So now Covid-19 has killed over 200,000 Americans, more than all who died in the last five wars combined. And of course there is no end in sight. We may my be experiencing a slight respite before the winter flu season kicks in, but health experts say we're unlikely to see any real improvement in the situation until sometime later in 2021, if then.
Life has changed beyond anything we could have imagined as recently as early March. Only about ten percent of the office workers in New York City are going into their high-rise offices these days, and no one expects the others to return soon. Many people with the means to do so have fled cities like New York and San Francisco for second homes in less densely populated areas.
These predominantly are wealthy white people. Meanwhile, black and Latino people are roughly twice as likely to get Covid, probably because they have many of the front-line jobs that put them at increased risk. And they have nowhere else to go.
This as Trump continues to spread misinformation (that's the polite term) that "virtually nobody" is getting sick.
The president's campaign for re-election is being boosted by Russia, and according to some reports, being personally directed by his buddy, Vladimir Putin. Some Russian media satirize Trump as Putin's puppet, which could have never been said about any previous GOP president.
As a native of the Midwest, I struggle to understand why the people I grew up among with would ever fall for a charlatan like Trump. We were always skeptical of his kind of coastal huckster who showed up with potions and sales pitches.
Trump is the ultimate pitchman. He sells the fiction that he is an outsider draining the "swamp" of Washington politics, but he oversees the most corrupt administration in modern history. He violates every value I was taught as a child -- honesty, decency, modesty, compassion, a good work ethic and respect for people of faith.
Over the decades, I've occasionally fantasized about moving back to Michigan, with its lakes and rivers and trees, and people and places I love. But my fate is tied up with California, a land of its own and the birthplace of all six of my children.
Those of us out here reject Trump and his policies en masse. But all we can do is hope our family members and friends in the Midwest join with us to take our country back from the edge of tyranny. It's really all up to them now.
I hope everybody recognizes that 200,000 isn't a number -- it is two hundred thousand individual lives, now lost, directly affecting two million other survivors and friends. We need to grieve these terrible losses, and we need to allow ourselves to cry with them.
***
One certainty in all of this is that the news will get worse before it gets better. But I still, against the odds, trust that one day it shall get better.
* Women working in retail jobs are struggling as they are forced to choose between keeping their jobs and making sure their kids are keeping up with remote learning. (NYT)
* Biden’s moderation contrasts with Democratic rage as court fight looms (WashPo) The Democratic Party will likely split in the next few years. (DW)
* Hollywood unions and major studios have reached a deal to resume filming. (NYT)
* Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he would support a floor vote to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, essentially clinching consideration of Trump’s nominee this year despite the impending election. (Politico)
* Climate Disruption Is Now Locked In. The Next Moves Will Be Crucial. -- The Times spoke to two dozen experts who said decisions made now would spell the difference between a difficult future and something far worse. (NYT)
* NYPD officer, an Army reservist, worked as spy for China, federal prosecutors allege (WashPo)
* CDC guidelines urge families to avoid trick-or-treating this Halloween (CBS)
* So far this year, 3.6 million acres, an area roughly the size of Connecticut, have burned just in California. That’s about 23 times the acreage that burned in the state last year. (NYT)
* Race to Rescue Hundreds of Whales Stranded Off Tasmania -- More than 450 pilot whales became stranded on the west coast of the island state in Australia. Rescuers estimate that over half of them have already died. (NYT)
* Berkeley City Council Approves Nation’s First Healthy Checkout -- Grocery Stores Required to Sell Nutritious Options (Center for Science in the Public Interest)
***
On a personal note, my youngest daughter is traveling east next week to live in the best time zone for her senior year in college at a small private college outside Baltimore. As she told me yesterday, "No more 6 a.m. classes three times a week!" She's moving to the Jersey shore with a friend and I'm thrilled this is working out for her.
Also, my old friend David Talbot, founder of Salon.com, had his birthday yesterday. Each birthday is a gift after a serious stroke, which David suffered and has written a book about. There's talk of a virtual reunion of those of there at the founding and early years of Salon 25 years ago later this fall.
Speaking of virtual reunions, later today I'll be participating in one with fellow staffers from Rolling Stone in the 70s and 80s when the magazine achieved its status as an icon of American culture. Founder Jann Wenner is said to be attending.
I'll write about that event tomorrow.
***
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." -- Robert Frost
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment