Somehow, the coronavirus pandemic is a partisan issue. For example, the simple act of wearing a mask.
If you wear one, you're a liberal looking for government intrusion in every aspect of our lives.
If you don't wear a mask, you're a conservative making a statement against government intrusion in every aspect of our lives.
What the fuck, people?
A lot of that fight came to the forefront last week when VP My Pants (Mike Pence, dammit!) did not wear a mask while visiting the coronavirus ward at the Mayo Clinic. Pence offered excuses like he's already been tested for and does not have the virus or he wanted to look medical professionals in the eye when he thanked them for their service. (What the hell kind of mask was he thinking he would be wearing that would cover his eyes?)
Pence's wife weighed in with a 3rd excuses that Mike did not know about the Mayo Clinic's requirement for all parties to wear masks. A reporter called bullshit on that answer, producing info given to Pence, his staff and the reporters about Mayo Clinic requiring masks. That reporter was pulled from Pence's next trip.
Pence was just doing what he does best, sucking up to the boss. Alleged Christian Mike Pence never misses a chance to bow down in supplication to the Trump. Donald Trump made a point to say he would never a wear a mask in spite of CDC guidelines so Pence had a high profile opportunity to emulate the boss.
In the brouhaha that followed in the press for Pence not wearing a mask around medical staff and patience on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, the battle lines were drawn along partisan lines with Democrats saying Pence made a mistake not wearing a mask with Republicans seeing the issue of Pence not wearing a mask as an attack by a hostile left leaning media.
Pence on Sunday conceded that he should have worn a mask in his visit to the Mayo Clinic. It was more of a concession to the bad optics of the moment than to the medical necessity of it.
Still, I'm sure Pence's statement on Sunday won't go over well with Li'l Donnie who never met a mistake he would concede or admit to.
Which brings us to our next piece of partisan division.
If you greet the news that the drug remdesivir has positive early scientific data to treat or cure the coronavirus, you must be a liberal, especially if you still see hydroxychloroquine as a snake oil pitch with no definitive scientific evidence that it can do anything about the coronavirus.
If you are a conservative, news that the drug remdesivir has positive early scientific data to treat or cure the coranvirus is to be regarded with scepticism while hydroxychloroquine is a still viable drug therapy being shut down by the liberal media.
The funny thing here is that Donald Trump himself doesn't seem to care what drug does the trick, as long as he can tout a quick fix. He's on board with remdesivir now as much as he was with hydroxychloroquine before. But being on board with one is not a repudiation of the other. Trump never admits to an error or even a simple changing of his mind. The Trump faithful went all in on hydroxychloroquine when Trump was all in for it. Even if Trump has another drug dance partner to dance with now, the MAGAs on Fox News are still loyal to their lord and master's initial proclamation. If Trump is never wrong, why should they change their mind?
Another thing to consider is that the news that the drug remdesivir has positive early scientific data to treat or cure the coronavirus has mainstream attention, the same mainstream attention that hydroxychloroquine might be a bad idea. Trump's cult immediately see positive mainstream press about remdesivir as a red flag and that if Trump is OK with remdesivir, he's being led astray by deep state enemies.
Really, never mind the partisanship, the levels of paranoia at work here are mindbogglingly off the scale.
There's a phrase you may have heard a lot even before the age of Trump: "You can have your own opinions but you can't have your own facts."
I think Kellyanne Conway used that line once before ratttling of a list of opinions as facts.
The fight against COVID-19 should not be a fight for partisan advantage. It is fight to keep people from getting sick and dying as best we can with the best available facts.
The fight against this pandemic is not conditional on your party affiliation.
Victory over this virus cannot be conditional. Victory in the cononavirus pandemic must be as absolute as possible, when the most people have the best chance to not get ill and not die.
Victory moves away from conditional and closer to absolute when we can agree to work together, even if what we have to do is as simple as "Stay the Fuck At Home".
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