“The Lighter Side of Swimming Pools” ran in a 1968 edition of Mad Magazine. In a short panel, a Bobby Hill-looking child standing on a diving board shouts, “Mommy, look at me! Daddy, look at me!” Pool party guests turn away from their cocktails to watch.
“Okay,” Dad says, exasperated. “You’ve got everybody watching.”
SPLAT!!!
Coming up for air spluttering, the kid cries, “Not now. BEFORE when I did it good!”
A future Donald Trump, that kid. The U.S. economy shrank 32.9% on an annualized basis in the 2nd quarter, the worst performance since the second world war. The acting president still wants to run for reelection based people’s memory of the economy as it was before his coronavirus denials and non-response contributed to the deaths of what looks to be 230,000 Americans dead by Election Day.
Masks are un-Donald, his supplicants believed, refusing to wear them in public and making angry scenes in private businesses. FREE-DOM! The virus is a Democratic hoax no worse than the flu, they cried, taking cues from the denialist-in-chief.
This week, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of COVID-19, having contracted it about the time he attended Trump’s masks-optional rally in Tulsa, Okla. in late June. Nine days later, Cain tested positive and was soon hospitalized.
And Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), another mask refusenik, tested positive for the virus this week, setting off a minor firestorm among Republican Hill staff:
Now, legislative aides, chiefs of staff, press assistants, members of Congress, career workers and maintenance men and women are venting their fury with an institution that does not have uniform rules or masking requirements, does not mandate testing, is run with minimal oversight and must contend with a gaggle of lawmakers who doubt scientists and hold themselves out as experts on everything from disease hygiene to pharmacology.
Gohmert’s diagnosis, Politico reports, “has become a tipping point” for workers at the Hill complex. Gohmert insisted his staff not wear masks and speculated that he contracted the virus by wearing one on occasion. (At least he did not claim it was from inhaling his own CO2.) It is a wonder the man can dress and feed himself. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Politico reports at least 86 Hill workers have contracted the virus. Some aides avoid riding elevators with certain members out of fear of the disease. Mask use is near universal among Democrats, but after Gohmert’s diagnosis, Speaker Nancy Pelosi implemented policy making it mandatory that members wear masks on the House floor.
Reporters’ inboxes have exploded with complaints and tales of lax safety measures, careless bosses and a widespread feeling that their health was viewed as expendable.
Many described feeling uncomfortable taking the very kinds of health steps recommended by public health experts, and feeling pressured to report to work in person despite the risks. Multiple aides said it was common to mock those wearing masks, or brush off concerns among staff members with specific health issues.
I don’t know about the rest of the country, but in these parts “Hey, watch this!” often prefaces a stupid stunt leading to injury or death. Please, somebody get it on tape.
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For The Win, 3rd Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV mechanics guide at ForTheWin.us. This is what winning looks like.
Note: The pandemic will upend standard field tactics in 2020. If enough promising “improvisations” come my way, perhaps I can issue a COVID-19 supplement.