“Never cross a river that is
on average four feet deep.”
Essayist and statistician
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, quoted
in The Times (U.K.)
“When you grow up, who
you were as a teenager
either takes on a mythical
importance or it’s com-
pletely laughable.”
Novelist Julie Buntin, quoted
in Shondaland.com
“Happy endings can
spring a leak / ‘Ever after’
can mean one week.”
Stephen Sondheim, quoted in
The New York Times
“Don’t be ‘consistent,’
but be simply true.”
Physician and poet Oliver
Wendell Holmes Sr., quoted in
the Associated Press
“Work for something
because it is good, not just
because it stands
a chance to succeed.”
Former Czech President Vaclav
Havel, quoted in Tricycle.org
“I long ago came to
the conclusion that all life
is 6 to 5 against.”
Writer Damon Runyon, quoted
in The New York Times
“It is very strange that
the years teach us
patience—that the shorter
our time, the greater our
capacity for waiting.”
Novelist Elizabeth Taylor,
quoted in NewsweekTalking points
Wit &
Wisdom
AP
NEWS 17
Poll watch
QJust 37% of Ameri-
cans say they trust what
President Trump is saying
about the coronavirus,
while 60% say they have
little or no trust. 74% of
Republicans, however,
say they trust Trump.
NPR/PBS NewsHour/MaristQ46% of Americans say
they have had to use their
savings or retirement
funds to pay for health-
care costs, and 46% have
had to borrow money
from friends or family.
NBC News/Commonwealth
FundHospitals: A dire shortage of beds
Across America, nervous
hospital officials are “tak-
ing stock,” said Christopher
Rowland and Ariana Eunjung
Cha in The Washington Post.
They are “tallying hospital
beds” and intensive-care units,
respirators and protective
gear. They’re “squeezing extra
beds into break rooms and
physical therapy gyms” and
“erecting triage tents” outside
their emergency rooms. They
know that the management of for-profit hospitals
has spent years cutting their supplies and bed
capacity in the name of efficiency, so if the novel
coronavirus were to spread in this country with
the speed and in the numbers it has in Iran, Italy,
and China, they will soon be overwhelmed.“It’s a simple matter of math,” said William Wan,
also in the Post. American hospitals have, in
total, about a million beds, fewer than 160,
ventilators, 64,000 adult ICU units, and a finite
number of doctors and hospital staff. Assuming
even a moderate rate of novel coronavirus infec-
tion would imply that 1 million people will need
hospitalization and another 200,000 will require
ICU-level care, according to Johns Hopkins
Center for Health Security. And, remember, two-
thirds of those beds are already occupied at any
given time with the regular patient flow. Whenasked this week about the
number of ventilators in the
U.S., said Adam Weinstein in
NewRepublic.com, Health
and Human Services Secre-
tary Alex Azar said it was
“classified” for “national
security” reasons. Trump,
meanwhile, told governors to
hunt for ventilators on their
own. Rather than level with
Americans about what we
are facing, the Trump admin-
istration is still stonewalling “to conceal its own
incompetence.”The paucity of equipment may mean doctors
will face “horrendously wrenching” choices in
the days ahead, said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel in The
New York Times. With too little of everything,
physicians will have no choice but to ration what
is available among those most likely to survive.
The tragedy of a pandemic is that “some will
go without”—and be left to die. You’re already
seeing this nightmare scenario play out in Italy,
said Jason Horowitz, also in the Times. In the
country’s hard-hit northern region around Milan,
hospitals are turning away elderly patients with
pneumonia and parking the sick in hallways to
await care, while exhausted staff are collapsing at
their posts. It’s a “grim glimpse” of what may lie
ahead for Americans.With Joe Biden having all but locked down the
Democratic presidential nomination, eyes are
turning to “the biggest consolation prize in Ameri-
can politics: the vice presidency,” said Lisa Lerer
and Reid Epstein in The New York Times. Biden’s
pledge this week to pick a woman narrowed
the field, but plenty of names are being floated.
Among them are some obvious choices—Biden’s
former primary rivals Sens. Elizabeth Warren,
Amy Klobuchar, and Kamala Harris—and less
obvious ones, including former Deputy Attorney
General Sally Yates, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of
Michigan, former Georgia House minority leader
and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams,
and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
The stakes are especially high, said Ryan Teague
Beckwith and Jennifer Epstein in Bloomberg.com.
Given that Biden will be 78 if elected, his pick
could be the Democrats’ front-runner in 2024 if
Biden were to serve a single term.Elizabeth Warren is clearly the best choice, said
Jonathan Zimmerman in the New York Daily
News. To prevent a replay of the Democrats’
2016 “debacle,” Biden needs someone with “the
progressive credentials to bring Sanders voters to
the polls.” She’s the one who can inspire them.Abrams is beloved by progressives, but Warren
has far more experience. Aiming left is a mistake,
said Henry Olsen in The Washington Post. Trying
to appease Sanders’ young socialists risks scaring
off the voters Biden needs most: the blue-collar
Democrats and moderate suburban women who
defected to Donald Trump in 2016. He needs a
traditional center-left Democrat who could help
him win the Midwest and reinforce “Biden’s mes-
sage of national healing.” That’s Amy Klobuchar.Among Biden’s former competitors, Kamala Har-
ris is “easily the strongest choice,” said Damon
Linker in TheWeek.com. The former state attor-
ney general has “a sterling résumé” and “exudes
energy and compassion,” and as the daughter of
a Jamaican-American father and Indian-American
mother, “she’d reflect the reality of an increas-
ingly multicultural America better than just
about anyone.” Biden can do even better, though:
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico,
who has experience as a legislator and chief execu-
tive, a compelling biography, and the “potential
to woo Hispanic voters.” Several governors and
big-city mayors are also possible choices, said Fred
Hiatt in The Washington Post. When it comes to
possible No. 2s, “the political universe is wide.”Biden’s VP choice: Who will it be?
Testing staff at a Michigan hospital