So this is awaiting all countries, in all likelihood? I mean what's the difference between Italy and Switzerland? Or Germany? Or the United States?
It's going to be a clusterfuck.
I won't go so far as to say that the position of the president is a figurehead, but it's been more than a little advisory for several generations.
I watch a lot of BBC, NHK, and DW, and see it all the time. I don't blame the foreign journalists. If you're an overseas news organization working in America, of course the president is going to be fully staffed. But few orgs go much beyond that. Because of this, the European view of how America works is very simplified.
I believe you are seriously underestimating the effect of chaff being thrown into the air over this issue on a number of fronts. It makes it much, much harder to have people follow public health advice or put pressure on lawmakers to pass the necessary appropriations that will be required to address the situation.
Except when a major global catastrophe hits, like a pandemic, the response requires massive coordination across local, state, and federal levels. What he says now may not be so relevant but the president's lack of appoints to key executive branch positions within the CDC and the rest of the healthcare apparatus (including eliminating health related positions from the National Security Council, one of the most important multi-agency coordination bodies) has drastically hampered the COVID-19 response effort.
People from other countries more often tend to underestimate the sheer scale and complexity created by a local-state-federal separation of powers weighed down by over two hundred years of judicial baggage and thousands of miles of geography. In a crisis like this, even figuring out who has legal jurisdiction and authority is complicated. Doing it without an effective executive body, whose job is to navigate and command that mess, is far more difficult.
That's not even true of just stable democracies, much less every country. In fact, the differences in practice have been satisfied quite a bit.
Yes, but more semipresidențial systems.
That's cute, but in the real world the US Presidency has gotten much stronger over time, not become “more than a little advisory”.
It should be almost irrelevant to the discussion, but by now he has enough appointees in various departments for the problem to grow roots.
You end up with supporters of the President even denying coronavirus exists or a conspiracy of the left. Truly frightening.
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/03/07/trump-supporters-are...
In Michigan, they just launched michigan.gov/coronavirus last week, and have commercials on the radio to inform citizens.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/16/dr-beetroot-di...
There is also a psychological factor to count in of course...
Social and ALL other media have been flooded with the virus 24/7 since the first confirmed case.
It generates good views, everyone wants a piece of that, and now we have this nation-wide phicosys
[1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy/
7M people catching it next month, vs 7M people catching it over the span of a year, are two very different 7M's. The rate is far more problematic than the actual number.
And yeah Wuhan says they've got it under control. We'll see.
It is a guarantee, and it has been since 1 month ago. Italy was first because someone has to be first.
People, even informed audiences like HN's, are just fooling themselves and thinking wishfully.