COVID Update ovember 16: One of the most powerful weapons has sat dormant— the presidential bully pulpit. Here’s how Joe Biden should use it. 1/

“Folks, some people have tried to convince you that COVID-19 is a political matter or something that should tear us apart. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all have our differences but this is one opportunity to show our common humanity. 2/

“I’m not naive. The place you get your news or who your role models is has a greater effect on everything these days. And we have to deal with this— I will do my part by gettin*you objective facts. Good news or bad. You will hear the straight story from me. 3/

“Now you might have given you the impression that COVID and what we do about it can’t affect you or aren’t worth addressing. Or that it’s too hard. Or not that bad. Or the costs of dealing with it are too high. Or that dealing with COVID will hurt the economy. 4/

“These things aren’t true. With a real plan, and your participation, we can absolutely beat this thing. If we each are willing to sacrifice a little, we can prevent more people from paying the ultimate sacrifice. 5/

“Whether you’re a farmowner, a woman who rides the train to work, a youth coach in the suburbs— it impacts all of us and all of us have a part to play. Even you don’t worry you will end up in the ICU, I know none of you want to end up part of a chain that hurts someone else. 6/

“If someone told you you could do one or two things and that would prevent your neighbor from losing their mom or their sister, would you do it. Of course you would do it. That’s the choice we have in front of us now.” 7/

“I told you I would tell you the truth at all times. Well here goes, the next 3-4 months will be the most dangerous in the lie of this pandemic. We could lose the number of people we lost on 9/11 every single day by the end of the year. 8/

“And the past we can’t address. But I’m going to tell you how we can turn it around now. You probably have a nurse or a doctor or a lab tech or an EMT in your family or who lives on your block or down the road. Listen to them. Some are days away from exhaustion & despair.9/

“They’re not asking to be recognized. They’re not afraid of hard work. What really burns them they tell me is when they leave an 18 hour shift and stop for a jug of milk and see a storeful of people without masks. Because they know that means another person & a another vent. 10/

“As long as that’s the case, as long as we have a ‘mandate’ that those folks take care of us, and the grocery clerk, and the farm worker, they have a right not to breathe or breathe.

So I’ll be very blunt. I support a mask mandate. It’s only fair and right. But. But... 11/

“We can’t stop there. I’m not interested in a mandate without your belief in it. So we will be connecting to partners in your community. Rotary clubs, 4 H clubs, Chambers, churches to engage with you in your communities, to listen & talk about the safety issues where you live.12/

They’ll be listening to you talk about these face coverings. About reducing large events & that cause people to get sick in your local community, about your local hospitals, and soon about how to make sure we’re getting vaccines to all the people who need them. 13/

I’m also going to go to Congress as soon as I take office with a proposal to take care of all the small businesses that have to shut due to the pandemic to keep people healthy. Bars, restaurants, gyms— we will make it easier for you to do the right thing. 14/

“I will also ask Congress to pass paid medical leave at a minimum for the length of this emergency, combat pay for health care workers, & unemployment.

It’s unfair to ask anyone to bear the whole burden but if each bare some of the burden and help each other out, we’ll be ok.15/

“And Congress will do it. Because I won’t leave em alone til they do. I will sit down there 24 hours around the clock if I have to. Anyone who says they’re pro health will agree. Anyone who says they’re pro economy will agree. It’s one in the same. 16/

“I’m not asking you to do these things forever. I know you’re tired. I know you want to get back to your lives. Your kids. Your favorite pastimes. If the vaccine data says what will it appears to say, thanks to our scientists we could, and I say could, be a couple steps away. 17/

“We will look at the data and you will get to see it and hear from our finest scientific experts. And then we will discuss openly how we will get it from our factories to your arms in the way that is most fair & saves the most lives. 18/

“In part to make sure you are comfortable, some of the people you trust the most— our nurses and doctors— will be the first to take these vaccines. 19/

“Two more things. I’m well aware that COVID has imposed other costs on us. Mental health, addictions, cancer screenings, blood pressure. We are going to lead a nationwide push in all of these areas & to do this. And we will. 20/

“And we all have losses and we don’t need to rank them. If you lost of a business or a job or school year, that’s as really as any other loss. We’re going to have to build back with a mind towards making all of these things right. 21/

“When the time comes to commemorate our losses we must include everybody. Pain is pain. To move on we will heal. As Americans. We can do this folks. All I’m asking is that we try. We have the power to write the last chapter of this pandemic. 22/

“If we do it right, and I know we can, we will change the legacy of this disease and this country. I give you my word, I will not get a good night’s sleep until we get there and you all feel safe again.” /end