Pandemic Over-reaction?

I'm not one to believe in conspiracies, or at least something as big as I am about suggest. But, what if the reaction over the COVID-19 virus was a conspiracy to take away the best thing Donald Trump had going for him - A great economy. Let me throw a few things at you to consider:

Trump-haters have been trying to get our duly elected president out of the White House since he was elected in 2016. They tried first by releasing false information about his taxes, then investigations by a special prosecutor, and finally impeachment over a phone call. All attempts failed and up until the virus scare, the Democrats were convinced no one could beat him in 2020. Let's face it, people have a tendency to re-elect a president when the economy is doing fine. Bill Clinton proved that. Though busted flat for having sex in the White House, convicted of perjury, and being impeached by the House, Clinton went on to win his second term with good ratings over 55%. The economy was doing fine, folks who wanted to work - were, and life was good. If the economy had been bad, no telling how the outcome would have been, but I am convinced he would not have won re-election.

Since first receiving word of the virus threat, Donald Trump shut down all traffic in and out of China in late January. He was criticized by the Fake News and Never-Trumpers immediately for over-reacting. Later, for not reacting sooner. Though he has done what any president can do in such a situation, they never stop claiming he is doing it all wrong. As of the writing of this essay, America has shut down in fear of spreading the disease further. Trump was pressured into telling everyone to stay home, businesses to close their shops, airlines to stop flying, and states to prevent travel across their boarders. In less than 30 days, our economy has gone from the best it has ever been to the worst recession the country has ever seen. If Trump rescinded the orders today, we may see good numbers again in a year or two.

Did we over-react? I think we did, and I use the same health records put out by the World Health Organization to justify my answer. Barack Obama declared the Swine Flu a public emergency in October of 2009; six months after the Department of Health announced it as an immediate health threat to all Americans. 10,000 people had died from it by the time Obama declared the emergency and no one was told to stay home or orders given to shut down the economy. It had the same, if not worse, effects on the elderly as does COVID-19.

Since January 1st of 2020, already more than 6500 people have died in America from the common flu. It is estimated that number will probably reach around 17,000 by the end of the year. Since January 1 of 2020, the casualties from COVID-19 were at 4,513 my mid-year. The year before, over 19,000 Americans died of the flu, but little was said about it in the news and we all continued our lives as if the flu wasn't a threat to anyone.

Yes, COVID-19 is deadly. But not as bad to the general population as it is to the elderly with existing conditions. Eight out of ten deaths due to COVID-19 are among those over the age of 70. Most who have it will get over it within a week. The numbers are the same with the common flu and no one has ever been told to stop working, stay at home, or close down businesses because of a flu epidemic. The flu hits us every year and is deadly, but we never reacted as we did with this new virus.

I think there was a conspiracy among the Fake News and Never-Trumpers to take the good economy off the table in the next election. They were the ones telling Americans every day that it is doomsday; scaring us all into deliberately destroying our economy. Though we are smart enough to know the pandemic is not Trump's fault, Democrats will simply say the economy went bad on his watch.