People watch as President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One for his campaign event at the Orlando Sanford International Airport on October 12, 2020 in Sanford, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
How Does a Nation Best Deal With a Leader Who Intentionally Kills Its Citizens?
Regardless of his motivations, Trump is engaging in and encouraging behavior that is killing and disabling Americans by the millions.
Oct 19, 2020
Covid-19 infections now represent the third leading cause of death in America. This is an extremely contagious, crippling, and deadly disease.
On top of that, there's a growing legion of people who call themselves "long haulers," who have been seriously disabled by Covid and are unable to live a normal life because of severe chronic fatigue, screaming nerve pain, and other chronic conditions.
And that doesn't mention all the COVID survivors who've had strokes, heart attacks, and permanent heart, lung, kidney, and brain damage.
Facing this simple reality, every developed country in the world is encouraging social distancing and the use of masks to reduce the number of people who are injured, disabled, or killed by this disease.
Every country, of course, except America.
The coronavirus has spread heavily across the American Midwest, and new epidemiology shows that much of that spread came from a half-million bikers gathering in South Dakota two months ago.
Now the President of the United States is encouraging the further spread of this disease with his rallies, bringing untold pain, misery and death to tens of thousands of Americans. All because he wants his ego massaged and he thinks somehow this bizarre and deadly behavior will help him win an election.
Some psychologists speculate that Trump might be purposely exposing his followers to this deadly virus because deep down inside he hates anybody who trusts him. They point to his behavior against his three wives, and the thousands of people in business who have sued him for breaking agreements and contracts as examples of this
Others suggest that he's simply so lazy that his new pitch for "herd immunity" is just a rationalization for doing nothing so he can continue to spend most of his days watching television and playing golf.
And some political cynics think Trump is simply trying to make the national level of infection as severe as possible so he can hand off a screaming disaster to Joe Biden, and then spend four years criticizing him for how he handles it. Trump recently attacked his opponent, saying if Biden is elected the former Vice President "will listen to the scientists," which gives more credibility to this theory.
Regardless of his motivations, though, Trump is engaging in and encouraging behavior that is killing and disabling Americans by the millions. We've lost more people to Covid than all the Americans who have died in every war since World War II.
That, in and of itself, would instantly disqualify any normal politician from holding elective office in any normal time: inciting people to die or kill others could even land most Americans in prison.
American history is filled with stories of presidents and their cronies getting away with immoral, stupid, and even criminal behavior. But nothing has ever risen to this level.
Whether America ends up with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa did, or we simply put Trump and his enablers on trial for their crimes and all the deaths they caused, we must hold these people accountable.
In the madness of the election and its aftermath, let us never forget this. We must decide soon the best way to make sure this never happens again.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Covid-19 infections now represent the third leading cause of death in America. This is an extremely contagious, crippling, and deadly disease.
On top of that, there's a growing legion of people who call themselves "long haulers," who have been seriously disabled by Covid and are unable to live a normal life because of severe chronic fatigue, screaming nerve pain, and other chronic conditions.
And that doesn't mention all the COVID survivors who've had strokes, heart attacks, and permanent heart, lung, kidney, and brain damage.
Facing this simple reality, every developed country in the world is encouraging social distancing and the use of masks to reduce the number of people who are injured, disabled, or killed by this disease.
Every country, of course, except America.
The coronavirus has spread heavily across the American Midwest, and new epidemiology shows that much of that spread came from a half-million bikers gathering in South Dakota two months ago.
Now the President of the United States is encouraging the further spread of this disease with his rallies, bringing untold pain, misery and death to tens of thousands of Americans. All because he wants his ego massaged and he thinks somehow this bizarre and deadly behavior will help him win an election.
Some psychologists speculate that Trump might be purposely exposing his followers to this deadly virus because deep down inside he hates anybody who trusts him. They point to his behavior against his three wives, and the thousands of people in business who have sued him for breaking agreements and contracts as examples of this
Others suggest that he's simply so lazy that his new pitch for "herd immunity" is just a rationalization for doing nothing so he can continue to spend most of his days watching television and playing golf.
And some political cynics think Trump is simply trying to make the national level of infection as severe as possible so he can hand off a screaming disaster to Joe Biden, and then spend four years criticizing him for how he handles it. Trump recently attacked his opponent, saying if Biden is elected the former Vice President "will listen to the scientists," which gives more credibility to this theory.
Regardless of his motivations, though, Trump is engaging in and encouraging behavior that is killing and disabling Americans by the millions. We've lost more people to Covid than all the Americans who have died in every war since World War II.
That, in and of itself, would instantly disqualify any normal politician from holding elective office in any normal time: inciting people to die or kill others could even land most Americans in prison.
American history is filled with stories of presidents and their cronies getting away with immoral, stupid, and even criminal behavior. But nothing has ever risen to this level.
Whether America ends up with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa did, or we simply put Trump and his enablers on trial for their crimes and all the deaths they caused, we must hold these people accountable.
In the madness of the election and its aftermath, let us never forget this. We must decide soon the best way to make sure this never happens again.
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Covid-19 infections now represent the third leading cause of death in America. This is an extremely contagious, crippling, and deadly disease.
On top of that, there's a growing legion of people who call themselves "long haulers," who have been seriously disabled by Covid and are unable to live a normal life because of severe chronic fatigue, screaming nerve pain, and other chronic conditions.
And that doesn't mention all the COVID survivors who've had strokes, heart attacks, and permanent heart, lung, kidney, and brain damage.
Facing this simple reality, every developed country in the world is encouraging social distancing and the use of masks to reduce the number of people who are injured, disabled, or killed by this disease.
Every country, of course, except America.
The coronavirus has spread heavily across the American Midwest, and new epidemiology shows that much of that spread came from a half-million bikers gathering in South Dakota two months ago.
Now the President of the United States is encouraging the further spread of this disease with his rallies, bringing untold pain, misery and death to tens of thousands of Americans. All because he wants his ego massaged and he thinks somehow this bizarre and deadly behavior will help him win an election.
Some psychologists speculate that Trump might be purposely exposing his followers to this deadly virus because deep down inside he hates anybody who trusts him. They point to his behavior against his three wives, and the thousands of people in business who have sued him for breaking agreements and contracts as examples of this
Others suggest that he's simply so lazy that his new pitch for "herd immunity" is just a rationalization for doing nothing so he can continue to spend most of his days watching television and playing golf.
And some political cynics think Trump is simply trying to make the national level of infection as severe as possible so he can hand off a screaming disaster to Joe Biden, and then spend four years criticizing him for how he handles it. Trump recently attacked his opponent, saying if Biden is elected the former Vice President "will listen to the scientists," which gives more credibility to this theory.
Regardless of his motivations, though, Trump is engaging in and encouraging behavior that is killing and disabling Americans by the millions. We've lost more people to Covid than all the Americans who have died in every war since World War II.
That, in and of itself, would instantly disqualify any normal politician from holding elective office in any normal time: inciting people to die or kill others could even land most Americans in prison.
American history is filled with stories of presidents and their cronies getting away with immoral, stupid, and even criminal behavior. But nothing has ever risen to this level.
Whether America ends up with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa did, or we simply put Trump and his enablers on trial for their crimes and all the deaths they caused, we must hold these people accountable.
In the madness of the election and its aftermath, let us never forget this. We must decide soon the best way to make sure this never happens again.
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