Knowing, and Not Knowing, Science and History

I STAYED HOME on the fourth, depriving myself of any chance to catch Covid, and fulfilled my annual ritual of reading the Declaration of Independence, loudly, and dramatically. It should have been nationally televised, since it did Olivier proud, and might have kept at least a few folks home for a few more minutes, off the beaches, out of the bars, away from the picnics, far, at least fleetingly, from maskless parties. the most commonly used justification I heard for people risking death and spreading contagion on the fourth was; "People don't want to stay home on the holiday". Freedom, liberty, and all that. Surely they could do better. Welcome to the fun house,, the United States of amnesia, where inconvenient facts are labeled "fake news", fabrication passes as truth, and science is rejected the instant it conflicts with one's political or religious views. We have sunk so low as to have elected a president of the United States who apparently believes that giving people a test to determine whether they are infected with Covid 19 cause them to become infected with it. As the epidemic explodes in infection and death rates, simply do less testing, says the befuddled president, because that's the only reason we know about the rampant spread. The same medically challenged president, who claimed that windmills cause cancer, is now turning his fevered mind to history, ranting against removing monuments to killers and traitors, accuses some mythical radical left of "erasing history", as if removing monuments were tantamount to burning down libraries and museums. Trump, should know, but doesn't, all about erasing history, or at least twisting it into bizarre shapes. it was he who said that during America's war for independence George Washington took control of all the continental airports. Yes, he really said that. He also said that Italian-American friendship dates from the time of the Roman empire  under the Caesar dynasty.  And to think, he went to college, ostensibly.President Trump says that ninety nine percent of Covid 19 infections are harmless. Twenty seven percent of teh American people say they will not take a Covid 19 vaccination when one is available. An ancient Greek philosopher said that against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain. and P.T. Barnum said that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. They are all quite correct, except Trump, who is demonstrably mentally ill.