This "county by county" thing.

[LAS14]

I think there are two narratives here. One, apparently propounded by Fox, and, I assume, Trump, is that we'll identify counties where it's not necessary to shut down. The other, propounded by medical professionals, is that we aggressively test every county in the U.S. and identify those where surveilance and containment are still possible and proceed to try to contain the virus. Containment is when the number is so low you can track contacts and isolate them. You have to keep testing. When Fauci and Birx mention "counties," Fox and Trump (happily) and hysterical DUers (unhappily) hear "no shutdown" instead of "vigorous testing for containment where it's still possibe."

I can't do anything about Fox and Trump, but I can urge DUers to think again before dumping on Fauci and Birx, even if they do phrase their message so Trump can misunderstand it if he wants to.

[SamKnause]

1. The entire country is sick of walking on egg shells because of this insane evil president.

Those who hold power have failed this country miserably.

They left their posts and wrote books.

Fuck Trump.

Fuck the Trump Party.

County by county will not work.

Anyone with a working brain cell knows this.

Many live in one county and work in another county.

Many drive and work in several counties during the day.

The insanity of this administration have caused and will cause many deaths.

Trump's party is okay with this approach.

[LAS14]

2. An the assumption that Fauci and Birx do have a few...

... working brain cells, maybe you don't know the whole story? Ever think that maybe leaping to conclusions from two minutes of briefing info and putting yourself up as a better expert isn't logical?

[Lars39]

3. The idiocy of thinking the virus stops at county lines...

evaluations will always be behind because of the nature of the virus.

[underpants]

5. My wife and I were shaking our heads at this

People cross county lines because of liquor laws for crying out loud. Hell my relatives in West Virginia used to do their grocery shopping in Ohio because they didn't have to pay sales tax.

[Lars39]

14. I know, right!

These people are clueless and/or appeasing.

[Wounded Bear]

4. The whole thing is meaningless without universal testing...

and antibody testing to find out who is "immune" as well.

[Ms. Toad]

6. Fauci and Birx deserve to be dumped on.

Fauci, at least, is so respected that when he speaks - people listen. BUT he has been so careful to fit his narrative into Trumps that it supports Trump's message by anyone inclined to read it that way. Allowing that to happen is irresponsible because rather than getting an accurate message across, Trump's message is amplified - because it is not just Trump who is misunderstanding it.

If you don't believe that is happening, just spend some time looking at right wing commentary on facebook. Just last night I had to counter a "but Fauci agrees it is no worse than the seasonal flu, but the mainstream media refuses to publicize it." That wasn't actually what Fauci said - but because he was trying not to directly contradict Trump it makes it far harder to convince folks inclined to read it as supporting Trump of what he is actually saying.

I've got 2 of the 4 right wingers I frequently battle with on the right side (as to this issue). The other two are quoting Fauci in support of Trump - their phrasing makes them complicit in broadcasting Trump's message.

[underpants]

9. I agree and disagree

They are fed lines and dutifully repeat them.
Perfect example of the message they are receiving here.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213183242

My wife and I talk about this when we watch the daily show.
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx (Trump almost always refers to her by her first name now) are in a spot. If they were embarass him in anyway they'd be out, then who leads him in directions? Who will be there to herd him? Fauci has advised Presidents since Reagan. They are very accomplished and if they aren't there there's no telling who will be.

[Ms. Toad]

13. Because of their reputations -

They are doing at least as much harm as good.

I agree they are doing a delicate dance - but if they feel unable to contradict him, they should remain silent. Dutifully repeating Trumps lines lends the lines a credence they would not otherwise have.

And Fauci is repeating non-medical "facts" from Trump's narrative - such as the lie that we (were) doing better than Italy because Italy didn't close its borders as soon as we did. (They did, and more thoroughly.)

[underpants]

7. I sense something else going on here

County by county reminds me of Trump tweeting that "Our people" are ready to go back to work.

Implication is that HIS followers want to go back to work which ties directly to the "we work to pay for your food" thing. Also I can see maps being used to show who has it vs. who doesn't. I think it will probably look a lot like red-blue maps.

[underpants]

8. Oops meant this as a reply to post #6

[packman]

10. Bless him, but reminds me of my eldest son

Who, in his Rush Limbaugh days, tried to explain to me that air pollution wasn't all that bad and it was the liberal lefties who were exaggerating it. He explained, as Rush explained it, that air pollution was strictly a local thing. In other words, it stayed where it was created. When I told him that wind and air currents pushed it around and distributed it , he had that blank look on his face where simple logic told him it was all B.S. that he was listening to on right-wing radio. Proud to say he is now a Democrat and has nothing but contempt for conservatives.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. This BS encourages businessmen to push county health officials to conceal virus stats.

In red zones, that would be quite common.

If business people think the Feds will give them more recovery money and relax guidelines, they will do anything to make their area look "clean".

This thinking is extremely dangerous and will undoubtedly increase our fatality rate......

But hey, MAGATs can get back to selling guns and bibles.......

[sop]

12. Maybe Trump thinks the virus will stay put, and he can ban movement from one county/state

to another. But, knowing Trump, above all he's trying to further divide America, this time along the lines of infected vs. non-infected. He will demagogue the hell out of the pandemic during the entire upcoming campaign. Watch for his county-by-county plan to be determined primarily by voting patterns, with his ultimate goal being to manipulate electoral college results in 2020.