They Haven't Given Up; They Switched Sides

 

Mark Meadows: “We’re not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations.”

Jake Tapper: “Why aren’t we going to get control of the pandemic?”

Meadows: “Because it is a contagious virus” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/1ahyatu6co

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 25, 2020

It certainly sounds a little bit like a surrender: "We're not going to control the pandemic" certainly would equal "letting the pandemic spread". But the stupider half of that: "we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations" is that the Trump Administration can't actually make science do stuff just because they want it. Of course they can put more money into research, and doctors will try things that might work better for more patients, but vaccines don't just turn out to work brilliantly because you very much want them to. 

 What they believe they can control is information. They can try to make it seem like the testing is the reason for the case volume in the US being high (which remains incredibly stupid--just keep pregnancy tests up at the convent and see where that gets you)and they can try to hide the increased rates of hospitalizations, minimize the deaths as being "vulnerable people only" (which makes me shudder--it is not just the vulnerable that can suffer and even die of COVID-19, but treating people as disposable because they are vulnerable is itself disgraceful and bloody-minded--it is like they are comfortable with a "natural causes" version of Aktion T4) and completely ignore the evidence that the various syndromes of the "long-haulers" are persistent and wide-spread. 

 They even considered enlisting Santa Claus for their "feel-good" project which is stunning, but Santa is well aware that things are not going to be ok this year. 

 In practice, however, the Trump campaign is actually actively spreading infection via their rallies, even to retirement communities (those vulnerable people whom the Administration admits do catch and die from COVID-19). And even though five people in VP Mike Pence's inner circle have tested positive for COVID, he will not be quarantining, but will continue with his regular schedule. 

 It is really as if, just as Trump and friends have an affinity for dictators, they have also decided they will be just fine living with what Trump, I now believe affectionately calls "The Plague". Sure, it has a bad reputation for killing lots of people, but when Trump met Mr. Coronavirus, it let him live. 

And isn't that what matters?