Even as a teenage fledgling fighter pilot going through training in the mid-1960s, I understood the vital nature of optics.

Long before Tom Wolfe came up with the name The Right Stuff to describe what jet pilots went through and sometimes survived during the early jet age, we accepted the possibility of an early death.

Hell, that's what made it so much fun.

It was like being a fifteen-year-old boy doing a wheelie in front of a thirteen-year-old female to impress her with how cool and brave you were. What joy would there be if you weren't taking a chance of breaking your neck? Later I would learn that while the hot chicks loved sex with fighter pilots, they all ended up marrying dentists and accountants.

Part of learning to fly supersonic aircraft was knowing that while it was certainly possible, indeed probably, that you might die, how you died was more important. I doubt if I had been in pre-flight over a week or so when I first heard the phrase, "It's better to be dead than to look bad."

If you were going to die in an aircraft at an early age, you needed to do it in a cool way. Only wimps and Air Force pukes scream as they were about to impact the ground.

Optics are really important.

Take for example our Beloved Vice President Mike Pence. He is the official head of the Federal Task Force for the Corona Virus. Up until now I have not really seen him do anything except to play Barney Fife to Trump's Archie Bunker. But on Tuesday he visited the Mayo Clinic to show he's not just a pretty face.

We got to see his face. We got to see all of it. That's because he didn't bother wearing a facemask. As has been policy at the clinic for two weeks.

Mike. There is this thing called optics. It's better to be dead than to look bad. Everyone knows that.

And for those who only see two different colors and think I must be some prima donna liberal, let's talk about the Mayor of New York De Blasio. He could learn something about optics, too. He's a big fan of what we call, "Shelter in Place." That is where everyone is locked down and don't do any unnecessary travel.

Except for De Blasio. As mayor of New York, he lives in Gracie Mansion. Gracie Mansion is on the edge of a 15-acre park named the Carl Schurz Park. It's not just bad enough that he and his wife ignore the Shelter in Place concept. Since he is the mayor and obviously important, he needs a convoy of four SUVs to escort him so he can violate quarantine in safety.

The all-time classic "Do as I say, not as I do" surely has to be in the behavior of Chris Cuomo, brother of the New York State Governor. Cuomo fils came down with a severe case of the Corona Virus. According to CNN and him, locked himself in his basement for three weeks unable to see his darling wifie and little kiddies. CNN made a big deal of his escape back to real life when he was filmed coming up from the basement on April 21st. It was certainly an emotional moment for all those who love the CNN reporter who lives to make life hell for Donald Trump.

If Wikipedia does a definition of Fake News, I suspect they will use that clip as the perfect example. Because on Easter Sunday April 12^th, Cuomo, his darling wifie and little kiddies got in their car, no mask, no PPE, no social distance.

They drove from their home in Manhattan out to East Hampton to look at a property they own and intend to build on where a fellow on bike asked him why he wasn't following his own advice. The biker got chewed out and threatened. After all, the rules for the 1% are not the same as the rules for the 99%. Manhattan to East Hampton is about one hundred miles.

It takes big balls for Chris Cuomo to call himself a reporter and even bigger balls for CNN to ignore the fact that they are all liars. CNN knew it was fake news to film the "Escape" as Cuomo had done an interview after Easter mocking the guy on the bike with the fat tires. Are we all supposed to be stupid or just have short attention spans?

When the only journalist in the world who dares tell the truth rots in jail in England being tortured on behalf of the US for doing his job something is terribly wrong with our society.

One day the 99% will wake up and realize just who it was that broke their world and who enabled them all along the way.

It's far better to be dead than to look bad.

Bob Moriarty
President: 321gold
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Bob Moriarty founded 321gold.com, with his late wife, Barbara Moriarty, more than 16 years ago. They later added 321energy.com to cover oil, natural gas, gasoline, coal, solar, wind and nuclear energy. Both sites feature articles, editorial opinions, pricing figures and updates on current events affecting both sectors. Previously, Moriarty was a Marine F-4B and O-1 pilot with more than 832 missions in Vietnam. He holds 14 international aviation records.

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