As scattered fears about Hantavirus begin bubbling online and a few familiar voices start hinting that maybe we need another "serious public health response," it's probably a good time to revisit what happened the last time America handed enormous power to panicked experts and emotionally performative politicians.

Yes, according to reports out of North Carolina, nearly half of the 3,500 inmates quietly released under Gov. Roy Cooper's Covid-era prison release program have reoffended.

At least 600 have reportedly been charged with violent felonies.

Eighteen have been charged with murder.

Remember that at the time, doing this was considered compassionate. Scientific, even.

Back then, America's governing class had convinced itself that prisons were basically giant Covid blenders, and the only humane response was to start emptying them into the public. Because apparently the greatest threat facing ordinary citizens in 2021 was not violent criminals roaming their neighborhoods, but inmates catching a respiratory virus while already separated from society.

And if you opposed this logic? If you suggested maybe releasing criminals rapidly into the public carried risks? A person could count on being accused of "fearmongering," lacking compassion, or wanting people to die.

That's not exaggeration. That was the game during Covid. Every objection to absurdity was treated as moral failure.

• Close schools for years? It's science.

• Ban church gatherings while liquor stores stay open? Science.

• Mask toddlers? Science again.

• Release inmates? More science.

The fascinating thing about the Covid years is how often "following the science" somehow aligned perfectly with progressive political instincts. It was almost miraculous. Every solution just happened to expand state power, weaken institutions, erode accountability, and elevate emotional optics over common sense.

And now comes the part that's even more predictable than the policy failure itself: the media response.

Watch carefully how this story gets handled.

If a Republican governor had released inmates under an emergency order and dozens later ended up charged with murder, the national press would already have a documentary soundtrack playing underneath the coverage. There would be podcasts. Panels. Pulitzer submissions. We would know the names and biographies of every victim before sunset.

But because this disaster emerged from the sacred Covid consensus, the coverage will remain strangely muted and heavily sanitized. The only coverage out there is from internet podcast bros:

If the media does report on this, you'll notice the damage control immediately. Look for phrases like "complex issue," "unintended consequences," "difficult balancing act," and "extraordinary circumstances."

That's how institutional media launders failure.

Civilization requires leaders capable of distinguishing between compassion and recklessness, and Covid obliterated that distinction.

The panic may be over. The consequences are clearly not.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.