For Pandemics, We Need Real Leaders, Not Buffoons And Not Mid-Level Managers

Saturday evening, the Wall Street Journal published a report by Ben Chapman and Talal Ansari, Coronavirus Cases Rise as U.S. Marks Holiday Weekend. I had a problem with their sloppy reporting right from the top. "Coronavirus infections rose in the U.S. on Friday as states warily entered Memorial Day weekend," they wrote. "States warily entered?" What does that mean? The whole population? These people? The only thing they seem wary about is that they won't be able to get soused in their favorite tavern. The governors? Well, they are wary, but just about how the pandemic is going to impact their careers. We're stuck with a pack of mid-level managers and no leaders. And real leaders-- whether Bernie, Elizabeth, AOC, Ro Khanna, Jamie Raskin, Andy Levin, Ilhan, Pramila, Rashida-- find themselves marginalized by the corporate establishment that has a transpartisan stranglehold on the nation's decision-making at every level.

"Meanwhile in California," they noted, "Gov. Gavin Newsom advised residents to observe rules to contain the virus during the holiday." If he were serious, his buddy, Eklon Musk would be in prison, not illegally and openly operating his factory in Alameda. The whole state knows Newsom is a joke and no one pays any attention to him.

Coronavirus cases in Montgomery, Alabama, are rising rapidly, up 35% in the past week to more than 1,050; hospitals there say they are running low on intensive-care beds. Alabama on Friday further eased restrictions put in place to slow the virus’s spread, allowing entertainment venues like arcades, theaters and bowling alleys to reopen.

...North Carolina, which just moved into its phase 2 of reopening on Friday, recorded its highest one-day number of lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases, the state’s health department tweeted on Saturday afternoon. Phase 2 allows for gatherings of up to 10 people indoors, or 25 people outdoors, and 50% capacity at restaurants, among other loosened restrictions. “Phase 2 runs through at least Friday, June 26, unless changed or canceled,” the health department wrote, urging residents to follow mask and distance guidelines.

On Saturday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state is having a “second peak” in Covid-19 cases, around 30 days after the last one. “It’s clear and evident to me that we have one peak, and then we had a deep dip and then we’re having a second peak right now,” Mr. Hutchinson said, pointing out that the second peak came after higher levels of testing in the state, and that many positive individuals weren’t very ill or didn’t need hospitalization. Mr. Hutchinson added that the hospital infrastructure in the state was able to handle more cases, if need be.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said his state aims to reopen casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere on June 4. New York announced Long Island could continue reopening as early as Wednesday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday said the state’s daily death toll had fallen to 84, its lowest daily count since March 24. He issued an executive order Friday evening that allowed gatherings of up to 10 people in the state.

Compared to Trump, any governor-- short of Brian Kemp, Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, Kay Reynolds and Pete Ricketts, Greg Abbott-- looks terrific. But that's a mighty low bar. Like I've been saying, careerists like Newsom and Cuomo are pure garbage-- just better garbage than Trump-- who have caused needless deaths in their states because they were too timid to move decisively when they were most needed.

Last week Lyta Gold and Nathan Robinson tore into Cuomo. He's "no hero," they wrote. "He's to blame for New York's coronavirus catastrophe." BINGO! "His record was terrible before coronavirus, but his abysmal handling of the crisis should get him thrown out of office... Andrew Cuomo may be the most popular politician in the country. His approval ratings have hit all-time highs thanks to his Covid-19 response. Some Democrats have discussed him as a possible replacement for Joe Biden, due to Biden’s perceived weakness as a nominee. And there have even been some unfortunate tributes to Cuomo’s alleged sex appeal. All of which is bizarre, because Cuomo should be one of the most loathed officials in America right now. ProPublica recently released a report outlining catastrophic missteps by Cuomo and the New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, which probably resulted in many thousands of needless coronavirus cases. ProPublica offers some appalling numbers contrasting what happened in New York with the outbreak in California. By mid-May, New York City alone had almost 20,000 deaths, while in San Francisco there had been only 35, and New York state as a whole suffered 10 times as many deaths as California." And Newsom was doing the same kind of shitty job Cuomo was-- while being ignored by the 6 counties in the Bay Area which went ahead with shutdowns while he dithered and did focus groups on how to wear his hair on TV.

Federal failures played a role, of course, but this tragedy was absolutely due, in part, to decisions by the governor. Cuomo initially “reacted to De Blasio’s idea for closing down New York City with derision,” saying it “was dangerous” and “served only to scare people.” He said the “seasonal flu was a graver worry.” A spokesperson for Cuomo “refused to say if the governor had ever read the state’s pandemic plan.” Later, Cuomo would blame the press, including the New York Times for failing to say “Be careful, there’s a virus in China that may be in the United States?” even though The Times wrote nearly 500 stories on the virus before the state acted. Experts told ProPublica that “had New York imposed its extreme social distancing measures a week or two earlier, the death toll might have been cut by half or more.”

But delay was not the only screw-up. Elderly prisoners have died of coronavirus because New York has failed to act on their medical parole requests. As Business Insider documented:

“Testing was slow. Nonprofit social-service agencies that serve the most vulnerable couldn’t get answers either. And medical experts like the former CDC director Tom Frieden said ‘so many deaths could have been prevented’ had New York issued its stay-at-home order just ‘days earlier’ than it did. On March 19, when New York’s schools had already been closed, Cuomo said ‘in many ways, the fear is more dangerous than the virus.’”

The governor has failed to take responsibility for the obvious failures, consistently blaming others and at one point even saying “governors don’t do pandemics.” (Actually, some governors just don’t read their state’s pandemic plans.) But much of the press has ignored this, focusing instead on Cuomo’s aesthetic presentation: his poise during press conferences, his dramatic statements about “taking responsibility” (even when he obviously hasn’t), and his invisible good looks.

...As the state now staggers to its feet, Cuomo has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to “reimagine education” (which almost certainly means privatization), and with the ex-Google chief Eric Schmidt to-- as Naomi Klein puts it-- “permanently integrat[e] technology into every aspect of civic life.” All of this has happened without the democratic input of New Yorkers, who would likely prefer that the progressive legislators they elected could govern without interference, that their hospitals have enough money to function and that billionaires don’t infiltrate and control every element of civic life.

There’s something disturbing about Cuomo being hailed as the hero of the pandemic when he should rightly be one of the villains. As Business Insider notes, he is now only able to attain praise for his actions because his earlier failures made those actions necessary. He’s lauded for addressing a problem that he himself partly caused. Of course, part of this is because Donald Trump has bungled the coronavirus response even more badly, so that Cuomo-- by not being a complete buffoon-- looks like a capable statesman by contrast. But this is the problem: for too long, Democrats have measured their politicians by “whether they are better than Republicans.” This sets the bar very low indeed, and means that Democrats end up settling for incompetent and amoral leaders who betray progressive values again and again.