The main reason that the U.S. was unprepared to respond promptly to the coronavirus was that Trump repeatedly told the public that it was not a problem, that it would disappear spontaneously, and that it was under control. None of this was true. Even now, almost half of Republicans do not believe that the virus is a genuine public health problem. Now, we are learning that there are real life-and-death consequences attached to electing a vain and ignorant narcissist the the presidency.

New York Times columnist David Leonhardt catalogued the evolution of Trump’s views and statements to the public.

He wrote:

President Trump made his first public comments about the coronavirus on Jan. 22, in a television interview from Davos with CNBC’s Joe Kernen. The first American case had been announced the day before, and Kernen asked Trump, “Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?”

The president responded:…

Fareed Zakaria is a regular commentator on world affairs for CNN. This article appeared in the Washington Post on March 12:

The outbreak of an epidemic is something like a natural disaster — a spontaneous, accidental eruption that is no one’s fault. But that does not mean we can do little about it and just wait for it to run its deadly course. The evidence is now clear: The spread of the virus can be greatly reduced if governments act early, aggressively and intelligently. Unfortunately, that does not describe the response of the U.S. government to the coronavirus pandemic.

We can track the speed of the outbreak since January, by which time the virus had spread from China to other countries. In South Korea, after an initial spike, the number of new cases has slowed. Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan — despite lots of travelers from China — have kept…

Teresa Hanafin writes Fast Forward for the Boston Globe.

She writes:

Trump has canceled his planned trip to the CDC today, and I figured it was because the researchers there didn’t want him spreading his misinformation and pseudo-facts about the coronavirus while standing in a place that’s supposed to be all about science.

Turns out somebody there fell ill. White House aides worried it could be the virus, and Trump thought wearing a face mask might smudge his spray-on. Fortunately, the employee tested negative, and Trump says he’ll go another time.

He’s heading to Nashville to tour the tornado destruction, then on to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, his umpteeth visit to one of his own resorts at an astounding cost to taxpayers.

Trump, who continues to own his properties, has built quite the profitable pipeline from taxpayers’ wallets to his bank account, which is probably why he has spent 30…

When I joined the Marines in 1965, I wasn’t thinking of the flag or what freedom meant. I joined for another reason. I wanted to know if I had what it takes to become a U.S. Marine. Several years later in 1968, I left active duty with an honorable discharge and went to college with help from the G.I. Bill.

With all the injustice, dirty politics, and hate in our country, I’m still not sure what freedom means.

It took me decades to come to the realization that the real foundation of our country is the U.S. Constitution. Without the Constitution, the flag that Americans stand for has no meaning.

Without the U.S. Constitution defining and protecting our freedoms, that flag is just a tyrant’s rag.

In that video, not once did I hear the U.S. Constitution mentioned. I think defending the U.S. Constitution is more important than pledging allegiance…

Jackie Goldberg is running for re-election to the Los Angeles Unified School Board. She is an experienced public official who has supported public schools for decades as a school board member and state legislator. A rightwing billionaire dumped nearly half a million into her low-budget race to try to stop her in the March 3 election (early voting has already started.)

Jackie was endorsed by the UTLA along with Scott Schmerelson, George McKenna, and Patricia Castellanos. Vote for them if they are candidates in your district.

Jackie sets the record straight here:

Dear Friends, Families, and Board District 5 Voters, By now, you may have received a number of mailings telling you to “Vote ‘No’ on Jackie Goldberg”, all of which are being sent by a man named Bill Bloomfield, who lives in Manhattan Beach, CA. Bloomfield is extremely wealthy and was a Republican until 2011 when he became an…

I fear we are becoming insensitive to shock in the Trump era. And the very concept of “government ethics” seems to be an oxymoron in this era. Here are two shocking reports by Teresa Hanafin, who writes the Fast Forward commentary of the Boston Globe:

Trump holds another campaign rally tonight, this time in Toledo. Earlier in the day, he’s scheduled to announce some proposed National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and that’s never a good thing.

Trump is dramatically reducing the authority of the act, signed by Richard Nixon in 1970. The idea was that the federal government would protect the environment from excess by assessing the impacts of major projects — and include the public in the deliberations. Trump’s instinct is to protect private companies from any restrictions, nature be damned.

His action will make it easier to for companies to build pipelines, clear-cut forests, dig mines, drill for…