Getting Petty, Trump Style

MORE THAN one hundred thousand Americans have already died, and the experts are saying that another seventy five thousand could follow in this first wave, and that in the inevitable second wave this fall the death total could go even higher, much higher. No longer calling Covid 19 a hoax, ingesting copious quantities of bleach and hydorxychloroquine, president Trump's current concern has turned to the republican national convention, forthcoming in Charlotte, in August. He insists that if the G.O.P. is not allowed to pack every seat in the arena, to fill every nook, cranny, and alcove with right wing meat on account of social distancing protocols, the deal's off. The convention will be moved to a city which cares a bit less about public health, and a bit more about convention revenue. A nice, conservative city, perhaps, where masks are not worn, and men are men. Social distancing, common sense, public health, masks, and prima dona politics to anoint a tyrant simply do not, it would seem, mix. How dare the professional medical community expect expect a large room full of Trump supporters to wear protective masks, and to space a few empty seats in between delegates, when the overweening purpose is to show the world the majestic glory of the president who discovered that windmills cause cancer, and that drinking bleach prevents the flu. Can anyone imagine even for a moment the spectacle of president Trump, expressing concern that a full convention hall in august might be a danger to public health, might contribute to the spread of Covid 19, and that therefore it is of the utmost importance to practice social distancing during the G.O.P. fest, and that it might even be expedient, and compassionate, to cancel the real tiem event, in favor of an online virtual gathering such as Joe Biden suggested for the Democrats? NO, no one can. Not when you consider that president Trump makes fun of people for wearing protective face masks during an epidemic in which disease is spread through the respiratory system, from one person to another. One wonders how petty and vicious one's head of state can become.