Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor, Matt Cortina Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Special Editions Editor, Michael J. Casey Adventure Editor, Emma Athena Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Paul Danish, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Josh Schlossberg, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Graphic Designer, Daisy Bauer CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer Cover photo, Marsha Steckling May 21, 2020 Volume XXVII, Number 40 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2020 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.
Boulder Weekly
welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.
BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
Self-deception and hidden agendas during the pandemic by Dave Anderson
T
he pandemic is challenging governments around the world. However, the Trump administration’s response stands out as monumentally incompetent and corrupt. There was plenty of advance warning, and the U.S. government spends billions on disaster preparedness. In previous health crises, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was the most prominent voice of the federal government. Now it is sidelined while Trump confuses everybody with misinformation, lies and bullshit. Now Trump speaks of the pandemic in the past tense and says the economy should “re-open” while public health experts express serious worries, I
if not alarm. The media reports both viewpoints equally. That’s a problem. Jason Linkins, deputy editor of The New Republic, notes: “... If this pandemic were happening somewhere else — confined to a foreign country or a computer simulation — the media would likely treat the matter with factual clarity. But the moment the coronavirus hit our shores, it got subsumed within our dumb politics, and from there, into a media infrastructure that’s built on the notion that the best way to cover ‘politics’ is to retreat to a neutral point of view, disregard the idea that there are objectively correct and incorrect positions, and instead, through an absorbing interest in ‘optics’ and ‘messaging,’ MAY 21, 2020
choose winners and losers.” The Rev. William J. Barber II says the Trump administration is engaging in “public policy mass murder.” He is a cochair of The Poor People’s Campaign, a progressive grassroots group that is urging resistance to or noncooperation with state plans to “reopen” the economy. The campaign is calling on Congress, the president and state governments to follow the advice of public health experts to protect the many employees who can’t work from home. They are disproportionately uninsured, low-wage laborers. Even before the pandemic, the campaign demanded that the government provide health care and paid sick leave for all. Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor for three decades, believes that Trump will have to face a number of gross negligence suits once he leaves office. “I actually think he will see see THE ANDERSON FILES Page 6
I
5
