I haven't seen evidence the US didn't take the lock downs seriously. The goal initially was to flatten the curve aka. reduce/delay the load on hospitals. It was

I haven't seen evidence the US didn't take the lock downs seriously. The goal initially was to flatten the curve aka. reduce/delay the load on hospitals. It was successful to the point hospitals had plenty ICU capacity and they had to layoff staff. Unfortunately there was no step 2 for the lockdowns. It's been months now since epidemiologists acknowledged the US could not eradicate COVID-19 without a vaccine. I don't think any large country has been able to (China might be close?). Economists have all been clear that we can't lock down for another year. There simply is no fight to have at this point. Mitigating damage is the only option.