Juneteenth, Part 2

The BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) Center in Tulsa is a typical indoor multievent arena with a capacity of just over 19,000 people. Its stainless steel and glass exterior wraps around its central axis in a graceful semi-spiral, contrasting with the more traditional skyline.

On Saturday it could well become the site of a mass contagion.

The coronavirus swamp will begin to bubble as soon as a hundred or so people have formed a line. This will be a festival-seating event, so that line will start long before the event, with everyone pressed tightly together, pushing forward--I can almost hear the virus smacking its lips. When the rally begins at 7 p.m. CDT, many if not all seats will be filled and hardcore fans will be on the floor in front of the stage. Let the culling begin.

At a roundtable conference June 15, Mike Pence, speaking of COVID-19, said: "The number of cases in Oklahoma has declined precipitously"¹ in the past couple of weeks.

Don't think so. Speaking of the same time period, Reuters News reported "In Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump plans to hold an indoor campaign rally on Saturday, new cases rose 68% to 1,081 in the second week of June, while the positive test rate increased to 4%, from 2% the previous week."²

Also on June 15, CNN reported "There was a 'meaningful increase' in cases of coronavirus last week in the city, according to the statement [from the Tulsa Health Department]. As of Friday, there had been 1,443 total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Tulsa County, and 62 deaths."³

Tulsa health officials are understandably concerned about the potential danger to their citizens; the mayor is at best indifferent, but has also voiced concern. At this writing an attempt to stop the rally has been blocked by a Tulsa judge, but the case is moving through the courts.

The Trump campaign claims to expect as many as 40,000 people to attend the rally, but at present they haven't decided what to do with any overflow crowd. With the heat index forecast to reach nearly 100 on Saturday, one hopes they find someplace with air conditioning.

For an outfit that spent months denying COVID-19 even existed, the campaign is doing its best to contain it. Attendees will have to consent not to hold the campaign liable if they contract the virus, and campaign representatives have said attendees will be furnished with masks and sanitizer, but they will not be advised to wear the masks. (Just where did those masks come from? Has the campaign been sitting on thousands of masks all along? If so, why weren't they donated for medical use?)

The Moron-in-Chief won't be masked, meaning most of his followers won't be, either. And the most rabid will be right up front: beer-bellied skinhead yobs whose entire vocabulary consists of four-letter words pumping their fists and hopefully spraying the Chinaman from Oklahoma with billions of coronavirus particles.

This rally is going to be big, loud, boisterous, and protested. There will likely be a sea of COVID-19 in the air inside and right-wing berserkers with guns outside. We can only hope Tulsa survives.


--- Diogenes, 6/17/2020

Bonus article: "The Remarkable Idiocy Of Holding A Trump Rally In Tulsa: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/opinions/the-remarkable-idiocy-of-holding-a-trump-rally-in-tulsa-sepkowitz/index.html


 ¹ Rev Transcript Library: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-june-15-roundtable-transcript-fighting-for-americas-seniors
 ² Reuters News: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trends-graphic/covid-19-cases-surging-in-alabama-south-carolina-and-oklahoma-idUSKBN23N1OP
 ³ CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/tulsa-rally-coronavirus/index.html