Year: 2020

Really easy to remember those three words, no? A few syllables and you’ve spoken volumes. And that’s all the president has to say. Until it’s safe.

How long do we stay in our homes? Until it’s safe.
How long do we have to practice distancing? Until it’s safe.
How long do we have to wait until we can see professional sports, cultural events, friends, go to the movies or museums? Until it’s safe.

Until it’s safe.

Not Easter. Not May 1, Not September when the NFL season is supposed to begin.

Until it’s safe. That’s the only answer.

The president proved to me long ago that he is a unique study in ignorance, selfishness and egomania basting in a gumbo of misinformation, unverifiable opinion, and dangerous myopia. When he says that something is fake, I know that it’s real. When he says it’s a hoax, I know it’s true. When he says he’s doing a great job, I know that he’s doing a terrible job. When he says it’s a witch hunt, then I am reasonably certain that there are, in fact, witches, and that they are a cornerstone of our economy. When he says that the press is an enemy, then I must be a traitor.

When he does all of this for political reasons, I understand his motives and chalk it up to the system we have. But the Covid-19 pandemic is different. Now his ignorance and instincts for political survival are getting more people sick and dead. And he’s sending a message to states that they are on their own for supplies and should stop whining if they don’t have enough. After all, he’s a wartime president, but true to form, this is not a national war coordinated at the national level to stop a national threat. This is a bathtub naval operation being fought by a president without a clue as to how to use the federal government for the benefit of all, and with his greatest weapon being a soap-on-a-rope.

It’s also no wonder that the Impeached One is so threatened by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Here’s someone who knows what he’s talking about and is not afraid to say what the president won’t; that we should be in our homes until it’s safe to come out.

And if we’re really afraid of what the pandemic is doing to the economy, then let’s have some real relief. A check for $1,200 isn’t going to cut it for a majority of Americans, and the funds for small business help are actually being given out on a first-come-first-served basis. This is relief? Everybody should get relief that will help them and every business that needs help should get it. You shouldn’t have to rely on a faster Internet connection or being able to get/stay up at 4:00 am simply to survive in the marketplace. Other countries have figured this out. Germany got citizens a payment in three days. Some of us won’t get a payment until September.

As for the election, the president is still underwater in most polls, and Joe Biden and the Democrats haven’t even begun to remind voters that they want to provide everyone with affordable health care, while the president wants to take it away. Or that Democrats want a national program of child care and paid sick days. Or that Democrats want to make sure that corporations can’t use any relief money to buy back stock or pay their CEOs more money. Or that Democrats understand that Covid-19 has uncovered the massive gap in realities in education, earnings, job security and wage equity that exists. This pandemic will change this country in more ways than many people think. We’re not going back to the way things were in 2019.

Have you registered to vote? And have you made sure that you can get a mail-in ballot if polls are closed or compromised by a repeat pandemic in the fall? Do it now.

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