Suddenly Saturday - What's the Plan?

 

The weekend arrived last evening on a Zoom call with friends rather than in person due to the coronavirus uptick. The lack of a plan and the ongoing denials of reality by the president continue to affect the very fabric of our lives--and yet few are calling him on it.

I guess it is OK to surrender to the virus. 

I prefer Patton's approach:

“A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”

Problem is, not only is there not a perfect plan next week, the administration has washed their hands of even trying to get a plan together and is telling us to learn to live with it.

Instead of denying the veracity and spread of COVID-19, we need to face it.

Covid-19 Is Worse in the Dakotas Than It Was in the Spring’s Hot Spots - The Wall Street Journal

General George S. Patton
Then a Lt General

To continue with my Patton thoughts as they might apply to the pandemic, I was reminded of this phrase from his memorable series of speeches to the 3rd Army, as recorded on Wikipedia. Here is what he said about the overwhelming odds faced by his troops during World War 2, and with very little reediting they could be applied to the United States today:

Men, all this stuff you hear about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Battle is the most significant competition in which a man can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. 

  Wikipedia

Please note that in the historical context of when this statement was made, it was a wartime and the fighting troops of the time were men only. 

What is the plan?

Well, first we need a plan and then we need the intestinal fortitude to implement it. Finally, we need to realize that everything is interconnected: fighting the virus is tied to the economy and our standing in the world; but most importantly it is about people and saving lives.

I remember standing in lines for the Swine Flu vaccine! That was the pan back then, but we were in front of the virus.

So what is the plan? 

Defeat the virus to save lives and don't wait for the promise of a vaccine which will take months to distribute. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD