© KATC
In no other health circumstance would such brutality toward the afflicted be toleratedOn Tuesday evening, Congressman-elect Luke Letlow's (R., La.) family announced that
he passed away at the age of 41 due to complications from COVID-19. He left behind a young family, including two small children, as well as a vast network of friends in Louisiana and Washington, D.C., all devastated by his passing.
Some progressive Twitter activists and left-wing reporters couldn't wait to begin their grave-dancing. Letlow deserved to die, they mused, because he didn't take COVID seriously enough. They scoured his online presence to find any proof that he engaged in so-called "denialism."
Some, such as
Vox's Aaron Rupar, pointed to an October video where the then-candidate had the audacity to advocate for reopening the economy while maintaining state and federal precautions on coronavirus. Molly Jong-Fast of
The Daily Beast also shared the video.
Hundreds of their followers joined in, blaming Letlow for his own death and expressing that he was unworthy of pity because of his politics. For them, his death was further proof that those who dare propose policy prescriptions that differ from their own, no matter how rational or mainstream they may be, just have it coming to them.
Setting aside the
lack of evidence for their claim that Letlow denied the dangerous realities of coronavirus, the COVID ghouls and scolds clearly see themselves as worthy and qualified judges of their fellow man. It is they who decide whether or not people act appropriately enough to be spared death by coronavirus. As
Michael Brendan Dougherty recently put it,
they feel empowered to "turn every sick person into either a blameworthy fool or a blameless victim," an extraordinarily arrogant and inhumane view of human suffering.
In no other health circumstance would such brutality toward the afflicted be tolerated. We do not deem individuals who become sick by engaging in known "risky behaviors" — unsafe sex, abuse of alcohol, drug use, poor diet, smoking, dangerous driving — as deserving of pain and misery. So, mocking and haranguing those who become sick or die due to COVID-19, a novel virus from which we cannot possibly shield ourselves entirely, is
unconscionable.
But for these individuals, any expectations of their own behavior — namely, to not be a terrible person in the face of others' grief — are secondary to soothing their own anxieties about the coronavirus.
Blaming others may help them temporarily make sense of the sickness and death, but it can never provide them lasting relief from the unpleasant uncertainties this virus inflicts on us all.That doesn't stop their callous campaigns from continuing. Look no further than the death of my former boss, Herman Cain, whose death from COVID-19 complications was touted as proof Republicans denied the risks of the coronavirus (never mind that Cain had a lengthy
track record in both speech and practice of taking the virus seriously). These are the same individuals who were
downright jubilant when President Trump and many on his team contracted the virus but are seemingly silent about COVID-19 diagnoses of other leaders who also benefited from ample safeguards, such as Letlow's delegation colleague Congressman
Cedric Richmond (D., La.) who contracted coronavirus while campaigning for Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia this month.
Even among ordinary people, an individual's desire to participate in day-to-day activities such as church services and dining out is enough cause to hector him for contracting the coronavirus. Prominent progressives, left-wing activists, and their media allies have routinely contended that if only Americans weren't so stupid, selfish, and negligent — and in particular, if red-staters could abandon their silly notions of constitutional rights and their incessant desire to keep local businesses open — this pandemic would have been over a long time ago.
But, for all the insistence that it is American obstinance that is perpetuating the pandemic, there's not much evidence for such accusations. We are actually now
masking at higher rates than ever before, which has been confirmed by
observational studies showing broad compliance in retail establishments by customers and staff.
Meanwhile, the TSA reports that since March 15, 2020, the rate of passengers
passing through checkpoints is about 25 percent of 2019 totals. Americans have significantly curtailed socializing with others, despite scientists telling the
New York Times that the data do not support claims that
small gatherings catalyze coronavirus surges. And even as the
very real pains of prolonged isolation and widespread depression caused by COVID-19 persist, the
vast majority of American families have still greatly altered their holiday traditions by canceling plans, limiting gathering size, enforcing social distancing, and even requiring face coverings.
The repeated insinuation that pigheaded Americans have refused to do what it takes to defeat the virus is tone-deaf, cruel, and simply untrue. In reality, we have sacrificed a lot more for a lot longer than anyone thought we could.
Reader Comments
Sobaku siel.*
* A Russian doesn’t have a lot of experience in something, he “has eaten a dog in that.”
The zombie play book (science book) adds another sordid chapter.
More pre-required conditioms and necessary observances.. More retaliatory threats, I-told-you-so's, ridiculous postures and obscene gestures. Utter and total depravation. Paranoia and collusion. Deformity conformity.
Deformity conformity?
Deformity conformity???
Life is a game.
Only zombies can play properly, they write the book.
Isn't that funny?
Isn't it all so fucking funny?
Only somnambulistic, mind-controlled dead people know how to live?
Only the criminally insane pass muster?
Judgement day is going to be a long one.
ned,
OUT
The goal of the criminally insane (ie., the merchants of greed) is to make life fully predictable so as to maximize their profits.
Obviously this means the manufacture of many zombies (mind controllees) who believe and behave as they are -uhhhh- 'instructed'. No need for freedom!
Once everyone is thus made 'dead' (under the complete control of the merchants of greed), life on earth is fully predictable.
Voila!
Another name for this is: technocracy.
Now, if you can understand what is wrong with this, with technocracy, what is inherently immoral (and suicidal) about technocracy, you might begin to awaken.
If it is not too late.
I think it is too late.
Happy Judgement Day, everybody. Should be a real riot. Or maybe it will just be a last choking wheezing gasp, eh?
Oh, and a hint to smertzasmert: Technocracy doesn't just exist in Amerika.
ned,
OUT
OUT
OUT