The Dumbs Of August

 What is it about this month and political media? I can remember preparing for my wedding while everyone was hyperventilating over Bill Clinton's definition of "what the word 'is' is." That was 1998.

Today, we have actual people saying that Biden's Afghan policy is his undoing. Not just the GQP Talkers who are trying to manifest this outcome by repeating it, but "normal" journalists.

Some perspective, please.

By all accounts, the evacuation of American and Western allies is going well after the initial chaos. The Taliban have won. They know it. Acting rashly now will undo that. As I've said, it will suck for the people of Afghanistan, but it has sucked to be the people of Afghanistan since 1980. It's a failed state.

You want to know what people care about? Fucking Covid. Of the top-5 stories at WaPo, the top tghree are Covid-related. The revelation that Governor Abbott of Texas has Covid is just <chef's kiss>. Maybe that shitstain DeSantis could get it next. Then there are the facts that Abbott:

- Is not only vaccinated but had a booster.
- Is getting monoclonal antibodies despite being asymptomatic (I never got those and I'm in one of the world's best hospitals with Covid pneumonia.)
- And finally, is making it actively hard for communities in Texas to prevent the spread of Covid.

How does that add up to political success beyond the (literal) fever swamps of Trumpistan? Have DeSantis and Abbott decided that the super majority of Americans who want to keep their children and themselves safe are going to be wowed by their principled stand in favor of letting the virus spread uncontrolled through their communities?

What we are seeing in the "Red Belt" from El Paso to Miami are levels of new cases that dwarf what we saw this winter. On January 8th Florida peaked at 80.3 cases per 100,000 people. Today they are over 100. Deaths - mercifully - have not exploded, because our ability to treat the disease has improved so much. Take it from me, the level of care and improvement I have seen has been amazing. 

But I'm in a private room in Boston. The ICUs of the Red Belt are full. If the hospitals overflow, those death numbers will climb. The efforts of the GOP Death Cult will get kids sick. This is absolutely going to happen. Delta is a brute. Every dead child from this disease needs to be laid at the feet of the GOP.

Please, tell me how bad Afghanistan is going.