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The damage to the federal government by the Trump administration will continue to be unveiled long after President Trump leaves office. Decades in the past, the federal government has secured experienced and knowledgeable government employees. Employees range from experienced accountants to scientists who have years of knowledge of how the government works. The Trump administration has been toxic to the point of many of these experienced employees jumping ship over the last four years.
What has this done to the government? At the federal level, those who have thick-skinned or decided to bear the brunt of an ignorant administration for four years to have America stay relatively safe has been pared down tremendously. The federal government, in short, has been running on 'auto-pilot' for the last four years.
Yes, I said ignorant administration. The Trump administration has shown complete ignorance by replacing veteran employees in federal agencies with inexperienced personnel who will follow orders from the White House. What does following orders look like?
According to reporting from The New York Times, following orders means passing on messaging (i.e. reports) without obstruction and not caring about manipulation by the White House. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was one such federal agency run by extremely inexperienced people. Kyle McGowan was charged with the position of chief of staff at the CDC. His qualifications? Served previously as a staff member for Senator Tom Price. Really?
The world has been ravaged by the COVID-19 virus pandemic over the last year. In the reporting by the Times', Americans find out that the Trump administration has changed the messaging from the CDC to fit their idea of what the message should be. A message that is not parallel but perpendicular (runs opposite) to science. Wow!
That blew my mind. The change of messaging that normally occurs is not to completely change the message but change the rhetoric slightly. Although, in the present case, a blatant disregard for science was accomplished by White House employees conducting the dirty work of the Trump administration.
Further, the damage of suppressing reports that are critical to the scientific community along with the rest of society such as Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports - a widely read report which is apolitical in scope. The report is dense with infectious disease information and data to disseminate to the community at large. Why suppress science?
The concluding thoughts on this outrageous action by the Trump administration is that science does not go with the message of "the stock market is doing great, so is the economy". Which is sad. Because the reality of the state of affairs is that while the numbers on the stock market fluctuate in response to stimulus checks or COVID-19 vaccine hopes, there are still 22 million people out of work.
Further, as March of 2021 approaches, mortgages or loans which have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic start to become due. If Congress does not act, where will the money come from. As the Christmas holiday approaches and online shopping continues to rise in response to the inability to shop in person, ask yourself "Are Americans really saving for the rough times ahead?" or are they thinking that Congress will act eventually and bail them out?
The story by the Times' clearly indicates that there is a blatant disregard for science in the Trump White House. Further, the CDC could have reduced the overall number of deaths by disseminating the correct message at the right time. President Trump decided that was not the path that was correct for the nation to proceed down. Now, we have nearly 300,000 deaths of Americans and the COVID-19 virus is still ravaging our country.
Let's let science guide us from here on out Mr. President!
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