War is Peace

Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. And Death is Prosperity. The rush to ease or eliminate public health measures to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic, on the part of the federal administration and republican governors, was portrayed as necessary to "reopen the economy" and get people back to work. I'm going to link to Amanda Marcotte on this, knowing full well that I will get comments from our resident wingnuts about how nobody should ever place any credibility in anything she writes because in 2007 she presumed the guilt of the Duke lacrosse team. (She also made some famously vulgar comments about the Catholic church at around the same time but I don't have a problem with that myself.)

Yeah, that was a mistake. I'm happy to say I steered clear of that particular flapdoodle because I always had my doubts, but a lot of people made that mistake. I've made some myself, just not that one. But the typical right wing tactic of distraction, diversion and non sequitur is not working any more. You can judge the argument on its merits without bringing up the Duke lacrosse team.

And the argument is proving true. Restaurants and bars and movie theaters and other venues aren't going to make money and stay open if they don't have customers. And with the epidemic now exploding out of control in Texas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and other states people aren't going to go to those sorts of businesses in large numbers. However, what will happen is that their employees will no longer be able to collect unemployment. Also, government won't be under any pressure to help the businesses survive until the epidemic is under control. This means they won't have to tax rich people, which is the only actual objective of the Republican party.

But this obviously isn't working and won't work. Once the ICUs fill up, as they are starting to do, and the health care system is overwhelmed, the Republican governors will have no choice but to reimpose restrictions, and they will just look like miserable failures. Which they are. Here in Connecticut, where the governor resisted pressure to reduce restrictions prematurely, businesses have reopened, people are going (dining outdoors, keeping distance, wearing masks) and we have not seen a resurgence. If there is an outbreak, we will have the resources to trace and test and shut it down. Texas and Arizona don't and won't.

Also, too, that not wearing a mask has become a symbol of loyalty to the Resident is beyond obscene. That is the single most important thing you can do to make a close to normal life possible. It costs almost nothing, and it is a civic duty. Do it.