Hoaxing

LEST WE FORGET, at the beginning of America's participation in the virus crisis, when the first few infected folks had been noticed on these shores, president Trump announced that the whole thing was a "Democratic hoax". Whether he meant by this that there existed no virus, or that the DMC was exaggerating the severity of it for political gain is unknown; Donald Jr. did, however, accuse Democrats of hoping that the virus kills millions of people, Trump supporters in particular. As they say; you can't make this stuff up. Now, of course, the president, having regained by external coercion some semblance of sanity, is proudly proclaiming his leadership in the eventual vanquishing of the tiny organism. He is even considering being tested for it himself, having been repeatedly exposed to infected people, but not, he insists, for that reason. For what reason is unknown; perhaps as a further demonstration of his personal virility and immunity? He continues to shake hands, but refuses to touch his face, and, as an afterthought, declared a national emergency, albeit one couched in his usual barrage of misinformation. Trump is familiar with hoaxes. You'll recall that he officially announced climate change to be first a Chinese, then a liberal hoax, and the same of Russian interference in the election of 2016, and the ongoing Russian interference in American politics generally. Robert Mueller proved and clearly spelled out the facts concerning the highly organized Russian political intrusion, which Putin and his Trump loving gang accomplished by spreading fake news on social media, and science has long since clearly demonstrated the reality of climate change, which we can all now see, especially during the summer month of October and the summer month of March. The rule of thumb is that whenever the president declares something to be a hoax, its existence is indisputably real, and the president's declaration is in and of itself: a hoax. To paraphrase a quote; the fool would be humorous were he not in such deadly earnest. The pattern is that the more real an emergency situation is, the more proof there is of its reality, the more likely Trump is to proclaim it a hoax. Trump's entire life has been something of a hoax; a litany of shady financial deals, reneged promises, failures to pay, failures to file accurate information with appropriate regulatory bodies, failures to operates solvent business enterprises, and much more. His election to the presidency, accomplished with foreign assistance, is the greatest hoax of all. Oh, if only that which Trump calls hoaxes really were hoaxes. But the coronal viral hoaxing does not end with Trump. Enter the paranormal crowd, and the unethical free enterprisers, with their magical cures for any and all viruses and assorted maladies, which usually contain the requisite dose of something called colloidal silver, sea weed, and some snake oil just to be sure. Not coincidentally, the hoaxing free enterprising crowd and the paranormal conspiracy theory crowd tend, overwhelmingly, to be Trump supporters. Why not? One good hoax deserves another, and, as they say, birds of a feather. Being reasonably intelligent, I fully understand the severity of the situation, and the need to take drastic action against it. But at this point I am willing to die, and willing to let the human species become extinct, at the "hands" of a virus. But I am not willing to endure another moment of media discussion about the looming disaster. I learned to wash my hands when I was quite young. Would that the sensationalists, the advice givers, and the hoaxers only fulfill Donald Junior's projection on the Democrats; that the Trumpers and fake capitalists and paranormal conspiracy theory loonies might all fly away, and find some final version of peace, with or without sanity, elsewhere.