Items

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  2020-08-03

  Thank You Mr. President

  As a teacher I have witnessed quite a large debate playing out at school board meetings, over social media, and across the dinner table about whether or not schools should reopen for the fall semester. Perhaps one of the most compelling arguments I have seen is this recent tweet from President Trump. This description is very much full of sarcasm. Please, for the love of all humanity, consider the common good. Teachers want to go back to school but we want to do it safely. For right now, we need to be ok with teaching online. It's not ideal but we can make it work.
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  2020-06-25

  Trump shifts from case count to death count and assures no second lockdown

  Trump shifts narrative from cases going down to mortality rate dropping as US hits new daily case record. The President also highlights the "economy roaring back" as the nation reopens and notes that "embers will be put out" in regard to flare ups. Trump also highlights that there will be no second lock down in America. I felt this tweet was important mainly for the narrative shift and the no second lockdown decision. I have noticed a new pattern emerge in government discussion of the pandemic in that the narrative has been switched to focusing on the low mortality rate to reconcile with the massive spike in cases. This new tone differs from the previous one which focused on the low case count when the cases were much lower. However, the most important part of the tweet was the assurance of no second lockdown. This has large scale implications for the short and long term future of the pandemic in the US, like the lessened likelihood of future stimulus checks and other federal assistance and the lessened likelihood of national cases dropping anytime soon.