FOR THE TRUE BELIEVERS

The conspiracy theorists are having a field day. According to these otherwise rational people, COVID-19 is all about getting President Trump out of office. They point to what they call ‘facts’ such as the much lower than predicted mortality rate (forgetting that we have the best health professionals in the world, just ask ANY of the foreign countries that send their people here to study,) and the supposed reporting errors that keep cropping up (forgetting that a HUGE number of people don’t go to the doctor when they get it, and that EVERY test ever created has a margin of error.) But let’s examine the idea that this is all about making sure President Trump doesn’t get reelected.

The Chinese must be at the top of the list of people wanting Mr. Trump out of office. You can’t blame them, our President wants balanced trade with them and that is something they haven’t had to worry about in decades. So, since we can trace the origin of the virus to China (if it’s real, we’ll get to that too) that must mean the Chinese manufactured a virus, infected and killed their own population and then infected the whole world just to make sure the U.S. got it. Clever these Chinese! Or, I suppose, it could have originated in bats just like most of these things do and then got into the human population just like a regular virus. Nah.

Perhaps the entire thing is fake! There is no virus. It’s just another form of the flu. Of course, you have to wonder why countries like Iran, who are friends of China, have mortality rates of over five percent from this flu. But what’s a few deaths between friends, as long as Trump is out of office, right? Why that sounds so rational…just say it out loud a few times.

Obviously I think the virus is real. I have friends who have caught it and tell of the lasting effects from it, something you don’t see from influenza. Do I believe that there is a concerted effort to unseat President Trump? Yes, but as usual most people, including the authorities, aren’t connecting the dots.

Look at the flags and symbols that the ‘protestors’ who are looting and ruining our cities are using. In 1962 Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union said, "We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have communism." If you want a conspiracy theory, how about asking, “Is there a coordinated effort for this social change by electing leaders who will cave to what these protestors want, communism?” Mayors who join the protestors or refuse to act when they take over large portions of their cities. Governors who get angry when the Federal Government acts to protect Federal property from vandalism. Members of Congress (specifically, some women) who scream and object when vandals and arsonists are arrested for their actions. Democrats may think this is progressive, but I will remind you that under a Communist regime only a very few will have the privileges you enjoy today. And if anyone from the news services is reading this, you should be shaking in your boots because there will only be a need for one news service under a Communist regime.

KM

WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND

I am moving and leaving my beloved lake. As fans of my books know, the lake has been the calming inspiration that has helped me write the entire Senses Novels series. Now, circumstances are such that I must say goodbye, and it’s hard. These last few precious days that I have left to look at that small body of water are complicated right now by the extreme heat we are having and the fact that I’m involved in trying to get everything ready for the move. To be perfectly honest, I am so affected by the situation that I haven’t really worked on my latest novel in weeks except to add a word or line here and there.

I have moved so many times that, for me, a place is usually just a place. This time things have been different. Normally, when I look out my window and look at the lake in the early morning hours, I am transported to different places and different times. The lake has acted as a sort of lens helping me to see clearly the characters and situations that make up the stories I put on the page.

At this point, I have no idea where I will end up except to say that it will be somewhere in the state of Texas. How this will affect what I write and when it will be published is to be determined. I know that God has a special place and purpose for me through this, but like you, I’m human, and being forced out of my comfort zone is rough.

Georgia has been kind to me in so many ways, it will always have a special place in my heart. For the most part, the people here have exhibited that wonderful southern hospitality that they are so famous for. I am honored to call many native Georgians my friends.

The Lord has decided it’s time for me to have a new adventure. I pray that He opens my eyes to whatever it is He is trying to show and teach me. I also pray that every one of you reading this is and stays healthy and happy.

I leave behind a special place but know that He will put me somewhere just as special.

KM

SAINTS

I was reminded of something last night and it’s been on my mind and heart all night. We have been foster parents and then adoptive parents for many years. Including our own children, we have raised more than twenty-eight youngsters. These kids ranged in age from nearly newborn to young teens. Most, not all, had and probably still have some severe emotional or physical trauma that affects them. In some cases, this trauma is apparent, in others, not so much. As the ‘parents’ of these kids, we have been called saints. While the sentiment is nice, I can tell you, that foster and adoptive parents aren’t saints. We’re just people, like you, doing the best we can.

In an era where the divide between races seems starker than ever, that line doesn’t exist, or at least for us, didn’t exist, while fostering. Kids are kids, no matter the color, gender, or background. I will tell you that members of my own family thought we were crazy for fostering, after all, we already had birth children our own. I can also tell you that fostering, and adopting is not something that everyone should consider. It is much harder than you can imagine, but not for the reasons that you might think.

The ultimate goal of the foster care system is reunification. That means the foster parents are in the role of ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ only temporarily for the children while the birth parents are working on whatever problem they have that resulted in the kids being put into the system. It also means, in most cases, the children will be going back to their birth parents at some point. Imagine raising a child for a year, two years, or longer, and then having to see them leave, likely never to return. That, at least for us, was the hardest thing about fostering. Yes, the children will act out, sometimes really aggressively, but we are trained for that. What you can’t train for is the emotional vacuum left when it’s time for them to go home.

Every child we got was given the choice, the could call us mom and dad, or uncle and aunt while they were with us. I can’t remember a single one choosing to call us uncle and aunt.

There are people who foster for money. I can’t even imagine that. There is simply no way that I can see what a state pays for fostering even beginning to cover what it costs to raise a child. I know that we spent far more on each one than the state could possibly cover. It’s what you do for your kids. But money isn’t and never should be the point. Love is the point. There are over 400,000 kids in the system today. Think about that number, it’s overwhelming. For one minute, just one minute, put yourself in their place.

You are a child. No matter how bad the situation, you’ve been taken away from the only home you’ve ever known, the only parents you’ve ever had in the dead of night. Some stranger has driven you with a few of your clothes and maybe a toy or two to some other stranger’s house. These people, who you don’t know put you into a bed you’ve never slept in before and tell you to go to sleep. You are in a house with sights and smells that are completely alien to you. How do you think you’d feel? If the word terrified popped into your head, you are 100% correct. That is exactly how these kids feel. They don’t know how to act, they don’t know what to say. If they are lucky, they’ll cry themselves to sleep that first night, if not, they’ll just lie there being scared. Nothing the foster parent says or does is going to change that on the first night, nothing. That’s a heartbreak every foster parent has felt, the helplessness of night one.

In the morning, most of these kids will tell you they aren’t hungry. They’ll start asking questions about going home, questions about what is happening with mom, questions about their siblings, questions you can’t answer. Often, more tears.

Am I painting too bleak a picture? Then let me also say that once past the first few days, once a routine is established and some slight bond of trust is built, it gets better. The kids may or may not open up about their situation, that isn’t up to the foster parent, it’s up to the child. What you are looking for is the first smile. A real smile, not one generated as a mask to the world.

I don’t have the time or space to teach a course on foster parenting here. What I wanted you to know is that we struggle just like you. Every kid is different, every single one unique, and wonderful in their own way. It’s hard sometimes, what worthwhile things that we do aren’t? If you have ever considered fostering, even for a moment, please take the time to check into it. These kids need you. There are so many foster care organizations out there I can’t even begin to list them here, just GOOGLE foster care. You’ll find an organization near you that can give you more information to get started.

Really change the world, be a parent to a child in need.

KM

COLORBLIND

Some people have commented to me that they haven’t seen me post anything about the ‘recent race issues’ that seem to be plaguing our country. They are wondering why I am silent on the subject. Most don’t like my answer. I detest the hypocrisy that I am seeing from all sides.

Does anyone really think that racism is worse today than it was in the past? If you do, I suggest that you walk down any city street and count the number of interracial couples. As little as fifty years ago, black and white marriage would still have been considered an oddity. Do I think that some, and I will emphasize some, police officers and even full departments profile African-Americans? Absolutely, and I think it’s not only shameful, but they should be prosecuted for violating the fourth amendment. No American should be afraid that they are going to be pulled over and have problems with the police based solely on the color of their skin.

I have to tell you though, that percentage-wise, more African-Americans are racially biased than Caucasians. Preconceived notions about white people as a general class abound in the African-American community. And, I don’t understand any of it completely. Let me give you a little personal history lesson.

When I was in High School, I transferred from a school that was (heavily) predominantly Mexican-American to one that was racially split between African-Americans and Caucasians. My first day, I was cautioned by my school councilor that there were certain hallways I should avoid because of the lack of pigmentation in my skin (I made it sound nicer than he put it.) I laughed at him and told him I would take the ones closest to my class, period. I was attacked, once. I was never bothered again because ‘they thought I was crazy.’ One of my best friends in that school, Greg, was black.

The school had actually been rocked by riots the year before I attended, so naturally they were on edge. At one point, there was supposed to be a ‘big fight’ between the blacks and the whites. I was between classes, waiting for one to start when my white friends came running in and told me about the fight, asking me to join them. My comment was, “Why? What are you fighting for?” They had no answer and took off. No more than a minute later, Greg came running in and told me about the fight and asked me to join him. I started laughing, he looked confused, I held up my hands and turned them over, “Have you noticed?” Greg said, “Nobody thinks of you as white.” Think about that for one minute. Why would he say that?  The answer is simple, and it’s true for more Americans than people realize. When it comes to race, I’m colorblind.

I don’t care if you are black, white, red, brown, or yellow. Skin pigmentation means nothing to me except you have either better or lesser protection against the sun. Anyone that has been a foster parent for any length of time knows this. I dare say that my wife and I raised more African-American kids than most black parents ever will. I didn’t treat them any different than my own. BECAUSE THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. If you believe that we did it out of some sort of misplaced guilt, think again. I’ve never owned a slave. To the best of my knowledge, none of my ancestors owned slaves, though some WERE slaves. I can’t be a reflection of YOUR guilt over something that I had nothing to do with.

Racism exists. But the number of people who are really racist today in America is fleetingly small. And, it exists on all sides of the rainbow. I have seen several shows advertised recently with titles like “Where do we go from here” and “An honest conversation.” Then, I look at who is on those ‘panels’, who is talking. From what I saw, they certainly weren’t racially mixed and there was NO Conservative viewpoint permitted. What, exactly, do you expect to solve that way? I see special television programs, special church services, etc. all focused on the black and white relationship. While there’s nothing wrong with any of that in-and-of-itself, my question is, why wait until it becomes some kind of burning social issue?

I have neighbors whose skin color is different than mine, I like to think we’re all friends. I know that if they needed my help, they’d have it. I have lived and worked in countries where the population had a different skin color than me. I have very close friends in all of them. The concept of white, or for that matter, black superiority is as ridiculous as believing the moon is made of green cheese. Sitting around, wringing our hands, or going out and burning down neighborhoods, or even writing posts, won’t change the few closed minds that believe there is a difference. So, how do we make sure that there is equal treatment for everyone?

First, you can’t. Not as long as some people believe that they deserve special treatment. This applies mainly to our politicians, so we need to strip them of all their ‘perks.’ ONE.HUNDRED.PERCENT.OF.THEM. Do that, let them feel what the ‘common’ person feels, and you might see some change.

Second, from a grassroots level, we should hold the police accountable. That should have been done all along anyway. Accountability doesn’t mean we persecute them. It means we have some independent group that reviews the stops and arrests records of each department to see if they are out of proportion for a segment of our population. If they are, we take action by either replacing or retraining the people in charge and then on the street.

Third, every cop in the country needs to be retrained in restraint techniques. I’m an old(er) man, but I can put a person that outweighs me by a hundred pounds on the ground and keep him there without much effort and without injuring them. No matter how much they fight me.

Fourth, we need to arrest, try, and convict anyone who destroys public and private property. Rioters don’t really care about social causes (with the exception of people like ANTIFA,) that’s just the excuse. They care about getting something for nothing.

Fifth, ANTIFA needs to be designated as a terrorist group and treated as such. So does EVERY white supremacist group (KKK, NAZI party, etc.) and the Black Panthers. I’ll bet that the last one pisses some people off. But, I have seen elections where the presence of the BP was there to intimidate people into either not voting or voting for a specific person or group.

I don’t expect anyone to agree with everything or may anything I’ve said here. It doesn’t matter. This is the way I see it. If you want to change, learn to be colorblind.

KM

SO, YOU THINK YOU’RE FREE

I am amused by all the people fighting, crying, and whining about how the ‘stay-at-home’ orders are a violation of their freedoms. Why am I amused? Because what you call freedom is and has been an illusion since the time of Abraham Lincoln. Let me cite a few examples for you.

The United States Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934. With the stroke of a pen, it became illegal for US citizens to own gold coins and bullion. FDR’s administration instituted this, and it didn’t change back until Richard Nixon was President. YOU WERE NOT FREE TO OWN GOLD. Read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Reserve_Act

During the Civil War, the federal government was responsible for the greatest amount of newspaper suppression in the nation’s history. More than 300 newspapers were shut down. About half-way through the war, Lincoln changed his mind about violating the first amendment so aggressively. Yup, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WENT RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW. Read more about that here: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w304644/ajha/americanjournalism/fall09.pdf

Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the first year of the Civil War. He even ignored a Supreme Court justice's decision overturning his order. He allowed people to be held indefinitely without trial. Doesn’t look like a lot of freedom there, does it? BASIC RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION WERE RESCINDED. Read more about it here: https://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/10/revoking-civil-liberties-lincolns-constitutional-dilemma

How about all the rationing and price ceilings during World War II? How free were you to have a closet full of butter or sugar? Read about that here: https://www.nps.gov/articles/rationing-in-wwii.htm

As most of you who are regular readers know, I am a strong Constitutionalist. That means I believe the Constitution is the ruling document for the United States of America, our LAW OF THE LAND. Here’s the catch, the Constitution establishes the three branches of government. And, the Supreme Court has, since 1824, stated that the states have the right to impose quarantines and reasonable restrictions on travel…AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR DISCRIMINATORY. Yes, I have heard the conspiracy theories about how certain political affiliations want the lock-down orders and want them to continue to destroy the President. I won’t comment on the merits of that theory except to say, cutting off your nose to spite your face is a long-standing tradition in American politics (please note, there is also a theory that the whole thing was just to keep Joe Biden home so he wouldn’t make any more huge blunders.)

Do I think that there are violations of the first and fourteenth amendment happening? Yes. Do I think that the whole thing has been some kind of hoax to usurp our freedoms? No. I believe for some power-hungry politicians, that was an unexpected benefit, one they are loathe to relinquish. I also believe that rushing to get everyone back to ‘normal’ can be dangerous. Herd immunity is a great idea, but it requires the thinking that there are acceptable losses.

The more laws that are passed and not challenged in front of the Supreme Court, the more Executive Orders issued without any restraint, the less FREEDOM we ALL have. We aren’t free, we haven’t been free for more than 150 years.

KM

PLEASE STAND BY

Unlike the slew of authors and self-styled survivalists writing, giving advice, and attempting to stir fear and panic in people, I make no claim to being an expert about disasters manmade or natural. I am simply someone who has seen a lot, been through a lot, read a lot and thought a lot about our possible futures. I’ve tried to plan as best I could and think I’ve done a fair job.

For many years my children teased me and even derided me a bit for stocking up on enough basics to get my family through a short-term crisis. I tried to patiently explain that it was part of my job as a husband and a father. My job is, and always has been, to protect my family in every way as best I can. Interestingly, now most are checking their own stocks for how long they can last without having to try to find things at the store. We still want and are able to get fresh foods, perishables, but we can live without them for a time.

I read this morning about Rhode Island hunting down New Yorkers (not in a literal sense.) They want them to self-quarantine for fourteen days if they are coming into their state. The governor of Rhode Island is going to activate the National Guard to go door-to-door to see if any New Yorkers are in a particular household. I’m pretty sure she can expect to face lawsuits for violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and she will lose. She might even face jail time regardless of what her lawyers are telling her right now. While her motives might be pure, her actions are still questionable. An emergency request to the Supreme Court could stop her in her tracks and, possibly, have her arrested for her actions. Her emergency powers do not suspend the Constitution. No governor can legally do that. If she is declaring martial law, she will need to show cause. She might even face a worse situation if the President of The United States decides to federalize her state’s National Guard to stop her. He can do that. It’s been done before. What concerns me, even more, is what happens if people in those homes resist?

If the governor of Georgia was to decide that all people over sixty must be one hundred percent confined to their homes (no taking walks, no going into your own backyard, etc.) and enforce it with the National Guard, I’m pretty sure there’d be an uprising. While I know he’d be doing it for ‘our own good,’ I would still join that uprising. He doesn’t have the right to suspend the Constitution, even for my own good. If I am not sick and state health officials have not quarantined me for being sick, there is no just cause for the confinement. Can he call for social distancing and a limit on the size of gatherings? Barely. He isn’t denying people the right of assembly, just limiting the size of that assembly. Can he close restaurants and other businesses? This should really be reserved for local government since in many cases they operate under their permission, but many states also have a state requirement for operation, so yes. The government, under emergency powers, is skating a very thin line Constitutionally. They know it and most are being pretty careful in their actions. In my opinion, the governor of Rhode Island is acting a little rashly and may live to regret her actions, regardless of how noble they are.

The phrase, ‘we are all in this together’ is truer than most people know. The infection rate from this virus is crazy-high. The people who defy the common sense request for social distancing, etc. are putting others at risk. Worse are the ones who purposely do things that are meant to spread or give the appearance of spreading this disease. So, can a person who purposely tries to spread the virus be arrested and tried? The answer is an unequivocal yes. Their actions may constitute anything from reckless endangerment to terrorism. The key is in the word purposely.

I know that there are a lot of people out there that will criticize President Trump no matter what he does. If the man could magically make every person in the country healthy, someone would complain that he should have done it for all countries. I wonder if anyone realizes what his administration has done? How many understand that in less than a month he essentially put this country on a war-footing and started getting much-needed supplies, no matter how few or how many, into the hands of those people needing them? Do you know how long it took to start gearing up for WWII after we were attacked at Peral Harbor? And to be perfectly honest, if you look at history, we had started even before that attack. Months, it took months!

He stopped flights from China and was called a racist. He started forming partnerships with industry to produce more supplies and was called weak for not immediately imposing the Defense Production Act (if I were him, I’d say have said I couldn’t it do that without declaring this a war which has to be approved by Congress.) He brought in real experts to help figure out the proper way to fight this and was chided for not bringing in politicians. A few governors criticized him for not getting them the equipment they want or need when it is their job to have ordered it and had it ready, not the federal government’s. The states cry, ‘save us, save us’ but then they will scream, ‘don’t you dare interfere with the way we do things’ right after that. Let me explain something, the federal government doesn’t have to respond by getting medical equipment to the states or building them hospitals. Read the Constitution. The job of the feds is to promote the general welfare and provide for the national defense. Promoting the general welfare doesn’t mean holding your hand and taking your temperature. So, either look at this as war and quit bellyaching or don’t and quit demanding things from the federal government at all.

The media keeps hammering at the man, “do you take responsibility?” Let me clarify something for those morons. This President has given a personal briefing to the press every single day including the weekends since this crisis. For me, actions speak louder than words. No other President that I can remember in any crisis, has given a daily briefing to the press to help the American people get through, not.a.single.one.ever. The cynics say he is just trying to score political points. If that were true, wouldn’t it be easier just to make televised statements from the Oval Office without all the reporters? I don’t think the man has done a perfect job. I do think he’s done better than any of his critics could have ever possibly done.

This is not the end of our world or our country. We will survive and we will recover. But that will only happen if we have people who love and care about this nation. We will falter and vanish as a people if we let those who secretly and not-so-secretly hate who we are and what we stand for win. I am talking about the ones who say we should be taking care of the whole world and not just our own in this time our country’s need. I mean the ones who want to see the system crash so they can replace it with one they think is more ‘equitable,’ regardless of who has to suffer or even die so that can happen. The ones who want to play games with legislation while people in need reel and stagger from the economic blow this has caused.

This isn’t over unfortunately. There will be more hospitalizations, more deaths, and more economic fallout. I am praying for our country.

Please stand by.

KM

THE CORONAVIRUS CONSPIRACY

I purposely titled this post the way I did because I wanted to draw the people who deny COVID-19 is real and poses a real health threat. In this post, I want to examine what is being said and why they are saying it. Then, I want to walk people through the logic or illogic of their thinking.

Let’s start by talking about the biggest celebrity saying that this is all a conspiracy to bring down Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh. I used to listen to Rush every day on my way home from work. I didn’t always agree with what he said, but I didn’t always disagree either. I don’t blindly follow any personality. So, let’s examine a couple of things that Rush is saying.

1.  COVID-19 is just the common cold. In fact, it’s named COVID-19 because it’s the nineteenth one.

Unfortunately, this is patentably false. The 19 in COVID-19 comes from the fact that it was ‘discovered’ in 2019. It’s easy to see where his confusion comes from since the full breakdown of COVID-19 is Corona Virus Disease 19. It also does not have the same viral structure that the cold or flu viruses have. It is related to SARS and MERS. In fact, it is so closely related to SARS that its actual ‘name’ is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. By the way, the corona in coronavirus comes from the fact that the virus has spikes that look like a crown on it.

In this same vein, the disease is at least twice as communicable as the cold or flu.

2.  It’s only affecting two percent (2%) of the population.

The truth is, we don’t know how much of the population it is affecting yet. The numbers are still rising. What we do know is that around 2% of those infected die from it. We also know that seniors and those with underlying health conditions seem to be the most affected by it. Here, in America, between thirty thousand and sixty thousand people die every year from the flu. This is a shocking number for the Chinese. I know because I have a handful of friends there whom I trust, and they told me that they had no idea. The number of people in China who have been sickened by and died from COVID-19 is also shocking to them. While they know diseases have ravaged China in the past, they have never had to experience it first-hand. And, even they know that their government has suppressed the real number, it is much, much higher.

3.  This is all about bringing down Donald Trump.

This is the only thing about the virus that Rush has said that appears plausible on its face. The effect on our economy and way of life has been dramatically affected by the coronavirus. Panic-buying seems to be the new reality. Jobs are in jeopardy. Stores, restaurants, in fact virtually every type of business have shut down. All of the economic gains of the Trump administration have been wiped out. Make no mistake, President Trump’s political rivals (enemies if you like) will use the economy, large unemployment numbers that will surely follow, and the way he has handled this emergency against him in every way possible.
The media did, certainly, help create a sense of panic and fear in the public. I happen to think that for the first time in his administration, they did exactly what the President needed them to do. Donald Trump can and may emerge from this one of this nation’s greatest heroes. His quick and decisive action and those yet to come may just have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

I am going to leave it right there because if one or two statements are false, the entire argument becomes questionable. Instead, let’s look at why the thought that this is a hoax is being said by numerous people. The top three I hear are:

1.  ‘They’ want to bring President Trump down and destroy his chances for reelection.

2.  The government wants to control us more.

3.  The ‘fat-cats’ on Wall Street just want to manipulate the market.

Rather than take these one at a time, let’s look at the entire concept of a conspiracy of this magnitude. I have tracked the coronavirus since before it hit US soil. I did this because I have some very dear friends living in China. Make no mistake, the disease originated in China and spread from there. I will not rule out the possibility that COVID-19 was an accidental release of a poorly designed bio-weapon, just because of the proximity of one of China’s top research labs next to the market is supposedly came from. It doesn’t matter at this point. It’s out and it infected, at a MINIMUM over 80,000 people in China. It killed at a MINIMUM over 3,000 people. Why do I say at a minimum? The Chinese central government has no problem lying to its own people and the world to try to make itself look better. Just this morning, China has reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases which is IMPOSSIBLE since there is no vaccine or cure. China is lying to save Face. Face is a huge issue for the Chinese government. They want their own people and the world to believe that the central government is completely in control of the situation. It isn’t and it never has been.

So, we have a disease in China that the Chinese declined to share any information about for two weeks to a month. The disease spread in a predictable pattern for these things. All of Asia was first affected, then the Middle East and Australia, followed by Europe, and, eventually, the United States of America. South America appears to have been infected at the same time or after the US was.

When the disease hit the US, I noticed an odd pattern and even asked some of the people on my Facebook page about it. The disease was confined primarily to the coasts. Someone pointed out that these were where the ports and large international airports with flights from Europe and Asia were. As I tracked the disease, it slowly spread until, eventually, every state seemed to have at least one verified case.

Every Asian, Middle Eastern and European country is being affected. Some of these are totalitarian governments like China, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran, etc. Some are constitutional monarchies like the UK. Some are democratic socialist, some are socialist, some are democratic republics, etc. The ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ would somehow have to get all of these governments to go along and say yes to something that wasn’t really happening. Iran who openly hates the United States of America in every possible way would have to agree to lie for ‘Them’ in order to bring Trump down, help our government control us more, and/or allow the guys on Wall Street to take advantage of the rest of us. How would you compel India, who actually like Donald Trump, to go along? How would anyone be able to get every country that has been affected by this to help in the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy?’

I understand or think I understand, part of what drives the conspiracy talk. The question of how a virus can be completely absent one day and a couple of weeks later have the entire country worried? That’s easy to answer when you look at what has actually happened and don’t work from a single snapshot in time. This hasn’t been a couple of weeks. The media has been reporting on the virus long before it hit US shores. When it finally did hit, they went into overdrive (look at the number of articles on it on FOX alone.) This caused people to panic-buy because the word ‘quarantine’ was already being used. Panic-buying has led to greater fear which the conspiracy theorists have viewed as something generated by ‘the government.’

In some places, the state and local officials have given orders for restaurants and bars to close and banned gatherings over a certain size. Believe it or not, if you really wanted to, you could take them to court for this. You would probably lose because the court is going to put public safety ahead of the Constitution. But it is an option because under the Constitution you cannot be denied liberty without due process. Like I said, you would probably lose because most courts will look at what the health officials have said or mandated for the public good over your personal rights. This is what many of the people who believe in the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ think is one of ‘their’ ultimate aims, denying the American people their Constitutional rights. My question is, when does your personal liberty infringe on my right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? Especially life (which is before Liberty.)

Another thought that the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ believers have is that this is how socialism gets into America. I admit, it sure looks that way when Washington is talking about interfering with businesses and sending money out to every American. Kind of like what President Bush did in 2008. I didn’t agree with the Stimulus Package then and I don’t really agree with it now. The next election put a President in who really was a socialist in many respects. But the one after that made Donald Trump President. I’m still waiting to see how the stimulus packages have turned us socialist? Fueling recessions, yes, making us socialists, I doubt it.

I think if ALL Americans would calm down and just follow the recommendations of EVERY MAJOR HEALTH ORGANIZATION ON THE PLANET we would be okay. People should calm down. The CEOs of some of the largest food chains in the United States have said, there is and will be plenty, just like always. Truck drivers don’t have ten people in the cab with them, and they can keep their distance while pallets are loaded and unloaded on their trucks. The farmers, warehouse workers, and inspection authorities can all take precautions to protect themselves.

For those of you who still don’t believe that the coronavirus is real, nothing will convince you until you’ve caught it. My daughter has friends that have been diagnosed with it. Sandy Patty, a gospel singer, a Christian, says that she has it. People from all walks of life are sharing their stories of what their quarantines are like as they have been diagnosed with it. Why would they lie? What possible motivation could they have? Do you really believe that Sandy Patti is a government stooge or a liar?

Let me put it to you another way that may be more palatable for you. Yes, it is like a really, really contagious flu that is twenty to thirty times more lethal. Does that help? Will you please stay away from others who might be vulnerable to it now? If for no other reason, do it out of respect for the other person, simple courtesy. You can make your own decisions about washing your hands or going into a crowd, but don’t force what your choice may bring onto others.

KM