Asked yesterday what specifically his administration is doing to help schools reopen, Trump did not say anything. Instead, he demanded that schools reopen and claimed “the fall” is a long way away: “Well, we have a long time to think about the school stuff. Because, you know.” pic.twitter.com/owbeFKHA9l
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020
Maybe it’s just different for parents who love their kids
— JIM (@JimDoran) July 8, 2020
In the first place, during a normal year, many schools would be reopening sometime in August, just a few weeks from now.
In the second place, even in a non-pandemic season, getting the infrastructure ready to do so takes more time than that.
In the third place, the GOP’s Dear Leader can demand schools open up, and no doubt some of his death cultists governors will do their best to schedule some kind of official reopening… but no parent with any other options is going to send their kid(s) off to a plague pit just because it would make the Oval Office Occupant’s marketing campaign look better. And those unfortunate or misguided parents who do send their kids back will inevitably spark new coronavirus hotspots, for the teachers and school staff and relatives if not the kids themselves. Even schools in functional democracies, like South Korea and Denmark, have run into problems despite rigorous efforts. And that’s assuming that enough teachers & staff are willing or desperate enough to play ‘rona roulette in the first place.
You’d think someone in the Republican administration would step up to explain these basics, but I guess the Trump Purge has advanced to the point where even those individuals whose careers are most at risk can’t even muster that much of an effort.
Absolutely, kids need to be in school! And parents need the ‘free child care’ that too many Americans assume is the only reason for public schools to exist, too. But this ain’t a tv show, and firmly announcing Make It So! at the imaginary machinery behind the stage sets isn’t gonna make it happen.
Asked what the administration’s specific plan is to support schools, re testing, tracing, PPE, etc., Pence says, “The plan is to continue to do what we have done from the very beginning.” He claims that is providing governors “whatever support they need.”
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020
.@kaitlancollins asks why Trump is threatening to cut funding at a time schools need more. Pence: “First and foremost, it’s – what you heard from the president is just his determination to provide the kind of leadership…that says that we’re gonna get our kids back to school.”
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 8, 2020
Authentic Heartland(tm) gobbledygook, from the Emergency Backup Dear Leader. It’s a death cult, all the way down.