April 24, 2020
Could it be that the Coronavirus destroys brain cells in some people, even if they’re not infected? If so, it might help to explain how top Republicans – notably President Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell – persist in saying incredibly dumb and dangerous things about how to deal with the pandemic.
Trump is by far the most dangerous, to be sure. Since their start, his daily pandemic press briefings have been a steady wellspring of misinformation, disinformation, and downright propaganda designed to rewrite a disastrous history of flawed leadership and boost the President’s declining chances of reelection in face of the ballooning health and economic crisis. From hawking the miraculous benefits of untested medications and implying that people might ingest household disinfectants to kill the virus, to blaming governors for the appalling paucity of testing capability and disagreeing with top public health officials about the dangers of lifting distancing restrictions, it’s fair to say that Trump already has blood on his hands (and in the judgment of some could be criminally liable for manslaughter).
McConnell of course doesn’t get anywhere near the air time the President does, of course, but his opposition to meaningful Congressional action on behalf of tens of millions of desperate Americans is at least as damaging. Rather than extend financial aid to cash-starved states responsible for vital public services, McConnell yesterday set off a political firestorm by declaring himself “in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route” in response to their worsening economies and finances. Bail out the big corporations and the banks, throw some loans and grants to small businesses, dust a few crumbs off the table for the tens of millions of newly unemployed, but let the states go bankrupt, and what – eliminate the pathetically inadequate public services that do exist?
Get these so-called leaders tested, and treated, if need be. But most importantly, take them off the air.
The Southern Miss School of Social Work 