The United States just passed a grim milestone: 500,000 dead from the covid virus. It is correct to say that this is a higher death toll than WW II, Korea, and Vietnam combined and truly one should feel nothing but sympathy for those hurt by this tragic situation. But, true to form, the Left once again is turning this into a political talking point in order to show what THEY consider as the ineptitude of the United States. As I will show, there was ineptitude, but not where they thought it was.

While 500,000 is a tragic number, one that should not be light of, there is more there than the Left and their lapdog media would want you to know.

Since last March, and as of this writing, the rate of death from covid in the United States has been approximately 1,500 per million of population. That number sounds quite high until you look at other countries. For example, in the U.K., the number is 1,773 per million. In Italy it is 1,589 per million and Slovenia is 1,820. In several smaller countries the number is over 2,000 per million. The United States places between 9th and 10th in deaths per million in population.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some countries lower than the United States. For instance Spain is 1,446 per million and Sweden, that is now famous for not taking precautions as extensive as other countries, is around 1,447 per million. Any examination of the numbers clearly shows that the United States falls well within the same general range of other developed countries. There are extreme lows like India where the number is around 113 per million. However, as anyone who studies this will tell you, there are many variables. Climate, population density, social behavior, just to name a few, are among the many variables involved. However, clearly, the United States and, more importantly, the past Trump Administration is not and have not been the inept Keystone Cops that the Left has tried to depict.

Central to the problem is the Left’s god: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Doing research for this essay I went back on some of Dr. Fauci’s interviews and he predicted deaths of 20,000, 70,000, 2-million, 100,000 on various programs; often within days of each other. I heard one Left leaning friend say: “Dr. Fauci predicted these 500,000 deaths.” Well, pick any number you want and Fauci has probably predicted it. But, more importantly, Fauci pushed for a more centralized approach to handling the virus. In other words, treat every state exactly the same in terms of precautions, lockdowns, etc. Let’s take a look at that.

One of Fauci’s mandates was to compel nursing homes to take Covid patients. New York and New Jersey followed that. The result?

New Jersey had a death rate of 2,575 per million and New York had a death rate of 2,423 per million. These numbers are higher than any developed western COUNTRY. Democratic states Rhode Island and Massachusetts weren’t far behind. Compare that to Florida, that did not follow Fauci’s dictates and has a large senior population, with a death rate of 1,400 per million. Nearly half of that of New York and New Jersey. Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and Utah also decided to ignore Fauci’s approach and they now have among the lowest death rates in the country.

The UK took a centralized approach, as did Portugal, Italy, and Belgium and they all ended up with numbers higher than the United States.

Last March, Dr. Fauci gave interviews in which he listed all the reasons that people should NOT wear masks. Then, a few weeks later he gave interviews in which he listed all the reasons people SHOULD wear masks. He told us 60% of the people needed to take the vaccine to achieve herd immunity. Then, 2 days later it was 70%. And after that it was 78%. Of course, along the way, he has also changed his definition of “herd immunity.”

Bottom-line. Why should we believe him anymore? Rather than being a source of accurate information for the country he is nothing more than a doom-and-gloom purveyor that has been canonized by the media. And, should I also add that he is now the highest paid official in the federal government…higher than the president?

For this past year, any criticism of Fauci was rebranded as a debate between Donald Trump vs. “science.” But, in fact, it was Fauci’s who put Chicom’s lackeys at the World Health Organization, with their now provable misinformation, in front of the resilience of the United States.

For those who are truly smart, whatever Fauci say one should believe and do the opposite. We do not need a preening peacock to guide us through this pandemic.