I was watching an interview with Bill Gates on the Covid 19 virus and the vaccines. He became an expert on vaccines when his foundation donated over 600 million to Rotary International to eradicate polio.

            What was thoughtful was when the interviewer asked about the 400,000 dead by spring and then asked about being the last one to die from Covid 19. I used to know the name of the last American who died moments before the WWI Armistice. A soldier had the “Honor” of being designated the last one to die in the European theater and another for the Pacific theater in WWII. I don’t know if they designed someone for Korea or Viet Nam.

            Millions of people aren’t wearing a mask and very likely one of them will somehow have that “honor”. At what point will the war be won? Just as Bush II said on an aircraft carrier; the Iraq War was won. Some would say it hasn’t yet ended.

            People will not suddenly stop dying from it and maybe it will never be completely eradicated and all of us protected. When will normality come back?

            Who will be the last to drown in their own fluids because they didn’t wear a mask or get a shot? Some are dying while still believing it is just a hoax. Will one of the hoax-believers be the last?

           What have we learned about the Pandemic? We have learned a great deal from experiences that we have forgotten from the Spanish Flu a century ago, from experiments, and scientific research.

            A century ago we separated ourselves from others and isolated communities from each other. Closing schools, restaurants and churches was one way to reduce or eliminate the infections. Sound familiar?

            Sweden’s political leadership thought herd immunity was the easiest and most economical way to get through the wave. Without masks, social distancing, and lockdowns, Sweden has the highest rate of infection and death in the world. Sound familiar?

            We can now see the virus, we can examine its DNA, and we can make and replicate vaccines. Anecdotal evidence shows how easily it is spread through the air and how long it can live outside the body. We know how to stop its spread with little effort. We know some service businesses will be adversely affected and the government can offset the loss of revenue and job loss.

            If we now know all of this information why are we in such a mess? People are not wearing masks and social distancing. The state and federal governments aren’t enforcing commonsense rules and reimbursing workers. Combating social media and Fox Network’s effort to undermine efforts to control the virus should be the administration’s and Congress’ responsibility. It equates to yelling fire in a theater – which is illegal. Governments can not do it all. Most of eradicating the virus and saving thousands of lives lies with individuals being responsible. Sadly too many Americans no longer have responsibility in their character. Unfortunately, that is also sounding more familiar.

            Forrest Gump’s Mother told him “Stupid is as stupid does.” And today is no different. Several Republican governors and Trump criticized Democrats and the administration’s scientists for pushing mask wearing. Now those governors are pleading and mandating masks. When their stupid supporters are lying dead in hospital hallways, morgues, and refrigerator trailers, they decided it was time to stop being stupid.

            People are criticizing Governor Pritzker for his efforts to save Illinois citizens, but he has been where Republican governors are now going. Now Republican governors are telling people to wear a mask to save not only themselves, but their families, friends, co-workers, and people they just pass by. Healthy people of all ages are going into hospitals one day and dying the next with their families dying in the next few days. Imagine not showing symptoms and infecting your parents, siblings, and children, then having to plan funerals for all of them. It has happened hundreds of times. “Stupid is as stupid does.”

            When Hitler decided the war was lost and the German people had deserted him, he told the military to destroy everything as they retreated. He was telling his army to destroy Germany’s infrastructure and factories as punishment for not following him to the death.

            Today America is facing a scorched earth policy of a viral kind. Trump is not only not allowing the incoming Biden team access to intelligence briefs and the usual coordination, but he has refused to allow the incoming viral team to work with his outgoing team. He walked away from his own team in May when the polls showed he was far behind. This lack of transition coordination means the Biden team must put in their own plans and hope they don’t conflict too much with outgoing plans. Such conflict will result in delays on getting the Covid 19 vaccine to the people.

            Trump has said it is up to the states now to decide what they want to do with the virus. He has completely walked away from it and left it up to governors of each state instead of co-ordinating a policy. He knows he hailed and doesn’t care.

            His punishment for deserting him is sickness and death. What is interesting is his followers are the ones without masks and social distancing. They will be the ones suffering the most just as Hitler demanded of his army and people. Dying for one’s leader’s is stupid.