It is difficult to accept and quite frustrating to put arms around the idea that Donald J. Trump is Commander-in-Chief of disinformation, denial, disaster, distraction, and lies. Jessica Guynn, USA Today, Wednesday, October 7, 2020, page 5B, quotes Graham Brookie, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, “There is no doubt that Donald Trump is the largest spreader of specific and important types of misinformation today.” Guynn continues, “In the critical last weeks of the election, social media companies are facing a tsunami of conspiracy theories, hoaxes and fake claims on everything from COVID-19 to voting.” With 210,000 plus COVID-19 deaths, 7 million cases of COVID-19 and one in five businesses closed at the forefront of election decisions, Bob Woodward’s Rage (September 2020, Simon & Schuster) shines bright light on the dereliction of leadership and management duty by Donald Trump and Mike Pence, leader, White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Yes! Bob Woodward is correct: COVID-19 is a global enemy; and we need to be partners in a global war. The strategic objective: To defeat the virus to save human lives. Donald Trump and Mike Pence (two peas in a pod) are symbols of failure, incompetence, and dereliction of duty. In Rage (298-308) Woodward chats with Trump about full mobilization, strategies, and tactics to facilitate defeating the virus:
Strategies
- Early discovery.
- Early response plan and response: leadership and management of virus task forces.
- Early testing.
- Early quarantine.
- Early treatment.
Tactics
- Wear a mask.
- Social distance.
- Testing and contact tracing.
- Personal protective equipment: purchasing, inventory management and distribution.
- Identify essential workers.
- Unemployment benefits and cash payments.
- Small business loans.
- Shelter-in-place.
- Food supply processes.
- International coordination and networking.
- Air travel control.
- Vaccines
- Intelligence: CIA, FBI, NSA, State Department, Senate, House of Representatives.
- Sustainable income streams for Americans.
Did the job get done? Will the job get done in the future? Do your own assessment! Two principles of war are objective, direct all efforts toward a decisive, obtainable goal; and simplicity, prepare uncomplicated plans and concise orders to insure thorough understanding and execution. A well-trained combat leader never sends soldiers into combat absent reliable information about the friendly forces, the enemy forces, proper training and orientation, decent combat gear, weapons and ammunition, the mission, mode of operations, communications network and command and control processes. The task is no different for Americans in a global pandemic: Americans need reliable information about the virus; knowledge of health care facilities and developments; training and education for individuals, families, schools, nursing homes, and businesses; personal protective equipment and testing processes; mission statement to defeat the virus; communications processes; and who is making the decisions, Federal, State, and local, critical to life and safety of all Americans. Quite simply, it is necessary to understand the issues; have determined, quality leadership; comprehensive strategy; and close cooperation across public and private sectors to defend against threats and enemies. Folks, we can do much, much better. Vote for leaders! The need is for a President and Vice President who are honest, have integrity and morality; lead through earned power; are compassionate and genuinely help others; who can unify global partners and defeat enemies; and who can bring sanity to the Office of the President and Office of the Vice President. VOTE!