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Written in conjunction with guest writer LRM.
Less than six months ago, we were ringing in the new year with all the usual optimism, unaware that 2020 would be a year like no other in our lifetime. By New Year’s Eve, however, the seeds of global disaster were already out there, silently and inexorably spreading throughout the world. COVID-19, the Corona virus disease from Wuhan, China, has ravaged much of globe with no end in sight.
Many members of the press and media appear to be the ultimate “monday morning quarterbacks”, especially regarding President Trump. “He should have done this” or he “should have done that” or “why wasn’t such and such done earlier?”, etc. They seem to believe that there was a simple “play book” that was available to guide him, his staff and the CDC, that was foolishly ignored. They imply, disingenuously, that there were “formulas” of some sort that, had the President and CDC followed them, would have mitigated the severity of the pandemic. They suggest there were scientific algorithms that would have “saved” America IF ONLY the President and his staff had followed them. Such critics appear to be unaware that much about the current pandemic is UNPRECEDENTED.
First, COVID-19 BEHAVES differently than most viruses with which modern medicine is familiar. Unlike common cold viruses, or even influenza viruses, COVID-19 has an unusually long asymptomatic prodrome. Many people are infected without being aware that anything is wrong. Some describe mild fatigue or mild sore throat, but the symptoms are so minor that they don’t keep people home in bed, allowing them to spread the virus far and wide. UNPRECEDENTED.
Second, COVID-19 features early viral shedding. Most viruses reach maximum infectivity at the peak of symptoms when people are completely or partially immobilized. COVID-19 is maximally contagious early on when people remain active and mobile allowing it to rapidly spread. UNPRECEDENTED.
Third, COVID-19 remains viable in aerosols for longer than influenza does, thereby making transmission possible without face to face encounters or direct contact. UNPRECEDENTED.
Fourth, COVID-19 behaves very differently than the common cold or even influenza. It has the remarkable ability to produce an unusual condition called “cytokine storm” which is a hyper immune response whereby the body is induced to attack itself. UNPRECEDENTED.
Fifth, COVID-19 treatment requires weeks of ventilatory support in an ICU environment which would be quite unusual for influenza. UNPRECEDENTED.
But, despite all of the unprecedented features of COVID-19, Democrat politicians and their media sycophants are determined to turn the disease into yet ANOTHER referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump. I ask the reader to recall the VERY FIRST THING that Congressional Democrats did in response to the pandemic…. Was it to restrict travel from high risk areas?… No, it wasn’t. Early on, Democrats were full of criticism for the President’s travel bans describing them as “racist” and “xenophobic”…. Was it to mobilize funds for a massive effort to develop vaccines?… No, it wasn’t. Early on, bills were actually introduced in the House of Representatives to proactively legislate against whatever profits a successful vaccine might produce!… Was it to pass legislation demanding truthful information from China?… No, it wasn’t. In fact, all attempts to hold China accountable were labeled “conspiracy theories” and were quickly quashed… No, dear readers, the VERY FIRST THING that Congress did in response to the burgeoning pandemic was… to FORM A COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RESPONSE TO THE VIRUS! That was it! And, ironically, none of the so called “investigators” seemed remotely aware of the possibility that Mr. Trump’s response, good as it was, might have been even better had he not been embroiled in the failed Democrat “impeachment process” that they had foisted upon him and America and which reached its culmination in January, just as the pandemic was catching fire.
And, here we are in May, five months into the pandemic, and the Democrats are STILL treating this pandemic as a political meat clever. They continue to cast ridiculous aspersions at our President’s commendable leadership in this crisis. But all of their supposed “hindsight” is a sham. Despite their claims, COVID-19 came with no “playbook.” There was no algorithm ignored. There was no formula overlooked. These cynosures simply did not exist for this virus. This pandemic was, after all,… UNPRECEDENTED.