(See Part I: The Democrats’ Coronavirus Gambit Is Working)
Part II of III
Science matters, and the nature of science is to theorize, test and reevaluate when additional data presents itself. But medical science is not the end of all things. Politicians are elected to lead, not follow. Moreover, to take extreme measures – measures unprecedented in modern America – and apply them indiscriminately over a broad territory, as with a state, is devoid of scientific support, even critical reasoning. There was never justification to believe masses living in areas untouched by the virus would quickly perish from it, yet there have even been calls to ‘lockdown’ the entire country, to send everybody home.[1] Why? Because there was an outbreak in New York City? What does that have to do with Iowa? Would New York have shut down if the COVID-19 outbreak began in Des Moines? Would the country? Would Mexico? Would Guatemala? Where should it stop?
Voters, in contrast to the implications of administrative technocrats who may favor easier one-size-fits-all solutions from above, are aware that their own situations vary, that they do not all live in places like New York City. In truth, were a virus of any sort to break out, New York would be the ideal place for it to thrive. The city is an international hub for travelers, has an ultra-dense population where inhabitants live somewhat literally on top of one another, there is an unclean population of homeless on the streets, questionable sanitation levels persist and residents travel underground in crowded train cars.[2] There is, essentially, nowhere else in the country quite like it. What occurred in New York – a city which happens to home much of the nation’s national media, a media that sets to story – was never representative of the real threat to others. Despite any promotion of fear, that one’s hometown would be the next New York, observant and considerate Americans recognized this disconnect – even if unconsciously – and continued to live their lives with a preference for minimal interference and disruption.
Yet beyond the gubernatorial edicts, many Democrats began to call for a national mask mandate, once again, missing the mark. It is not that masks are completely ineffective, but there is insufficient medical science for it to be applied to areas devoid of threat, not to mention the lack of legal grounds to enact such a mandate. Biden, though finally relenting in recognition that there is no Constitutional basis for it, even suggested he would institute such an order as president.[3] (Note: Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans. It is estimated that 200,000 die every year from air pollution.[4] Why have Americans not been required to wear masks to prevent this similar annual loss?)
It is easy to simply say everything coronavirus occurred on Trump’s watch, therefore, he is to blame. But it is also lazy, and dismissive of its foreign origin, China.[5] It did occur, but that does not mean it was his sole responsibility. His federal approach, to respect the tenth amendment and defer to states to address their constituents’ needs, is a typical republican response, the common ‘what is good for your family is good for yours, not necessarily your neighbor’s.’ He has, however, utilized the Defense Production Act,[6] accelerated the delivery and stockpiling of ventilators,[7] streamlined the vaccine process though project Warp Speed[8] and reworking regulations[9] – a more business-friendly course of action that would have been less assured under a Democratic administration that favors regulation – and marshalled resources to other nations,[10] a combined effort not seen since World War II (WWII). Has his plan been sufficient? Voters will decide that, and they should have the facts, but they should also have the context, which both major parties have failed to deliver.
Conversely, it is easy to say the virus came from China, that none of this would have occurred had it never left the shores of Asia so irresponsibly, had the WHO, rather than advise against travel restrictions from China,[11] issued an earlier warning about the threat. That is also true, but it is equally dismissive. It is here, and America must deal with it.
But if a society is to apply science to its approach to a pandemic, which few would argue against, it should be done in whole, not in part. Protecting the vulnerable is critical, but unnecessarily oppressing everybody else is punitive. The sad truth is that the most vulnerable are the elderly, due to the biological consequences of the immutable characteristic of age, and those with pre-existing health conditions, which are often the results of life choices. Relatively few healthy individuals have perished from COVID-19, which, in part due to improvements to treatment,[12] has an overall survival rate greater than 99%.[13] Those with obesity; however, are disproportionately affected by the virus.[14] (Note: the combination of the high concentration of minorities in urban areas,[15] which have been more impacted by the virus, and greater rate of obesity in minority communities,[16] will likely prove to largely explain the disproportionately higher rate of COVID-19 deaths in these same communities.[17])
For decades, patients have been consistently advised to stay healthy by controlling their weight, yet Americans have continued to gain weight, as measured by Body Mass Index (BMI),[18] and even accelerated weight gain during the pandemic.[19] Despite the risk, they knowingly made choices that made them unhealthy. Unfortunately, though the significant risks that accompany overweight and obese conditions have been largely acknowledged to include a decrease in life expectancy,[20] the coronavirus has made those choices a start, immediate, consequential set of many Americans’ decisions.
Americans have long-ignored the medical science calling for proper diet and activity, and they continue to largely ignore the science today, even while directly facing the consequences of those decisions with the virus on everybody’s mind. Why? Americans live by personal choice, the product of their liberty. The recommendations of medical science did not begin to matter with coronavirus, yet many seem to be behaving as if it did. Had the experts been followed for decades, the statistics suggest America’s casualty rates would be significantly lower. But Americans like their options, they like their lifestyles, and they opted to predispose themselves to harm. Unfortunately, there are, as always, consequences to choices. Coronavirus has presented that potential harm as an unavoidable reality.
Irrespective of American predispositions, as the pandemic continues, the party without the presidency benefits more politically from the lack of a vaccine, the crushing economic restrictions and the impact to liberty, all which have disrupted the free nature of American lives. This has left a population vulnerable and an alternative leader more attractive, irrespective of who that candidate is. Consequently, the election has been framed as a referendum on Trump’s coronavirus response.
Democrats have plenty of arguments to make their case. They are correct that the US represents about 20% of the reported COVID-19 deaths worldwide whilst only having about 5% of the world’s population.[21] Lost in such comparisons is that the same free and industrious nature that has resisted restrictive measures is also responsible for producing about 15% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).[22] They are correct that the impact to joblessness may be the worst since the Great Depression,[23] to liken the crisis to WWII, that Trump could become the only modern president to leave office with fewer Americans employed than we he arrived.[24] Lost in such comparisons is the American resiliency, that the job loss was artificially initiated by government actions, that the economy has rebounded with unexpected apace during the crisis[25] and that no wartime president has ever been voted out of office.[26]
Have Democrats provided fair representations of cause when confronted with history, facts, reason and the American spirit?
(See Part III: Republicans Failed to Define the Price of Freedom)
[1] Yusra Murad, As Trump Eyes Restarting Economy, Nearly 3 in 4 Voters Support National Quarantine, (Morning Consult, 2020)
[2] Drew Armstrong, Henry Goldman and Keshia Clukey, Why Was New York Hit So Badly With Covid 19? (Bloomberg, 2020)
[3] Tyler Olson, Biden changes answer on national mask mandate authority again, says he would not have power to enforce it, (Fox News, 2020)
[4] Rosie McCall, Around 200,000 Americans Die Every Year From Air Pollution That Meets EPA Standard, (Newsweek, 2019)
[5] Charlie Campbell, Yunnan Yuxi and Alice Park, Inside the Global Quest to Trace The Origins of COVID-19 – and Predict Where It Will Go Next, (Time, 2020)
[6] Trump Administration Uses Defense Production Act to Aid Our Most Vulnerable, (Health and Human Services, 2020)
[7] Michael Biesecker, HHS canceling ventilator contracts, says stockpile is full, (AP News, 2020)
[8] Fact Sheet: Explaining Operation Warp Speed, (Health and Human Services, 2020)
[9] Nina Owcharenko Schaefer, Removing Obstacles, Cutting Red Tape, and Staying Flexible in Responding to COVID-19, (The Heritage Foundation, 2020)
[10] Lisa Lambert and Gustavo Palencia, Trump says U.S. sending ventilators, coronavirus help to Latin America, Asia, (Reuters, 2020)
[11] Novel Coronavirus – China, (World Health Organization, 2020)
[12] George Brumfiel, Studies Point To Big Drop In COVID-19 Death Rates, (NPR, 2020)
[13] Ariana Eunjung Cha, Loveday Morris and Michael Birnbaum, Covid-19 death rates are lower worldwide, but no one is sure whether that’s a blip or a trend, (The Washington Post, 2020)
[14] Meredith Wadman, Why COVID-19 is more deadly in people with obesity – even if they’re young, (Science, 2020)
[15] Kim Parker, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Anna Brown, Richard Fry, D’vera Cohn and Ruth Igielnik, Demographic and economic trends in urban, suburban and rural communities, (Pew Research Center, 2020)
[16] Obesity is a common, serious, and costly disease, (CDC, 2020)
[17] Hospitalization and Death by Race/Ethnicity, (CDC, 2020)
[18] Selected health conditions and risk factors, by age: United States, selected years, 1988-1994, through 2015-2016, (CDC, 2018)
[19] Cortney Moore, Coronavirus prompts double-digit weight gain for Americans under lockdown, (Fox Business, 2020)
[20] E.J. Mundell, Here’s More Evidence Obesity Can Shorten Your Life, (WebMD, 2018)
[21] Bill Chappell, ‘Enormous And Tragic’: U.S. Has Lost More Than 200,000 People To COVID-19, (NPR, 2020)
[22] H. Plecher, United States share of global gross domestic product (GDP) 2024, (Statista, 2020)
[23] Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, U.S. unemployment rate soars to 14.7 percent, the worst since the Depression era, (The Washington Post, 2020)
[24] Jay Heflin, Biden says Trump will be first president to leave office with fewer jobs than when he started, (MSN, 2020)
[25] America’s economy is recovering faster than expected, (The Economist, 2020)
[26] Important to Remember: No Wartime President Has Been Defeated for Reelection! (The Progressive Professor, 2012)
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