It’s the time of year to assess where I was right and wrong. When you have a blog where everything you’ve written since 2014 is available, you have no place to hide.  

To a large extent, Trump’s election loss appeared to me to have been self-inflicted. A bizarre debate performance coupled with tirades against early voting showed a lack of balance. He was the one ranting while Biden remained cool. Discouraging his supporters from early voting meant they had to show up on election day. That’s not always possible. Uncast votes could turn the results. In the crucial states, 2020 was close.

What I didn’t foresee was the degree of his derangement. Even in the face of recounts conducted by his party showing he lost, Trump refused to accept the outcome. Bill Barr, his attorney General, found nothing to change the results. His inability to accept defeat led directly to the loss of the two Georgia Senate seats and the 1/6 Capital Riot.  

As an octogenarian, I’ve seen how age affects one’s perception. Where Trump previously avoided significant errors, reality and those recognizing it became his enemy. Maybe, I should’ve been more aware of possible age-related changes. Biden has lost several steps; why not Trump? As we can see. not realizing our limitations can be dangerous.

I predicted Covid would reach its apogee in early January. The 10th of the month marked the pandemic high point. Even with variations, including Delta, we haven’t yet come close. With so many people already having Covid, infusions, and new vaccines coming online, the data looked favorable for a topping out. To date, that is the case:

Early on in the Biden administration, I observed its comprehension of Operation Warp Speed, and indeed the pandemic was lacking. This absence raised the issue of overall competence—the multitude of the undocumented crossing our border without an answer confirmed my suspicion. 

As is our Saturday habit, we settled in to watch Michael Smerconish’s CNN show. Compared to other CNN hosts, he appeared thoughtful and knowledgeable. We found he sometimes had a different take on things and out-of-the-ordinary guests. He heightened our interest by being poised to take over the fired Chris Cuomo’s CNN primetime hour for a week or longer.

Smerconish started the show by informing us that Germany was locking down everyone not vaccinated or naturally immune. He was astonished Germany equated natural immunity with vaccinations. He also found almost all of Europe, Israel, and many other nations treated prior infection the same as vaccinations.

Genuinely surprised, he ventured excusing the naturally immune from mandates might lessen the strife over Covid regulations. His weekly online poll question was, “Should prior COVID infection count when it comes to vaccine mandates?” His first guest was a medical expert who explained the studies behind the other nations’ actions. The guest doctor came down on their side because they had the better science.

Opening up new ground for discussion is always welcome. Tweets Smerconish read on the show indicated surprise by his viewers. The problem is it may be a surprise to Michael and his CNN audience, but natural immunity has been at the center of how the world deals with Covid virtually from the pandemic beginning. As I wrote at the time, Israel issued the world’s first Covid passport last March. Following the data, it required either proof of vaccination or previous infection. Most other nations followed suit.