We are all feeling COVID fatigue and desire a return to normalcy. That is not going to happen anytime soon. We can thank this Administration of ineptitude for most of that. They like to put a spin on everything, but let's dispel some Republican spin myths.

1. There was nothing more Trump could do, we had never faced anything like this before.
   WRONG - the 1918 Spanish flu was exactly like this. In fac it was proven atvthat time that wearing a mask, social distancing, and avoiding crowds is what worked the best. More people died in that epidemic because the scientific advances were not nearly as developed as today.

2. Obama and Biden left them nothing in order to prepare and tackle an epidemic.
   WRONG- the Obama Adminstration set up an office of pandemic preparedness, complete with a playbook and how to handle. Trump eliminated the office in 2017 because he thought it was a waste of money, because afterall, we would never see a pandemic. Plus it was created by Obama and Trump wanted to destroy anything with Obama's stamp on it.

3. There was nothing in the national stockpile.
   WRONG- The warehouse had 16,000 ventilators in working condition. PPE was low because of the H1N1 and ebola outbreak. Coupled with a Republican Senate who refused to pass anymore spending to replenish PPE stockpiles.

4. Trump did everything he could within his power to fight the epidemic - WRONG
   Trump enacted a travel restriction in February on China (not a ban - it was porous as 49,000 people returned from China under the supposed ban). COVID was already running rampant in New Yor, brought over from people returning fron China via Europe. It wasn't for another two-three weeks before travel from Europe was restricted.

Trump spent all February and March downplaying the virus (and according to interviews made public, knew in February the seriousness of the virus, but failed to inform the public). In this time he called the virus a "flu", a hoax, a Democratic move to impact his election chances.

He refused to enact the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of ventilators and PPE in a timely fashion under thevguise of Laissez-faire and Libertarian ideals. He was mostly just afraid the CEO's and Business community would complain. He finally exerted pressure in April, but never fully used the capability of the DPA to direct companies to produce PPE and remained always behind in producing adequate PPE.

5. The economy couldn't have stayed shut down and had to open quickly - WRONG
   Sometimes a little pain and discomfort nets beneficial results. Had the inept Republican Governors kept the country and the economy shut down through June, the country propably could have avoided the severity of the summer spikes we witnessed. Many thousand more people would still be alive today.

6. Lastly, as I'm getting tired of typing and there are just too many Trump and Republican sins and spins to cover. People have a Constitutional right to chose not to wear a mask.- Wrong
   In the 1906 ruling, Jacobson v. The state of Massachusetts ruling, the Supreme Court found that mandating a face mask during a health crisis was not an infringement on a perdon's First Amendment rights. That Local, State, and Federal government has the power to mandate face protection wearing if it deemed necessary to combat a health crisis (a small pox epidemic was extant at the time). That violators were breaking the law and subject to prosecution if they refused to comply.

The only excuse Trump, his Administration, and Republicans can claim is ignorance and ineptitude coupked with the greed for power.