In a book about how to think and how to write (as yet unpublished) Chris Wallace-Crabbe and I said:

One form of fallacy recurs all the time in political argument.  ‘The State should not worry about the welfare of children being brought up by same‑sex parents – just look at the mess that so many heterosexual parents make of bringing up their own children.’  ‘Don’t worry about dying of lung cancer from smoking – you can just as easily die from heart or liver failure from drinking.’  If the argument is that it is good to avoid harm of a certain kind flowing from one kind of conduct or cause, it is immaterial to that argument whether the same or a similar kind of harm may flow from another kind of conduct or cause.  One of the arguments against the English abolishing slavery was that if the English did not do it, others would.  Coal miners say that if we don’t dig it up, others will.  When you state the position like this, the argument is obviously a fallacy – but you hear it all the time. 

It is astonishing to see how many people pursue this fallacy with a view to putting economics above people with Cofid-19.  We are solemnly told more people die in car accidents or, in the States, by gunshot wounds.  It is worse than astonishing – it is revolting.

Bloopers

Regarding the decision to block Fauci from appearing in Congress, a White House spokesman, Judd Deere, said: “While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to Covid-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings.

“We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”

An unnamed senior administration official told the Washington Post the White House was “not muzzling” Fauci, because he is expected at a Senate hearing about testing the following week.

The Australian, 4 May 2020.

And they will continue that whole-of-government response by getting rid of the Task Force, that is, people who know what they are doing and who are not dishonest.