Post # 149, Bob McKnight's Florida Commentary
Trump knew nothing about public health, and had no interest in learning anything about it. He suspected the virus was orchestrated by the Democrats or Washington Bureaucrats to defeat what he thought was his certain re-election. He decided to hide as much information about the deadly virus as possible, thinking he could just ride it out through his re-election in November by lying to the American people about it. Approximately 300,000 died by the election. Trump guessed wrong.
Every 4 years, there are many issues considered during a Presidential Election. Among them in this year's Presidential election:
Continued fighting with Americans in harm's way in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Resolution of the Affordable Care Act (Health Care).
Record unemployment of 7.9%.
Civil unrest, particularly among minorities.
White flight from and deterioration within public schools
Rise of white supremacy groups.
Loss of American standing in the free world.
Ignorance of science in Global Warming.
Lack of civility and cooperation in the U.S. Congress.
Acceptance of crimes, dishonesty and not telling the truth at the highest levels of government.
A record breaking stock market.
Deregulation of environmental standards.
Dismantling Virus Protection Unit in the White House, yet record breaking approval of Covid-19 Vaccine.
There are more issues, but when you look at these and compare them to
the Covid-19 virus, it is very clear the Pandemic was the dominant issue in the Presidential campaign. In less than a year, 300,000 Americans have died, most medical professionals say unnecessarily. The deaths and untold billions spent on caring for those carrying the virus make it the greatest destruction of Americans that we have ever witnessed. The total is more than any of our wars. Untold billions were lost in Gross National Product in 2020. The plague is still with us and it is getting worse as of this writing.
So, I would argue the Covid-19 Pandemic is the issue that decided the 2020 Presidential election--how it happened, who was responsible, and now what can be done going forward. Here are the answers to the three questions:
How did it happen? It was a flu released from China. The Obama-Biden Administration knew it could happen and actually had planned for it. But the Trump Administration did nothing about the planning (actually tried to keep information about Covid from the American people) and deliberately downplayed the event as confirmed to author Bob Woodward in his new book, Fear. Donald Trump tried to hide the deadly virus thinking it would hurt his re-election. His ignorance of science and failure to act in accordance to protocols caused the virus to spread out of control, according to Woodward and many medical professionals.
Who was responsible? In the world, China. In the United States, President Donald Trump.
What Can Be Done? President-Elect Biden has a detailed plan including wearing masks, social distancing, physical hygiene, and seems to be taking the Pandemic seriously. President Trump says his action fighting the virus was perfect, and "it will just go away."
A majority of the American people agreed with President-Elect Biden in his election as President in 2020.