Posted on 03/20/2020 8:55:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
After the first of those oddly comical fistfights over toilet paper in grocery stores, and before the possibility of horrific battles over respirators in the weeks to come, I committed an act of coronavirus defiance.
I sat in a comfy leather chair in the neighborhood cigar lounge and lit a fine maduro cigar.
Why? Because I wanted to sit and think about all the things we'll learn from now forward. And I wanted to say goodbye to the guys.
Just a few days ago they were worried about the FBI raiding the place again in pursuit of Chicago Way politicos. That was when we still shook hands.
All that's changed for anyone with any sense of responsibility for others and themselves.
We're at war with the virus.
You don't need a rousing "Braveheart"-style speech. The virus doesn't care about Hollywood-style drama. And you don't need any more fearmongering and quivering lips. There's been too much of that on cable news, to keep you locked in through commercials.
You just need quiet, and time to think. Here's what I've been thinking:
If things are going to be as bad as the health professionals warn, can our fractured American culture handle what's coming?
Those of you who've paid attention know that American culture has been systematically deconstructed by the left over the past decades. It was and is about power. Liberals won the culture war, took the universities and the media, and now frame the public discussion.
Yet now, in this time of crisis, with the old culture deconstructed and a new one not yet fully cemented in, what are the ties that bind a diverse people together and keep them strong?
A meme going around tells us that our grandfathers were called to war, and all we are being asked to do is sit on the couch and watch TV. There is longing for Roosevelt's fireside chats and Churchill's stiff upper lip. But are we still made of that kind of stuff?
Or have we become a silly people wasting time agonizing over who may have been insulted by someone calling it the "Chinese virus"?
The other day, the barking dogs of media and politics fought over whether some unidentified White House staffer tastelessly called it the "kung flu." A few weeks ago, CNN anchors were calling it the "Chinese flu" and the "Wuhan virus" -- you may have seen the video mashup. But now the act of calling it by the name of origin is a sin.
China doesn't like it, and some media organizations are sensitive to China's feelings. Disney and the NBA were sensitive when China became peeved with them. But the virus originated in China, and China lied about it for weeks. And calling it "Chinese" anything gets in the way of what many of them want to call it: #TrumpVirus.
Remember what Rahm Emanuel said about never letting a crisis go to waste? Well, they're not wasting it.
But if you're in a hospital bed, with your face strapped to a ventilator, you really can't hear the barking dogs. And those in a desperate struggle for oxygen probably don't give two figs.
We've already learned much about ourselves with those infantile (and I mean it literally) fights over toilet paper in the stores. We'll learn more, if shelter-in-place orders are backed by the National Guard and hospitals hire armed security to deal with fights over ventilators and beds.
Mexico doesn't seem all that worried. They're partying in great, happy crowds. But Europe has rediscovered the virtue of borders. In Italy, doctors are now forced to ration ventilators, deciding who lives and who dies.
"In Italy, they say pan di grano," said my barber, Raffaele Raia, of Naples.
He explained that "pan di grano" literally means "wheat bread." The slang was born in Italy during World War II, when people starved. Hospitals were full and resources scarce. And doctors were forced -- just as they're doing now -- to play God and decide the great mystery for those deemed unsavable.
Those who weren't to be saved, like the elderly and the very ill, were given wheat bread. It made hungry people feel full and somewhat comforted at the end.
"So now," Raia said, "in Italy, with so many sick with the virus, someone asks, 'How is your grandfather?' You could respond with, 'Pan di grano.' But you're not talking about wheat bread. You're talking about the end. That's pan di grano."
I do wish the churches were open. A good friend regularly attends services at her Roman Catholic Church. A week ago, she was there for her daughter's confirmation ceremony. The priest applied holy oil to the foreheads of all the children, one after another, with the same cup and same thumb.
"I didn't think much of it then," she said. "But now I think, should I have scrubbed it off immediately? See how this has changed us?"
The great sadness is that churches, temples and mosques close just as people need them the most. But you don't need a church to pray. Perhaps the best prayer of all is the simplest prayer I know, uttered by that lowly tax collector, his head bowed, kneeling, whispering, "Kyrie eleison. Have mercy upon me oh Lord, a sinner."
We will get through this. And along the way, we'll learn exactly who we are.
What I’ve learned thus far is there are a lot more cowering sheeple out there than I could have possibly imagined.
Ain’t that the truth!
I’ve learned that fear is a powerful weapon, more powerful than the atom bomb.
Dear God I pray you are right. It’s just a flu.
Sadly true
People give up their freedoms without a fight
I will not bore you with all of the details but 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I was given a 50/50 chance at best. I literally faced dying at that point and 3 more times after that.
COVID-19 does not scare me. 1-3% mortality rate does not scare me.
I still wash my hands and use hand sanitizer, but I did that beforehand.
Even though our forbears are dead and buried I nonetheless blush at what they’d think of us if they could see us now. This stupidity cannot end well. it’s gone too far.
I think we need to come to grips with the fact that 40% of this nation wants the other 40% of the nation to die in this pandemic. And yes, they hope that other 20% can be panicked into agreeing with their political prescriptions in November to fully annihilate the American political experiment.
At this point in the emergency, we should see a unified public in support of the President much like we saw with President Bush after 911. He had roughly 90% support.
Trump does have majority support but at this point, the remaining Trump opponents care more about defeating him than the well being of their fellow Americans.
I hate to consider this possibility but I think it may be real.
I hope I am wrong and I hope the Trump reactionaries change heart but this many days into a national crisis and for public support to be this low is a moral outrage.
“People give up their freedoms without a fight”
They were fed a daily river of panic and fear, from big media down to rando yahoos with a webcam.
What the hell did all of them think would happen? That people were all going to buy an AR-14 before toilet paper, and sit on their roofs wrapped in a Gadson flag?
Some are.
We are just biding our time until we can move to our new digs.
And then all my prepper tendencies are going into full on mode and we will be ready for the apocalypse.
Also, that whatever lies and disinformation the government puts out these sheeple will believe it no questions asked.
Wait until the checks arrive. LOL! Any government with enough power to give you “everything” can also take everything.
Maybe you can use some of the “free money” to help the move. LOL! Pretty sure that folks living in TWSH places aren’t much affected by this other than maybe more deaths sooner.
It ihas been predicted a 2 month shut down is being considered. I’m doubtful America will survive this without martial law.
So, suicides up or down? Domestic abuse up or down? Divorce rates up or down? Bankrupt small businesses, probably up. Christmas babies?
The president heard what the scientists had to say, and made the decision to follow their advice.
I would be happy to accept restrictions but I’m terrified that doing so may save a leftist from contracting the virus. I could never live with myself if I caused that to happen.
That has occurred to me.....
BINGO!!! THIS IS THE WORSE that America has EVER been!!
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