I found Robert Supansic’s letter “Dealing with public health emergencies” (Jan. 25, TribLIVE), regarding the the U.S. government successfully handling the current and future pandemics, very funny. That would be the U.S. government that succeeded so spectacularly when it brought us:
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ levees in New Orleans and the FEMA Hurricane Katrina response when the levees failed.
• The Big Dig in Boston on time and under budget.
• The Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska.
• NAFTA.
• The Department of Agriculture and our lower food prices.
• The war on illiteracy and public education.
• The war on poverty and public housing, welfare, SNAP, Medicaid, etc.
• Fannie Mae and stability, liquidity and affordability in the nation’s housing finance system under all economic conditions.
• The U.S. Postal Service.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission and the prevention of Madoff, Enron, WorldCom, etc.
• The FBI, CIA and NSA and the prevention of the terrorist attacks in New York, Boston, Orlando, San Bernardino, Boulder, or Fort Hood and Colleyville, Texas.
• The Department of Homeland Security and the prevention of the 2020-21 Black Lives Matter/antifa/Jan. 6 riots.
• Veterans Affairs and VA Hospitals.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigration laws.
• The prohibition of alcohol and the war on drugs and the empowerment of organized crime.
• The Vietnam War.
• The Iraq War
• The Afghanistan withdrawal.
And didn’t everyone enjoy that “Saturday Night Live” skit where AOC came to Florida to date Republicans and caught covid? That show is pretty good at satire.
Dan Sotler
West Palm Beach, Fla.