Editor,
In response to the Nancy Meyer’s letter, “We’ll survive in spite of the lack of leadership,” published in the April 15 Whidbey News-Times, I challenge Ms. Meyer to name one Democrat who would have done things any faster or better. The House was obsessed with impeachment proceedings and ignored the virus and much of anything else.. China kept the virus hidden while it took hold.
The WHO didn’t investigate, took China’s word that it was nothing to be alarmed about, so failed to timely spread the word. When President Trump was certain that it was spreading, without honest input from the WHO, he stopped flights from China and was belittled for doing so and called a racist by Democrats. Democrats would not have stopped the flights. Trump initiated the War Powers Act which allowed him to direct companies to manufacture much needed treatment and prevention supplies and appointed Vice President Pence as the head of the coronavirus task force to oversee the response effort.
It is the responsibility of each state to be prepared, with adequate supplies on hand, to test and treat those during an epidemic.
President Obama failed, during his terms of office, to replenish depleted federal stockpiles of N95 masks used in 2009 for the swine flu epidemic. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo used millions of dollars, money that should have been spent on ventilators, on green energy projects that failed. Yet, Ms. Meyer blames Trump for a lack of leadership?
Democrats have shown absolutely zero leadership during this crisis, and Speaker Pelosi larded the Coronavirus Relief Bill with billions, money that has absolutely nothing to do with the recovery. In President Trump we have a leader who is sincerely trying to make things better and without any assistance from Democrats who want to investigate him, again, this time for how much he knew and when, as if this matters in our recovery, but matters a great deal in making him look bad in light of the November election.
No, Ms. Meyer, President Trump is exercising the leadership we need in spite of a complete lack of assistance by Democrats and personal hatred of him. It is the Democrats that have not come forward and exercised any leadership during this crisis.
Ed Hickey
Oak Harbor
