RUTHFULLY YOURS

President Trump, who was diagnosed with the Wuhan virus on Thursday and sent to the hospital on Friday, returned to the White House on Monday evening, looking like his usual self. Upon his arrival, he gave a Twitter address to the American people. Although it’s short, it may be one of the most important and powerful statements he’s made as President. In it, Trump talks about a leader’s role, and he urges the American people once again to live without fear.

Here is President Trump’s statement:

The speech echoed a tweet the president had sent out shortly before leaving Walter Reed Medical Center:

There is, of course, a chance that Trump will have a relapse. We can only hope and pray that he won’t.

Regardless of what happens, though, the principles that Trump espoused, both about leadership and living life without fear, are tremendously important. Since February, thanks in large part to Democrats hoping to drive Trump out of office by weaponizing the Wuhan virus, Americans have allowed the Wuhan virus to dominate every aspect of their lives. We’ve entered a form of purgatory, where we’re just marking time until we finally, passively, get sent to some final destination, whatever the heck it might be.

This attitude is utterly foreign to what America has been since its inception. Starting with the original thirteen colonies, America has been defined by its energy, enthusiasm, and courage. Collectively, we march bravely forward – yet we’ve spent this year cowering.

This needs to stop. At a certain point – and the left is counting on this — helplessness becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because we believe ourselves helpless, we lose the will, desire, and skill to help ourselves.

On Monday night, Tucker Carlson had as his guest Alex Berenson, who has been one of the loudest voices fighting against the media’s and the Democrat establishment’s efforts to hype the horrors of the Wuhan virus. Rather than talk, again, about the virus, Berenson asked if he could comment on Trump’s insistence that Americans should not let their fear of the Wuhan virus dominate them:

“That might be the most presidential thing this president has ever said,” Berenson began. “He’s not actually saying ‘Don’t be afraid of Covid.’ He’s saying don’t be afraid of one another. Because this is a respiratory virus. It spreads between people. And the only way to make it go away permanently is to lock us all away permanently. And that can’t happen. That is not compatible with life.”

[snip]

“Six months ago, even then, that response really didn’t make sense but there were reasons for it,” Berenson explained. “But we are six months on and we know that if you believe the [World Health Organization] and 750 million people have been infected with this, that the death rate is about 1 in 1000… if you believe in the CDC numbers, it might be 997… it is a tiny death rate. And we have gone crazy and we have sacrificed our kids and we have sacrificed society and Donald Trump walked out of that hospital today and said what needed to be said. We have to stop being so afraid of this.”

He continued, “This country- we put people on the moon! We’re the first manned flight in 1903. What has happened to us that this rather dismal virus has scared everyone to death? I do not understand it and we have to get out of this.”

It’s time for Americans to find a balance, one that allows them to live again without exposing themselves to undue risk. Indeed, young people need to get back into the world. We older folk can do so too, provided that we scale our response to the risks we face. In the grand scheme of things, looking at pandemics that have swept through the world since recorded history began, this one is something we can handle.