acted. They did not. As has been said before, in the 9/11 report "The Lights were blinking red." When they finally did act, little was done. Little IS being done. But it isn't just because Trump is an inept, ignorant bungler. In fact, it may transpire that Trump intentionally slow-walked the response, but that's for another time. Right now, I want to focus on the other effect of Trump's sub-par actions and Bannon's destructive impulses: what Bannon calls "The Administrative State." Bannon sees them as evil. Many of you have been taught that 'the bureaucracy is evil." Ill-intentioned Jokes, largely in GOP circles, such as "An armed man, aiming at you, yelling "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help you!" Jokes comparing the government to turtles. But here's the thing -- The Administrative State are the people WHO GET THINGS DONE. Not a truck will move, not a ventilator will ship, unless these people, often derided as paper pushers, act. They are not a "Necessary Evil", they are just necessary. This has been lost in America -- the ordinary Joes and Janes who do the necessary but tedious and boring work of making sure the lights stay on and the bills get paid. Every last one of you out there would riot if you didn't get your income tax refund on time, but no one stops to think of the people who make sure you get it. Well, they are also needed to make sure that essential phone calls, emails, text messages and yes, even good old fashioned fax transmissions get done. They know who to call. They know where things are. And largely, they are not there. At last count there were some 2000 executive office of the President staff positions which have simply gone unfilled. Some 83% of the Trump "A-Team" has rolled over. Few people in those jobs actually have experience in them. Many desks are unoccupied. Even if Trump wanted to take the proper actions, there just aren't enough skilled personnel. Let us make sure that, going forward, this does not happen again. Let's remember this and keep it in our minds as we carry forward.