By contracting Covid-19, President Donald Trump may have done the American people a huge favor.
The fact that he's now being forced to quarantine himself--along with First Lady Melania Trump-- demonstrates to one and all just how serious and deadly this virus can be. So maybe, just maybe, more people will wear masks and stop endangering the rest of us.
The fact that more than 208,000 Americans have now perished from the consequences of the coronavirus apparently hasn't been enough to jolt people's brains, especially those of Trump's loyal supporters, unless the virus hits them personally. Otherwise, it's just a statistic, a number that's just too much for them to comprehend.
But when their hero gets carted off to Walter Reed National Medical Center "out of an abundance of caution", as a White House spokesperson delicately put it, that means the hefty 74-year-old Big Mac lover could be in jeopardy.
Hopefully, the idiots who listened to Trump minimizing the virus and his disdain for the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) like wearing masks and social distancing, will come to their senses and stop jeopardizing the health of everyone else when they go out in public.
As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said today, "“It’s a powerful reminder to pay attention. If the president of the United States, if the first lady, we can get it too, and we have to be careful.”
Ya think?
DeWine did not answer a question about whether the state would take action against those who flouted masking guidelines during the debate held in Cleveland on Tuesday. Trump's family members brazenly sat there maskless, some coyly twisting their hair.
It was reported that 11 coronavirus cases have been traced to "pre-debate planning on setup" for the debate. According to the report by The Washington Post, it was not known whether that included Trump, the first lady, or presidential counselor Hope Hicks, who traveled with them to Ohio on Air Force One. Three journalists who cover the White House also tested positive today, according to CNN.
In addition to giving his base reason to wear masks, which many idiotically claim is an unconstitutional attack on their personal freedom, the fact that Trump has Covid-19 may cause him to stop playing politics with the CDC, stop marginalizing and belittling experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, and stop interfering with the processes at the Food and Drug Administration as the drive to develop a vaccine continues.
That's what you might expect from a normal, sane leader. However, with Trump, it all could backfire. Perhaps he will use the experience as an example of why the vaccine must be rushed into production even before tests to prove its safeness and efficacy are completed.
It was reported today that Trump was administered an experimental "antibody cocktail" to help diminish the seriousness of the virus. When I first read that, I immediately wondered if that "cocktail" included Clorox.
But no, in reality it is made from hamster ovary cells and is meant to reduce the lethality of the virus by boosting a patient's immune defense. When it works, the treatment can prevent an illness from progressing to where a patient needs to be hospitalized or put on a ventilator.
Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if so, would Trump choose one of those emergency ventilators made by General Motors, Ford or Tesla? Which do you think?
All of this was a shock today. Nobody expected Super Hero Trump, of all people, to come down with Covid-19. Some had hoped he would, secretly thinking he would deserve it. But it's not nice to wish such things on anybody, not even him.
Hopefully, he'll be OK. The last thing this country needs would be more upheavals between now and November 3. We desperately need a sane, safe, and fair election.
But don't count on it.