Letters

In a short couple of weeks, the lives of all of us have been affected by the surreal arrival of a health threat that is now a worldwide pandemic. My wife and I have watched the progress of the novel coronavirus as it was reported, mostly on TV (as reporting is the most current on it). We are seniors and in good to excellent health, so we have not become fearful for ourselves. We did reluctantly cancel a trip to Texas to see family when it became more of a risk to travel on planes and pass through busy airports.

Then the stock market became infected with the confusion that a worldwide disruption of commerce can cause. As the pundits repeated so often, markets want certainty, and there was none, so they sold off until some certainty can be reestablished.

Now, wholesale closings of conferences, athletic contests, political events, school closings, etc., are becoming routinely announced. This has become a real test of our national character and of our leadership on a national, state and local level. In short, a test of ourselves as Americans working together in a time of crisis.

It is not a time for partisan bickering over style points.

In the days leading up to the realization that this might get ugly, the sniping over the handling of the crisis by the president was disappointing. The insinuations of doubt over accuracy of facts, the readiness of our health care system, and the transparency of decision-making were unfair if understandable under the circumstances of a rapidly unfolding event.

It was clear from the beginning that the liberal media wanted to project a message that the president wasn’t up to managing a pandemic. That word tells you how unprecedented this event is in modern times. Trump did not panic. He proceeded cautiously, waiting to have facts and data to act on. His medical staff led him and Vice President Pence to the correct decisions he has made.

His inclination to not throw everything under some kind of martial law distinguishes him from the liberal pundits who always want a massive government intervention. This is a contrast in leadership that we can observe.

If there was a gaffe in this process, it was made by the medical professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who fumbled the production of test kits, which we still are trying to resolve.

Let’s save the politics and back-biting for the election.

Ed Surgan

Westhampton