What Does Electricity Taste Like?

There was a joke a few years ago that So and So was so dumb he would stick his tongue into a light socket to see what electricity tasted like. It seems that Trump has moved into light socket territory. We have no therapeutics to reduce the lethality of Covid-19. We have no vaccine, and likely won't for a year or so.

What we have is masks and social distancing, but really, mostly masks.  Masks are at least part of the reason why East Asia has not been crushed by the coronavirus (as mask wearing is fairly common there, post-SARS). Some European countries went to masks early and had good results.

But masks need to be nearly universal to work. Most masks won't so much protect the wearer from the virus (though they will) but they will insure a carrier (asymptomatic or otherwise) will not spread the virus.  The first rule of gun safety is that the gun is always loaded.  The first rule of Covid should be that everyone should be presumed to have the virus.

Trump's decision not to wear a mask is likely rooted in his shallow vanity and his desire to appear tough, when really he is anything but. However, having taken a stand against masks back in March, he now can't retreat.  An essential part of Trump is the absolute 100% refusal to ever admit you were wrong or to backtrack. So, he staked out a stupid decision in March, probably based on vanity. Now, he can't admit it was wrong and won't appear on camera with a mask.

This sends a massive signal to the MAGAts that mask wearing is a stupid liberal plot to steal your freedumbs.  This is at least partly why we see mass gatherings of people who are unmasked. Outside or not, mass gatherings are terrible for the spread of the virus.  The noise makes you shout, and that makes it more likely that droplets with the virus are expelled (shouting is considered one of the reasons why meatpacking plants have been superspreader events).

Again, we need everyone who can to wear a mask. Trump is encouraging - actively and passively - his followers not to wear them.

Today, we will pass the 100,000 dead mark. My guess is that we will start to see an increase in hospitalizations and deaths across the states that have largely abandoned efforts to contain the virus. That should become apparent in the next week to ten days.

What makes this so stupid (aside from, you know, the mass death) is that Trump needs a quick recovery from both the virus and the economy to have any chance in November. But he just can't help sticking his tongue in that socket.