Blade_Runner wrote:
Allow me to put some perspective on this. Maybe some finger pointing is necessary.
In early 2009, the Swine flu outbreak in Mexico spread into the US (Go figure). Here is a brief look at that pandemic:
1. The flu strain responsible for the outbreak — influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 — originated in Mexico and was first detected in America in April 2009.
2. The strain represented a unique combination of influenza viruses never before seen in humans or animals.
3. The virus quickly spread globally, primarily affecting children and adults under 65 who lacked immunity to H1N1.
4. The WHO declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic on June 11, 2009.
5. Between April 12, 2009, and April 10, 2010, the CDC estimates swine flu caused 60.8 million illnesses (1/5th of the US population), 273,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S.
6. On Oct. 5, 2009, the U.S. began administering a newly approved H1N1 vaccine to select Americans - pregnant women, people who live with or care for babies under six months old, children six months to four years old and health-care workers. Vaccination coverage expanded nationwide by that December.
7. WHO declared an end to the pandemic on Aug. 10, 2010.
8. Globally, an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people died from swine flu in the first year of the pandemic. It is estimated that 11–21% of the then global population (of about 6.8 billion), or around 700 million–1.4 billion people, contracted the illness.
Six months after the swine flu first appeared in the United States, on October 24, 2009, President Obama declared swine flu a national emergency.
The media (and politicians) treated the swine flu pandemic like it was a bad case of fleas. They issued warnings and instructions, but left out the fear mongering and the POLITICS.
Currently, CDC, WHO and Johns Hopkins CSSE are reporting just over 150,000 cases of Coronavirus infections world wide. 74,000 have fully recovered and there are currently around 5900 deaths.
No doubt COVID-19 is a serious matter, no doubt it will spread before it either runs its course or is stopped by an effective vaccine, but the spread of this thing has less to do with its virulence than with the political polarization that now exists.
There are many among us, some here on OPP, who actually hope this coronavirus will be so devastating that it will be the final nail in president Trump's coffin. The American left has once again found themselves a political weapon. They absolutely love victims as political pawns. In the long term, the Viral Hatred for one man is far more dangerous to our way of life than is a virus that can eventually be beaten.
Pull together? That's a sweet pipe dream. We are no longer dealing with Republican/Democrat party policy differences, we are dealing with the forces of an ideological movement that is diametrically opposed to the founding principles of our American nation. No bridge has ever been built nor will ever be built that can span that abyss.
Allow me to put some perspective on this. Maybe so... (
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I agree with you and honestly don't want to make concessions. I've made a few, only to have them thrown back in my face, so they are on their own with me.