This introduction to an article in the Washington Post (WaPo) caught my eye:

Trump will richly deserve his fate. But he won’t pay the heaviest cost.

Most people, institutions and nations perform badly under the initial onslaught of a novel threat. The U.S. was no different.

By Megan McArdle ● 

I started reading the article expecting to FINALLY read about Trump's major contribution to America's current crisis of governance. Because it is glaringly obvious that in January 2017 we experienced the initial onslaught of a novel threat. And I agree as asserted that he will not pay the heaviest cost. As indeed, he cannot: his life span will limit his earthly comeuppance. And we can be just as sure that the damage inflicted on our country will plague us for generations.

This suggests my current mood.

But, alas no: the article proved to be another telling of only one Trump disaster: the Covid-19 response. I am ashamed to admit that America’s Covid-19 experience has offered me the comfort of obvious facts for all who will see. Outcomes in a reality based universe are not in the least affected by my point of view. There is neither a Republican nor Democratic method to safely relax virus prevention methods. But there are science and data informed game plans which allow for adjustments to evolving and varying outcomes that offer the best shot at preserving life (and hence our economy). This virus turned out to be "worst case" being both highly contagious and deceptively presenting on a range from "nothing going on with me" to near sudden death. Nature is not playing fair (indeed she is not playing at all). Covid-19 has reminded us that our personal freedom is limited to the contagion bubble we each inhabit. And that compliance to health regulations in a pandemic is not a place to assert your personal freedoms to do entirely as you wish.

Do you believe that when the world next experiences a novel virus that:

It will find the world (including unique! USA) better prepared with stockpiled emergency supplies, well staffed and funded public health infrastructure, and competent governance at all critical junctures? Will we be living in a shared reality, with citizens fully cognizant that there is no INDIVIDUAL pandemic response, but only population based responses?

At this point, I have more faith in finally discovering that unicorns are living among us. I hope your faith is stronger and survives the slings and arrows of outrageous reality.