WASHINGTON — The vice president's refusal to wear a mask in the Mayo Clinic began a big reveal: his pattern of exposing others to COVID-19, including the nation's top doctors and a close aide.

Vice President Mike Pence unmasked his true character that April day in Minnesota, and again every day in May since. He put vulnerable patients at risk, shocking doctors coast to coast. My father, an immunologist, was steamed at the Mayo Clinic for breaking its rules and fine reputation. That scene was a flashpoint for everyone I know.

Now Pence's health violations are trouble closer to home. This is the man appointed to lead us out of the coronavirus crisis. Irony doesn't get better than this.

The White House workplace is a grave case of what not to do in a pandemic. A trifecta of doctors advising President Donald Trump — Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, Robert Redfield of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Stephen Hahn of the Food and Drug Administration — are now quarantined for two weeks.

Hello? If you were coordinating the White House task force on a deadly plague, wouldn't you protect the medical leaders? All we know is that the mysterious virus is contagious in close quarters.

But Trump and Pence coerced the three into close contact in long daily news briefings, standing side by side. No social distancing. So much for modeling good practices.

The American people depend upon government experts to steer us through the squall. Fauci, the most valuable player, is trusted for his straight-up candor. He's 79, in the highest-risk group.

Cavalier disregard for the safety of its medical team is a sorry low for the most slipshod show in American history.

So, it was to be expected that COVID-19 would strike within the West Wing gates.

It's more than bad luck that Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller (White House speechwriter Stephen Miller's new bride), just contracted the coronavirus.

This likely happened because Pence and a slew of staffers defied protocols for one nation under lockdown: masks and social distancing. New rules still don't require masks for all who live, breathe and enter there. Trump and Pence are the offenders in chief.

Why? The two are as vain as a pair of peacocks. Pence's granite jaw wouldn't look the same with a mask. Give him this: At 60, snowy-haired Pence trumps Trump, who would look better with a mask.

Here's the thing. Pence had a fair chance to prove that cooler heads than Trump's would prevail. This desperate pandemic has brought more than 80,000 deaths and flattened society on every front. We feel under siege, like refugees fleeing for safety.

This cruel spring, Pence could have saved the nation some suffering — if his head were cooler, if he were made of stronger stuff. Instead, facing a storm after the Mayo visit, Pence turned to the woman he calls "Mother": his wife, Karen.

"Knowing that he doesn't have COVID-19, he didn't wear (a mask)," she said, declaring that he was not told of the Mayo policy.

Pence's disrespect for medical caution telegraphs contempt for science. That sums up our common condition. Trumpian know-nothingness on rigor and evidence meant we failed on preparedness. The lack of federal standards for testing and reopening leaves states to their fates.

In all this, Pence is the soul of obedience. The president he serves, however, may have to answer for blood on his hands when he faces a voter verdict later in 2020.

Pence's young press secretary uttered haunting words just before she fell ill, words worthy of a Greek tragedy. Once news broke that she tested positive, six Pence staffers were pulled off Air Force Two, heightening fears of a spread. Pence often strolls around the airborne plane to chat.

Pence's spokeswoman, Miller, commented on political strategy past the pandemic heading into the election. She told The Washington Post, "I think we're in a really good position now to be able to look around the corner and set ourselves up for the fall."

Set ourselves up for the fall. Yet the fall she means may not be the fall they get.

Jamie Stiehm can be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To read her weekly column and find out more about Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

Photo credit: nastya_gepp at Pixabay