Among the more irrational criticisms of the Trump administration is the claim that the pandemic threat was well-known, but little to nothing was done to prepare for it.
The claim is irrational because risk assessments are complex and mitigation strategies are not always feasible, especially when politics is involved. The simple reality is that no one could have foreseen or prepared for Covid-19 specifically; we only imagine that we could have with the benefit of hindsight.
But here’s a threat that is very much in the same risk category: high-severity, low probability, with a known mitigation strategy. And again the feasibility of the mitigation depends on politics. Moreover, the probability of the risk increases each day the pandemic continues to weaken our economy and our society.
Critics of the president who think we didn’t do enough to prepare for Covid-19 may wish to throw their weight behind the need to prepare for this threat.
Yep. if an EMP attack occurs, they won’t be laughing at those of us with land and 1000 rounds of ammunition any more.
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Personally I never laugh at a zealot with a loaded weapon, regardless of reloads.
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“https://www.wired.com/story/the-grid-might-survive-an-electromagnetic-pulse-just-fine/“
“pandemic threat was well-known“. True…
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And don’t forget other low probability but high risk events, like an eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano or a solar flare.(see Larry Niven’s “Inconstant Moon”)
Natural EMP’s have happened before and could again
https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
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Larry Niven?
Impressive, and an appropriate reference. Ringworld is probably my favorite though..
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I particularly like his collaborations with Jerry Pournelle, especially Lucifer’s Hammer.
BTW, the Ringworld is unstable.
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An excellent collaboration.
Yes, most things are; bringIng order to chaos is a full-time job….
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“While warnings of the current pandemic have been around for less than a year, reports have been written about EMP attacks for decades.”
Warnings about pandemics, particularly flu type, have been around for decades. Plus we have had several scares and a couple of real ones as recently as 2009. We did have branches of intelligence in the Oval Office that were keeping tabs, but it was scattered by the genius. Rallies more important, obviously.
So on that note, the author is full of bull.
An EMP attack by China would kill China. Our retaliation, if not the loss of China’s biggest market. The latter is why open and free trade is the best deterrent to war.
“When goods and services don’t cross borders, soldiers will.”
No back to why we have such pathetic preparation and testing even to this date.
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And who do we retaliate against if there is a Carrington Event? Or an eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano?
Both are when, not if, events.
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In the current administration it will be Obama’s fault. Or the media’s. Or the Democrats. or… or… or….
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LMAO
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Depends. If Trump is president he’ll probably tell us some BS and go to war. Truth is a problem.
If not, then just enjoy the time you have left.
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…” tell us some BS and go to war”
And now we have the actual reasoning for Space Force.
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RE: “So on that note, the author is full of bull.”
Only because you insist on seeing it that way. But the point is that you might have had an influence on events leading up to the current pandemic, had you tried, which you probably didn’t. Here you have the same opportunity again.
Should the president request $500 billion in his infrastructure proposal for EMP hardenning, especially within the DoD, will you support, or oppose it?
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Like I said….Space Force. Already budgeted.
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RE: “Like I said….Space Force. Already budgeted.”
There’s more to the puzzle than that. The Space Force, for example, doesn’t manage the nuclear arsenal.
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Right. I believe it is the Department of Energy.
But you missed the facetiousness of my statement.
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RE: “But you missed the facetiousness of my statement.”
Did I?
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It appears so. However, you are the most prescient person here, so maybe you did get it, but went ahead with taking it seriously.
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What influence that I might have had are you referring to?
I know so little about this new Chinese weapon, supporting EMP hardening would be a coin toss.
Perhaps the market can come up with a solution since it stands to win or lose as much as any individual. Or are you selling another government project?
It appears the Chinese are flooding our social media with conspiracies and that is a bigger threat.
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RE: “What influence that I might have had are you referring to?”
Had you been as concerned about the pandemic threat as you think others should have been, you could have raised your voice. Did you? The funding for the SNS was debated in Congress, but to little public interest after the Bush administration.
Now that you know about the EMP threat, what will you do? That was the question.
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I did raise my voice and got raked over the coals pretty regularly by you, Don, Smith, TK, and occasional others who tried to shame me.
But getting you guys to listen to reason was a flop, so I don’t think I have the talent, the perserverance or even the necessary political wherewithal to expand.
EMP? If it is a real threat beyond what you have exposed me to, then we might spend a few billion in infrastructure. Seems like it should be in the DOD. Cut that in half, concentrate on cybercrime and EMP. Keep a few nukes just to balance the teeter-totter with other nuke states.
For now, however, a simple virus seems to do more economic damage as all out war.
But so long as we are dropping trillions on tax cuts, then crises, why not…?
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Let’s change the subject and find other things to distract from the problem at hand. Another reason to mute the TV during the briefing/rally until someone other than Mr. trump is speaking. YAWN! 😴🥱
Washington Examiner. Trump’s favorite print media source. Oh, wait. That can’t be. He don’t read.
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The fulsome amount of criticism of Trump and his conduct in office is NOT irrational. It is ALL reasoned and based on evidence of his poor character, dishonesty and incompetence. Fresh evidence of which he provides almost every day.
What IS truly irrational is to prefer his LIES over the truth. He says nobody could have known that a pandemic would hit so hard and you believe that LIE and repeat it in spite of the fact that there have been countless predictions of exactly what is now happening for decades. Many from within the government he runs.
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RE: “He says nobody could have known that a pandemic would hit so hard and you believe that LIE…”
I wrote that no one could have predicted or prepared for Covid-19 specifically, which is true. I don’t know where you are getting your ideas about what I believe. They aren’t contained in what I wrote.
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@Roberts
“Among the more irrational criticisms of the Trump administration is the claim that the pandemic threat was well-known, but little to nothing was done to prepare for it.”
Your ideas ARE contained in what you write. Of course, no one could predict the specific virus that did not yet exist but the threat of pandemic has been well-known since 1918.
Furthermore, on this specific virus, Joe Biden had enough evidence in January to write of the serious danger in USA Today, but Trump didn’t? How can THAT be?
It is irrational to believe that a passive, dishonest and ineffective response to the COVID-19 threat was actually vigorous, honest and effective when it clearly was not.
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RE: “Furthermore, on this specific virus, Joe Biden had enough evidence in January to write of the serious danger in USA Today”
He did. And much of what he said was debunked at the time and not taken seriously now.
RE: “It is irrational to believe that a passive, dishonest and ineffective response to the COVID-19 threat was actually vigorous, honest and effective when it clearly was not.”
If you want to battle straw men, be my guest. I wrote that the anti-Trump criticism is “irrational because risk assessments are complex and mitigation strategies are not always feasible, especially when politics is involved.”
If you want to stay on point, you might try to show that the mitigation strategies you favored were politically feasible, when clearly they were not, even for the prior administration.
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@Roberts
Why is it that Trump supporters thing they can make up anything they want and that is just fine? And yet you accuse anybody who does not buy your nonsense of being “irrational?” Do you really not know how laughable that is when it is you and people like you simply ignore the evidence that is seen every day?
With reference to Joe Biden’s January 27th you state that “much of what he said was debunked at the time and not taken seriously now.” Do you really think that it is not obvious that you simply made that “fact” up?
Here is Biden’s op-ed. He nailed it and the fears he expressed have come to pass. So which fact has been debunked and by whom?
By the way, debunked has a meaning . . .
debunk: to show that something (a fact or belief) is not true
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/27/coronavirus-donald-trump-made-us-less-prepared-joe-biden-column/4581710002/
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Dang. I thought it meant someone got tossed out of bed. 😈
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What has been ‘debunked’ in Biden’s speech?
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Here are the debunked items that most prompted my comment:
RE: “He proposed draconian cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for International Development.”
He also signed the legislation which increased the funding.
RE: “He dismissed the top White House official in charge of global health security and dismantled the entire team.”
There was no dismantling. The team functions were never eliminated, just reorganized.
RE: “And he has treated with utmost contempt institutions that facilitate international cooperation, thus undermining the global efforts that keep us safe from pandemics and biological attacks.”
Perhaps those institutions deserved the criticism. None actually did keep us safe from the current pandemic.
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You are a good example of the problem we have with misinformation in the ether…
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RE: “You are a good example of the problem we have with misinformation in the ether.”
What misinformation are you accusing me of?
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@Roberts
How does your confirming that what Biden said was true constitute “debunking?”
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So Biden said the truth.
He proposed funding cuts, but Congress said no deal.
He, or his man Bolton, did reorganize by scattering the team. Dismantling is a quibble point.
You admit he treated institutions poorly because they deserved it.
So, is that it? Are those all the problems with a political speech by Biden: two admissions that he was right and a semantic change?
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Your entire post is ad hominem and absent any fact or reason.
I have been lax, but please refer to the rules for posting.
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@Tabor
It is not clear whom you are addressing?
Whom are you threatening and based on what?
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