A few days ago, I posted something (or reposted from my parents) something about trying to protect yourself from the coronavirus not only to avoid getting sick oneself, but also to think about those who might contract it from us, and not necessarily be able to fight it off, even if we are quite confident that we can survive it.
Basically, it was a post about trying to be less selfish, and more aware of all of the people around us, for all intents and purposes.
And yes, apparently naively, it seemed like a "safe" post to put, one which pretty much everyone could agree with. Hopefully, more of us begin to wake up to the reality that sometimes, we are selfish and petty, and that we should be more aware of others, and be careful not to cause them any harm. Seemed harmless enough.
But I was wrong.
There was a high school classmate of mine who is a big-time Trump supporter. And like many Trump supporters, he sometimes had taken to making little snarky comments about how successful Trump is, and how he personally does not believe the major media sources (just like his hero, Trump, claims not to like or trust them).
He mentioned that this whole thing was greatly overblown, and political.
The way that I took it, seeing as though he seems to be one of those guys who tries to insert how much he admires Trump into many, if not every, conversation, it seemed to me that he was basically implying that this whole fiasco with the coronavirus was just yet another attempt to try and get to Trump, to try and finish off his presidency. In other words, Trump is the victim.
For a little while, I went back and forth, debating over whether I should respond or not. I had not responded to his prior comments on my posts, because he had been a decent, likable guy in high school. But he also seemed a little too eager to try and post his pro-Trump nonsense on my page, and it seemed like the trend would continue, and perhaps grow, if I remained silent. Maybe he would become like a troll, or maybe he thought that I was simply overwhelmed by the power of his pro-Trump thinking. In any case, it was getting annoying, and especially after the glaring failures by Trump, personally, in how he handled this coronavirus, I decided it was time to give him an answer.
It wound up being a long answer. Here is what I said:
Wow, I didn’t know that viruses were politically biased. Listen, (no name revealed), I like you. I remember you being a very decent guy, with a good sense of humor, back in high school. And I do not want to argue. That said, if you want to try and convince me of what I suspect you are trying to convince me of, you have your work cut out for you. First of all, this virus has spread incredibly quickly, and has literally shut down entire cities and even one entire country. That has nothing to do with the United States or Trump. My guess is that, being a Trump guy, you feel that he has unfairly been made to look like a fool? So you echo Trump’s criticisms of Obama. Personally, I am not a fan of Obama. That said, however, let’s call a spade a spade here: Obama did not dismiss the swine flu as a hoax like Trump did with the coronavirus. Nor he did not try to minimize the danger to the American public, and make foolish predictions that within two weeks, the infected would number “close to zero.” He also never encouraged people who are sick (possibly with the coronavirus) to keep going to work. Trump did all of those things, and it’s all on video for everyone to see. Also, Trump got rid of the White House Pandemic Response Team two years ago, something that seems quite obviously foolish and reckless in hindsight, no? It seems that you’re 100% pro-Trump, and in your book, he can do no wrong, so it seems that you lack the objectivity to criticize him, or look at his actions with any measure of scrutiny. But to some of the rest of us who saw this man for the fraud that he has always been, all of that smacks of a con artist who really does not know what he is doing. Now, that put the American people in danger. You once mentioned that you do not believe the major media. I agree that it is good to approach the media with skepticism, and I try and do the same. But it does not follow that you should believe everything that Trump or FOX News says, either. Do you ever question what Trump and/or FOX News, or Breitbart, or conservative radio commentators, or any of the other news sources that you watch or listen tell you? Or do you feel that Trump truly has handled this in an admirable way, even given all of those clear as day lapses – or dare I use the word failures - that I just mentioned? Don’t take my word for it that he did those things, look it up for yourself. Some of the things that I mentioned that he said are on Youtube, so you can watch the video before dismissing it as “Fake news.” They are all readily available for research. So, while I agree that politics seems to have a thumbprint on everything these days, Trump’s own blindness and arrogance finally caught up with him, and he unnecessarily put Americans in danger as a result of his actions. If there is an aspect of politics to this coronavirus here in the United States, it is that. Trump is not being victimized, but rather, accurately called out for transparent and irrefutable incompetence. If you want to convince me otherwise, that this is simply not the case, then you’re going to have to do better than simply reiterating your distrust of major news media (which I actually have in common with you), or how bad Obama or the Clintons were, or any other such standard pro-Trump talking points. No, you’re going to have to explain to me very specifically how Trump has handled this situation, which could now fairly be termed a crisis, from the beginning in a way that actually has made the situation better. Frankly, I just am not seeing it.
He responded by again reiterating how he felt that this whole thing was political, and how the swine flu infected and killed more people than the coronavirus has (so far).
It felt to me like he was indeed gearing towards praising Trump initially, and when I challenged him, it felt like he was trying to make the argument that it was all political without taking on my points about Trump. So, seeing as though I kind of share in the opinion that a lot of this feels like it is going too far, I decided to just leave it there.
At the very least, hopefully he will hesitate a bit before trying to push his pro-Trump garbage without any thought to how frankly dumb and blind he can come across.
Let's see if that actually pans out.
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