It’s Tuesday night, and the US has become a banana republic with nuclear weapons. A top CDC official has admitted that the pandemic in the United States is out of control, and that it’s impossible to trace or contain all the new cases. That’s pretty phenomenal, considering other countries managed to make it work. Some, like Italy and Spain, got hit hard and took extraordinary measures to reduce the spread. Some, like China, quarantined giant cities and went so far as to weld people inside their apartments if they were caught sneaking out. There were democracies such as Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea, that took a less extreme approach and ended up with far less casualties. (Vietnam in particular is an extreme success story: they’ve had zero deaths.)

It may not be obvious to most people here and now, but this is the beginning of the end for the American empire. (Or maybe even the middle of the end.) The pandemic plan that the Obama administration left behind wasn’t followed. Governors prioritized partisan politics over their oaths to serve to the people. The CDC is an especially tragic case: established right after World War II, their entire mission was to monitor the spread of disease, study and contain viral outbreaks, and prevent pandemics from happening. They have failed in the most spectacular manner imaginable. They run a tight ship, so it’s not yet clear why they decided to play politics and misinform the public during those vital first months. Perhaps it’s the rigid hierarchy they’re known for. Perhaps something else. In the years to come, there’ll be some books from the insiders, describing the events they witnessed yet took no action to stop.

Today is the last day of June. It’s hard to believe that 2020 is only halfway through. Tomorrow is Canada Day, a welcome holiday that’ll break the workweek into two. Thanks for having me, Canada. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, eh.