We're not facing a disease as deadly and cruel as the Spanish flu, of course, though viewers of CNN might be forgiven for not understanding that. Not that it would matter; my kin (the oldest and most vulnerable especially) would still insist on gathering. Being with family is, to them, worth the risk. Has anyone asked the elderly we've warehoused in isolation, these survivors of war and poverty and disease, if they feel the same? Of course not. Their opinions never mattered before; why should they now? It's all political theater.