I’ve often said, and I may have even said it in this space in the past, if you can’t be a good example, at least be a cautionary tale.
It appears that this country’s leadership has elected to follow the second part of this motto — you know, the stupid part.
And I am sick and tired of it.
I’m tired of people making excuses for not wearing masks in public spaces, not physically distancing from others, deciding their comfort is more important than anyone else’s life, and just generally being the stupid cautionary tale.
COVID-19, this novel coronavirus, isn’t going away soon. Bank on it — and learn to deal with it.
Now, I’m not one to tell people to go about their lives with their heads buried in the sand (or in a different part of their anatomy), and not let it rule your life.
Being careful and safe is like asking for help when you need it. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.
Current leadership has made sure that a matter of public health has become a political football, and his cult followers deciding to go maskless during a pandemic is a hill they’re willing to die on. Some may get their wish.
The sight of the current occupant of the White House visibly laboring to breathe as he ripped off his mask for his Mussolini moment (how did things end for that guy, by the way?), was both cringe-worthy and eye-rolling. All the orange face paint in the world doesn’t make you look healthy, and the propaganda machine working overtime to spin this as a triumph of a strong leader isn’t working for the families of the 210,000-plus people who have died, many of them alone, without their families able to comfort them.
Former Vice President Joe Biden immediately pulled his negative campaign ads after learning Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. He also sent his prayers for a speedy recovery. He showed the class and dignity that wouldn’t have been shown had the shoe been on the other foot. Don’t believe me? Google Trump’s response when his opponent, Hillary Clinton, suffered a bout of pneumonia during the 2016 campaign.
And now, after being brought down by his own reckless behavior that has also afflicted many of his surrounding staff, and his wife, we’re suddenly supposed to be sympathetic, prayerful, and swayed by this “leader” who courageously left one hospital to go to a home with round-the-clock physicians and staff, and access to a helicopter should his health take a southward turn. For any of you out there who have lost people to this illness, suffered from it and recovered, or are just anxious about contracting it — does this reckless individual inspire you at all?
A drunk or chemically-altered driver may injure or kill others and emerge unscathed from the wreckage left of other people’s lives. The altered driver may be remorseful, but that remorse doesn’t begin to repair the damage done by a careless and selfish individual.
But it’s even worse when the driver isn’t remorseful, when he emerges from the devastation and tells those around him that they should be inspired by his survival and not let the tragedy rule their lives. After all, he’s OK. Shouldn’t that count for something?
Understand, Trump didn’t cause COVID-19.
He also did little to nothing to contain it. Even though he knew how dangerous it was, evidenced by the conversations he had with writer Bob Woodward, he decided the stock market numbers were more important than the people he was elected to serve. His late decision to limit travelers from China was anemic at best. His refusing to wear a mask, agitating armed insurrection in states like Michigan, taking no responsibility for getting Personal Protective Equipment to first responders and front line workers, his insistence on rallies to fill that insatiable need for adoration, his deciding that blue states don’t deserve the protection and care of those in red states (they didn’t get any protection either, however), all showcased his inadequacy not only as a leader, but as a compassionate and thoughtful human being. He told a rally crowd that “nobody gets it” shortly after his “friend” Herman Cain died from the coronavirus. Does this mean that he’s a nobody now?
Some people call it karma, or consequence, or even just desserts.
I don’t care what you call it. But when your stupid and reckless decisions time after time hurt so many people around you, you’re no leader. You’re just another cautionary tale.
