This
post was originally published on April 7. In light of the attention
recently given to masks and Americans' responses to using them, we have
updated it.
In
his 1982 novel "The White Plague" Frank Herbert writes about a mad
scientist who develops a pathogen that kills women. Men are asymptomatic
carriers. His intended target is Ireland, because his wife and children
were killed by an IRA bomb. But viruses don't observe borders, and the
virus spreads rapidly and easily, passing through filters with ease. The
result is global gendercide.
COVID-19
is far less selective. Its victims include the rich and the poor, the
intelligent and the moronic, the religious and the atheistic, the royal
and the commoner. It is an equal opportunity pathogen, making no
distinction of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. No one is
immune.
But
there is one class of Americans who choose to put themselves at
increased risk by willfully and deliberately ignoring the best medical
advice: There is no word for such behavior other than stupid.
In
a White House press briefing on April 3, the Great Pretender discussed
the CDC advisory that all Americans wear face masks when around others
to help stop the spread of the virus.
That was when a true leader would have pulled out a mask and put it on.
But
after repeatedly assuring Americans that wearing a mask is voluntary
because he doesn't want us to think the CDC has any authority, he went
on to say that he would not be wearing a mask because "I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers,
dictators, kings, queens. I don’t know, somehow I don’t see it for
myself."¹
Excuse me? There hasn't been a state visit to
the White House since before COVID-19 appeared. His excuses range from
silly to petty, like saying he "didn't want to give the press the
pleasure of seeing it"² during a visit to a Ford plant in Michigan.
As
Biden aide TJ Ducklo noted, "Presidents lead by example, and wearing a
mask helps protect others, . . . Donald Trump should try it, because his
failure to act early on
producing [personal protective equipment], on ramping up testing, and
implementing a coherent national response to this crisis has cost
thousands of Americans their lives."As if the Unspeakable Unmasked
cared.
Unfortunately, the Chucklehead-in-Chief's "do as
I say, not as I do" attitude will no doubt be adopted by those who
accept him as a role model, needlessly increasing the death toll. His
followers, who seem to tend to blind allegiance, either to the GOP or to
Trump, as opposed to independent thought and decision making, may well
be hit the hardest.
With COVID-19 we might finally have a cure for stupidity--dare we hope it begins at the top?
---Diogenes, 4/7/20; republished 5/28/20
¹https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-coronavirus-briefing-transcript-april-3-new-cdc-face-mask-recommendation
²https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-mocks-joe-biden-wear-face-mask-public/
³https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-mocks-joe-biden-wear-face-mask-public/
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