We all know that decisions are based on best guesses about future events.  We don't get to make prospective decisions with the benefit of hindsight.  Some decisions when made are manifestly stupid (no smart decision ever began with the phrase "hold my beer"), and even some thoughtful ones reflect bad reasoning ("I have returned from Germany with peace for our time").

However, when dealing in real time with an unknown disease playing out in countries with different population demographics, different health care systems, and different record-keeping (and, in China's case, lots of lies), it's unlikely that there will ever be a perfect response.  Nevertheless, the newest Democrat position is that, because Trump's response failed to block the Wuhan flu from landing on our shores, he is a blundering, blustering incompetent who is ready for another impeachment.

When someone comes flying at you with that kind of broad accusation, one grounded in emotion and historical rewrites, it's hard to marshal the appropriate facts and make a sensible argument.  Or maybe it's hard only if you're not a former Navy SEAL like Dan Crenshaw, a House representative from Texas.  While most of us have been tested solely in the crucible of mean words and dirty arguments, he was tested under fire, and, as his debonair eye patch shows, he paid a high price during that test.

On the same show during which Bill Maher earned deserved kudos for attacking mainstream media's execrable, emotion-laden, dishonest coverage of the Wuhan virus, he made the mistake of trying to debate Rep. Dan Crenshaw about whether Trump's response to the Wuhan virus was timely.  If we could all learn to debate as Crenshaw does, the world would be a better, more logical, well ordered, and well run place.

As Maher hurls out a word soup of alleged facts, all of which are belied by the record, Crenshaw never loses his calm friendliness.  Instead, he keeps setting the record straight, always focusing on accuracy rather than partisanship or the "gotcha" game.  It's a beautiful lesson in how to handle someone who is being factually dishonest.

Certainly, Crenshaw's performance has resonated with people.  As Benny Johnson points out in his tweet about the debate, Maher's show has an audience of 1.5 million people.  Meanwhile, as of this writing, Crenshaw's devastatingly polite performance, one that leaves Maher intellectually and factually disarmed, has already garnered 2.4 million views on Twitter.

Bill Maher’s HBO show has an audience of 1.5 million

This clip of him being humiliated repeatedly by @DanCrenshawTX has 2 million

This is the power of social platforms over establishment

The power of a real audience over canned studio laughter/applausepic.twitter.com/KsYXH2h8I0

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) April 19, 2020

On Maher's own YouTube channel, more than 700,000 have watched the video.  Tim Pool, a popular YouTuber, analyzed Maher getting "annihilated" in an "embarrassing video."  Pool's video has garnered another 234,000 views.

Although people are tired of angry partisanship, they are hungry for the truth.  Crenshaw, with grace and calm, is giving them that truth.  This is a video well worth sharing.