Joe Biden in the campaign held the President responsible for the deaths of 200,000 Americans. Biden supporters agreed, complaining that Mr. Trump's laxity in addressing the coronavirus problem was evident, considering the better results in the rest of the advanced countries.
But the counting isn't over yet folks. Let's look at some recent statistics:
In the U.S. cases are indeed rising moderately but significantly. Of course, as we all are aware, the case count is not the important statistic, and far more telling is the hospitalization rate, and even more important the death rate. Even the death count is a problem since we have precious little information about what associated conditions were also affecting the deceased. However, accepting the death count at face value, not just cases but also deaths in the U.S. are rising modestly over the past 3 weeks.
But how about all the other countries which liberals hold up as models of effective government action and centrally controlled medical systems. Well here are a bunch of countries where the case rate and death rate is rising faster than in the U.S.: U.K., Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and – you get the picture. And, Oh yes, I left out the bestest of the best, Canada. You might notice one European country missing – Sweden, the pariah which ignored all the experts and did not do the forced lockdown and mask wearing. Their cases are rising with all the others. It's hard to avoid since people have increasingly been moving around Europe. Early on they appeared to be paying a price for their renegade strategy, but, unlike the other European countries their death rate over the past 2 months or so is remarkably low, including at present. Over the past 5 days Sweden reports 34 deaths, whereas Italy, which had undergone a very strict lockdown, reports 2,315 over the same period. Italy's population is 6 times that of Sweden, but you do the math. There is a lesson there I think but time will tell.
Looking at the U.S. more specifically, we have somewhat of a mixed bag. The major viral activity began in the New York Metro area, later migrated into the South and has now migrated into the Mid-West and Mountain States. By comparison in Florida, Texas and California the case counts are going up a bit, but the death trend is either stable or continuing down. Perhaps not surprisingly, as they relaxed a bit from their previous more strict lockdowns, there's a recurrence in the Northeast. And guess which Northeast state is having the biggest recurrence, in both cases and deaths, relative to population. None other than New York, the leadership of which has previously been held up as a model of success.
All this is not being said to minimize the severe impact of this epidemic, particularly in older people with chronic illness. Far from it. The illness is continuing to impact the lives of millions, interestingly predominantly in the more advanced Western countries. But the present statistics strongly point out that the charge that the President's response to the virus was lacking and worsened the situation in the U.S. is absolute nonsense. In fact, if one reviews the totality of his actions, which space will not allow, he did a very good job and has saved lives accordingly.
Were mistakes made in the midst of this unexpected, unknown and totally unpredictable situation? Of course they were. On Mr. Trump's part he was guilty of wishful thinking early on, but this feeling did not reflect in his many strong, forceful actions such as one would expect in a man used to solving problems.
But significant mistakes and misjudgments were made by many of our authority figures, including the CDC, the FDA, the WHO, Dr Fauci, and many of the President's political critics such as Speaker Pelosi and Mayor DeBlasio. And who can forget the colossal nursing home error of Governor Cuomo.
In the end President Xi Jinping has taken his revenge on Mr. Trump whose dramatically good economic results were turned to ashes by the Chinese originated virus. The infection has been a giant political gift to the Democrats and they have milked it for all it's worth. In their defense, what they've done is similar to what the Republicans most certainly would have done had it happened during the Obama administration. I can't excuse the major media so lightly. In this crisis they have totally failed us.
By the way, anyone who wants to take the trouble to investigate all this data can find it primarily at:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=coronavirus+trends&cvid=e01e34b607294eb1a2cdc3c29fd954cf&FORM=ANSPA1&PC=U531
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