Corona Virus

No, the Angry White Guy is Not the Victim

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment

I’m sure a lot of you have seen this video of Daniel Maples, a Florida insurance salesman, yelling at an elderly woman that he “feels threatened” because she asked him to wear a mask while shopping at Costco.

Turns out the agency he worked for let him go after this went viral on social media. Jonathan V. Last, Executive Editor at The Bulwark, thinks this is a bad thing because “maybe he’s a good guy having a really crappy day.” The Bulwark, by the way, is the internet home for the “Defending Democracy Together Institute,” a PAC put together by a group of anti-Trump conservatives like Bill Kristol and Mona Charen, among others.

I signed up for a Bulwark newsletter, and in a recent email Last made Costco Guy the victim when Maples actually victimized others. Readers of course pushed back, so Last responded with a second email elaborating on his argument. It boils down to “we don’t know anything about this guy and he should not be punished for a 17-second lapse. He didn’t pull a gun on anyone and didn’t assault anyone, so what’s the big deal? And we shouldn’t go after people who refuse to wear a mask because it’s not worth the trouble.” (Last asks if others speak up when they see someone texting while driving, and the answer is yes, I do.)

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“I Carry a Gun for Self-defense, but I Ain’t Wearing No Mask.”

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment

The Virginian-Pilot reports that almost one in five workers in Eastern Shore poultry plants have tested positive for COVID-19. This result tracks with a study suggesting that spending more than a short time in enclosed spaces drastically increases risk of contracting the virus.

Another study shows that COVID-19 infections would plummet if 80% of Americans wore masks.

The answer to both our pandemic and economic problems is very simple. Avoid spending more than a few minutes in closed spaces with other people. If you must do this, wear a mask. Indeed, wear a mask pretty much all the time when near other people. Testing and tracking would also help, but these two simple things can get us more quickly back to watching sports over a plate of wings and a glass of beer in a bar. We don’t need government assistance or private donations. Find something to cover up your face before you go out and limit your time indoors with people you haven’t quarantined with (“quaranteam,” as a friend of mind called it) whether it’s a retail store, salon, or bar.

Demanding a right not to do this in the name of liberty makes no sense of any kind. It’s curious to me that the same people who arm themselves so they’re prepared to stop a mass shooting in a McDonald’s won’t wear a mask to stop the spread of a disease. Your mask protects me more than you, and I’m willing to do my part to make sure I don’t give you my bug. In any event, it’s the fastest way out of this economic mess and the best way to protect as many lives as possible.

Governor Northam should require that everyone wear a mask in public as we reopen Virginia. Even if he doesn’t, get a mask. Wear it a lot. Things will get better.

Saturday Morning Coffee

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment

A few articles I read this morning with my coffee:

I don’t fundamentally disagree that online retailers, especially Amazon, could afford to pay a bit more to shop packages through the US Postal Service. But delivering packages cheaply isn’t the reason USPS struggles fiscally. And the President using government agencies to go after political rivals is a problem. Worse, reducing the reach of the Post Office has implications for voting during a pandemic. Democrats in Congress need to make sure this gets fixed.

Trump took some heat for his suggestion that drinking or injecting bleach or bathing in ultraviolet light could cure COVID-19 infections. So did the New York Times for a tweet (since deleted) suggesting that only “some” experts might think this is dangerous lunacy. (H/t to LGM). If you’re wondering where he got these ideas, take a look this article in The Guardian. Seems some guy named Mark Grenon has been pushing the idea that drinking industrial bleach could cure a variety of ailments for years through his “Church of Health and Healing.” It seems he got Trump’s ear with a letter suggesting it would work to cure the novel coronavirus. Grifters gonna grift, I guess, but Trump could make more money and hurt fewer people if he stuck to the classics like funneling taxpayer money to his resorts and golf clubs. I’d love to see this letter though, just to find out if Grenon offered the Donald a cut.

Governor Northam has outlined plans for relaxing Virginia’s lockdown orders, including necessary preconditions (e.g. “a two-week decline in the percentage of positive cases and number of hospitalizations”). Meanwhile, my State Senator and opponent in last year’s Senate race, Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover), along with Senator Bill Stanley (R-Franklin County), has filed suit on behalf of the owners of Gold’s Gym franchises in Virginia seeking injunctions against enforcement of the Executive Order closing them. I’m not convinced that allowing businesses to reopen will really keep the economy from collapsing as long as two-thirds of Americans support continued social distancing and would probably stay home any way (just as many did before lockdown orders went into effect). This New York Times story about relaxing the order in Georgia suggests that some people still don’t get it. Had to have that tongue piercing? Really?

Please stay home and stay safe. The more careful we all are the sooner this will end.

Pandemic and National Security

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael D. Cole
Public Domain,
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=57046

One of three deployed US aircraft carriers has been sidelined by corona virus infections on board. This pandemic has, at least temporarily, taken this warship out of the fight. I would be surprised if it’s the only one, but even if it is we’re looking at a serious erosion of American war fighting capability.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carrier, has a crew of about 3200, not including its associated Air Wing. More than four thousand Naval personnel were on the Theodore Roosevelt when the vessel docked in Guam with more than 100 crew members testing positive for the virus, according to the linked article.

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