The speech I would give if I were president

My fellow Americans,

We are currently in a battle with an unseen foe, an enemy who is small yet formidable and who has already caused serious damage to our way of life, our livlihood and our lives. This enemy is a virus -- the COVID 19 virus. We have been beaten and bloodied but we are not out of it yet. We can fight back and recover. But this wil include accepting some hard truths. You can choose to believe them or not -- no one can convince you if you want to see that this whole pandemic is the conspiracy of some shadowy group. To people who feel that way, there is nothing I can say other than that I wish you health, on all levels.

Things will never be back to normal. Even if we develop a vaccine, there will always be a cloud of fear. Vaccines are not all 100% effective and sometimes bring in their own concerns, breeding their own potentials for harm. But they are our best hope for resuming some semblance of normalcy in our daily practices. Many eminent researchers continue to work towards that goal of a shot, pill or spray which will help our bodies fight off the coronavirus. This will not eliminate the disease. Mutations and variant strains will make this a constant battle, like the one our scientists wage against the flu, year in, year out. We cannot win, but we will not lose. If we battle to a draw in every encounter, lives will be saved. We can hope for treatments, not just for each symptom but for the effects of the virus as it ravages the bodies of our citizens. I'm no doctor but I try to surround myself with experts who can give me an unvarnished view of the impact COVID is having on us and the impact we can have on it in return. ANd, yes, the reports are mixed. We learn more daily and are, no doubt, making errors along the way -- errors that we won't realize until we learn something new down the line. Meanwhile, we have to trust in our experts and do the best we can.

We cannot shut down society and lock everyone in his or her house for a month, waiting for all traces of the disease to run their course and, lacking any new victims, to die out. This is impractical and would destroy our and every other country. People need to go out -- essential workers in many fields need to go to places of work, to help others, to continue to make the products that are what keep this country going. Shutting down in-place is a lovely fantasy but an absolute impossibility. So we rely on common sense and we make sacrifices, daily, because we see a greater good.

That this virus exists and has a substantial negative impact on the human body is known. That some can fight it off, and in some, it appears as little more than a bad cold is also true, but, and I speak with all candor here, I don't know in what category I fall. Do I carry antibodies, and will I continue to do so? And do they stop infection or reinfection? Am I one who can power through two days of coughing and some chills, or am I one who will end up on a ventilator? Am I one who will show no symptoms, or am I incredibly sensitive to infection? I also don't know in what category my children fall, or my aunts and uncles. Or my friends of all ages. And the possibility is that I pose more harm to others than to myself. So common sense dictates that I should adopt tha attitude William Shakespeare put in the mouth of Laertes in his play, Hamlet: "Best safety lies in fear."

Fear does not mean that we cower in the corner. Fear does not mean that we live our lives in solitary. Fear is what heekps us from running onto the highway with our eyes closed. Fear is why reminds us to buckle up tightly before the roller coaster starts. Fear can't make us stay inside, but it can help us control our behaviors outside. And yes, we should fear -- a healthy, life protecting fear. But we don't have to carry epipens or pepper spray because we fear COVID. We don't have to wear sunscreen and floppy hats or reflecting strips. Our fear won't push us to boil our water or wear a disguise. All our fear should do is respect that a simple piece of cloth over the nose and mouth (like a scarf that we wear in the face of the blustery cold) and a little bit of space can make a huge impact on reducing cases of coronavirus. Is it fool proof? Of course not. But it is one of the few things that is actually under our direct control. If you choose to wear a mask you WILL make a positive difference. And if you choose not to social distance, you are making a statement about putting your sensibility above that of everyone around you. You are deciding their fate for them and speaking not as the president, but as a regular citizen, that's selfish and unfair of you. For shame.

There is much more to be studied and, no doubt, we will discover more about this disease and future ones which will no doubt, continue to emerge, but for right now, discretion is the better part of valor. Some people have no choice but to continue going to work so they must follow guidelines, but for the rest of us, the choice to stay in a bit more, uncomfortable and boring as it sounds, or to eat at home, or buy only necessities, stifling as that will be, is a choice to stop the virus. The choice to wear a mask, to stay a few feet away, to wash your hands is a choice to be part of a battle that we must win. And make no mistake -- if you insist on doing otherwise, you are also making a choice, one which could have dire consequences on people you don't even know but who have every right to live their lives in health, not in the wake of your selfish infection. Please, make the right choice, for you, your family and everyone around you.

God bless you and may God bless the United States of America