COVID in Iowa: Things could have been different

Most of us have “What ifs” in our lives. What if I took that job instead of this one? What if I had sunk the buzzer beater? What if I had gone on that blind date and met my soul mate? What if I had invested in Apple instead of Enron?

Living with constant “What ifs” is as uncomfortable as being a loud liberal at a Sioux Center Chamber of Commerce meeting. But indulge me as I ponder the “What ifs” for Donald Trump, since he never admits regret and never apologizes for himself.

While our own “what ifs” are private, the “What ifs” of leaders during a public health crisis not seen since cars came in one-color impacts us all.

What if instead of shunning masks early in the pandemic, Trump had marketed them like his resorts and his casinos. The opposition may have screamed, but we all would have been protected with MAGA masks sent to every home at government expense.

He would have owned COVID-19 like Republicans want to own liberals now. A lot would be different.

For example, there would never have been a shortage of protective gear for hospitals, because the Trump brand would have been all over it.

His followers would have had to make a hard political choice between wearing a mask and forsaking their leader. Democrats trust science, so they would have rolled their eyes, swallowed hard, and temporarily put on the MAGA mask or made their own.

The mask making industry would have exploded with alternative masks, but all of America would be masked with one slogan or another. There still would have been a political divide, but everyone would be protected while we fight. Political affiliation wouldn’t be shown by refusing to wear a mask. It would be shown by what mask we wore.

During his Supreme Court nominee coming out party, Trump wouldn’t have caught the virus because he would have been wearing a MAGA mask.

What if when legitimate vaccines were available, instead of peddling quack remedies like UV lights, drinking bleach or encouraging horse de-wormer, Trump had embraced vaccines and called them the “Trump Triumph?” It would have sent the message they were safe and the patriotic thing to get.

We’d have a vaccination rate now of 98 percent and our hospitals wouldn’t be over run, and every school would be open. Democrats would have had to agree, so it would have been bipartisan.

What if Trump had used the power of the presidency to mandate “The Trump Triumph vaccines” for every American? Governors like our own Kim Reynolds wouldn’t have resisted the mandate because their beloved leader had imposed it, and it would have been embraced by business because it got us all back to work.

Democratic governors might have chafed at the mandate but since they value science, the chafing would have caused only a minor political rash. They wouldn’t have tried to overturn it in court because of years preaching the validity of science.

All this would have been cheesy and self-serving, but pure Trump, and it would have worked. By the way, he still wouldn’t have believed in science, but he would have believed in marketing his brand.

Because of the early masking and vaccine mandates, delta might still just be the name of an airline, or a land formation, and omicron might be a real cool first name for a sorority.

We can’t change the regrets of history. But what if we learn from our mistakes so they don’t repeat? We’d all sleep better and not be burdened by America’s “What ifs.”

Bruce Lear of Sioux City has been connected to public schools for 38 years. He taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. He grew up in Shellsburg. BruceLear2419@gmail.com