When did America become a Nation of Jerks?
As I read the Sunday paper, I am reminded of the trial scene in Duck Soup. Firefly: “Gentlemen…Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you…He really is an idiot”.
Or maybe the state room scene in a Night at the Opera. Maid: “I come to mop up.” Driftwood: “You’ll have to start on the ceiling”.
Honestly, when did we become a nation of 328 million experts who all disagree. And like a Marx Brothers movie, the clash between the differing opinions descends into a comedy of errors and absurdity.
I read a long article in the Portland Press Herald this morning in which the following “news items” were presented:
1) Governor Mills lifts lockdown even when state has not met key reopening prerequisites.
2) On May 11th, most retail activity was allowed in 12 of 16 Maine counties (the rural counties).
3) The Maine CDC went from 363 test a day (May 6) to 1,563 tests a day (May 13).
4) But Harvard says we need 1,895 test per day.
5) Other researchers say that we must test 10,000 people a day.
6) Thus, Mills is putting Maine lives at risk!!
Flip to the State & Local section of the paper and you read “Hundreds rally in Augusta, including LePage, to protest Maine’s shutdown”. This is where that line about “he really is an idiot” rings true for me. LePage is reported to have broadcast remarks from his Lexus SC430, parked about 30 feet away after he returned from his second home in Florida. He is allegedly under self-quarantine. He asserted that Gov Mills was “ruining the economy and taking away our freedoms” with her Draconian lockdown policy.
Before Mills offered to open the 12 rural counties, she was sued by a group saying her lockdown was unconstitutional. After opening up the rural counties, she was sued by a group who said letting ONLY the rural counties do business was unconstitutional.
Everybody should wear a mask. Masks are used to spread the virus. Open it up — people will social distance and wear masks. Keep it closed — people are idiots and will not social distance and wear masks. Jeeeez! When did we become a nation of jerks!
Somewhere along the way, America decided that “the government” was either incompetent or malicious. When did that happen? Many would point to Reagan. Some would point to Grover Norquist. Others would say Gingrich. I say it started with the radicals of my generation in the 60’s.
The belief in incompetence stems from the hypocrisy of the civil rights policy in the early 60’s and the prosecution of the Vietnam war in the late 60’s. The belief in a malicious government stems from the Kent State shootings and Watergate. Actually, Nixon and Watergate ring the bell and get a cigar on both concepts.
I lived in San Francisco in the early 80’s. Had an apartment in the Haight. I remember asking someone what happened to all the flower power hippies from 1967. “Oh, they all moved north of Marin County, settled down and bought guns” I was told.
Reagan taught us the government was unwanted. Grover Norquist worked hard to shrink the government small enough that he could “drown it in the bathtub”. And Gingrich showed us all that being a bomb throwing jerk is the best way to get ahead in this world.
Now we live in a nation woefully unprepared for any tragedy other than World War III.
THAT we are prepared for.
Lots of tanks and ships and planes to take out the Russians, Chinese or Iranians (pick your threat from column A).
Back here in the state of Maine we are trying to recover from the devastation caused by the actions of our “Trump before there was Trump” governor. When Gov. Paul LePage took office in 2011, Maine employed about 50 public health nurses spread across the state whose job was to respond to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. When he left office, Maine has a staff of 20 public health nurses still employed. They no longer had office space. The program lacked clerical support staff to purchase supplies, process travel reimbursements or help with patient referrals. This is but a tiny example of the evisceration of state services that occurred during the LePage administration.
So, let’s review. I have a newspaper article claiming the governor is putting lives at risk. I have protesters calling the governor a dictator. I have 3 or 4 different counts on the proper level of testing. I have two lawsuits calling the governor’s action unconstitutional. I have certain people insisting we all wear masks. Others insisting that they will never where a mask. And a large majority of us in the middle. We want to go back to work and we want to be safe. My feeling is that not trusting the government looks like a pretty stupid position to take at this point.
So, what happened to the social contract. I mean, we’ve got a contract, no matter how small it is! Right?
Hey wait, wait! What does this say here? This thing here?
Oh that. Oh that’s the usual clause…that’s in every contract. That just says…eh…it says…eh…”If any of the parties participating in this contract are shown not to be in their right mind, the entire agreement is automatically nullified.”
Well, I don’t know…
It’s alright, that’s in every contract! That’s what they call a “sanity clause.”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…you can’t fool me. There ain’t no sanity clause!
