By any objective standards, the Trump presidency has been a Grade-A clusterf**ck. The Administration's swamp full of "the best people" proves to be more corrupt every day. The number of uninsured Americans is rapidly ballooning. We have surrendered our leadership of the Free World. Dictators have a friend in the White House. The US has gone into deep hock in order to give billionaires a huge tax break. It couldn't get any worse, could it?
Well, maybe. A new Ebola outbreak has been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There have already been 34 confirmed or suspected cases. WHO has sent an experimental vaccine to the area. Volunteer medical personnel are trying to contain the emergency.
So far, the outbreak is nowhere nearly as large as the 2014-2016 epidemic in west Africa. In that tragic episode, which hit Guinea, Sierra Leon, Liberia, and Nigeria, 28,000 people were infected and 11,000 died of the disease. With massive financial help from the rest of the world and the efforts of thousands of brave medical workers, the epidemic was finally stopped.
The American response to this earlier epidemic was admirable. Over 3,000 US DOD and health workers were sent to the affected counties to provide training to local healthcare workers, construct fifteen Ebola treatment units, help track transmission routes, and distribute tons of medical and relief supplies. The US donated more than $2.4 billion in Ebola response activities.
Strong leadership from then-President Obama and quick action from Congress to provide emergency funds helped to make a potentially horrible scenario a lot less tragic. These actions show us how a great country responds to an international medical emergency.
At a time that today's new Ebola crisis cries-out for American leadership, we have the worst possible person occupying the White House. Given Trump's past statements, we can hardly expect that America will lead international efforts to stop the new epidemic.
As part of an effort to renege on a passed and signed spending bill, the Trump administration announced last week that they want to claw-back $252 million in money earmarked for combating Ebola outbreaks.
But cutting funding for fighting Ebola isn't all. During the 2014-16 epidemic, Trump clearly showed us how he feels about US leadership in fighting these outbreaks. In a series of 100 tweets, Trump showed us that he would have no intention of sending US troops to lead international relief efforts. He would abandon the heroic US doctors and nurses who risk their lives to help others. He would close the borders, cowering behind his little wall while the rest of the world is consumed by a global pandemic. Here are just a few examples of Trump's thoughts on how to deal with an Ebola crisis:
The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2014
If this doctor, who so recklessly flew into New York from West Africa,has Ebola,then Obama should apologize to the American people & resign!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2014
Can you believe that the U.S. will be sending 3000 troops to Africa to help with Ebola.They will come home infected? We have enough problems— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2014
Ebola patient will be brought to the U.S. in a few days - now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2014
Tropical African countries are at the epicenter of the deadly Ebola outbreaks. These countries are poor and need resources to fight the Ebola scourge. The US can and should provide massive aid and personnel to help extinguish the outbreaks. Stopping the disease as soon as it appears is much preferred to waiting until it goes global.
However, we have a President who is attempting to cut monies allocated to battle Ebola. We have a President who dismisses the afflicted countries as "shit-holes". We have a cowardly President who thinks that we should abandon the brave healthcare workers who travel to help others. At a time that the world needs strong American leadership on this crisis, we have the paranoid, "America First" Trump. This is not normal. This is not right.
No comments:
Post a Comment