Quote of the Day -- On Leadership

The New York Times has an excellent article and interview posted yesterday by Thomas Friedman,  He interviewed a friend, Dov Seidman, founder and chairman of the ethics and compliance company LRN and the How Institute for Society, which promotes values-based leadership.

The quote:

"Great leaders trust people with the truth. And they make hard decisions guided by values and principles, not just politics, popularity or short-term profits. Great leaders understand that when so many vulnerable and scared people are so willing, so quickly, to put their livelihoods and even their lives in their leaders’ hands, and make sacrifices asked of them, they expect the truth and nothing but the truth in return. Leaders who trust people with the truth are trusted more in return. But you better not betray my trust — by not telling me the truth — when I have literally put my life in your hands...

...The leaders we will remember from this crisis are those who put more shared truth into our world, not muddied it. And those who put more trust into our world and not eroded it."

Would that we had such leadership today, especially from Washington and the White House.

This President and Our Current Situtation

Herewith, ladies and gentlemen, this President's track record on this pandemic called coronavirus.

1. President Trump declined to accept and have us use the World Health Organization’s test for the virus like other nations. Back in January, over a month before the first covid19 case, the Chinese posted a new mysterious virus and within a week, Berlin virologists had produced the first diagnostic test. By the end of February, the WHO had shipped out tests to 60 countries. Just not to us and our government. We declined the test even as a temporary bridge until the CDC could create its own test. The question is why? We don’t know but what to look for is which pharmaceutical company eventually manufactures the test and who owns the stock. Stay tuned.

2 .In 2018 Trump fired Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossart, whose job was to coordinate a response to global pandemics. He was not replaced.

3. In 2018 Dr. Luciana Borio, the NSC director for medical and bio-defense preparedness left the job. Trump did not replace Dr. Borio.

4. In 2019 the NSC’s Senior Director for Global Health Security and bio-defense, Tim Ziemer, left the position and Trump did not replace the Rear Admiral.

5. Trump shut down the entire Global Health Security and Bio-defense agency.

6. Amid the explosive worldwide outbreak of the virus Trump, proposed a 19% cut to the budget of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention plus a 10% cut to Public Health Services as well as a 7% cut to Global Health Services. Those are just the organizations that respond to public health threats in our nation.

7. In 2018, at Trump’s direction, the CDC stopped funding epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of 49 countries including China.

8. Trump didn’t appoint a doctor to oversee the US response to the pandemic. He appointed his Vice President Mike Pence.

9. Trump has on multiple occasions sowed doubt about the severity of the virus even using the word hoax at events and rallies. He actually called it a "Democratic Party hoax." He even did it at an event where the virus was being spread. 

10. President Trump pretended the virus had been contained.

11. Trump left a cruise ship at sea for days, denying them proper hospital care.

A further timeline of Trump's tweets and statements:

• Notable Trump tweet from 2013: “Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.”
• January 30: Trump on Coronavirus, “We have it very well under control, and I think it’s going to have a very good ending. So that I can assure you!”
• February 2: Trump on Coronavirus, “Well, we pretty much shut it down coming in from China, but we did shut it down.”
• February 10: On Fox News Trump says without evidence that the coronavirus "dies with the hotter weather… You know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat.”
• February 24: "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.”
• February 25: Trump falsely claims “You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country. We have very few people with it, and the people that have it are … getting better. They’re all getting better.”
• February 26: Trump wrongly says the coronavirus "is a flu" and that “whatever happens, we’re totally prepared.”
• February 26: Trump baselessly predicts the number of US cases is "going very substantially down" to "close to zero”
• February 26: Trump wrongly says the flu death rate is "much higher" than Dr. Sanjay Gupta said. coronavirus has 10 times the death rate compared to flu. If 60,000 die from flu then 600,000 will die from coronavirus.
• February 27: Trump baselessly said, "It's going to disappear. One day -- it's like a miracle -- it will disappear.”
• February 28: Trump said at a rally, Coronavirus is “the new Democratic hoax.”
• March 2: Trump falsely claims “nobody knew of the number of US flu deaths”.
• March 2: Trump says a vaccine is coming "relatively soon”. Only Trump did not bother to mention that CDC had told him earlier that day that a vaccine was a year to a year and a half away.
• March 4: Trump said he believes people infected with the novel coronavirus may get better "by sitting around and even going to work."
• March 5: Trump wrongly claims the virus only hit the US "three weeks ago”. Trump was informed of a confirmed case on January 21, 6 weeks prior.
• March 5: World Health Organization (WHO), based on data collected around the world, stated the global mortality rate for coronavirus at 3.4%. Trump says: “I think the 3.4 % is really a false number, this is just my hunch.”
• March 6: As the number of cases and deaths in Italy rises, Trump states “I hear the numbers getting much better in Italy.”
• March 6: Trump says publicly, “Anybody who wants a test can get one.” Vice President Pence said the day prior that Americans could not get tested simply because they wanted to get tested. "You may not get a test unless a doctor or public health official prescribes a test."
• March 6: Trump muses that "maybe the coronavirus improved US jobs numbers.”
• March 6: "I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship," Trump said of passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California.
• March 7: Trump said that doctors he's come across as the administration tries to get a handle on the outbreak have been surprised about how much he knows about COVID-19. "Maybe I have a natural ability," he said. "Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president."
• March 11: Trump’s address from the Oval Office wrongly states insurance companies will pay for patient's coronavirus treatment. The next day, the Insurance Coalition corrected Trump and said they will pay only for co-payments, not treatment.
• March 13: Trump declares a cornoavirus national emergency. “As you know Europe was just designated as the hot spot right now and we closed that border a while ago so that was lucky or through talent or through luck… call it whatever you want.” The actual travel ban had not been yet  implemented. It was scheduled to begin that same night.
• March 13: Asked why his admininstration previously disbanded the national pandemic office which would have significantly prepared the United States, “When you say me, I didn’t do it. We have a group of people… You say we did that, but I don’t know anything about it.” This, after Trump’s presser from Feb. 26 where it was previously brought up and discussed with Trump.
• March 13: Backpedaling about whether or not he should get tested and self-isolate for the coronavirus after being in direct contact with those carrying the virus, “I asked them that same question, and they said, ‘You don’t have any symptoms whatsoever.’” The problem with that is that you don’t have to be showing symptoms to already have the coronavirus.
• March 13: Trump interacted with several top administration officials and business leaders during the address, shaking hands and patting them
• March 13: Asked by a reporter about the federal failures to test for coronavirus, President Trump answered, “No I don’t take responsibility for that at all.” This, after he exclaimed on March 6 that tests were ready and everyone who wanted a test would be able to get a test.

Now, today, this was announced.

Japan warns against travel to US

And if an international pandemic isn't enough to concern us all, there is this:

Coronavirus could force the world into an unprecedented depression

The one thing this President had going for him was the economy.

Now he certainly doesn't even have that.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. This, like it or not, is what passes for leadership from this President and his administration in a very dark, demanding time of need for the nation, for all 335 million of us, as well as the world.

Thanks, Republicans!

Links:

Donald Trump Is Proving Too Stupid to Be President  -- and note this article was written in June, 2017.

Trump struggles to explain why he disbanded his global health team

Gov. Pritzker defends Illinois' stay-at-home order on CNN: ‘We’ve got to save lives. This is the right thing to do.' President fires back: "Fake news"

Trump made 33 false claims about the coronavirus crisis in the first two weeks of March

How Trump Is Worsening the Virus Now

Question for Republicans in 2017

A question now, for Republicans in Washington, D.C., now that you're got the President-elect (I still shudder, thinking about that one) and both the Senate and House of Representatives.

You famously, publicly declared a policy of blocking and obstructing our twice-elected President from getting anything done, from getting any of his goals achieved while he was in office.

Fortunately, through hard work and time, we still got things done for the people, not least of which was the ACA, "Obamacare" and a list of others.

Now that you will have control of virtually all of Washington, are you going to make our government work, in general?

More specifically, are you finally, at long last, going to write, propose and pass a jobs/infrastructure bill in the coming year?

Our infrastructure needs the updating and improving and modernization and sorely, as we all know.

Additionally, the nation, we Americans, need the jobs and heaven knows the economy needs the boost.

Since it will now be on "your watch" and any success on your hands, are you going to work together and get this done?

Sure, we know you want to dismantle Obamacare and the EPA and other programs. (It would be nice if you'd dismantle the Republican boondoggle called Homeland Security you all created during the George W. Bush adminstration).

But could you, would you, will you now, at long, long last give us this jobs/infrastructure bill, please?

It's the least you can do, it's positive and it would and will help the nation in at least the 3 ways I described above.

Please. We're begging you. Do this one, big, great thing.

On us, political parties and solutions

It seems we, as people of our towns, cities, counties, states and the country, ought to all focus far less on ourselves as parts of political groups--individuals in political parties--and far more as members of those same political areas.

Instead of being members of the Democratic or Republican or Independent or Libertarian Party or whatever and thereby point out our differences from one another, we ought to emphasize these things we have in common. That is, we should recognize and emphasize that we live in this area--whichever one we're emphasizing right that minute--and so, try to address those problems or issues.

Ever since the Soviet Union--our old, common "enemy"--fell apart, it feels as though we've chosen one another to go against.

It's me against you. It's Republican against Democrat. It's rich against poor. It's corporate America vs. the workers and/or Unions.

Not only that but we've further fragmented so we've become Christians vs. Mormons and Jews. We've become "straight" vs. gay and on and on.

It's crazy.

It's no way to live.

And it's no way to get to solutions.

Why can't we work together?

Why can't we all be Americans, first, last and foremost?

Whatever happened to that idea?

Can't we work together?

We share problems, whether they're sewers or highways or schools or guns or whatever.

Can't we share solutions?

As has been said so many times it's now a cliche'--"Can't we all just get along?"

Inaction from Jeff City

The latest from Jefferson City on I-70 and the much-needed and too-often-neglected and forgotten improvements that vital thoroughfare in the state needs:

Missouri Senate chooses I-70 highway study over toll roads

It's disgusting.

Instead of actually doing something about I-70 and the dangerous, far-too-small nightmare it is, our Jefferson City legislature has set something up to "study" it.

Yeehaw.

That'll help.

Not.

I say here again, surely there can be no bigger or more important issue for our State and even Federal legislatures than to widen and make more safe this freeway.

It would make all who use it safer, it could help facilitate more and better business in the state, it effects virtually every Missourian in the state--and many people in the nation each year--and finally, it could help create some jobs in the state, if even temporary.

Instead, we get inaction from Jefferson City and our legislatures.

Instead, we get a "study."

Thanks, Missouri Legislators.

For nothing.

Link: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/03/3592312/missouri-senate-chooses-i-70-highway.html

More of us need to call for the Funk's resignation

I see from over at Tony's KC Blog that the KC Tribune has an article just now by Daniel Starling calling for Mayor Funkhouser to resign.

Here, here!

Attaboy!

Good for him!

It won't happen but, really, more of us--out here on blogs, and everyone across the city--should call for this clown to call it a day on his Mayorship.

What a mess.

We've had it.

We have decidedly not become "The City That Works" he promised. Far from it.

Streets unrepaired in good weather--unplowed in bad.

Steel plates on holes.

Bad morale downtown.

Lawsuits left and right.

Heck, he's bad to have just because of the expense of his rule.

Let it be said again: Mayor Mark Funkhouser--and his wife--need to go.

And they should do the honorable, intelligent thing and resign.

They won't but that's what should happen.