As we ride into the summer, I’m delighted to see that we’re looking at the COVID-19 pandemic largely in the rear-view mirror, swinging our tequila bottles above the windshield of our national cherry-red convertible as we drive into the future, speeding toward the border where we finally can be unconcerned with masks or unexpected school closures. 

I’ve been a bit surprised at how quickly things go back to normal when people decide they should. And honestly, I want nothing more than to never give a single thought to this crisis ever again. But, as the danger of the COVID pandemic has receded, a noteworthy trend has emerged: the high-handed rhetoric around “following the Science” that was particularly dominant among a few nationally lauded leaders in the early days of this crisis has been abandoned. We must look back to find out why this is, because it tells us something extremely valuable about our leaders, our national culture, and the future of governance. The “party of Science” has quietly abandoned its appeal to science.