Do kids still read the Old Lady who swallowed a fly? When I was
a kid I used to get my dear sainted mother to read that thing to me all the
time. While it wasn’t my favorite, it couldn’t hold a candle to Rackety Boom or
Bravest of All, it was always a good bedtime laugh. In the story the little old
lady swallows a fly and in fear of the possibly mortal effects swallows
progressively larger animals each as a cure for the other until she swallows a
horse… she’s dead of course. I would love to send a copy to those folks in
Washington DC and the various state capitals across the fruited plane because
that silly rhyme is the closest example to the Covid 19 response I can think
of.
Covid 19 or the Chinese Coronavirus is a serious thing and
among vulnerable populations it can be deadly.
As of this writing 2,000 people have died and I would encourage prayer
and support for the families of those victims, just as I would for the 24-64
thousand folks that influenza has claimed this year. Bottom line is we deal
with the flu deaths every year despite having some highly touted and barely
effective flu shot without crippling our economy and bankrupting our future.
Most states give governors power to take reasonable actions to
deal with infectious disease, unfortunately the declaration of the state of
emergencies has caused governors everywhere to suffer from the unfortunate
delusion that they are Yul Brenner in the Ten Commandments as they decree “So Let it Be Written, So let it Be Done” as
they sign executive orders declaring who is essential and who is not. I can’t
help but be reminded of Governor Kodos from the original Star Trek who ordered
the deaths of nonessential colonists to save essential ones in a time of
famine. Don’t laugh, these powers to temporarily shut down those businesses
that Governor Ramses deems unworthy is exactly
the power that the green new deal democrats want to have permanently, after
all according to their experts global warming is far more dangerous than the
Chinese coronavirus. Of course this temporary state of emergency isn’t the same
as what the aforementioned Dems want but it is a huge step in that direction.
If our free election process survives, and I am certain it
will, we the people must act to take back our liberties and seriously curtail the
emergency powers we entrust our governors with. I do not doubt that the
electoral process in our country will survive but it will not survive unscathed.
The most sacred aspect of our democratic republic has also fallen under the
whim of the Supreme Pharaohs of the several states, as 14 states have
rescheduled their primaries based on Coronavirus fears, Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wyoming and Puerto Rico. The Governor of Ohio blatantly defied a court
order forbidding him to do that very thing, imagine if Trump simply threw court
orders out the window if he didn’t like their rulings? Surely I stipulate that
these are primaries and are held at the discretion of parties and states, I am
not suggesting that the President could use this as a justification to cancel
national elections, but it’s a big step
in that direction.
We have already addressed the government hubris that defines
the labeling of essential and nonessential businesses, but separately let’s
address the asinine nature of these decisions. If you concede (and I do not)
the authority of states to shutter private businesses at will it is impossible
to justify the wisdom of the same. How does a bankrupting small business in
Hiram Georgia stop the spread of infection in Manhattan? Perhaps these extreme
measures are needed in hard hit areas but the strength of America in part is in
our size and diversity. Droughts in the mid-west do not lead to famine because
the same weather pattern may well produce a bumper crop in the Ohio Valley. New
York City can be shut down by a terror attack but hundreds of other
municipalities and cities can send resources to help them recover, the same is true
of earthquakes in California, or floods in Tennessee. If we had a smart
targeted response that allowed lightly affected and unaffected areas to
continue to work and create wealth then the economic consequence would be
minimized. Aid could be sent to places that need it, Americans would take care
of Americans the way we do in every other crisis. Entrepreneurs would do what entrepreneurs
do, they would find new ways to make money by fixing problems, rather motivated
by altruistic or mercenary goals their solutions would be available. This is
not to minimize what the private sector is doing in this crisis the advances in
testing and treatment that have leapt from zero in just a few short weeks is phenomenal.
Thankfully the President has resisted calls to nationalize industries and
supply chains, and further tamp down the spirit of enterprise that will elevate
us out of the dark times. Alas if we weren’t so dead set on crippling and
destroying the economy and thus the ability of millions to contribute in big
and small ways to abating the crisis what great things we could achieve!
Finally let’s remember that only about 10% of the crisis in
this country is from the virus, 90% is the panic stricken responses. As we
progressively swallow bigger and bigger animals to kill the fly we swallowed
when we imported, through no fault of our own, this virus from China the horse
that kills us may well be this relief effort passed by congress last week. 2.2
trillion dollars of new debt to do what churches (and oh do I have a lot to say
about churches) and businesses should be doing without depleting the public
treasury at all. It wasn’t enough to bankrupt our economy today; we need to pay
for it by bankrupting our grandchildren and their children as well. Bernie
Sanders couldn’t have imagined such an overwhelming victory over capitalism in
his fondest dreams.
I heard President Trump say that it’s important to look at
reopening the economy and assure that the cure isn’t worse than the disease,
thank you Mr. President, better late than never.
Keep on the firing line.
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