October 30, 2020
Dear Everyone:
Happy Halloween,
everybody! It’s actually
rather sad this year.
Halloween lands on a Saturday, and with a full moon no less; and the
kids can’t go out Trick-or-Treating, all because of a nasty little bug.
If you look at it
from the perspective of the virus itself, Covid-19 is really a very
successful adaptation. An
ordinary coronavirus, like the common cold, which just happened to
mutate in a way that neatly coincides with our general way of life.
It is ordinary human activity that makes the virus so exceedingly
effective. All the virus has
to do is lie around until someone sneezes or coughs, spreading the virus
without it having to do anything.
Once it finds itself
in a hospitable environment, like someone’s sinuses, it promptly sets up
housekeeping, minding its own business, and starts reproducing,
attempting to obey the biological imperative that drives us all,
fulfilling its function in the world:
Be fruitful and multiply.
The best of these viruses accomplishes its mission without ever
bothering its host. These
people are known as Asymptomatic Carriers.
As far as the virus is concerned, such hosts are the very best.
Unfortunately, many
hosts develop symptoms that range from mildly annoying to outright
deadly. Killing the host
would not be the objective of the virus if viruses could be said to have
an objective. Mostly, they’re
just trying to survive in a hostile world.
So many things can
impede if not actually destroy the very tiny viruses.
Like direct sunlight for more than a few minutes.
Alcohol, bleach, hand-sanitizers, wearing a mask that covers your
nose and mouth, avoiding “large” crowds of (possibly contagious) people.
Washing the hands frequently.
All these things can stop the little bugs right in their tracks.
If they had tracks.
Why won’t certain
people employ such fundamental and, frankly, easy precautions?
Because you can’t
tell me what to do! This
is ‘mer’ca, dammit!
Imagine, if you will,
that a foreign power invaded the United States.
This was the premise of a movie,
Red Dawn,
released in 1984, starring relative unknowns such as Patrick Swayze,
Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and others.
It also featured Powers Booth, but he was already an established
actor and was just there to be the Grownup among a bunch of High
Schoolers bent on resisting the Invaders.
Now imagine that,
instead of fighting against these Invaders, the President of the United
States, fully aware of the impending catastrophe, tried to cover it up
because he didn’t want to rattle the Stock Market.
Imagine that this President of the United States called the whole
thing a “Democratic Hoax” and mocked anyone who wanted to oppose the
Invaders. Imagine this
President of the United States summoning large crowds of (possibly
contagious) people to congregate at rallies intended solely to satisfy
the voracious appetite of his enormous ego.
Imagine the President
of the United States doing his level best to sabotage anyone struggling
to resist this Invasion, while simultaneously calling himself a “Wartime
President”. And announcing
to the world that he has “defeated” the Invasion which has already taken
nearly a quarter-million American lives.
And keeps on going…
Some people might
call this “collaborating with the enemy”.
Some might even call it “treason”.
Would you feel
inclined to vote to re-elect such a President?
Seriously, would you buy a used car from this guy?
Well, anyway,
everybody try to enjoy this Halloween…and hope for a better one next
year.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |