Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Now Is Not the Time for Politics
Townhall.com ^ | April 3, 2020 | Neil Patel

Posted on 04/03/2020 11:11:44 AM PDT by Kaslin

Things are getting real. We are at over 47,000 deaths worldwide and over 5,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Our top experts are modeling between 100,000 and 240,000 American deaths by the end of this crisis. Those are massive numbers. We lost nearly 3,000 on 9/11; we suffered 7,000 (so far) U.S. military deaths in the "war on terror" and 58,000 after 20 years in Vietnam. Early hopes that COVID-19 could be overblown have more than dwindled. If anything, we are learning more every day about how China has understated the deaths they have seen -- drastically understated, according to some reports.

Situations like the one we are facing help us all focus. As soon as you hear about someone you know getting sick -- or see your family, friends or neighbors suffer -- you start reprioritizing what really matters in life. Trivial things seem much more trivial when facing a life-or-death situation. The health and well-being of family, friends, neighbors and countrymen become the top priority.

Things like politics start falling into the trivial category for most Americans at times like this. This has been the case throughout our history. We band together when things get really bad.

It's happening today. We see the highly liberal anti-Trump governors of California and New York complimenting President Donald Trump, and we see the president returning the favor. We see Tucker Carlson of Fox News send best wishes to rival Chris Cuomo of CNN upon learning he has the virus. Could you have pictured any of this a few weeks ago? It's good. It's how all of us should treat each other as fellow Americans in a time of crisis.

The number of Americans who see every issue in our country solely through a political lens -- or even a Donald Trump lens -- is shrinking. This is happening on both sides: The rose-colored-glasses, Trump-can-do-no-wrong crowd and the everything-in-America-is-Trump's-fault crowd are both waning. Regular people are disgusted by those who continue to overpoliticize everything in our country. This is why Trump's approval numbers are up. The president's pandemic news conferences have become must-see TV in many households. The ratings show this. People tuning in are seeing a guy who -- after some real messaging stumbles early on -- is taking control and working every lever of government power to try to help the American people through this crisis. He's still eccentric for sure, but he's looking more presidential by the day. This has been a surprise for those who held a negative view of the president. It may yet change as the news changes, or if the president falters in the coming weeks, but for now, this new environment is causing people to rally around our leader as he seems to be doing his best in a tough situation.

It's hard not to feel sorry for those who can't stop being angry about politics at a time like this. When CNN or MSNBC tries to censor the president's news conferences, they look petty and out of it. There are small groups on each side who still prioritize the fight against Trump above all else, but most people are too busy thinking about their family and friends' health or watching in awe as the health care workers they know repeatedly work 20-hour days to care for patients while putting their own health at risk. This will have to go on for weeks, maybe even months. How will they keep doing it? Those are the types of questions we should all focus on. If you prioritize politics over these real concerns, it may be time to self-evaluate a little.

There is lots of good happening in our country right now. People are helping each other. Families and communities are coming together. Businesses are doing all they can for their customers or employees. Taking a short breath before overpoliticizing the situation can be one more good thing to add to this list.

None of this is to say we can't think about politics. It's an election year. Politics are important. But we vote in November. We are in the midst of this crisis. According to the doctors' best current forecasts, we are two weeks from the peak in America. At that peak, 2,500 people a day will be dying -- maybe double that in the worst-case scenarios. Then we should start to see a big drop-off. By mid-June, we may be almost out of it. These things have changed before, and obviously, they could change again. But even if these forecasts are a few weeks off, we will have plenty of time to rip each other to pieces over politics. November is still more than six months away. Take a break. Take a breath. Your friends and neighbors will certainly appreciate it, and there are definitely more important things to think about right now.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: partisanship; politics; wuhancoronavirus
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

1 posted on 04/03/2020 11:11:44 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Horsecrap. If anything the Democrats are only increasing the Anti-Trump rhetoric.


2 posted on 04/03/2020 11:13:27 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The whole world is “politics”

I don’t think any of us even have a remote idea at this point of how badly this will be politicized in a month or few months from now.

Pelosi has already said it will be and Schiff will be in charge of the “bi-partisan” committee.


3 posted on 04/03/2020 11:13:32 AM PDT by volunbeer (Find the truth and accept it - anything else is delusional)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: volunbeer

Yup. That train left the station a month ago.


4 posted on 04/03/2020 11:14:22 AM PDT by abb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: volunbeer

‘Something happened. Let’s impeach Trump.”


5 posted on 04/03/2020 11:15:03 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I see a lot of good in that article. Thanks for posting.


6 posted on 04/03/2020 11:15:12 AM PDT by vespa300
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Bull crap. Now is the time to take offensive to the Rats. Who really thinks Rats and the Rat media will stop playing politics? The notion of not playing politics comes from thinking like a RINO. See Mittens as an example and how successful he’s been.


7 posted on 04/03/2020 11:15:33 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA (It's official! I'm nominated for the 2020 Mr. Hyperbole and Sarcasm Award.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: volunbeer

Here’s a small town MI gal’s “non-political” editorial. Her hypocrisy is thick.

https://swartzcreekview.mihomepaper.com/pageview/viewer/2020-04-02#page=10


8 posted on 04/03/2020 11:20:12 AM PDT by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and so few by deceit. Noel Coward)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

“Horsecrap. If anything the Democrats are only increasing the Anti-Trump rhetoric.”

Agree.


9 posted on 04/03/2020 11:24:37 AM PDT by Ken H (Best SOTU ever!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: abb

Liberals want you to be nice, they won’t be nice.


10 posted on 04/03/2020 11:26:25 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

blah, blah, blah... I put MSNBS on for a few minutes every morning to see what the libs are up to. Has not changed 1 bit since Trump assumed office.


11 posted on 04/03/2020 11:30:05 AM PDT by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Then there is Adam Shift.:

(Is House Intelligence) Committee Chairman Adam Schiff a Communist Chinese Collaborator or “useful idiot?”

"There are several currently serving members of the House Intelligence Committee with problematic ties. Many of them would probably struggle to get a security clearance to drive a school bus or sell stamps at the post office. But that doesn’t prevent them from serving on a congressional committee with oversight of the FBI, CIA, Drug Enforcement Administration, National Security Agency, and a dozen other national security organizations.

Schiff, for example, has close ties to the Committee of 100 (C100), which essentially runs “influence operations” for the communist Chinese regime. Schiff attended C100 conferences in 2009 and 2016 and has also met with high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials C.H. Tung, now vice-chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and former mayor of Shanghai and president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Xu Kuangdi, all arranged through C100 contacts.

During the 2018 election cycle, Schiff also received funding from the Iranian American Political Action Committee, reportedly a front for the Iranian government."

12 posted on 04/03/2020 11:32:53 AM PDT by yoe (Want to HELP the Slave Trade and Drug Cartels in USA? Vote for a democrat........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

DUmocrats never abide. The only “reach across the aisle” I want to see is when a Republican slaps a Democrat upside the head with a 2x4.


13 posted on 04/03/2020 11:43:33 AM PDT by RasterMaster ("Towering genius disdains a beaten path." - Abraham Lincoln)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: volunbeer

Someone needs to investigate the Schiff creep.


14 posted on 04/03/2020 11:50:40 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie ( Stop the fearmongering! Post flu statistics along side COVID-19 statistics!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: All

“...58,000 after 20 years in Vietnam...”

????????


15 posted on 04/03/2020 11:51:32 AM PDT by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

You first, Democraps. Otherwise pound sand.


16 posted on 04/03/2020 11:55:20 AM PDT by Mr. Rabbit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Time to publicly shame Schiff and Pelosi. Nadler will stay out of the fray, he’s so unhealthy a whiff of the virus would be a bad scene for him.


17 posted on 04/03/2020 11:57:05 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

“Horsecrap. If anything the Democrats are only increasing the Anti-Trump rhetoric.”

If anyone caught Rush’s show today he/she would be sure of what you stated:

The experts with the models that the administration is using to make decisions is “baffled” as to why the administration is using their expert (same experts) models. That makes no sense whatsoever unless one is a Leftist\media hack. Did the d+-& “experts” need a job descriptions?! They have no clue that they are advising the President?


18 posted on 04/03/2020 12:01:46 PM PDT by madison10 (Wash your hands & say your prayers cause Jesus & germs are everywhere)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
"Trump is winning, let's demand a Truce!"

Screw 'em all, and the Donkey they rode in on. With a rabid Pangolin.

19 posted on 04/03/2020 12:02:54 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Liberals are out of control, not even tolerable any more. A conservative can't make an innocent comment or identify themselves on social media without condemnation and being attacked.

We need to be on the offensive and kick the cr*p out of democrats, that's the only remedy now. Tired of being nice.

20 posted on 04/03/2020 12:12:22 PM PDT by roadcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson