[hurrdurr2]

Just a small sampling but most of my neighbors are retired and they think it's a MSM scare tactic to drum up views. Some say it's no worse than the flu and then you have the Trump supporters saying it's all a Democrat hoax.

In CA btw.

[gwright]

> Trump supporters saying it's all a Democrat hoax

Hard to know exactly what you are referring to here but it sounds like you are spreading more misinformation. We all need to get better at communicating. I swear that half of public discussion these days is based on fictional situations and not reality.

    1) Democrats accused Trump of mishandling COVID-19.
    2) Trump labeled the *criticism* as another "hoax" about his presidency/competency.
    3) Democrats react to 2) and accuse Trump of labeling COVID-19 a "hoax".
    4) Bipartisan collection of journalist pointed out that 3) is bogus and 2) is what was said.
    5) hurrdurr2's comment appears to be a variation of 3) relative to 2).
    6) this comment is an attempt to point out this history and correct the record similar to 4)

I'm taking no stance here on 1) as it really depends what specific criticism is being evaluated. Some of it was/is reasonable and some of it was/is ill-founded.

I have no idea what exactly motivated all the bullshit associated with 3) but it was some combination or poor reading comprehension, slopping rumor mongering, or disgusting politicization of a major public health crisis.

[kohtatsu]

WRT 1) I think the fact the CDC hasn't had enough testing capability–as well as far too strict requirements surrounding the tests, perhaps because of their inadequate capabilities—is enough of a black mark.

[gwright]

Sure but 3) is just bullshit that just confuses everything for no valid reason. It is distracting dangerous noise that increases the anxiety of the public for no good reason.

[kohtatsu]

3) will do a lot less harm than botching the response in the long run. AFAIAC none of that politicking matters.

[gwright]

So what? Why are you trying to assess the relative harm of a fabrication with anything at all? 3) is just nonsense that distracts from real discussion and yet there are people here defending it. I just don't understand.

[kohtatsu]

What I'm saying is don't bother with it; it will die on its own. You're the one bringing that discussion to life here; I only intended to comment on the CDC's response, I didn't intend to involve whatever the "Democrats" said. (Scare quotes because you can't coalesce them as one being)

[nodamage]

(3) is kind of a strawman. No one actually thinks Donald Trump said the virus itself is a hoax. In context the "hoax" is referring to the claims about the seriousness of the virus and the government response to it.

And there are definitely Trump supporters calling the situation a hoax, as in, "this is a hoax to blow up the stock market and make Trump look bad, don't you know that more people die of the flu every year?".

[hurrdurr2]

I'm just repeating what I was told when I chatted with some neighbors. Some are Trump supporters and they said it's a hoax. Anecdotal so take it as you will. Not sure why my comment warranted such a longwinded defensive reply.

[triangleman]

It could have been cognitive dissonance. Certain segments of the population couldn't possibly be dismissing this virus as no worse than the flu, could they?

https://www.scottadamssays.com/2020/03/05/episode-840-scott-...

"Nobody under 70 has died, and over 700 people infected on that ship. So that's impressive."

That's just from randomly seeking through one of his recordings.

[hurrdurr2]

You'd be surprised how many people I have talked to who told me they are not worried at all because it's just like the flu.

Yeah, China, Korea, and Italy quarantined millions over just the flu. Some people's ability to deny reality is very impressive.

[gwright]

Because it sounded like you were talking about 3) which I find supper annoying. I tried to caveat my comments in case you weren't talking about 3).