Dakota Beacon

Donald Trump’s condition improved so much that he left Walter Reed hospital early last evening.  And the left went full  Rumplestiltskin. The reactions have been bizarre all along.  

FIrst, when the President’s diagnosis was first made public late on Thursday evening, some jumped for joy.  Others feigned concern and passively aggressively blamed him for his illness.  Some openly expressed the wish that he would die of the virus, others that he would survive so that he could be 1) defeated in the election and/or 2) jailed (for something - whatever).  A few perfunctorily wished him a full and speedy recovery.  The main thing was blame, however, and judgment.  When he improved and was shown at his desk in the presidential suite, at work, this was criticized.  On Sunday he felt so good he went out for a ride in his limo, masked, of course.  His fans cheered but his detractors, there to protest his survival, apparently, criticized him some more, screaming that he was somehow endangering the whole world?  Or was it because he was setting a “bad example”?  What are we supposed to do?  Malinger when we are not feeling sick?  He took precautions.  Hell, someone was around him to provide health care and monitoring.  Why is it more harmful for this to take place in a car than in a hospital room?  He made no contact with anyone with whom he was not already in contact.  Trump understandably wanted to reassure the nation that he was doing well and expected to recover soon as well as to give encouragement to those who are fighting infection or who are concerned about either catching it or caring for someone who has contracted it.  This was attacked as “reckless”, despite the fact that his doctors had no problem with it and his safety was reasonably ensured.  

The excrement really hit the old fan when he was discharged last evening.  The Washington Post’s own excrement, Jennefer Rubin, crazy as ever, is calling for defunding of Walter Reed Medical Center and pulling the licenses to practice of all of the doctors.  Walter Reed, she bleats, is a “public health hazard”.  It has been a horrible disappointment to those who hoped that this diagnosis would mean taking Trump, a sitting president in his first term, off of his party’s ticket for re-election.  It was supposed to trigger the 25th Amendment and now the party’s been pooped by this successful recovery.  Of course Trump is still in recovery mode, so we aren’t claiming a total victory as yet, just major progress against the disease. 

Some of his critics are disgusted that he has somehow gotten better medicine than the general public.  Why would that be?  Trump has championed therapeutic medicine for this from Day One.  Every time he tweeted some positive news in this regard, though, he was attacked.  If he said that hydroxychloroquine had shown promise in many cases, his hope for successful treatment was disparaged and his intelligence insulted.  In fact, social media was taking down people’s posts about it.  Only the “official” story was allowed.  Not Trump’s.  So he benefited from some of these therapeutic and curative developments.  He gives them full credit, by the way.  This doesn’t entitle anyone to complain about these treatments being effective.  

Those who have been hoping for Trump’s demise are left empty-handed.  First, he was diagnosed without delay.  He was tested many times in the week prior, so there was no neglect there.  He got immediate medical attention and decided to check into the nation’s best military hospital for expert advice and care.  He tried the medications suggested and they worked very well for him.  He improved enough to go out and get some fresh air and is now back at the White House, still being monitored, but back to work and self-quarantining.  Oh. My. God.  What a criminal.  

The latest wrinkle is that he is “insensitive” and “cruel” for his upbeat and rationally optimistic  remarks and his idea that we should not let this disease defeat us and we should not live in fear of it.  Those who have lost loved ones to this or who are struggling with it, why, they should be hearing some other kind of message - that we should live in fear, that we can never return to normal again, that this disease is bigger than all of us and we must never think it can be defeated.  That should help them a lot.  

It has been a sad fact in my own life that I have lost some very, very dear people to cancer.   My grandfather, with whom I was very close, died much too young.  He was in his early fifties, I was about five years old.  My beautiful and vivacious aunt Nancy died at age 32.  My little sister died much too young.  My youngest sister died of heart disease.  When I hear of someone beating cancer or heart disease, or some new medical discovery or treatment that gives people with these diseases hope and a better future, I do not feel cheated.  True. I might wish these things had been there for my loved ones, but I am happy for everyone who wins the fight against these illnesses.  It makes the world a brighter, better place.  What kind of person can take umbrage when another recovers from an illness?  Should those who have lost family or friends to COVID 19 feel better if Trump were to suffer a lengthy illness?  Would this make their world better?  In the United States, about 600,000 people lose their lives to cancer.  Even more have died of heart disease.  We lose tens of thousands to other diseases such as diabetes.  I think most normal people rejoice in advances made against these diseases - they don’t become irrationally angry that someone has survived them.

So what is the take away from this blip on the radar?  Trump is accused of being careless - a “super spreader” of COVID.  Well, he is the President of the United States of America, the major leader of the free world.  He is up for re-election in a few weeks.  Yes - he held some rallies, where his team provided screening and masks.  He obviously is not going to give a speech wearing a mask.  He has been tested repeatedly as a precaution.  Presumably this was because it was possible for him to catch it.  When he was tested positive he took immediate action and got medical attention.  It seems where he went wrong was in getting better.  Those who hate him irrationally wanted to watch as he was wheeled on a gurney into intensive care and put on a respirator.  Well, those who still retain their sanity would see no benefit in that scenario.  Those crying the loudest about his rallies had no problem at all with the “peaceful protests” which saw mobs gathering to supposedly lament George Floyd, the convicted armed robber and drug addict.  We all know this is nothing but theater.  The paper masks are theater, the scolding about rallies is theater. Jill Biden just held a ridiculous rally in Minneapolis where the handful of attendees stood apart inside of hula hoops placed on the ground.  If this is not the theater of the absurd, I can’t imagine what is.   It is a fiction being staged - grand theater.  

Decent and rational people will feel only relief that Trump is recovering rapidly and will hope for a return to a normal life for everyone.  They will not be outraged that things are going well.  They will not resent that he did not suffer as much as someone else or die from it.  They will be happy that he is not requiring space in Walter Reed and can complete his recovery at home with medical supervision as required.  They will not be angry that he has availed himself of expert care and the therapeutic medications he has advocated all along for all who contract the disease.  

Those who have a problem with COVID 19 should blame those who brought it to our doorstep - reckless researchers who prefer to do their work where there are no safeguards, in places like Wuhan.  It is cheaper to just pull out the stops and have at it without all those pesky regulations.  People like Anthony Fauci, for example.  These are the people who enabled this disaster to be visited upon the entire world, including the United States and its president.  It is they who should be on the receiving end of our ire.  Not the president who has tried to keep it out through restricting travel, who has promoted the idea of cures and therapeutic treatments, who went into action immediately to convert auto manufacturing plants to production of ventilators when they seemed to be needed and pillow manufacturers into production of masks when they were in short supply, who is doing the job of the president, who does not have the luxury of hiding in the basement like some others.  A U.S. president cannot sit out the COVID attack.  A U.S. president must be at work and seen to be so.  A president up for re-election must connect with the American people and present his case for their free decision.  He hasn’t got the option of sitting, as Justin Trudeau for example, in his pajamas, smoking his bong, playing computer games and looking like Ben Gunn from Treasure Island (only with novelty socks).  (And as far as anyone knows, Trudeau has never tested positive for COVID.)  An American president has a job to do.  If he is not up to it someone else will be elected.  (Hint:  the current challenger does not look as though he is up to it.)  

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