Biden Calls for 100 Days of Masking as Trump Considers Mass Pardons
Biden Calls for 100 Days of Masking as Trump Considers Mass Pardons

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Is there any way to speed up the arrival of January 20? Every additional day with Trump in office is a setback to the efforts to survive the coronavirus. President-Elect Biden calls for all Americans to wear masks for 100 days. He also announced that Dr. Fauci will serve an enhanced role in directing the response to the virus. Meanwhile, President Trump is holding maskless holiday parties and reportedly making decisions on whom to pardon before he leaves office. Speculation suggests the pardons will include three of his adult children, Rudy Giuliani, and, of course, himself. As many as 20 pardons are expected.

Biden’s announcement is welcome news. The new president is not going to waste time figuring out a way to take credit for the production and distribution of a vaccine but is mapping out ways to mitigate the spread of the virus before those vaccines are widely available.

Healthcare efforts believe that if the nation were to follow Biden’s directive, hundreds of thousands of infections and perhaps thousands of lives would be saved. That is presidential leadership.

What If the mask requirement were implemented now?

One particularly sad aspect of the Biden announcement is that it did not include a request for the current administration to make the same suggestion. What if we all started wearing masks beginning today rather than on January 20? Given the current national rate of more than 200,000 new infections a day, more than a million infections could be avoided and most likely far more.

Did Biden even ask Trump if he were interested in a joint announcement? That is perhaps a naïve question. Because Trump still believes (or claims to believe) he won the election, cooperating in such a prominent way with Biden is illogical. Thus, an opportunity to save lives is missed.

Expect more from Biden in coming days

President-elect Biden’s mask directive is the first of many actions he will take in coming days and weeks, signaling a fundamental change in White House leadership on the virus. His appointments for the Departments of HHS, Education, and other agencies will be leaders who are ready to lead on the virus. The HHS appointment may be the single most important appointment to his cabinet. His nomination for the Secretary of Education is also pivotal in determining how to reopen schools in a responsible manner.

Expect more nonsense from Trump

All of us should expect more from Trump — more lies, more reckless behavior, and more delusions. We can only hope that he doesn’t do something to make the challenges facing President-elect Biden even worse.
['John Dean']
['Politics', 'Government', 'Biden', 'President', 'Coronavirus']