Merger of politics, medicine creates problems
Does anyone believe in anything anymore? At this point, I believe more in Santa Claus than I do that the CDC knows what it’s doing, that the World Health Organization isn’t totally corrupt and in bed with China.
A large percentage of our elected officials are clueless what they’re in office for, news commentators think they’re smarter than anyone else, and hundreds of doctors are enjoying their new found fame by changing the science to fit the political wind blowing that day.
Everyone has been wrong from day one. You would think after nearly a year, we would get something right. But it’s still all wrong.
The virus has proven to be a much greater entity to manage than anyone knew or still even knows. I’ll cut some slack and say that we had to learn as we went along, but during that process, medicine, science and politics merged. And when that happened, that’s when all the troubles began.
Americans, for the most part, followed the rules (unless you were a left-wing protester). But we now see that it didn’t matter because politicians were making up rules, and they had no idea — and still don’t — what they were doing.
And by merging politics with medicine, more confusion was created, and thousands more lives were lost making stupid decisions, such as shutting America down.
If that was to be the remedy, then how come things have gotten worse? As so many have already written, it was a political experiment designed and used as a political weapon.
And the result destroyed so many livelihoods and still is doing so.
At no time during this year’s fiasco did the country have one central source for information. We were spoon-fed data from dozens of sources, many conflicted with each other. Many of the sources came from a political angle and had nothing to do with science.
It would have been nice if those smart, well-funded and enormous medical administrations could have collaborated, debated, researched the science and then provided Americans, from ONE source, their findings and made it universal across the country.
Instead we had politicians playing games in each state with our lives and tearing down and destroying businesses — based on what? Plans they thought could work in two ways: Scare the people into submission and bring down one man at the same time.
The politicians who played those games using Americans as their Petri dish should be removed from office and never get a pension. In some cases, criminal charges should be filed for life endangerment.
And the very people who screamed the loudest about how we need to work together were the very ones who broke the rules they imposed, hoping no one would notice. Apologies don’t work. Because like most apologies, they only come after you’ve been caught.
This country has come completely off the rails. Americans have no faith in their health advisers, no faith in the media, no faith in their politicians and have lost faith in themselves. And they can’t even go to church to try and hold on to their faith.
We’re now arresting the American business owners who are starting to push back because they’ve become so desperate. Like all creatures, when backed in a corner, you have to fight to survive.
Politicians pretend to know they understand and that these are tough times that require difficult decisions, but not one of them has missed a paycheck, a meal or even a haircut. During this entire year, they’ve been able to continue on with their lives as though nothing was going on while proclaiming what they’re doing is for the good of all.
This is the time of year, whether you enjoy it for religious reasons or just because Christmas makes you feel good, that we should have been coming together. Instead the knife is being driven even deeper as people who already find Christmas challenging are really going to find out what they’re made of.
I hope the reckless decisions imposed upon us by the very people we elected to work for us don’t wreak even more pain, suffering and even death from massive depression.
Yes, America, there is a Santa Claus. He’s in our hearts, our souls, our homes and in our family. WE are Santa Claus.
He’s real, and we need to dig deep to find that hope and faith and stay united and strong.
Make sure this Christmas that we really remember what the holiday is: a time to slow down, to enjoy each other, a time to be a tad more friendly and give more, even if it’s just a smile.
Because the only way we’re really going to get through this pandemic is us, the individual, being human and loving each and every one of us.
Merry Christmas.
Henry Schulte
The author lives in Solvang.
