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The COVID-19 of Wuhan and Its Repercussions

Since the election of Donald John Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America on November 8, 2016, the political culture in the country has gone from mildly insane to absolutely idiotic.  Before his election, the constitutional principle that the majority of the electors legitimizes the choice of the citizenry was never seriously challenged.  Yet, his opponent’s followers, which included the overwhelming majority of the grossly overrated academia, the self-serving media, the Democrat-installed and ideologically blinded bureaucracy and judiciary, have had a different interpretation of the constitution.  In their boundless arrogance they decided that their fellow citizens were politically and intellectually not mature enough to bring about the promised “fundamental transformation of society”, promised by their idol, former President Barack Hussein Obama.  Infatuated also by the mirage of political correctness, identity politics, and the “glass ceiling”, they concluded that only a revolutionary minority could lead and bring about the desired Obamaesque political, social, economic, and cultural revolution.  What they clearly overlooked was the not so negligible fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s disagreeable personality, her past activities and campaign themes were way outside the constraints of the majority’s political and moral beliefs and, more importantly, ran against almost all the cherished traditions of the people. 

To add insult to the already existing injurious situation, the midterm elections of 2018, have cemented a broken political system in Washington, D.C., and beyond.  The Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosy, aided by the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have behaved as though they were the majority within the federal government.  Moreover, supported by the ubiquitously and fiercely biased media on behalf of the Democrat Party, the President’s and the Senate Majority Leader’s utterances and statements have been systematically misstated, misinterpreted, taken out of context, and even altered, in order to serve the opposition’s nefarious political objectives.  A case in point is the titles of lead articles in the Washington Post’s March 23, 2020 edition, in which the authors praised the warlike attitude of European governments in light of shortages of ventilators, beds and other essential medical equipment to fight the coronavirus, while condemned the President for his alleged “ lagging response” to desperate demands for assistance by state, municipal, and city leaders across the nation.

Meanwhile, because they could not directly attack the electoral college enshrined in the constitution, they embarked on inventing perhaps the most absurd lie of American political history, the so-called “Russian interference in the American elections on behalf of the Trump campaign.”  Having been aided by the written and electronic media that for many decades have been constitutionally incapable of grasping the fundamental difference between strict adherence to the facts and the capricious presentation of purely subjective, irresponsible, and even maliciously disseminated falsehoods, the overwhelming majority of media personalities have turned into despicable liars par excellence.  Having realized that their ideas are not winnable, these ruthless political operatives and extremist propagandists have come to the conclusion that the only way for them to regain their lost political powers enjoyed under the eight years of the Obama administration is to overthrow the legitimately elected President and his administration by outrageously false narratives, defamation of characters, and blatantly illegal or pseudo-legal manipulations.  In order to round up this vicious circle of anti-American conspirators, these two groups enlisted the politically corrupt  bureaucrats of the government, in particular the leaders of the various intelligence agencies, the upper echelons of the Department of Justice, and its investigative arm the FBI. 

The resulting crimes committed by these groups and connected individuals then led to the totally groundless Mueller investigation, the multitude of laughable House proceedings, and finally to the pathetic impeachment trial in the Senate.  What has been remarkable in all these political charades that in the name of maliciously invented human rights, worn off Marxist social justice slogans, self-serving and inverted racial discrimination grievances, misguided notions of multiculturalism, disrespectful anti-religiosity, and savage anti-Americanism, they have attempted to convince the majority of Americans that society shall not save all the praiseworthy characteristics that made their country great, but that they must at all cost to annihilate greatness itself.  This compendium of destructive rants against the United States of America, its history, and its constitutional principles, has been packaged in the poisonous wrapping of senseless irreverence.       

The charge for this kind of irreverence was led from its inception by none other than President Barack Hussein Obama, the most incompetent, yet the most overrated pseuedo-politician in the annals of American history.  Having talked about American exceptionalism often and as usual from both sides of his mouth, he has only succeeded to unsettle both himself and everybody else.  As a result, his inherent intellectual confusion culminated in total chaos in the minds of his clueless adherents.  Out of this intellectual confusion was born the notion of the Obamaesque Democrats that finality does not exist in society, and that permanent chaos is like Trotsky’s permanent revolution, assuredly beneficial to humanity.  Again, what they have clearly overlooked is that the United States of America and the rest of the world foremost needed stability.  The era of experimenting with dogmas, ideologies, and extremist intellectual ideas was over.  While the history of the 20th century was littered with the failures of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Arab Socialism, African Socialism, Chinese Maoism, etc., the United States of America’s Constitution-and-Bible-based political, legal, and spiritual realms have survived without major interruptions or upheavals.  

Thus, the reason President Donald John Trump beat Hillary Rodham Clinton decisively on November 8, 2016, is simple.  The former understood better what motivates the American people than the latter.  Moreover, the President understood the rest of the world better than his defeated opponent.  Therefore, the President has embarked on a whale of a job, namely, to restore and preserve the proven foundations of the Republic, specifically American democracy.  In order to accomplish these objectives, the President has spoken truth to the extremist minority.  His fighting spirit on behalf of the country has attempted to recreate a feeling of confidence in the institutions of government across the land.              

Presently, under the guise of initially blaming the outbreak of the coronavirus on the President, even calling it the “Trump Virus”, and since then vehemently criticizing almost his every decision, the Democrat opposition is hell bent to repeat the outrageous abuse of the rule of law of the last three years, in the hope that they can ride the coronavirus horses of apocalypse to absolute power on November 3, 2020.  As recently as last weekend, the Speaker of the House again raised the specter of impeachment against the President for failing to prepare for the pandemic, saying “while the president fiddles, people are dying.”  In the same vein, perhaps the most stupid television personality among all the blooming idiots in the American media, NBC’s own Chuck Todd asked Joe Biden whether he believes that the President “has blood on his hands.”   This scurrilous and destructive opposition, which is a minority, remains utterly stupefied intellectually by the discredited ultra revolutionary socialist and 19th century syndicalist nonsense.  Yet, if it would be successful, it will only accomplish one objective:  the total destruction of the Republic, democracy, and the rule of law.   

Thus, in today’s health emergency situation the most important task of every government should be to preserve a prudent balance between well-defined legislation enacted by Congress and the strict implementation of the laws by the executive branch.  This requirement is important because in the last five decades Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Courts have not performed well in preserving this delicate balance.  Particularly, under the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama legislation often suffered from vagueness.  Glaring examples of recent congressional sloppiness are the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Massachusetts Senator Elisabeth Warren inspired Consumer Protection Act.  In both cases, Congress’s intent was to fundamentally reform major segments of the American economy.  In reality, Congress has created significant loopholes in both the meaning of definitions and the interpretation of key provisions.  The resulting legal uncertainties have often contributed to bureaucratic overreach and abuses of the Executive Branch’s discretionary powers as well as the inviolability of the principle of the rule of law.   

Giving  universal value to the rule of law is the responsibility of the judiciary.  Decisions handed down by the courts affect individuals in the present, but also will have a more enduring impact on the life of future generations.  Thus, judges must be ideologically independent, politically impartial, and therefore not concerned with the politics of the present.  For these reasons, judicial activism can be as threatening to the rule of law as the broad discretionary powers granted by the legislature for the executive.

Regrettably, in the present political climate, everybody believes that his or her ideas have the blessings of the future and for this reason rejects out of hand any contradictory arguments.  And when these arguments have no or merely miniscule chance to be adapted by the majority, their adherents will try to utilize the powers of the news media and unelected law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as the politically and ideologically biased members of the judiciary.  In this political tower of Babel the future of the American Republic, democracy, and the rule of law becomes less predictable.  

The moral decline and the resulting ideologically misguided politicization of the nation’s political realm is best illustrated by the Democrats’ insistence on pushing their so-called politically correct agenda during the debate about the stimulus package.  Spurned by Majority Whip James Clyburn, third in line within the House Democrat leadership, who opined that the Coronavirus crisis provides the Democrats with “…a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision,” the Speaker of the House deemed it appropriate to held up the stimulus package already agreed upon by both parties in the Senate.  In this manner, realizing that their outlandish ideas have no chance to be approved by the majority of the voters in the upcoming elections, Nancy Pelosi wanted to blackmail the President and the Republican Party into accepting her and her Party’s takeover of corporate America.  Termed by the Heritage Foundation as a “veritable pork barrel for programs that would force corporations receiving government aid to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives that have nothing to do with combating COVID-19,” Pelosi’s alternative stimulus bill pushed social policies that are outrightly destructive to democracy and the free market economy.  This is clearly malicious politics.  

Conversely, the guarantee of good politics resides in the characters of the policymakers too.  Attempting to promote a dictatorial version of Socialism is tantamount to placing an already discredited political agenda, namely government takeover of the national economy with the goal of establishing a classless society, ahead of the well-being of the American people, is by definition against the national interests.  In the same token, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s advocacy of Communism in the guise of “Social Democracy” is equally bad, because of its irrationality and its practices of concluding bad compromises.  His revolutionary fantasies amount to an idiotic hoax.  What his intellectually blinded followers do not understand is that Senator Bernie Sanders’s call for “revolution” means the violent overthrow of the political, legal, economic, and social order of the Republic. In politics, one can traffic in contradictory ideas, but cannot play with contradictory emotions.  In essence, the Democrats have declared war against the unity of the nation, the cohesion of the family, and the Judeo-Christian religion, the three enduring pillars of the American Republic.     

It looks more and more like the President clearly understands what is transpiring in the United States of America.  His opponents appear to dig in deeper and deeper in their destructive tactics.  To provide practical solutions to challenges in general and to the present pandemic crisis in particular are what the overwhelming majority of the people want.  Telling Americans how to think and how to live, when they mostly disagree with the Democrats’ prescribed impractical cures, is not conducive of national unity and individual happiness.

History, in its dealings with great nations, has in many instances played havoc with their destinies exactly when they have been at the apex of their powers.  However, what has distinguished a great nation from a mediocre or a bad one has been its superior ability to manage crises.  Ultimately, the character of a nation and the qualities of its leaders is defined by the manner they triumph over a crisis situation.  

Now, the origin of the Coronavirus pandemic is not the primary matter.  This question can be researched and analyzed later by the experts.  What is presently important, however, is the fact that the entire world is in a biological warfare situation.  As in the aftermath of every war in the past, the world has had to adjust to the changes brought about by those extraordinary events.  In this respect, two fundamental questions must be answered:  Will the solution or solutions contain the lessons learned during the crisis?  What kind of changes will happen in the future in the various societies as a result of the crisis?  

Clearly, the world is in a turmoil.  The member states of the European Union are on the verge of deep recessions and possibly a ubiquitous depression.  Politically, the disunity between the western and the eastern parts of the Union is threatening the very survival of the organization.  Instead of having shrunk, the economic and cultural differences between these two poles have been growing exponentially.  

Russia has historically been the sick nation of Europe.  With the exception of its military might, Russia is a political, financial, and economic basket case.  President Vladimir Putin is a gambler.  His obsession with reintegrating Belorussia and the Ukraine into Russia, his incompetent handling of his country’s economy, and his adventurism across the globe, do not bod well for the future stability of his dictatorship, and the general well-being of Russia itself.  

Contrary to all the optimistic predictions, the People’s Republic of China has been in a steady decline politically, economically, and financially since 2012.  The rigid dictatorship that President Xi Jingpin has cobbled together with blood and extreme coercion has also been detrimental to China’s continual progress.  Under his limitless rule, his country will regress toward the state of stagnation and even the deterioration of the Mao era.  Adding insult to injury, China’s over-extension internationally, will only accelerate its ongoing domestic and global decline.  

Japan’s economy, once the envy of the world has been stagnating since the end of the 1980s.  With its demographic challenges, it will never regain its status as an economic powerhouse.  Politically, Japan cannot stand up to the Chinese challenge without the help of other Asian states and the United States of America.

India is growing, but so does its population.  Multi- ethnic and multi-religious, it will face enormous problems and challenges to its tenuous democracy in the future.  Its economic progress has been slow.  The current global crisis will only make growth more difficult. 

The greater Middle East is a powder keg.  It is only a question of time before the entire region will explode in a protracted and extremely violent combination of civil wars and wars among all the Arab nations.  In Iran, the Mullahcracy will collapse and the ensuing chaos will break up the country.  Africa will also fall back to tribalism, civil wars, and ubiquitous decline.

The overall picture does not look better in Central and South America.  Bloody upheavals, senseless revolutions, self-serving dictatorships will destroy progress in most countries.  Experimentation with Marxist, pseudo-Marxist, Chinese, and even local revolutionary models will follow.  The result will be enduring chaos and extreme poverty.

The restrictions that have been introduced in the United States of America and in many other countries across the world to combat the spread of the coronavirus have negatively affected their economies.  As the number of coronavirus cases here in America surpassed 160,000 as of Monday – the dilemma facing policymakers has already been raised by a Wall Street Journal editorial on March 19, 2020, concerning the safeguarding of public health versus the shutdown’s effects on the health of the economy.  This dilemma of the “cure is worse than the disease,” and the President’s musing about it, has again awoke the worst political instincts of his opponents.  Pointing triumphantly at the President’s statement, in which he said that “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” while omitting the second part that added the following caveat:  “At the end the 15 day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go,” they have declared that the President would prefer to kill Americans rather than let the economy further deteriorate.  

To bolster their claim of questionable accuracy, they have quoted Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the CDC, who said that it might take several more weeks until people can start going about their lives in a more normal fashion.  In reality, the President has already extended the CDC guidelines until the end of April.   

Politicizing a life and death challenge for each individual as well as for the society at large is clearly counterproductive to support national unity and well-intentioned cooperation in a global crisis situation.  In the same vein, the major national television stations, with the exception of the Fox Network, have threatened to stop  broadcasting the President’s and the Coronavirus Task Force’s daily briefing because of its alleged inaccuracies and even outright lies.  As a result, instead of a direct broadcasting of the President’s and the Task Force members’ statements, the viewers might be confronted with the interpretations of the extremely biased and mostly incompetent commentators about the briefings.  That much about the mainstream media’s commitment to free speech and democracy. 

A more cynical interpretation might point to the latest poll numbers, according to which the President’s approval rating shot up to 60%, exactly as a result of his daily communication with the nation and his competent handling of the coronavirus crisis.  Complaints from the anti-Trump media about “completely ruling the news cycle” by the President and thus eclipsing Joe Biden are abound.  Thus, it appears that for the anti-Trump crowd, defeating the President in November is more important than fulfilling  their responsibilities of providing the public with up to date and objective information.  While the President has demonstrated leadership, his opponents have managed to reveal to the nation their small-minded and contemptuous disposition.

No doubt that this crisis created by the coronavirus is both political and economic.  The historic stimulus package officially named the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security or “CARES” Act, will inject in the American economy a staggering $2.2 trillion to support businesses, public institutions, and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The 880-page legislation is not perfect.  It suffers from vagueness and is replete with the provisions of the usual “pork barrel” politics.  Yet, for the first time from the beginning of the crisis, it is the product of a broad bipartisan consensus.  Its expanded unemployment benefits will surely help even those who are not employed full time, such as gig workers, contract workers, and freelancers.  The Act also includes an additional $600 per week on top of the already existing state benefits to support the jobless to survive the crisis.   These benefits are time-limited and will run out after four months. 

Small businesses are helped with $350 billion, up to $10 million per individual business.  In addition, a separate $10 billion in emergency small business grants of up to $10,000 is also set aside by the Small Business Administration.  

Larger businesses will be bailed out, when needed, from a pool of $500 billion.  The Act also sets aside $100 billion for hospitals and health providers.

One of the most significant parts of the Act are the direct cash payments to most Americans.  These cash payments include $1,200 for adults and $500 for children.  Over an adjusted gross income of 75,000 for single filers  and 150,000 for couples filing jointly the payment phases out by $5 for every $100 in extra income.  Single filers without children earning $198,000 will not receive any benefits.

The coronavirus pandemic has also generated global fear.  Fear of the barely understood disease, fear of economic collapse, fear of government overreach, fear of any other already existing and future, real and imaginary threats and dangers.  Such all encompassing and often unpredictable fears in many instances threaten relations between and among states.  The more a government perceives the danger of losing power through elections or by being overthrown, the more willing they become to reach for emergency powers.  Such developments can increase the danger of misinterpretation or even misunderstanding of foreign intentions, thus raising the possibility of different levels of confrontations between and among states.  The ensuing mistrust and insecurity can ultimately result in war and global anarchy.    Clearly, the world in general and humanity in particular need global leadership.  The only country that can provide it is the United States of America.  Consequently, as soon as this pandemic will subside domestically, we must ready ourselves to assist others.  The quality as well as the quantity of this assistance will determine the future of America’s position in the world.  Equally importantly, our international policies will also define the future direction of freedom across the globe.  Upon the fulfilment of these responsibilities will depend the fate of America as well as the future of the entire world.

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