Hindsight may be 20/20 but this is willful blindness
My last year of service was spent at the tip of Florida as part of a contingent of jet fighters guarding the Southern border. In addition to alerts, both real and imagined, we would be subjected to surprise IG and Command inspections. We prepared for different war scenarios, nuclear and physical attacks. We counted the "dead" from radiation burns, had access to our facility blocked by "explosions", had to cut through fences, etc. We never thought that would happen, but we were trained and prepared.
I'm not surprised that a doomsday scenario concerning a pandemic was ignored. It's the end product from somebody whose job it is to conjure up something that hopefully will never happen and these folks are dealing with the "real" world. Who knows how many of these scenarios and how many topics our leaders are subjected to.
But while it's easy to understand how that happens, it's not something that's easily forgivable after a crisis. If you're going to ignore them, why do them at all? It's prudent practical politics to at least pay attention and have some sort of contingency plan should it happen.
The reality is that hindsight is 20/20. That's when the finger-pointing begins; witness, the warnings the White House received prior to 9/11. It's easy to single out afterwards, the one that was right. The trick is doing it prospectively.
But if there's any excuse for lack of preparation for something ethereal, what has happened in the last 2 months is criminal. It appears about to be exacerbated by more of the president's inanity. It's one thing to ignore doomsday scenarios but ignoring what medical experts tell you is the height of folly and takes no ESP talent to forecast what will happen if this thing goes in the ditch.
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