We can learn a lot from coronavirus.
Lesson 1: Life is precious and we are all fragile, so take care of yourself and others, especially the very old and very young, for they are the most vulnerable.
Lesson 2: Wash your damned hands, people, and not just after using the bathroom. (Most people don’t, you know. I just saw an old Far Side comic with a “Didn’t wash his hands” alarm going off over the head of a guy emerging from the restroom. That alarm should be a for-real thing, paid for with government dollars. I think we can all agree on this.)
Lesson 3: Cover your coughs and sneezes. Be a player, not a sprayer. (I don’t know what player means in that context, I just liked the rhyme.)
Lesson 4: Also, don’t be a virus-passer. If you’re sick, stay home. Don’t “power through” and go about your daily routines. I don’t want to touch the same door handle, elevator button or gas pump handle you’ve touched. Gross. Think of others, wouldja?
Lesson 5: Has nothing to do with a biological virus, actually. Rather, it has to do with a mental virus that is also doing a lot of damage to our society.
I encountered this virus the other day. I was scrolling through posts from Facebook friends when I came upon a meme with a 2008 photo of Joe Biden at an Obama campaign rally with the late Sen. Robert Byrd. Above the photo – in all their poorly punctuated, grammar-free glory – were the words “Biden with Grand wizard Of KKK. So who again is playing you, lying to you, using you for the votes, Creators of the KKK, opposed civil right of blacks. Yup that’s the Democratic party.”
A quick Snopes.com search turned up the info that Byrd wasn’t, in fact, the grand wizard of the KKK, although he had been a member in his younger, stupider days. But he had also, decades before the photo, repeatedly described his racist past as the “biggest mistake” he had ever made.
Was it fair to post that? I don’t think so. Politics is a rough business, but if we’re going to judge candidates based on who they’re seen with in photographs, I’d be happy to show you photos of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. (I realize that would move none of you Trump fans. What he does – all good. What anyone who opposes him does – all bad. Must be fun living in your world.)
Everyone, I think, has a responsibility to be at least a little careful about what they post. I’m not bothered by political views that differ from my own. Say what you want, it’s free country. But I do think the truth should be respected, especially when it’s so easy to check facts online. (The Democratic Party, for instance, did not found the KKK.) Some kind of line has to be a red line.
But that’s not the direction we’re headed. People these days seem to care more about “their person” winning than anything else. We have lost respect for truth and fairness, especially when it comes to politics. It doesn’t even seem to matter that the memes we spread so casually could have been created in a foreign meme-farm and are designed to tear us down as a nation from the inside out.
Don’t be a tool or a fool for these people. Using our social media feeds to pass along suspect or outright false information is like sneezing in a crowded elevator and not covering.
You wouldn’t do that, right?
Please, god, don’t say yes.
Richard A Vogel says
Sooooo very, very true! The propaganda/misinformation out there is sad but, very dangerous! Oh how some “dignity” would go so very far now!! I too hope folks will look deep into and, think about what they are seeing & hearing.
Gary Kingsbury says
Couldn’t agree more. We also should not be a tool or a fool for hypocritical, partisan, liberal hack journalists that use their platform to push their opinions off as fact. People should also be aware that when they fact check, try to use more than one source other than just the ones that reinforce what they want to believe. Just because a site says it’s an unbiased fact checker doesn’t always mean that’s actually the case. These days we must be suspect of all the information we receive, good or bad.
Andrew Heller says
I agree. But if you were referring to me, I’m an opinion columnist, which means i (follow closely) give my opinion, for whatever value that holds for people. I don’t expect anyone to agree. I figure people are smart and can figure out for themselves if I’m worth listening to. I will say this: I have a “platform” because I “pay for it.” Everyone is allowed to run a website if they wish. Freedom of speech. I have earned an audience by, I guess, being insightful or witty or just plain entertainingly dumb for the past, oh, 35 years. So say what you like, but people stick with me for some reason.
Fred says
Sports have gotten boring for many people, but politics is so exciting. Everyone is a player and we are just preparing for our big Superbowl brawl this November. Trumpies vs Democrats , it’s like the Greasers and Socials getting ready to rumble. Sadly, all that matters now is busting some heads for bragging rights.
I like how you believe in seconds chances for a former racist who saw the light. I do too, but if Sen. Byrd participated in any lynching, I don’t care how sorry he is. There were A LOT of lynching back in his younger, stupider days. That doesn’t make Biden a racist too, though.
Andrew Heller says
I don’t know much about Byrd, but I do hold his past against him. I just don’t think being in a photo with him somehow qualifies Biden as a racist, which is what the photo poster was implying.
Fred says
Exactly. It doesn’t. I don’t know anything about Byrd other than his name.
I am waiting to see what tomorrow’s primary results will be. Will Bernie dropout and endorse Biden if he doesn’t do well or will he stay in and keep bashing he own party?
Matthew says
1. Gary K, I do not believe you have standing to insult Andrew Heller here.
2. Bernie may be Don Quixote and Joe Biden may be Polonius, but Trump is King Herod.
Carol Payne says
I agree with you totally. Good, thought provoking points.
Linda says
Andrew, your segue from the coronavirus to politics is very insightful.
Are we also getting the truth on the coronavirus, or is the media hype causing more confusion?
My vote for quote of the century belongs to you: ” We have lost respect for truth and fairness”….
especially when it comes to politics or to business, sports, education, courtrooms, advertising, sales, etc. The list goes on. Sad but true.