by Julie Kelly
The coronavirus crisis is reaping big political benefits for Democrats. President Trump’s signature achievement—a booming economy with record low unemployment, rising middle-class wages, and a sky-high stock market—lies in tatters. At least 33 million Americans abruptly and without warning are out of work. Second-quarter gross domestic product estimates are horrifying, a double-digit dive that the country has never experienced even in the direst economic times.
Americans are scared for their health and fearful of the future. Neighbors are turning on each other; the inner tyrant of every state governor, mayor, and police officer has been unleashed. And President Trump has been denied access to his only stimulant—energetic political rallies where he connects directly with supporters across the country.
Instead, the president has been stuck in Washington, D.C., listening to the advice of “experts” who used fraudulent models to convince him in late March to “shut down” the country.
Trump’s rival, Joe Biden, has been safely shuttered away in his home studio where he struggles to read teleprompter scripts or offer articulate responses to softball questions from late-night hosts. The Democratic National Convention has been canceled so the American electorate won’t be able to assess Biden’s frailty and incoherence on a national stage a few months before Election Day.
At the same time, near-daily disclosures confirm that corrupt federal prosecutors and cops loyal to Barack Obama targeted Trump associates to sabotage his 2016 candidacy and then derail his presidency under the ruse of Russian election collusion.
The two events, anyone who has been paying attention over the past five years certainly realizes, are not unrelated. Moreover, it’s becoming clear that the coronavirus crisis may succeed where the Russia collusion hoax failed: To oust Donald Trump from the Oval Office.
Prolonging the Nation’s Misery
And the Centers for Disease Control is looking more and more like the 2020 version of James Comey’s FBI. The agency that foisted the disastrous experiment of “social distancing” on 330 million unwitting American lab rats continues to inveigh on matters far beyond its purview or expertise.
Not satisfied with throwing tens of millions of American workers on the unemployment line or forcing tens of millions of American students out of school with its initial “Flatten the Curve” plan immediately followed by its “Slow the Spread” plan, the CDC has prepared yet another outlandish plan to prolong the nation’s misery.
The document was leaked to the press last week and published by the Associated Press on Thursday sourced by—surprise!—an anonymous government official who was “not authorized to speak to reporters.” (Stop me if you’ve heard this before or a gazillion times in the Trump era.)
“The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, daycare centers and other institutions,” the AP reported. “It had been widely shared within the CDC and included detailed ‘decision trees,’ flow charts to be used by local officials to think through different scenarios.”
As one would expect, the guidance is a labyrinth of costly, unconstitutional, and draconian recommendations that would result in a permanent paranoid police state for the foreseeable future.
Our children would be turned into obsessive-compulsive cultists; field trips, class parties, and extracurricular activities would be canceled, cafeterias would close, and classmates seated six feet apart in some sort of educational dystopia.
“If a cafeteria is or group dining room is typically used, serve meals in classrooms instead. Consider keeping classes together to include the same group of children each day.”
Rather than join hands in prayer or extend blessings of peace with fellow congregants, churchgoers would wear masks and stand six feet apart. Church-centered celebrations would move online.
“Consider whether other gatherings may have to have attendance limited or be held virtually if social distancing is difficult, such as funerals, weddings, religious education classes, youth events, support groups and other programming.”
Choirs and musical ensembles would be canceled. (If this doesn’t make you wonder what sort of heartless sadists populate powerful government agencies, nothing will.) The clergy is encouraged to conduct “virtual” visits, except for last rites.
Bars and restaurants, the lifeblood of the country’s social life and the livelihood for millions of small business owners, would lose any modicum of fun or fellowship. In fact, bars would really never reopen and restaurants would more resemble the TSA line at the airport than the enjoyable experience with friends and family we all remember.
“Consider reducing occupancy and limiting the size of parties dining in together . . . all tables and bar stools six feet apart.” (Aside from being cruel, these bureaucrats apparently have no friends, either.)
More Political Stunts
This wholly unrealistic approach would replace the center of people’s lives—family, faith, and friends—with a virus. Every action would be calculated against the nonstop threat of a disease that is proving to be far less lethal to the general public than predicted. The government, not the individual, would demand compliance for the benefit of the “common good,” the feigned moral imperative of every power-lusting authoritarian in political history.
It is a prescription for despair.
The White House, mercifully and wisely, has shelved the plan. But it’s hard to see the proposal as anything but an egregious attempt to keep Americans depressed, isolated, and angry throughout the year, manifesting itself in a rebellion at the ballot box this November against the man allegedly responsible for causing so much misery—Donald Trump.
This latest guidance, however, isn’t the only politically-motivated stunt coming from the CDC. The agency has published a series of voting recommendations that fulfill long-sought goals of the Democratic Party. This includes mail-in ballots and early voting.
“Encourage drive-up voting for eligible voters if allowed in the jurisdiction,” the guidance reads. “Encourage relocating polling places from nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and senior living residences, to minimize COVID-19 exposure among older individuals and those with chronic medical conditions.” (Trump won voters 65 and older in 2016.)
Mail-in ballots are broadly supported by Democrats, including the party’s doyenne, Michelle Obama, who is publicly voicing support for legislation permitting nationwide absentee voting. The former first lady joined other Democrats in condemning Wisconsin’s in-person primary last month.
“Today, Wisconsin voters had to choose between making their voice heard and keeping themselves and their family safe,” Obama tweeted on April 7. “No American should ever have to make that choice. We must do better to ensure voting is safe for all voters.”
Her husband followed up a few days later. “Everyone should have the right to vote safely, and we have the power to make that happen,” the former president tweeted on April 10. “Let’s not use the tragedy of a pandemic to compromise our democracy. Check the facts of vote by mail.”
That should be plenty of reason to be highly suspicious of the CDC’s uninvited meddling in the 2020 election. A column in RealClearPolitics on Wednesday detailed the protracted debacle that could ensue following a mail-in election.
“You’re looking at a prescription for mail-in mayhem and vote-counting chaos,” Adam Goodwin wrote. “First ballots will be counted (and re-counted) well beyond Election Day, meaning no immediate winner, no instant gratification, no balloon drops in hotel ballrooms. The impatience will build as quickly as faith in an accurate result will teeter. Next, in those critical swing states where declarations are made about who won and lost, the lawsuits will flow built upon a common gripe: the vote itself is flawed, incomplete, and wrong, if not manipulated, corrupted or rigged.”
The Justice Department, CIA, and FBI abused their power and authority to try to sway the 2016 election by seeding fear that Donald Trump was a Russian stooge and his associates were Kremlin agents. Four years later, we are still sorting out that mess.
The last thing the country needs is a repeated attempt—with far more devastating consequences—by partisan bad actors in Atlanta. The White House would be well advised to empty out that agency before it’s too late.
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Julie Kelly is a political commentator and senior contributor to American Greatness.
