President Don Trump was never interested in the pandemic. We all know why. The pandemic was not about him. But now it is all about him, but not in a way he likes or can control. After all, he is not a president, he is a performer, a person who believes that his persona and personality are wonderfully attractive to everyone and he must be on the stage to share his “ideas” which are the best ideas, the only ideas, much better than the ideas of the experts or government people. And what better stage than the world stage, the White House? This is a promotion from the reality television show he starred in before. That was the little times.
But his followers, the conservative governors of Texas, Arizona and Florida decided not to be interested in the pandemic either. After all, if governing was applied to the crisis, then it would give governing a good name. And republicans believe in tearing government down, not using it. Even in an emergency, devolve power to corporations or mega churches or whatever, they say. But don’t govern, ever, except to help big business and the rich.
Remember how Trump disbanded the pandemic response office that his predecessors had set up? Who needs it? Sounds like science and government. Both of those things are anathema to Don Trump. These are not things his subculture believes in. Schooling, science, knowledge…not Trump.
So, we see the pandemic out of control, growing exponentially in the republican states*. This is a time when we will see the real consequences of anti-government fervor and the mindless religion of these conservative ideas. Thousands of people will die. And the people who will die are not the republican voters mostly, it will be the natives and the poor immigrants and the poor white people in the Phoenix slums and trailer parks, the elderly snowbirds living in mobile homes on Social Security. They will get a gift from the republican party in the form of a hospital stay (on the public dime) or a coffin.
Alternatively, we can decide that American society is ungovernable on the level of personal behavior. People will not be told what to do. Individualism is our national identity. And when Don Trump says conservatives should not wear masks (wearing masks is “politically correct” he said) and should ignore the CDC guidelines, then millions follow him and the virus spreads. College kids drink on the beaches in tight clusters. Old conservatives go to mega-church obese and share the virus. Trump couldn’t care less and neither could the republican governors. They don’t believe in governing. And so we are on our own.
In New Mexico we have a governor who believes in governing very much and the virus has been held down like George Floyd under the knee of the KKK cop though it hasn’t died yet. We have out of control states on both sides of us and I see the Texas plates on cars and I want to tell them to go home. Leave. They come here to get away and they bring their disease with them. They are not welcome here and I hope they figure that out. Perhaps New Mexico should set up check points on the borders and only let commercial and through traffic in. After all, the two-week quarantine ordered by the New Mexico governor will be ignored by Texans.
The perfect storm of the coronavirus and the worst president in American history is upon us. We have a leader who is completely incapable of leading. He is a performer and fortunately the polls show the American people are tired of his show. His performance has grown ugly in the pandemic when people fear for their lives and need answers. He provides lies instead. And his contempt for the millions of people in the streets angry about the killing of black people… that little Trump stunt is also widely unpopular. He is truly out of step and as he feels the country leaving him behind he becomes a desperate, irrelevant figure. We have to wait him out now, until we can all use the ballot box to turn him off once and for all.
Sadly, the large anti-racism protests have also spread the virus. While we have centuries of institutional racism in the United States, the open racism of the Trump administration is adding fuel to the anger polls show a majority of Americans feel about police brutality and the impunity of cops who commit violent crimes on the job. These events have furthered the virus storm around us.
Meanwhile, the summer is beautiful in the southern Rockies. Birds are still nesting and flowers grace the meadows. We can find solace in nature and gain valuable perspective on our troubled society. Find water and listen to it move across the land.
* The virus is pretty bad in California too despite having a decent governor. I suspect California is so overcrowded and filled with so many different cultures and restless young people that it is impossible to impose CDC guidelines there. Big protests have crowded people together too.
