I totally agreed with U.S. Rep. Jody Hice when he recently wrote that someone must be held accountable for how the coronavirus outbreak has been managed.
But I disagree with his conclusion that the death toll and devastation to our economy was the result of fear caused by epidemiological models predicting numbers of deaths under differing scenarios. He was just trying hard to deflect blame for America’s dead and economic suffering away from President Trump and his administration.
He mocked models predicting 100,000+ deaths, saying they were flat-out wrong. Might Mr. Hice now regret saying 60,000 dead Americans was simply within the range of deaths expected annually from the flu? Well, yesterday we were beyond 88,000 dead and it’s clear we are quickly going to surpass 100,000 before June 1. Looks like those first modelers were right.
My only child is a working RN. She hasn’t resorted to using garbage bags in her hospital like many other health providers, but she is rotating 6 masks weekly. So far, thankfully, she’s OK. Yes, someone must be held accountable for what is happening in America. Now isn’t the time to do a full-on, objective investigation into what went wrong and what’s gone right; this slow train wreck continues to bear down the track toward each of us. We must be focused instead on saving our citizens and our beleaguered economy.
A post mortem on our government’s actions and inactions must be held in the clear light of day. A time of true reckoning will come, and Congressman Hice’s clumsy attempt to set up a straw man is not going to take our eyes off investigating deeply and at the proper time. Irrefutable film has captured truth, and facts exist to unequivocally counter lies and untruths captured on film.
Americans know the response was sluggish and sloppy, at best. We didn’t need a charismatic cheerleader spouting happy talk on a daily TV show; we didn’t need a salesman promising cures and a miracle recovery he can’t deliver. We simply needed a leader from Day 1. We still do.
Regina A. Smith
Athens