It is interesting to observe some of the things I predicted would happen have taken place. If we did a better job of protecting the elderly and others with underlying conditions, I said we could reopen the country without causing a massive death toll. Younger and healthier people may get the coronavirus in higher numbers, but very few would die. Most of the country has now been opening up. Protecting the vulnerable has been better. Also, people at risk and those close to them are more aware and have taken proper actions. Mask wearing other PPE use around the vulnerable has dramatically expanded. Even Gov. Cuomo now seems to recognize nursing homes must be protected. We still haven’t taken all the measures I proposed, but we have made progress. If better-targeted protections didn’t reduce mortality, then increasing confirmed cases would lead to increased deaths. This chart shows otherwise. Cases have significantly increased, but as I predicted, fatalities haven’t.

Early on, I also wondered why mask-wearing, especially where vulnerable people are present, wasn’t at least encouraged. Even though masks were widely worn in Asia where they had better outcomes, it wasn’t until April 3. The CDC reversed itself and favored masks. There was a shortage of medical gear, but the CDC in April encouraged homemade masks. Peop[e responded. Nothing prevented earlier adoption. This waffling by the authorities has led to needless controversy. Until now, our President seemed to resist wearing a mask. He should’ve set the right example. Can we all agree to wear a mask whenever you might be near an at-risk person? You may save your grandma.

Our failure to do targeted things to protect the at-risk early on has caused needless deaths. Now that more is being done, the results are evident. The better job we do protect the at-risk, the lower the number of deaths. That was always the choice. Not the false one of lives vs. the economy expounded by so many of our leaders.

n my posts at the time of the Ferguson, Mo in 2014 riots after the death of Michael Brown, I warned of the “Ferguson Effect.” If the police were placed in a no-win situation, they would be much less aggressive. This would result in rising crime and murder rates in lower-income areas. The statistics since have borne this out. Rather than recognizing more deprived regions anywhere in the world need more not less police presence, the police are demonized. Instead of striving for a workable community balance to improve the lives in higher crime areas, we have gone in the opposite direction. By disrespecting policing to the point of defunding, the predicable rise in minority deaths is already occurring. This will only get worse. We will see even more Blacks’ lives lost. We are endlessly told “Black Lives Matter,” but do they? To whom?

In my August 27,2017 post “Monuments”, I pointed out virtually everyone has a resentment against someone or something. If we start tearing down everything causing someone discomfort, there will be no end to it. At the time, few saw it this way. One was President Trump. He asked at the time, “Is it George Washington next week, and is Thomas Jefferson the following week?” You have to ask yourself where, does it stop?” Now we know, for many, it doesn’t. I’m not often a fan of the President. Here he echoed Nelson Mandela, who said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” He went on to say, “It is easy to breakdown and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.”

Most people had never heard of Antifa before Charlottesville. In my August 21, 2017 post of that name, I explained Antifa was basically the communist’s street gang answer to the street fighting Nazi at the end of the Weimar Republic era. Whether the Communists or the Nazis won, the German people were bound to lose. That they have violently appeared on our streets is an ominous sign. Like the Weimar Republic, are we slipping towards authoritarianism? If you don’t think so, ask yourself what you are afraid to say out loud today, you would say without fear ten years ago? Are we less free? Is it getting worse?

Nations fail through a lack of leadership, leading to institutional failure. In my series on “The Future Party,” I noted our present two-party system was unable to provide decent guidance and needed to be challenged. Now we are faced with the choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Do you really feel either of them is up to the tasks facing our great nation? I think many would join me in wishing we had a better choice.

We are seeing something of a phenomenon with many professed conservatives declaring their intention to vote for Joe Biden. As you might know, I’ve found President Trump a mixed bag. Reduced regulations and taxes combined with a small army of conservative judicial appointments are on the plus side. Wild spending, mercantilism, anti-immigration actions, and a go it alone foreign policy leaves me cold. Trump’s narcissism may appeal to his base but turns off others that might support some of his policies. Are these conservatives willing to forgo Trump’s positive conservative actions for a sharp turn to the left? Bill Crystal, George Will, Max Boot, Jenifer Rubin, the slew of Bush administration people, much of the Dispatch and National Review staff, and many others seem willing to join this march. Are they comfortable with a new “woke” world where everyone has to watch everything they say? Do they want activist judiciary? A hugely expanded Government with spending to match isn’t generally policies associated with conservatives. It makes one want to ask, were these people really conservatives in the first place?

When one is faced with unpalatable choices, it indicates an opening for a new competitor. In the 1960s, our big three dominated while selling crappy autos. Foreign companies led by Japan saw an opportunity and changed our auto market for the better. We need new competition in our politics. The choice between two Septuagenarians who fail to provide any coherent view of the future isn’t what this county deserves. Competing with well-established entities is always tough. It requires a combination of vision and hard work. Apparently,theersatz conservatives can’t commit to either. Democrats uncomfortable with direction AOC and the Squad is moving their party, might ask if this is where they want the country to go? Wouldn’t it be better if we all joined in providing better choices? Maybe building a “Future Party.”