"Fear has become a new virtue. Never before in the history of this country have we told people that fear is good, or to settle into those fears and allow them to control and constrain your life", said McDonald, who spoke at the American Front Line Doctors White Coat Summits in July and October.

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.