The bottom line is this: if the healthcare system doesn’t crash, our public officials did their jobs. And our healthcare system didn’t crash, not even in New York City, so no one can be blamed for a single coronavirus death — not President Trump, not Andrew Cuomo, not anyone.

Here are the facts:

Everyone who could be saved was saved, even in New York.

Everyone who required medical care got the medical care they required, even in New York.

Everyone who needed a ventilator got a ventilator, even in New York.

Therefore, not a single death can be blamed on anything other than the coronavirus. Granted, there’s an argument to made to blame China, but that’s for another time.

In response to the above, the fake news media and Democrats will ignore everything President Trump was doing behind the scenes and point to all the optimistic statements he made as proof he has blood on his hands.

In response to the above, some on the political right will point to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio telling people as late as March 13, “We want people still to go on about their lives. We want people to rest assured that a lot is being done to protect them.”

Or Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) waiting until March 22 to institute a state-wide quarantine — nine days after Trump declared a national state of emergency.

Or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in late February urging everyone to congregate in Chinatown.

Or Dr. Anthony Fauci telling Americans on February 29 it was safe to go to the movies, mall, and gym; and assuring us on March 9 it was still safe to hold campaign rallies in certain areas or go on a cruise if you’re young and healthy.

Sure, if people with 20/20 hindsight want to argue this person or that person, this side or that side, has blood on their hands because of their public optimism, then everyone’s going to get got… But if you believe in science and facts, this is grossly unfair.

The blame game only works if you ignore the following facts…

Without a vaccine (which is 12 to 18 months away) or a lockdown until we have that vaccine, there is nothing we can do to stop the spread of the coronavirus infection. All we can do is slow the rate of infection…

This is a vitally important distinction because the liars in the media want you to believe that had we acted sooner, fewer people would have died.

The experts have made it achingly clear that mitigation and lockdowns only serve one purpose, and that is to slow the spread of infection. What this means is that — other than those willing to live in total isolation and lockdown for the 12 to 18 months needed to create a vaccine, willing to give up their freedoms and anything resembling normal life for what could be years — whether we mitigate or not, the same number of people are eventually going to get sick and die. All we can do is slow that rate of sickness and death.

Why?

For a very good reason: we do not want to overwhelm our healthcare system.

Why?

Because we don’t want anyone to die who can be saved with proper medical care.

And this is why no one can or should be blamed for a single death… Everyone who needed medical care got medical care; no one died who could be saved…

Right now, there are some 750,000 coronavirus infections in the U.S. That’s unfortunate, to be sure, but in the overall scheme of things, there’s nothing the government can do about that number. Without a vaccine or a willingness to quarantine for 12 to 18 months, those 750,000 people would eventually be infected regardless. If we had locked down sooner, some of those 750,000 might not yet be infected, but eventually, they would be, and the same is true for tens of millions of us who do not yet have it.

Sure, we can try to dodge this bullet by washing our hands and the like, but unless you do that perfectly for the next 12 to 18 months, or you’re willing to stay in your own personal lockdown for another 12 to 18 months, it is what it is.

It all boils down to this fact…

There is no magic solution without a vaccine, which means government and health officials have only one job, and that job is to slow the rate of infection to ensure no one dies due to a lack of medical care. And as hairy as it got at times with all the scrambling to ensure the health system did not crash, the fact is that the health system did not crash. Every American got the medical care they needed, and that means the federal, state, and local governments successfully did their jobs.

I know that’s disappointing news, especially for the deranged Trump haters in the media, but unless and until someone dies due to a lack of medical care — which we all pray does not happen — the only thing you can blame this on is this godforsaken virus…

And maybe China, but that’s for another time.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.