UPDATE (March 20): The revelation that some in Congress, like Richard Burr of North Carolina, were selling stock and warning their closes friends and supporters of the severity of the coming virus CRISIS! proves that the US Government KNEW how severe the situation was and, instead of dealing with the virus appropriately (like closing schools as soon as community spread was detected) they were lying to the public by minimizing the threat – which was guaranteed to cause a panic as soon as people understood the threat.

By mid-February, it was already clear that China had discovered treatment options and that testing was crucial. But USA wouldn’t have widespread testing until mid-March (and testing still appears weak in most places) and Chloroquinine wasn’t approved as a treatment until March 18.

A crisis could’ve been avoided. Why it wasn’t is an open issue. But in the context of a hybrid war on the ‘upstarts’ China and Russia, it is easy to see the crisis as a means for the Empire to advance an agenda.

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USA’s lack of preparation for Covid-19 is highly suspicious. But Trump’s panicky ‘don’t panic!’ performance (all but guarantying a panic) and the fact that all deliberations related to virus preparation have been classified are strong indications that the failed response was intended to prompt a panic and subsequent declaration of “national emergency”.

Deep State goals for responding to the virus are likely to be:

• Accelerate US-China decoupling
• Provide a ‘soft-landing’ for an over-extended Wall Street
• Bail-out favored corporations like Boeing

Trump’s blaming of China for not providing information about the virus and his later use of the term “Chinese Virus” is designed to stoke anti-Chinese sentiment in the US. The result is articles like this one: The Wuhan Virus and the Imperative of Hard Decoupling which urges:

It won’t be easy or painless, but the role China has played in exacerbating the fallout from the coronavirus crisis ought to force Americans to fundamentally reconsider the relationship.

And this: Congressman Demands Beijing Pay Reparations For Unleashing The Coronavirus On The US

‘Virusgate’ and Russiagate

Like Russiagate, the virus blame game is being used to distance the West from the Russia-China threat. And just like Russiagate, this is almost certainly a strategic choice. Note: Jackrabbit.Blog has argued that Russiagate was a deliberate strategy to initiate a new McCarthyism.

Caitlin Johnstone also sees a similarity with Russiagate: Liberal NPCs Hate Russia, Conservative NPCs Hate China but she isn’t as cynical as she argues that it arises from politics instead of Deep State strategic interests.

The need for stealth bailouts

The US expansion, which began in 2009 after the Global Financial Crisis is the longest expansion on record. Many believe that it is built on fundamentally weak foundation: banks still don’t mark-to-market; Quantitative Easing is a ‘sugar high’ that has been continually renewed; and Trump’s tax give-away was only a temporary boost to the economy. In addition, Wall Street has great exposure to fracking companies, and Boeing is in deep trouble.

The renewed ‘great power’ competition between the Empire and the Russia-China upstarts has resulted in a propaganda war where neither side wants to look weak. In that regard, the Deep State wants to avoid a new financial crisis in the West at all cost.

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Aside: Reading the Tea Leaves

Divining truths from Main Stream Media and social media propagandists requires some work but it is very rewarding.

Everyone needs to understand the games being played, mentally insulate themselves from those games and work to restore democracy and sanity.