Without compelling evidence, such as a whistleblower or document or communication, can we say with any certainty that Politics has overruled Medicine by shutting America down in 2020?
Short Answer: Yes.
The easiest way to explain the optics is to simply ask if virtually shutting America down in 2020 when fewer than 50 have died in the America (as of Midday, Mar 14, 2020) has been a medical necessity, as the political party out of power insists should be done, then why, when the same party was in power in 2009- 2010 when the H1N1 virus struck America nothing even remotely similar was attempted to combat this:
(Dateline June 11, 2019 from the CD)· From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (range: 8868-18,306) in the United States due to the (H1N1) virus.
This occurred (you can look it up) in a national environment where the airwaves were nearly a vacuum, no chronicling of the mounting death tolls. As you can see from the estimate range, there was only about a 50% range for knowing who the virus had actually attacked, hospitalized, or even killed. (One of the first things our president, the one who is in charge now, said at his March 13 presser, was that they would have a more accurate method of identifying the disease when it strikes. No if’s, and’s or maybe’s.)
There were no calls from the media, the people (even the screeching wing of the dominant party and their usual harbingers of death), nor the states and cities, Blue or Red, screaming “Do something!”. 13,000 people, or was it 30,000?, just stepped out of their regular line for passing away and moved to the front of the line and passed away a little bit early. And no one paid their passing any more never mind than had they been a sad traffic fatality in another state, duly recorded by a local obituary.
Nor were there demands from the political class, especially the in-power party.
In 2009 (thru 2016) the other national party controlled all three wings of government, Executive, Congress and the Judiciary, and was on the friendliest of terms with the national media. Yet in the 12 month period just described, and beyond, as the H1N1 virus stayed with us longer (Unofficial numbers range higher) no alarm was ever raised. No signal was ever sent out. Major League Baseball, whose season had just started, well…went ahead and started, as did football and then basketball, each in their seasonal turn as year 2010 passed. Schools didn’t close, nor were there runs on the grocery stores.
There was even an election that year, midterms, and the national-party-in-control lost control of one of its wings of Congress. No one of the people-in-the-know class has ever drawn any linkage.
But now it’s 2020, and almost all of America has been shut down and sheltered in place after only less then two months notice of this new virus’, Corona, arrival.
Can it be that much worse than H1N1?
Well, some say yes, much worse, capable of killing millions. Hundreds of thousands. I’m not a scientist, so who am I to say this isn’t so? But those who are saying so are the same who say we’re all going to die within ten years unless we stop using fossil fuels so that people who have a net worth of less than 10 million dollars can no longer fly on aircraft.
The Rose Bowl had its first game in Pasadena in 1903. It was played on in the midst of the “Spanish Flu” at the end of World War I, killing approximately 675,000 Americans. There was a 1916, 1917, 1918, and 1920 Rose Bowl as well.
Since then, we’ve seen the rise of national sports; baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer, car racing, and all have huge followings, in the millions annually, both at the arena, but most off all, for millions more fans, on radio and television.
In all those years, over a century now, no influenza or even war, could shut down these national pastimes. There were a couple of strikes, and boy, did the leagues pay hell for those. Weather caused a few cancellations and several reschedules, and the fans went home a little miffed.
But nothing like this.
Of course it’s political.
Why? One word. Trump.
Well, actually two more: His base.
But to understand this, you have to take into consideration how Donald Trump has upset a lot of notions we have about government in general. We need to pause and reflect.
For the past 50 years at least the growing enemy of the people has been the central government of the United States. Our last three national elections has been that very one issue at the top.
It’s been this way for at least 80, but only come to ordinary Americans’ attention since the Vietnam War. Since the late 60’s its been a slow drip, drip, drip, that with every good guy we put in there and who takes one step forward their next guy takes us two steps back. Ronald Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union, but virtually every other good thing he did was either stolen by the Democrats (the economic good times) or forgotten (era of good will). With 16 years of Clinton and Obama, separated by barely a half-step forward in the 8 years of George W Bush, the people had largely given up on the federal government. It had become the People’s Enemy personified.
Of course, we are now fully engaged with that part of the government now. It will take several more years to clean that up. (My constant reminder.)
What we are seeing now with this virus initiative is part organic and part choreographed. On America’s east coast storm watchers tell media of an approaching storm, media tells people of an approaching hurricane, and people rush the stores to store up for a week-long siege. Even if the storm turns out to be a fizzle. Major storm, just a lot of rain, or miraculously turned south at the last day, the siege-thinking remains, every cellphone tuned to the local weather alerts, and social media to all the sages of Climate Change, disaster and mayhem. A slippery street, two-car pile up at an intersection can turn into a major news story if there is media or political face to be saved, or a dismissive politician to be roasted if he/she over-reacted, or under-reacted to their official warnings.
But a national disaster doesn’t come along just everyday. And of course, short of a meteor bearing down on the eastern half or the left coast of Americs, the only national disaster, short of nuclear war, is a wild-fire disease burning across the country.
Only we had one just ten years ago, only no one paid attention, while, cited about from 43.3-89.3 million were afflicted, 274,304 hospitalized (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths, range: 8868-18,306.
But in 2009 Americans did not collectively rush the stores, stock up on hand sanitizer and toilet paper, or shelter-in-place,
This was in part because our government at the top didn’t tell us to. Nor did our state and local governments. And we used our own common sense. There was no ground zero, like a Katrina, so there was no place for the media to turn their cameras. The universities didn’t cancel tests and send students home. And they didn’t cancel their athletic programs.
Now, instead, since they form the great chain of information circulating about in the “imperial middle”, from the governor’s office to the university presidents’ office, to the respective league offices, they cancelled everything.
All because…they are no longer in charge in the Front Office.
We have been in charge for nearly four years now. It’s our choice that has been up on the horse, and in an effort to make him look ineffective, but also to punish us for putting him up there, the Imperial Middle decided to deprive all the working class Americans their vicarious pleasures such as watching Virginia defend its national championship, Tiger make another run at the Masters, Denny Hamblin win another 500, and maybe see whether the Astros can win without cheating.
That’s all done this year. And there’s no getting it back. And I’m stuck watching old Dale Robertson Wells Fargo reruns until summer, it seems.
I’m not sure how this virus will turns out. There is medicine involved that no politics can control. But I’m a betting man. We’re only at the front 90-days of a disease that normally takes a year to run its course. And it seems our Front Office (the part we’re in charge of) was quick to shut the border. It was also very quick to forge alliances with some American corporations, retailers, labs, research, about things that were never even contemplated in 2009-10 (probably in fear of offending the Chinese and their corporatist partners here).
That may have stifled the broader political plan by the other side of trying to govern from the Imperial Middle.
What we can assume is that there won’t be a 200% under-over estimate of how many people actually caught this virus, versus the ordinary seasonal flu, how many were hospitalized and how many died.
It will be very difficult for the Middle managers to jerry-rig the numbers with this system.
And if it turns out that this Wuhan Virus turns out to have been a fizzle versus the hype the lawyers-cum-sports executives at the NCAA, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA, NASCAR, may all find themselves looking for work in their near future. Professional team owners who were able to ride this storm out because “they had insurance” for a season’s closing, may find the property value of their teams has fallen dramatically. And their wives invited to fewere gala openings. And university presidents who close the link between the NCAA and individual teams and conferences, especially if paid by taxpayers who had to sit out a season because of this dalliance with the Imperial Middle, they too may consider retirement. Voters have been taking aim at several of their teaching departments already.
Yes, it is political. And with each passing month, we are getting better at knowing how to handle it.
