for.

Welcome to the commentary magazine Daily Podcast. Today is ordinarily tax day April 15th 2020,

but of course no one is paying their taxes today. I am John Pajor. It's the editor of

Commentary with me as always senior editor Abe Greenwald. Hi Abe. Hi John.

I'm your writer Christine Rosen. Hi Christine. Hi John. And associate editor Noah Rothman. Hi

Noah. Who paid and filed in full like a boob. Hi John. You know what? You're not a boob. You're

just a good and responsible citizen. I can take you a boob and join us today.

Podcast or veteran journalist editor of several magazines freelance author James B. Meigs

who has an article in the which you can read right now on the commentary magazine website in

from our May issue though right now if you look at the website it says it's in the April issue so just

bear with us called Elite Panic versus the resilient populist Jim welcome to the commentary

magazine Daily Podcast. Great to be here long time listener. Oh thank you.

So we are the big news last night and we will sort of get to this tomorrow on tomorrow's

podcast I think because it deserves a long discussion of its own but was Donald Trump suspending

the American contribution to the World Health Organization pending a review of its conduct

in the early very early stages of the pandemic refusing to declare an emergency due to the outbreak in

China accepting Chinese propaganda. Uncritically defending China against the idea that perhaps

something was going on untoward not not trying to figure out what was going on with healthcare

professionals who were sounding the alarm in Wuhan and all of that and predictably Trump's call

was met with the Pavlovian response of his antagonists that this was a terrible crime although people

people did seem to be acknowledging at least where I saw it on social media that yes the WHO's

response was flawed and it's a flawed agency and we really need to examine its flaws but this is

...