The most virulent scourge affecting the United States today is not the Wuhan coronavirus; rather, it’s the politicization of the pandemic by leftist Democrats to remove a duly elected President.  History has never witnessed a more concerted effort to negate the will of the American electorate.  Donald J. Trump has endured this unprecedented onslaught of vitriol, hate, and falsehoods perpetrated by leftist Democrat politicians, mainstream propagandists, and liberal progressives.  Consequently, the government has been at a virtual standstill as Democrats inflict one manufactured crisis after another on the American people with the goal of removing the President.

Case in point, the U.S. response to the Wuhan coronavirus has been gratuitously overblown.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the current infection fatality rate for the virus is less than 0.26%.  The inordinate response to the virus resulted in the contraction of a once robust economy by 5% during the first quarter of 2020 thus ending the longest period of economic expansion in our nation’s history.  An unemployment rate under 4%, the best in half a century, jumped to over 13% in a matter of weeks.  Six months after the first U.S. case of coronavirus was identified in Washington state, the country still languishes in a state of limbo between opening the economy and keeping the economy shut down.

This irrational response to a virus lethal to only a small segment of Americans, was meticulously orchestrated.  In August 2019, Democrats first realized their best hope of beating Donald Trump in 2020 was a recession.  Not just an economic downturn; but, a full-fledged, violent contraction of the mighty U.S. economy with all of its commensurate baggage including massive unemployment.  Democrats understood Americans could not be compelled to vote for a party bereft of tangible ideas unless the country was suffering.  Numerous liberal media outlets quickly chimed in with opinion pieces supporting this hypothesis including the Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, the Boston Globe, The Hill and CNBC.

Still in the midst of a pointless impeachment of the President, Democrats had already concluded the coronavirus was “on deck” to become the next national “crisis.”  After all, the Ukraine debacle immediately replaced the Russia hoax when Robert Mueller couldn’t come up with any dirt.  Luckily for Democrats, the Wuhan coronavirus showed promise as the best vehicle to quickly undo three years of economic progress under Donald Trump.

After a partisan House vote to impeach the President took place on December 18, 2019, Speaker Nancy Pelosi did something strange.  She delayed sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate for nearly a month, citing fears the Senate would not conduct a fair trial.  Coincidently, during the delay, the coronavirus spread outside China and begin to infect people worldwide.

The first Chinese case of coronavirus was reported in Wuhan on December 1, 2019 fully two weeks before the impeachment vote.  Two days after the virus was detected outside China and four days before the first confirmed U.S. case, Pelosi turned impeachment articles over to the Senate.  Without enough Democrat votes in the Senate to convict Trump of the ludicrous charges dreamt up by Jerry Nadler and his cronies, Pelosi had positioned the Democrat party to begin the next phase (and there’s always a next phase) to remove the President after his anticipated acquittal.

As the coronavirus began to infect Americans, the President was advised to curtail economic activity on a nationwide level by medical “experts” who, to this day, still peddle fear and uncertainty.  The Democrat machine kicked-into action to ensure the shutdown would be long, excruciating, difficult and Trump’s fault.  Without a thought for their constituents, Democrat politicians at the local, state, and national level, used fear to keep the country from moving past the crisis.

Never have so few done so much to debilitate so many Americans.  The medical “experts” issued frequent contradictory and increasingly draconian guidelines adding to the prevailing fear.  Don’t wear a mask.  Wear a mask.  Go to the grocery store; but, don’t go to church.  Protest, riot, loot, shoot, burn and run rampant through the streets of cities; but, don’t go to school.  No swimming, fishing, commuting, traveling, working, eating out, going to bars, partying or sunbathing until a vaccine is developed.  Stay in your homes.  Socially distance.  Eat “contact free” pizza and tacos.  Be together alone.  Don’t pay your bills.  Go bankrupt.  Do your part because we’re all in this together!

When several states decided enough was enough and began to re-open businesses, an increase in testing identified numerous asymptomatic coronavirus infections and people with antigens.  While the number of infections increased, deaths and hospitalizations did not return to previous highs.  Democrats, once again, lambasted those governors who had the audacity to re-open prior to the November election calling them reckless, callous, selfish and greedy.  Bending to the caterwauling, some governors reinstituted mitigation measures.  But the increase in infections highlighted “an inconvenient truth” -- the more infections identified, the lower the infection fatality rate.  This fact was buried by the propagandists in the media for failing to progress their narrative of fear.

According to the latest CDC statistics, 1 in 107 Americans have contracted coronavirus.  That statistic is misleading since up to 75% of individuals infected with the virus are asymptomatic.  The number of Americans infected with coronavirus is likely much higher than reported since people without symptoms typically don’t get tested.  Statistics also indicate approximately 1 in 2,500 Americans died due to coronavirus complications.  Yet, when variables such as age, sex, medical conditions and commitment to social distancing are factored into the equation, the odds of death by coronavirus are significantly reduced.  For example, if you are under the age of 25, your odds of being infected and dying of coronavirus are 1 in 1.8 million.

In response to the infection uptick, many local governments mandated the wearing of masks in public despite knowing that no face mask can completely filter out all coronavirus virions, which range in size from 0.06 to 0.14 microns in diameter.  One study concluded cotton face coverings block only 28% of particles, surgical masks capture 80%, and a fit-tested N95 mask can block up to 99.7% of particles.  If the goal is to protect the public from coronavirus infection, wouldn’t mandating the wearing of N95 masks in public be more effective?  Of course, it would; but, N95 masks are reserved for healthcare professionals.  Though only partially effective, the wearing of face masks makes an unknowing populace feel safer.  Government must be seen to be doing something even if those actions are only partially effective.

The President has his back against the wall enduring “death by a thousand cuts” as Democrat lies, misinformation and fearmongering continue to influence the electorate.  When coronavirus infections diminish as expected in the coming months, Democrats will, once again, pull out their knives to make the next cut -- probably another impeachment.  As we get closer to the November election, these new crises will undoubtedly make coronavirus and the violent riots against “systemic racism” pale in comparison.

Michael J. Mueller, MAEd, is a writer, eLearning developer, and former all-source intelligence analyst/reporter with the U.S. Navy.