First a hunch, now a travel ban
Re “Trump halts travel over virus,” March 12
A week before President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office about the coronavirus, he urged us to go to work and expressed his “hunch” that the virus would just go away.
Now that it is evident that this is a serious problem, he is listening to scientists. Hopefully, this signals that he will start admitting when experts know more than he does and allowing them to help make decisions that will save lives.
Unfortunately this is just not who our president is, and he is not likely to change his behavior. Trump’s conduct emphasizes how important it is for us to elect leaders who will act in the best interest of the country and not just a few people.
When the coronavirus was beginning to spread in the United States, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh said on his radio program that COVID-19, the disease it causes, was like the common cold. The president had downplayed the coronavirus up until his Oval Office address.
Now, we are in panic mode. We need to put political differences aside and listen to the real experts.
EDWARD A. SUSSMAN
Fountain Valley
When addressing the nation at a time of crisis, American presidents have historically risen to the occasion and projected to the people a sense of preparedness, decisiveness, resolve and empathy. Think of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, Franklin D. Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor and George W. Bush after 9/11.
Trump’s speech to the nation, on the other hand, reminded me of a hostage being forced to read a script.
This is a man who seems incapable of feeling empathy and cannot understand and appreciate the fears and concerns, both medically and economically, of most Americans regarding the coronavirus. Trump views everything through the lens of how it affects him and who can he blame if anything goes wrong.
A wise person once said, “Crisis doesn’t change people; it reveals them.”
GARY VOGT
Menifee
Iceland, like Great Britain and Ireland, is an island. There are fewer cases of COVID-19 in Iceland, and fewer deaths. There is no “chunnel” connecting Iceland to continental Europe.
So, why is Iceland included in the travel ban between most European countries and the United States, while Great Britain and Ireland are not? Could it possibly be that there are three Trump golf properties in those countries?
BRIAN LIPSON
Beverly Hills