A Tale of Two Contagions
Real life froze four Marches ago. Clocks stood still. Memory turned into before and after.
The Covid pandemic claimed more than a million American lives.
We don't speak of it much, but we carry a deep sense of loss for all we missed. The trips we didn't take. The friends or lovers we never met. The school or college experience. The parties, holidays or funerals we could not attend.
The conversations we didn't plan in advance with colleagues or passersby. Only pure introverts could enjoy a lonesome Zoom era.
Covid contagion dwelled in our midst for a good couple of years.
But we suffered a second contagion spreading just as rapidly: the Trumpian virus that led to the armed mob attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The pandemic gave Donald Trump the perfect chance to build a raging ragtag band and (almost) overturn the 2020 election by violence.
Extremist groups like the Proud Boys had too much time hanging out at home to plan an insurrection. Few were going to work the next day, with everything closed down.
Same goes for the militaristic Oath Keepers, whose leader was convicted of sedition. Thirty thousand angry white supremacists showed up in Washington, organized on the internet, spoiling for a fight with the rule of law.
For the first time in history, a president violated the peaceful transfer of power. Democracy depends upon good sports and losers.
...continued
Copyright 2024 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
