Reading this profile of Cult 45 members is infuriating and dispiriting. First of all, do we really need another goddamned profile of Trump supporters? How many Cleetus safaris to the Post and Times need to embark on? Do we really need to know that Trump supporters believe? We know.
But what they believe is genuinely troubling. They start with something that is kind of true: the coronavirus is not terribly lethal or in fact THAT contagious. (In the article, one compares it to measles. Measles is much more contagious.) There's a basic innumeracy at play here, though. Yes, only a small percentage of those who get infected will die, but the numbers involved can become staggering if you don't mitigate the spread of the virus. These are the same yahoos who fetishize 9/11 where 3,000 people died, but they shrug their shoulders are that death toll every few days from a virus that can be prevented. Our best guess is that over 214,000 Americans have died. That's roughly how many died of combat wounds in the Civil War on both sides (more died of disease). That's 9 month into the pandemic and we look to be starting another wave of infections.
The worst case scenario is currently this: Trump benefits from around the clock medical care and the general odds and survives, going back to the White House on Monday or Tuesday and everyone of his cultists say, "See, I told you so." A popular take on Twitter was "I hope Trump survives so that he can go to prison." (I kind of agree with that.) But we also need Trump to be sick for a few weeks, we need him to suffer and for the message to get through to his cultists that this is a very serious disease, even if it doesn't kill you.
There is a cavalier attitude about death from his supporters that is truly chilling and definitely gives the lie to "pro-life." It's pretty clear that pro-life really means forced birth to these people. Our school is open and I'm working, but everyone is wearing masks, we are distancing inside and taking all sorts of reasonable measures. It's really hard, though to teach this way, especially with a handful of students learning from home. But it's worth it. It's worth it to keep the school open and students, faculty and staff safe. One dead staff member, one dead faculty member...one dead student...it's too many when it doesn't have to happen. This almost medievally fatalistic view of death is something I never thought I would see.
Reading the opinions of Trump in this article is also chilling. The attitude of many Trump supporters about Trump is so at odds with everything we know of the man. He's not tough, he's not strong, he's not robust; he cheats on his taxes, his wives and his golf game. Yet they have pictures of Trump that make him look like Rambo, while extolling his honesty and hardwork. How in the world can a nation survives as a democracy when a significant number of the electorate see their candidate not as a man but a demigod?
The survival of thousands of Americans depends on Trump getting really sick. There's no other way to say this. However, even that won't be enough. Even if Trump dies, there will be a segment of the population that will elevate him to martyrdom.
That's a stunning indictment of the Republican electorate.
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