stuper1 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2020 3:11 pm
It's been posted on another thread that April 16, 2020, will be the height of coronavirus deaths in the US and will be this generation's Pearl Harbor. Run a thought experiment. Do you think that on December 8, 1941, you would have woken up to find any newspaper or radio show in the country criticizing President Roosevelt? No, of course not, because in the middle of a crisis is not the time to question leadership. It's the time to put aside political differences and pull together. There is plenty of time for fingerpointing later on.
Contrast this with what you will see in the media on April 17, 2020. We have people dying from the virus. We have people punching each other and threatening worse over lack of access to basic supplies. We have people worried that things could get even worse and that food supplies could run short, banks could close, martial law may be needed, etc.
But you won't see the media trying to do its part to unify us just for a short time until we get through the worst of it. All you will see them doing is fanning the flames and trying to pin the blame on Trump. Some of you might say but yeah he deserves it. Guess what, there is 46% of the population that voted for him in 2016, many of whom still think he's doing a good job (at least as good as Clinton would have done). But the media won't care. They just want to make sure not to waste any crisis. I suppose it might have been the same in 1941 if a non-media-friendly person had been president then.
Analogy does not quite fit on a few levels?
December 8th was the 1st day after....not, depending upon how you view it, months after the start of this present crisis.
What would the media's reactions have been in the subsequent months if Roosevelt just plain downplayed the seriousness. "That Pearl Harbor things was a one-off thing. We need to get the economy back to normal and not engage in all this wasteful war spending. It's ALL a Republican hoax!"
It was genuinely the total opposite approach for Roosevelt compared to Trump. Roosevelt was constantly trying to bring us into World War II, going against the prevalent American position of isolationism. He went against this as best he could prior to Pearl Harbor by doing things such as engaging in Lend Lease with England. On the other hand, this time around Trump did his best to minimize the seriousness and to plain waste time in getting serious. Do we yet know who besides GM he has ordered to produce anything?
The only thing that Roosevelt could have been criticized for on December 8th was how did we allow Pearl Harbor to happen and how did we allow it to be so devastating. There was an immediate investigation into this while WW II was going on and at least two Admirals were reprimanded with penalties. Some say they were scapegoats and the blame should have been placed on others above them.
Finally the analogy fails because WW II was far more black and white. We were attacked by Japan with Germany then almost right away declaring war on us. It was clear-cut who the enemy was and what the goal was - unconditional surrender for each.
Here, what is the goal? There is tons of legitimate criticisms regarding Trump for the way he is handling it. That political rally he put on yesterday was just what the country needs at this time? Did that inspire confidence in you? Do you think that inspired confidence in the 54% who did not vote for him? Do you think it inspired confidence in ALL the non-voters, who are a huge amount of our populace?
If the media and the country is so well united during time of War, why did Lincoln even have an opponent in the middle of a Civil War. There's obviously tons of implied criticism in that. Do you think there were no newspapers being critical of him during the runup to that 1864 election?
Vinny