I choose #10 today :)

widespread testing and case tracking, adequate supplies of protective gear for health care workers and the use of nonmedical masks by the public.

Does this not describe the South Korean response to the pandemic? And look at their numbers.

We're the best, right? The greatest, right? The most industrially advanced, right? In what way are we any of these things if we have failed to meet each of the criteria listed in the quote?

This virus was not uniquely virulent, nor uniquely deadly. It could have been worse. It could have been a virus with higher mortality. All of this was foreseeable. Pre-pandemic we were like the drunk driver who never got caught. We were lucky, but our luck was bound to run out. Every intelligent person knew it. Biosecurity experts knew it. And yet, we were grossly unprepared.

There is no excuse for the incompetence of elected leaders, those responsible for insuring public safety. This is, after all, the primary responsibility of government. People join together and elect leaders for common security. Our government has failed abysmally in this basic function.

Thanks so much for giving me a place to rant :))