By R.W. Anton
We had more catastrophic news today – October 2, 2020 (this has not been the best news year).
I awoke to a frosty, damp, and muggy day right after the sun peeked over the horizon to be obscured by dark pillows in the sky. I usually listen to the news when I arise, so I popped on my Bluetooth, to not disturb the neighbors. The first story was: President Trump and First Lady Melania test positive for Covid 19.
My jaw hit the floor. So many emotions and thoughts were doing marathons around my skull. I was not surprised, but I was curious about how he finally contracted it and how he was handling the situation via Twitter.
I logged into my Twitter account while listening to the few details that were still available to find what he had tweeted just after midnight: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” Hm. I read it with a bit of bravado and attitude, as I imagine he typed it.
My instinctive thought? It serves you right.
Hey, I’m human. I’m not vindictive and hateful; I don’t think. I believe in live and let live. But, I also believe in Karma with a capital K.
This is the “world leader” who has been publicly telling the American people that Coronavirus is “a hoax.” He has also said, “This is a flu. This is like a flu.” “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” and “But it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing.”
Trump has been publicly humiliating news people and democratic governors about mask mandates. He has refused to wear a mask and also refused to stop having mass rallies where his followers refuse to wear masks. In the 1st presidential debate, he mocked Joe Biden for wearing “the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Yet he admitted, in a taped interview, to knowing how dangerous this current Covid strain is and continued, as recently as a few days ago, to lie to US all.
Karma!
The president contracting Covid was not the catastrophic news.
While watching Democracy Now a few hours later in the day and tweeting with followers and friends, I learned that the US potus did several heinous things that border on criminal. Again, I was not surprised. Unfortunately, I have had more than three years of one disaster after another with this administration. There is one bombshell that follows a blowup that portends a new disaster. I feel like the guy in the commercial that has ‘seen it all.’ My heart and mind brace for impact every time I click on a website, listen to the news or read political articles careening through cyberspace.
No. I was shook… dismayed… horrified… angry… but I was not surprised.
A close aide to President Trump was feeling ill after a rally and quarantined on the trip home on Air Force One.
There were reporters, politicians, aides, secret service, flight attendants, pilots, and the president on the plane.
No one was warned that someone who was sick, and possibly had Covid, was on the plane. A plane. The air circulates throughout. There is no outside ventilation. There are no mask mandates under this administration. It is a free-for-all.
No one was warned.
The next day, the president had a donor event.
No one was warned.
He tests positive for Covid 19 and tweets it out.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have come into contact with him over the last two weeks. He did not even let people on the plane know that they had been exposed. They found out via social media or the news. Some still may not know.
Some still may not know.
This is being called a ‘Super-spreader scenario.’
Trump has visited three states and interacted with unknown thousands of people. He claims that those close to him are tested regularly. Yet, one of his closest aides has probably had the virus for two weeks or more.
Once Trump found out, what did he do? Did he start the process of contact tracing? Did he alert those who may have been exposed? Did he mention it at all? No. He hid it. He hid it from everyone.
I am trying to wrap my head around the horror of this realization. No, it is not a surprise. It is disheartening and disgusting. I am saddened and more than a little outraged.
There will be people who will hem and haw and make excuses and gaslight. There will be those who will be calling for sympathy and patience. There will be those who will be hoping for the worst outcome.
I know what I want—an End to this administration.
This man does not care about the health and safety of those closest to him, so you should realize that he does not care about you. If a large majority of Americans do not understand this and vote him out, I don’t know how much longer our Democracy can survive.
R.W. Anton is a singer/songwriter working out of New York City. He studied vocal music at the Cleveland School of the Arts and Baldwin-Wallace college and created a youtube series that has garnered him over 5 million views on the platform. He is currently perfecting his writing craft and looking forward to telling stories, in fiction and non-fiction, that inspire readers to approach life with maximum passion.
