I’ve spent a large part of my adult life trying to open the eyes and ears of my fellow Americans to the reality which seemed, somehow, invisible to them. To the world which rolls on, unseen, beyond their boundaries and outside the scope of their worldview.
That the nation called “Land of the free and home of the brave” is neither, far too often.
That like the character Will McAvoy in the HBO series “The Newroom” says…
“America is not the greatest country in the world.”
“But it could be.”
.
Donald Trump, the most worthless waste of oxygen to ever occupy the Oval Office, has by his actions made it more likely certain that more far more Americans will die from this pandemic than ever had to.
For at least 70 days (after the day both the United States and South Korea announced their first verified infection from this new-to-humanity coronavirus, SARSCoV2) he went on television and said a lot of things that just weren’t true and could hurt people. Like this:
Rachel Maddow | MSNBC
and this
For those who don’t like video or had enough with the first one, selected quotes directly from Donald Trump from this CNBC compilation:
Jan 22: “we have it totally under control, it’s gonna be just fine”
Jan 30: “we think we have it very well under control”
Feb 10: “when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away”
Feb 14: “we’re in very good shape”
Feb 19: “I think it’s gonna work out fine”
Feb 28: “this is their [the Democrats] new hoax” & “we’re doing great, our country is doing so great”
March 2: “I think we’re in extremely good shape. We’re prepared for anything.”
March 10 “We’re prepared and we’re doing a great job with it. It will go away, just stay calm.”
March 15: “it’s something that we have tremendous control over”
March 16: “We were very, very early with respect to China.”
March 17: “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
March 19: “If things don’t go as planned, it’s not going to kill anybody.”
For the March 19 portion, you must listen to that part, in whole, to get the full scope of his first venture into urging people to try chloroquine to treat COVID-19 disease in those infected by SARSCoV2.
Because not long after that, on March 24th, we saw this: [Couple in Arizona, following the repeated urging of Trump, ingested a form of chloroquine]
It is now Saturday, May 16, 2020.
According to the Johns Hopkins University of Michigan COVID-19 mapping site this is the status of the pandemic:
| Confirmed cases | 4,543,447 | 1,443,397 |
| Deaths | 307,715 | 87,568 |
As you read those numbers, let me remind you that in 2020 the United States has only 4.25% of the world’s population, but we have about 31% of the confirmed cases in the world and 28.4% of the world’s deaths from this pandemic.
All of which makes the 2020 election for the next president of the United States something out of the ordinary, and not simply the quadrennial ritual of snout-counting which generally takes place here. This year, in addition to picking the next president, we may well be deciding to live or die during the next four years.
Because this year, with absolutely no sarcasm whatsoever, I am saying that your vote for president on November 3, 2020 could result in you and your family finding a way out of the hellhole we currently find ourselves all in or it could result in one or more of you dying from this “novel virus”. Alone, in a hospital bed (hopefully not in a tent in a hastily assembled temporary hospital), beyond the reach of your loved ones, in pain and afraid.
This time around, we aren’t merely choosing Democratic Party or Republican Party, we are choosing life or death. It couldn’t be any more plain than the words of Donald Trump, one more time:
Please, be what he is not, be responsible and help JoeBiden win this election.
Your life and the lives of your family and friends may well depend upon it.