They’re here.

 

They’re here.

(Think Poltergeist.) 

Life in the Ozarks

            Life is cheap here in the Ozarks. The majority of people now dying are unvaccinated.

            A coroner in Missouri has been leaving Covid off of death certificates if the family objects. Even in death these people are in denial. Kind of amazing really. Others that are getting the vaccine only if they can do so in private so no one else will know. That way they can maintain their anti-vaxxer status. It’s a matter of have the right priorities.

            When they get Covid around here they like to go to parties. Nothing says loving caring friendship like giving Covid to others. If they go ahead and die it was “their time.” People wearing masks are few and far between. They have the unfettered freedom to kill others and it’s encouraged by Republicans.

Fundamental Divide

            It’s hard to talk about being lucky or dodging a bullet when we have 615,000 deaths from Covid-19 but it could have been far worse by now and if always Trumpers succeed it could end up being far worse yet. Several polls have now indicated that at least 30% of Republicans say that they won’t get the vaccine. A few hundred thousand dead aren’t enough to convince them that the nation is confronting a serious problem yet. Enough people aren’t dropping dead right in front of them.

Ignorance kills.

 The Herd

            This country will NOT get past 80% vaccinated. What that means is that there will be other more deadly variants that arise. Eventually one will pop that the vaccines won’t work for and a few hundred thousand more people will die needlessly. And that’s if the mortality rate stays under 5%. Otherwise we’re talking millions right here in America.

            In the beginning the Trumpers said that they were willing to accept the losses because they wanted “herd immunity.” They wanted herd immunity without vaccines or having to wear masks so that it would spread faster. That would have resulted in a couple of million deaths minimum Now that we have the actual option of achieving herd immunity through vaccinations they are opposing getting vaccinated thereby ruining the opportunity to achieve the herd immunity that they advocated originally.

Not enough people died for them

The variants are here.

            Every step of the way the always Trumpers have made the effects of the pandemic worse, far worse, than they needed to be resulting in a couple of hundred thousand needless deaths. Trump is gone but the always Trumpers are still at it. Even though his incompetence of handling the pandemic is a direct cause of him losing the election his incompetence lives on. He caused the deaths of too many people. Including too many of his own supporters.

            Variants of the corona virus continue to spread at an alarming rate caused in no small part by the ant-maskers still refusing to take the virus seriously. The longer that the virus is kept in widespread circulation the more likely it is that a more lethal variant that the vaccine does not provide protection from will arise. One such more lethal variant, the Delta variant, is already in circulation. So far it looks like the current vaccine still provides some protection.

Variants kill.

             The Republican pro-life death squads have locked us into a cycle of masking, vaccines and death for the next year. So, victory for them.

            On the plus side Big Pharma is going to make a killing.

So there’s that.

Lunacy

Ka-ching!

            Ultimately it all costs money. What are the costs of the pandemic? Republican leadership professes to understand money. Exactly who is paying for the lunacy of the anti-vaxxers? The easy answer is—society does (we do).

No need

            In reference to vaccines I keep reading comments where people say “Do your research!” Admittedly I did a lot of research in the beginning way back when the pandemic first hit.

            One of the best responses that I read in regards to the ‘do your research’ comment was and I’m paraphrasing: “Don’t need to!” They pointed out that by now thousands of scientists from a variety of disciplines and a few billion dollars have been spent on doing just that. Research. Not just any scientists either but the tops in their respective fields. Respected, truthful, professional, honest people who care about humanity and saving lives.

That’s good enough for me.

Tune change

            Now since it’s mostly the unvaccinated (predominantly Trump supporters) who are getting Covid-19, the Republican leadership and right wing media have decided to say that people should get vaccinated after all. When it was seniors in nursing homes and minorities being impacted the most they were okay with no masking and getting everybody back to work. Now it’s their base being hospitalized and dying.

ON THE FLY

            We’re watching in real time Republicans rewriting history. The election was rigged. News is fake. The insurrectionists were loving patriots. The pandemic isn’t real. Science is wrong. Masks don’t work. The vaccines are dangerous. Immigrants are evil. Muslims are bad. Rich people are the bulwarks of society. Poor people are lazy. (All 40 million of them.) They (Republicans) are the real victims. Up is down. The sky is not blue.

 And on and on.

            Every day throughout his entire Presidency Trump played the victim card. His entire Presidency. Now he’s playing the ex-President victim card. He will forever be the perpetual victim. That makes his supporters suffering victims as well. They are in an abusive relationship with Trump and they can’t leave their abuser.

They are drawn to him.

$ And resources

            I have watched a couple of videos lately where the hospitalized anti-vaxxers who survived professed that if they had it to do over they still wouldn’t have got the vaccine and still won’t get the vaccine (after all, they survived!). Then there’s also the ‘if it’s my time to die—it’s my time crowd’. ‘It’s all a hoax’ also still has a huge following.

            At some point bean counters will figure up the total cost of the pandemic in dollars. There will be an average cost of hospitalizations due to Covid-19. (I’m just talking money here not the human toll. That’s incalculable.) At this point in the United States we’ve had several hundred thousand die needlessly. The ones dying now are the great unvaccinated.

Death before dishonor!

The Antis

            The antis (maskers and vaxxers) have cost society billions of dollars. It’s too early to tell if it’s tens of billions or hundreds of billions but I lean towards hundreds of billions. It takes a team of nurses, doctors, support staff and high tech equipment to treat Covid-19 patients in hospitals. That takes a lot of $$$$! Their “personal choice” is costing society in real dollars. Whether it’s insurance, the government, hospitals or individuals the costs are real. Ultimately it’s all the rest of us that pay for it.

The costs will be much higher than they needed to be, thanks to the antis.

Ramses Speaks

 

            "I don't believe in a stimulus check because if $600 or $1,400 changes your life you were pretty much screwed already," Ramsey said. "You got other issues going on."

High on the hog

            Evangelical prosperity gospel preaching Dave Ramsey made the above statement on Fox Pravda. Ramsey is reported in a variety of places to have a net worth of between $50 and $200 million. He lives on the top of a hill in a $5 million dollar mansion. Like a lot of other Evangelicals Ramsey lives high on the hog.  For the Christian elite like Ramses the 40 million people living in poverty in this country have “…other issues going on.”

At least one issue for sure is those like Ramses.

            Obviously Jesus had it wrong when he told the young rich guy to sell all his stuff. Well, nobody ever said that Jesus was good with money. Ramsey could have taught Jesus a thing or two. But in defense of Jesus he did have other issues going on.

            Ramses to Jesus:  giving money to desperate people for food and shelter only encourages them to be lazy.

Other issues?

            Like earning a wage that doesn’t pay for the barest of living expenses.

            Like no health insurance.

            Like living in the wrong place in the wrong time.

            Like no access to birth control or family planning.

            Like too much wealth concentrated with people like Ramsey.

            Like a pandemic?

            Oh that’s right, Ramsey the seer is also a Covid denier. It’s a hoax. 500,000 Covid deaths are all about the hype. He kept employees working even if they tested positive for having Covid. Back in December of 2020 Ramsey held a maskless Christmas party attended by an estimated 1,000 people at his HQ. Guests were provided maps directing them to the open bars and pop up casino. Vendor workers were encouraged not to wear masks so as not to upset guests. Nothing upsets Evangelicals’ guests like somebody trying to keep them from harming themselves or others.

            Those like Ramses that live to keep adding to their wealth pile….

Have got other issues going on.