Do you recall how much grief Obama got from Republicans because Obama followed the CDC’s advice to the letter in how to deal with Ebola virus, despite Republicans wanting Obama to “wall off” Africa entirely? Do you remember Obama stating he’s going to do what the experts say to do? Remember Republicans warning us that Obama is putting the nation at risk?

Do you remember that no Ebola wave washed over the United States?

In other words – doing what the experts said to do, worked.

Not Trump.

The CDC told Trump to not bring the infected people back to the United States, leave them in Japan – where they were getting good treatment – until they’re clear of virus. Instead, Trump’s State Department put the infected people on the same plane as healthy people, and brought the infected to the United States. The State Department figured it knew better, I guess.

The Washington Post reports that the CDC wanted to keep 14 coronavirus-infected Americans in Japan instead of flying them home because they could infect healthy people.

What a concept.

The State Department figured it could put the infected people in a plastic wrapped area of the plane, and that would be good enough. No, I am not exaggerating.

“It was like the worst nightmare,” said a senior U.S. official who was involved with the decision. “Quite frankly, the alternative could have been pulling grandma out in the pouring rain, and that would have been bad, too.”

When incompetence and arrogance impact policy in some way, in infuriates us because it does impact our lives. It is on another level when the same can take our lives, or the lives of our loved ones.

It is not hard for a president and his cabinet to respond to disasters such as this because there are many people who research the best evidence-based approaches. If you do what they recommend, you are doing what is most likely to limit the damage. It is no different than going to the E.R. because you’re lower abdomen hurts. When they say “You need your appendix out, now,” you don’t quibble about it by asking about medicines or changes of diet. Not unless you want to die.

This State Department is “quibbling about it” in the face of something that has proven deadly.

Just another “incompetent thing,” and yet it is not “just another one.” This could be a global pandemic, killing hundreds of thousands. Yet even in this situation, with those kind of stakes, they refuse to listen to experts.

Unbelievable.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom