Has there ever been a more damaging scandal than the abject failure of the governing classes, and of their expert advisers, and of their media mouthpieces, during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The response to the crisis was panic, bullying, and deception. The lessons of previous pandemics were abandoned in favor of tyrannical tactics copied from China. The lack of empirical evidence supporting these measures was concealed behind a cargo cult that demanded absolute obedience to “the science.” Those who held dissenting views were pilloried and silenced. Top health officials manipulated information and generally acted in bad faith.
Failure was universal and nonpartisan—it swallowed up Donald Trump and Joe Biden alike. The human and economic costs are still with us and will remain for at least a generation.