Protesters have also shown up in Michigan, Minnesota and
other places demanding the right to return to work and go back to schools,
shopping malls, theaters and anywhere else they used to hang out before the
deadly pandemic hit. I just saw a video of today’s protest in Harrisburg, Pa., involving
hundreds if not thousands of people, some of whom were not wearing masks or any
kind of protective gear. They certainly weren't six feet apart.
Meanwhile, governors in some southern states are reopening
beaches and people are flocking to them with no regard for themselves or others.
It’s almost too much to comprehend why people are so eager to put their lives –
and the lives of everyone else they might contact – at imminent risk of death.
I get it that people are frustrated because they can’t move
around freely like they used to. I’m frustrated, too. I get it that some of
them may be out of work and facing financial hardship or worse, and I empathize
with their plight. I get it that many of them are simply uninformed or
misinformed, especially if they are getting their news from the talking dullards
at Fox News, which has downplayed the severity of the coronavirus since Day
One. And I get it that many of them are following the lead of our reckless,
science-denying, chaos-loving president who is encouraging civil disobedience
to support his call to reopen the country for commerce…and thus enhance his
chances of re-election.
I get all of that, but give me a friggin’ break. These
stay-at-home orders haven’t been in effect all that long and people have
already lost their minds. (For the
record, California went first on March 19. New York’s was issued March 22.
West Virginia’s was issued March 24.)
As for me personally, I fall into five risk categories and
I’m trying to do the right thing. I’ve been keeping a list of every time I
leave the house since we were first advised to stay home. Two days ago I filled
my car’s gas tank. I wore a glove to handle the pump and a rubber fingertip to press
the buttons on the touch screen, then threw them away when I was finished. I
came home and washed my hands. My wife thinks I should have worn a mask, too, and
she’s probably right about that.
Prior to that, other than walking my dog, I had been to a drive-up ATM at the bank, the
mailboxes on the sidewalk outside the post office, a drug store drive-through
line and a supermarket pickup site without ever getting out of my car. Each
time, I wiped my hands with a disinfecting cloth before driving away. The last
time I actually got out of my car and went inside a store was March 19, when I
went grocery shopping at 10 p.m. to avoid any crowds. (I was surprised to
discover yesterday that was exactly one month ago. It seems like a lot longer
than that.)
The point is, I’m puzzled why people can’t go more than 30
days at home before rushing out to expose themselves to a killer pandemic,
ignoring guidelines put in place for everyone’s protection. Every one of those
people is now at greater risk, and when they go home, they’ll endanger friends
and family as well. I suspect a lot of them will go to church on Sunday and
who knows where else after their protest events are done.
Even more to the point, I'm trying to see the connection between a "peaceful" demonstration in support of our Constitutional freedoms and
the need to wear swastika armbands, wave Confederate flags and strap on
military-style assault weapons. One of the Harrisburg protesters even carried a
huge sign that read, “Make America Great Again / Ban Homo Marriage.” What does
any of that have to do with the threat of contracting COVID-19 and the importance
of social distancing?
I say I'm trying to see the connection but actually I’m afraid I
do. Asked about the protests, president Trump at first said the demonstrators
were “responsible” citizens and yesterday he called them “great people.” Does
the word “Charlottesville” ring any bells?
This is the president of the United States, who watches
television all day when he’s not getting free air time to stage his
faux-briefing campaign rallies. He has to see the gun-toting, swastika-wearing,
stars-and-bars-waving terrorists posing as protesters and claiming to be defenders
of the Constitution. That’s not who they are and he knows it. They’re Trump’s
base voters, and he needs them badly, so he refuses to disparage them in any way…and
that’s both frightening and sad.
As for the rest of them, maybe they are legitimate protesters who feel like their rights are under
attack (I’m being kind). All I can say to them is this: There’s a virus going
around that would like to kill every human on the planet. We were starting to see a
possible breakthrough when you took to the streets en masse to complain about the
government. When the second wave of the virus comes along – and history says it
will – the people who die from it will be partly on your heads.
This is the United States of America, as the so-called patriots
like to say. We’re supposed to be the richest, smartest, most advanced and most
sophisticated nation on earth, but if our citizens can’t make it more than a
month without putting our lives at risk, I have to question whether this
country can make it at all.
I continue to have my doubts.
No comments:
Post a Comment