Digby’s absolutely right about Leonhardt’s article in the NY Times today that attempts to analyze the failure of the United States re: Covid-19. Most of it does have to to do with Trump’s incompetence. And a considerable amount also has to do with a cult mentality around Trump, not the radical individualism that Leonhardt posits. And Leonhardt also missed another reason for the failure of the US which is only tangentially related to Trump’s incompetence.
Trump’s comprehensive corruption directly led to the failure of the American pandemic response. The full story of how supplies were diverted to try to boost his re-election chances hasn’t yet been told. Nor the complete story of how Kushner’s pals and others from the Trump family’s inner circle profited mightily from this awful tragedy. But when it comes out, even the most cynical of us Trump watchers will be utterly appalled.