Morning statistics – Sending in the ballot – Discussions with neighbors – Fetching a son from New York to be present for his father’s last days – Elizabeth Warren – COVID-19 in California – Fox News makes headlines on its own account – Jim Bakker – How religion has suffered from the influx of emotionalism – Brian Kemp let down by Trump at the last minute – Ramadan – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 7:30 AM — # of cases worldwide: 2,656,671; # of deaths worldwide: 185,192; # of cases U.S.: 849,092; # of deaths U.S.: 47,681.
The local elections will be held at the originally scheduled dates, so I sent in my absentee ballot.
The weather was cloudy and threatening to rain for most of the early afternoon, so not many people were out today. But I chatted briefly with a few neighbors who were working in their gardens. One gave some strands of lemon balm, which adds a pleasant flavoring to drinks. We exchanged information about the best times to go to various grocery stores in the area. She told me that Trader Joe’s has a seniors-only hour at 8:00-9:00, so I will try shopping there the next time I need to pick up groceries. We joined in lamenting that so many farmers are being forced to throw away food at the same time that numerous others are searching everywhere to purchase it.
I heard from CC. Her husband FP is in the hospice. The estimate is that the end will come in 1-3 weeks. One son is in the area; he will drive up to New York to fetch his brother, who will then reside in the basement for a week in order to quarantine himself. Then he will be allowed to approach his father, provided he wears a mask and gloves, and does not come too close. At this point all that the family can do is to hope that FP will last beyond that first week so that he can bid farewell to his son. What a stressful time this must be for them! The situation would have been difficult enough during normal times, but the restrictions imposed by the virus make it positively nightmarish.
Don Reed, the eldest brother of Elizabeth Warren, has passed away from the coronavirus. Warren was undeniably the most able of the candidates for president running during the Democratic primary, a much more vital personality and vigorous intelligence than either Biden or Sanders. Alas, she is also very far to the left – too far to be accepted by the mainstream. Still it can hardly be doubted that if she had been President at this time instead of Trump, the national response to the crisis, both on the medical and economic fronts, would have been much less chaotic than it is now. Her brother was 86 and his death cannot be called a tragedy, but the loss of any sibling must be felt by the survivors. It is characteristic of Warren that during this private sorrow she took the time publicly to thank the medical care professionals who looked after Reed during his last days.
The contagion rate of the virus has slowed down in areas, but unfortunately it is still raging in California. The state experienced 117 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest death count in a single day since it began tracking deaths. The rate of new cases has slowed down in Santa Clara County, in the Bay area, but Los Angeles County continues to see an accelerating rate in new cases and one of the highest death rates from the disease in the nation. My brother lives in that city; he is active and healthy, with no underlying conditions, but his residence in such a hot spot is a source of worry.
Fox News is making headlines on its own account, probably quite unintentionally. CNN anchors Brooke Baldwin and Chris Cuomo and reporter Richard Quest have all come down with the virus. In a touching demonstration of sympathy for her fellow-journalists, Laura Ingraham accused them of setting up a “faux reality show.” Several viewers tweeted their dismay afterwards, and even some of her co-workers were appalled. Seth McFarlane described her remark as “insane” and added, “I really cannot fathom that we produce content for the same corporation.” It may be so, but Ingraham’s heartless, brainless display of callousness is thoroughly in line with the organization’s constant attempts to downplay the effects of the virus and my guess is that Fox will champion Ingraham over McFarlane. Fox News in general has been assiduous in promoting conspiracy theories of all varieties ever since Trump assumed office, thus bearing out the dictum that it is much less humiliating to believe oneself persecuted than insignificant.
I have already referred to Tony Spell’s effrontery in demanding that his followers donate their stimulus checks to him, but it pales in comparison to the rapacity of televangelist Jim Bakker. He attempted to sell a silver solution that he claimed as a cure for the virus when it was nothing but quack medicine; and when he was deluged with lawsuits and cut off by his credit card companies in consequence, he has pleaded for donations and said that his massive network will be totally broke if he does not receive financial support from his followers. That is to say, when he failed to deprive them of money by fraud, he is now reaching out to them for charity – and from people who are much less wealthy than he is. He is 80 years old and might surely be content with the worldly goods he has already acquired, but he will continue to grasp and claw and gorge on every dollar that has a chance of coming into his hands and, in all probability, with his last audible breath will cry out for “More! More!” of the gold that provides such solace to his soul. Christ might have said that one cannot serve both God and Mammon, but Bakker, determined sort that he is, has certainly given it the good old college try.
The Romantic movement of the early 19th century ushered in “the great wallow of emotion which, though often criticized, has lasted ever since.” C. S. Lewis, whom I have quoted, is surely correct in stigmatizing it as a retrograde development, but I believe that religion has been one of its greatest sufferers. The American evangelist movement is proof of it. In this crisis its leaders have shown themselves utterly without scruple, impenetrable in their willful ignorance, unabashed in their greed, never caring how their conduct might endanger the lives of their congregations or of their neighbors at large. And their followers are no better: not one voice has been lifted in protest at such disgraceful exhibitions and they are even ready, as is the case of the parents of the unfortunate students of Liberty College, to disregard the health and safety of their own children.
Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia, has been promoting an aggressive plan to re-open the state as swiftly as possible, despite the advice of the medical experts. For a long time he thought that he would be pleasing Trump by doing so. He had ample reason for this supposition; for Trump has sent out numerous words to encouragement to protestors in other states to defy the stay-at-home orders issued by their governors. But last night Trump has completely reversed his position, just a few hours after he privately expressed support of Kemp’s plan, he has publicly announced that the plan is too reckless. So now Kemp either has to go through with the plan, knowing all the while that he will receive no support from the White House if any mishap occurs (such as, for example, hospitals so crowded with patients that it will be necessary set up field hospitals in public parks [as in New York], morgues crammed so much with bodies that it will be necessary to resort to ice rinks for the backlog [as in Spain], several thousand additional deaths, and other trifling inconveniences of that kind) – will he, I say, be forced to go forward with his plan on his own or does he undo the machinery he’s set in motion? The first phase is scheduled to go into effect tomorrow, so he doesn’t have much time to make up his mind. It’s his own fault. He should have taken a lesson from the woman who nearly lost her life after swallowing chloroquine when Trump mistakenly promoted it as a cure for the virus. After that experience she gave the following advice to the public: “Don’t believe anything that the president says.”
Ramadan begins today and will last until May 23rd. It is a holiday based on a lunar calendar and for that reason is continually shifting every year through different seasons. For Muslims in the Northern hemisphere, the timing of the holiday this year is nearly the worst possible. Observance of the holiday involves a sunrise-to-sunset fast every day for a month, and at this time of year the hours of daylight are approaching the maximum. In Washington the period of fasting will be 15-16 hours per day. Those relying on restaurants for food delivery may run into difficulties; the hours available for delivery will be sharply curtailed. Mosques are closed – the Muslim countries in general have been behaving very sensibly about prohibiting large assemblages of people, even for religious purposes – and the appropriate prayers will have to be conducted at private homes. Religious visits to Mecca and Medina have been suspended, even though under normal circumstances the influx of visitors during Ramadan is an important part of Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry. Traditionally Muslims gather in large get-togethers during the meals after sundown, as the Jews do for Passover, but this year they will have to confine their celebrations to their individual homes. I am not religious myself, and of course even if I were I would not be participating in either Easter or Ramadan, but I am always sorry to hear of circumstances that deprive people of innocent enjoyment and of the opportunity to worship in their own way.
Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 2,717,934; # of deaths worldwide: 190,630; # of cases U.S.: 880,204; # of deaths U.S.: 49,845. As noted earlier, our country normally loses about 55,000 people per year to influenza. The number of people killed by the virus is quickly approaching this amount and it has been active here for only three months.