Week of 05/25/2020

Dying For Profit And Ego
– by David Matthews 2

Two decades ago, in the midst of the fear surrounding the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, there was a push to go to war with Iraq.  Even though were already in a new war against terrorists around the world, the GOP (back before they became coopted into the Trump Party) were sold on expanding that war into Iraq and against the dreaded Saddam Hussein.  Their connection to terrorism was slim.  Every attempt was made to link Saddam Hussein with the Al Qaeda terrorist organization, and those didn’t work. 

Finally, the “base” of the GOP was sold on the idea that we should go to war with Iraq for two things: “blood” and “treasure”.  “Blood” because we were going after some really bad people that have done some really bad things.  And “treasure” being the oil fields that we could claim for ourselves.  Bear in mind that this was back in the day when gas prices were a serious concern for Americans, and we were heavily dependent on oil from outside sources.

“Blood and Treasure” were the justification for us waging war on Iraq, taking over Iraq, overthrowing Saddam Hussein, sending even more soldiers to fight and die for the cause, and then staying there even to this day.

And here’s the joke: we never even got that “treasure” that we were sold on!  All those lives sent there and lost, and the only treasure was in war profiteering.

So now here we are in 2020, in the midst of a “war” that only exists in the mind of an orange-skinned narcissist.  A war against a virus.  And the “soldiers” fighting this “war” are you and I.

The malignant narcissist in the White House and his gang of toadies and lackeys want to treat the COVID-19 global pandemic as a “war”.  Treating it as a “war” gives him emergency powers.  He can force businesses to do his bidding, such as keeping certain businesses open, or requiring them to manufacture certain products essential in fighting this “war”.  But so far the only thing he’s done with those powers was to order General Motors to make ventilators, which they were already doing, and to keep the meat production businesses open so he can keep getting his cheap cheeseburgers, even though those businesses are suffering hard from COVID exposure due to lack of social distancing.

In other words, it’s either theatrics, or else he’s forcing businesses to keep putting people in danger of getting painfully sick and possibly dying... for... what?  So there wouldn’t be a shortage in beef?  So the narcissist can have his cheap fast food cheeseburger?  Sorry, but the meat shortages were already there from all the hoarding two months prior to this article.

And then there’s his new demand that businesses “open up”, going along with the demands of Big Business and the tantrums being thrown by his red-hat supporters.  The narcissist in the White House doesn’t want us to be safe in our homes, sheltering in place, waiting out the virus.  That means we’re not going to restaurants and hair salons.  We’re not going to movie theaters.  And we’re not going to his ego rallies.

If we’re at home, then we’re not at work.  That means unemployment checks, and now they’re $600 more thanks to the little deal the narcissist had to sign off on because of this emergency.  A deal that he is trying to cancel as soon as he can.  Ditto with the “Paycheck Protection Program”, which was so badly mismanaged that they ran out of money early.  The narcissist in the White House needs people working, not being safe.

Because let’s get brutally honest here... what the narcissist in the White House is more concerned with than human lives is the economy.  He is banking on being the “savior” of the American economy.  That’s what he’s been selling himself as from day one.  He has sold himself and his cult followers on the delusion that he is the apex businessman.  All of his messages have been that he is the reason why America prospers, and that if he is voted out, if he is removed from office, then the economy will go to hell.

So this “war” that the narcissist in the White House is waging isn’t really for America’s safety.  It’s for the economy.  It’s for the profits of Big Corporate and Big Heathcare and Big Pharma and all of the other Bigs out there.  And it’s also for his ego.

Profit and Ego.

That’s what this “war” is about.

And keep in mind that we – the great unwashed – are the ones that are “drafted” into this “war”.  From the guy who got five draft deferments for “bone spurs”.  The narcissist even calls us his “warriors”.  But it’s a “draft” without any military benefits.  None of us will be considered veterans when this is over with.  None of us will get medals or qualify for the G.I. Bill.  There will most likely not be any memorials for this “war”.  And our “war” dead will certainly not be remembered on Memorial Day.  We will risk our lives for profit and ego and possibly get painfully sick and even die for the narcissist and his Big Business friends.  But it won’t be for our profit and certainly not for our ego.  We will gain nothing from it except what meager pay we get from doing the work... if we’re not laid off first.

There are people out there today that are doing their best to fight the spread of the virus and limit the loss of life.  Doctors and nurses.  Caregivers.  But they’re not doing it because of glory or profit or ego.  They’re doing it because that is their job.  It’s not a “war” for them.  It is what they do.  And when this pandemic is over, a lot of them will still be doing what they do.  They deserve our gratitude and whatever benefit would come from this crisis.  Not the ones beating the “war” drums that risk nothing in return.

Week of 05/18/2020

COVIDiocy
– by David Matthews 2

So 102 years ago from this article’s posting, the world had just come out of one disastrous “world war” (even though it really was just in Europe).  It was a time of jubilation and relief.  Only it didn’t last for long.

102 years before this article’s posting, the world – still trying to recover from the ravages of that “world war” – was hit with a global pandemic of influenza.  You may have heard of it.  They dubbed it the “Spanish Flu”, even though they found out it really didn’t come from Spain.

About one-third of the whole human populace was affected by it, and it killed anywhere between 20 and 50 million people.  Fun fact: there were more US servicemen that were killed by that pandemic than were killed in the war.

So the reason why this pandemic was called the “Spanish Flu” was because Spain was not only hit the hardest of them all (reportedly their king was even affected), but they also didn’t try to hide the pandemic in the media like so many other nations did at the time.  That’s why the actual death count isn’t that precise.  Whole nations did not want to recognize that people died from this.

Another fun fact: the first recorded case of this strain of influenza was in Kansas.  In the United States of America!  So why wasn’t this called the “American Flu”?  Sheer nationalistic arrogance and piousness.  Plus, Spain wasn’t ashamed to report the pandemic, unlike those in our prissy pompous nation.

There were efforts to contain the spread of this disease.  Masks were required in a lot of places.  Hell, people went to jail in certain parts of the world if they didn’t wear a mask.  Stores and workplaces were shut down.  Businesses came to a halt.  Farms were left to rot because people were too sick to work.  The global economy was devastated, even in places that weren’t already devastated by the war.

Not long after this pandemic started, the death count seemed to decrease.  People thought it was over.  They went out and partied and celebrated and worked... and then a second wave hit that October and killed a lot more people.  It would take another year, 1919, before it was safe to once again go out to work and play. 

And all because people were stupid and willful idiots!

Fast forward one whole century, and people have clearly not learned a single damn thing!

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic.  This is a truly historic event, one that will have an impact on humanity for years to come.  And that’s not bragging or boasting.  There is nothing to be proud about this, any more than one would be proud of the Spanish Flu, or even the Black Plague.

And just like the Spanish Flu, there are willful idiots out there that are only making this global pandemic worse.

It’s simple: wear a mask in public and practice social distancing.  Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.  Clean and sanitize surfaces.  And if you don’t really have to go out, then don’t.  Simple!  It’s not for forever, but it will be a lot shorter if everyone did that.

And yet, there are way too many idiots out there that not only refuse to do that, but they are throwing Walmart-level temper tantrums about it.

These COVID idiots – COVIDiots, if you will – are not only *not* practicing social distancing, but they are intentionally *failing* at it!  They don’t want to wear a mask, they’re up in everyone’s faces, and they are even threatening, assaulting, and shooting people when told they either need to wear a mask or that they can’t dine-in at their restaurants. 

I will repeat that: there are idiot people who are threatening, assaulting, and shooting other people when told that they need to wear a mask or that they cannot dine-in at their restaurants.

It is one thing to ignore or outright fail in social distancing and to not wear a mask when told that you need to, so you wouldn’t get this virus.  It is another thing entirely when you are threatening, assaulting, and shooting other people for your privileges!

Yes, I said that.  You red-hats who are screaming bloody murder about having to wear a mask and to social distance and to not dine-in at your favorite restaurants and to get your precious hairs cut and dyed are not “exercising your freedoms”.  You are screaming about privilege!  The two things are not interchangeable!  You lot wouldn’t know what freedom was if the founding fathers themselves crawled out of their graves and slapped you upside your pompous self-important heads.

Here’s a quick test for you... would you be willing to work for minimum wage in crowded conditions and possibly catch a virus that could kill you and/or the people you love, or at the very least subject you to some very expensive weeks of agony and misery in a hospital with tubes shoved down your throat?  If you answered “no”, then why are you demanding that other people do that for your privilege?  Why are you telling the meat and poultry workers that they have to continue in dangerous conditions just so you can get your precious fast food?  Why are you demanding that warehouse workers continue in dangerous conditions just so you can get your Amazon order delivered?  Why are you demanding that hair dressers and barbers and nail salon workers and fast food workers continue to work in dangerous conditions just for your privileges?

You see, there’s the difference.  If you are willing to risk it yourself, it’s freedom.  If you are demanding that others do that for your benefit, then it is privilege.

But, you know, I get it.  I do.  I hate wearing these masks when I’m out and about.  I hate having to practice social distancing.  I hate having to wash my hands all the time.  I hate being the one to use bleach cleaner to clean surfaces all the time and to use hand sanitizer so often that my hands have become cracked and chemically burned.  I hated all those messages from the Center for Disease Control trying to micromanage our daily activities.  I was waiting for them to tell us how to wipe our butts!  I also know more about social isolation than most of you would dare admit to.  I know the strains it places on people because I live with it constantly.

But I am also a caregiver to an elderly and ailing parent, and I fully understand the burdens that come with it.  I am not willing to risk my family dying just for someone else’s privilege.  So why are you?

Go ahead.  Ask your loved ones if they would like to get painfully sick and die so you can have your cheap cheeseburger and your overpriced haircut.  That is what you are telling everyone else to do for your cheap cheeseburger and overpriced haircut.

And as much as I would otherwise not involve a certain orange-skinned malignant narcissist, I would be remiss if I did not pin a good part of the COVIDiocy on Narcissist President Donald John Trump for his gross incompetence and criminal negligence when it came to dealing with this pandemic and spreading the ignorance and encouraging resistance to these needed safety measures.  We started out with him telling everyone that “we have it under control” and “it will just magically go away” to it being “a hoax” and a “conspiracy” to suddenly saying it’s serious, but only when the markets start collapsing, and then going back to saying that it’s “a hoax” and that it would “magically go away” while the death count is still going up around the country.  He encouraged his followers to protest in states where there are Democratic governors, and they showed up with assault weapons!  He told various states that they had “to be nice to him” in order to get help.  And now certain states with Trump Party governors are withholding and even blocking information about infection rates and deaths so, just like the Spanish Flu pandemic, we will never really know the full extent of the outbreak and the lives lost.

The same incompetent buffoon who spent years criticizing his predecessor over his handling of a lesser pandemic now says with a deadpan face “No, I don’t take responsibility at all.”  Sir, your own words on Twitter say otherwise!

Even worse is this nightmarish policy of “herd immunity” that is being uttered in certain circles; where people expect the virus to wash over everyone, kill the weak, kill the poor, kill the old, kill the minorities, so that everyone else would emerge “stronger”.  I’m sorry, but that idea sounded better in the original German back in the 1930’s.  Oh, wait, even the Germans rejected that idea back then.

The scary part is that I have discovered that this rampant ignorant hostility also happened a century ago when it came to the Spanish Flu.  There was also a strong resistance to wearing masks back then.  Some of them even cut slits in the masks just so they could smoke, which negated the whole purpose of wearing them.  But at least our great-grandparents and our great-great-grandparents had an excuse back then for being ignorant idiots.  They didn’t have the media that we do today.  They didn’t have resources back then that told them what to expect and what they needed to do in order to not get influenza. 

We, on the other hand, have no excuse whatsoever for this COVIDiocy.  None.

Let’s get brutally honest here... we have had a whole century to learn from the last major global pandemic on how to deal with it and we have failed that course miserably.

Yes, China screwed up royally by censuring news about the pandemic while it was still in their country.  But other nations also didn’t want to admit to it until they couldn’t hide it any longer.  Again, they failed to learn the lessons from a century ago.  But that also does not excuse America’s blatant ignorance and COVIDiocy.  We had a plan in place, an organization that was designed to deal with this very crisis, and the orange narcissist destroyed it two years ago!  Because, he said, “I’m a businessman”.  We have been in willful denial since the start of 2020; we were fed ignorance and lies about the scope of this pandemic, we were given talk about snake oil cures from a con-artist, told first that it was “a hoax” and then it was “real” and then it was “a hoax” again and now we are being told that getting back to work was more important than our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. 

The narcissist calls that “patriotism”.  I call it negligent genocide.

The only thing that makes this whole mess even worse is that the mystical force called karma is even more inept than the narcissist in the White House.  By all accounts, the people who are out there living in ignorance and willfully ignoring those needed safety measures should be the ones suffering.  But the fact that they do not, the fact that karma has been inept and incompetent and not doing its job, only emboldens the COVIDiots and makes them believe that they are right and that all of this is just one “yuge” hoax.

It’s a gamble, to be certain, to be playing this form of viral Russian Roulette.  But, for this commentator, it is a game that I cannot take up.  There is nothing for me to gain in playing that game.  Nothing whatsoever.  I have a whole lot more for me to gain by not playing it, by being safe and trying my best to follow those safety rules.  Because I want to still have my family alive when this is over with.  And I hope that many of you can share the same sentiment.