The cravenness of Mike Pence – Another COVID surge in the wings – The sunlight of autumn – Evening statistics
It might be expected that I would engage in an anti-Trump diatribe upon his interview with Jon Karl from ABC, one of the many that have enlivened these memoirs ever since – well, ever since the beginning of the journal, I suppose. This was the circumstance: upon being asked about the rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” Trump’s response was “Well, the people were very angry,” adding that “I thought he [Pence] was well protected and I had heard that he was in good shape.” Trump, of course, was shielded and cocooned in the White House during the events of the riot, avidly watching them unfold on TV, and his blithe unconcern for the safety of anyone else is thereby perfectly comprehensible. So why am I not fulminating against him for declaring that he has no problem with people calling for the murder of his own vice-president? Simply because displays of brazen callous heartlessness on his part are a law of Nature, and as such call for no more comment than one would bestow upon a jackal mauling its prey or a black mamba viciously attacking a passerby without any apparent provocation. I am, however, simply dumbfounded by one salient fact:
Mike Pence is unwilling to offer the tiniest breath of criticism against the man who has aligned himself with Pence’s would-be murderers.
This is more than mere political expediency; it is abject. Certainly if Pence doesn’t voice any protest against such behavior, no one else will. His fellow-Republicans are too intimidated even to mention the matter and Democrats are not inclined to exert themselves on behalf of a Republican ex-Vice President. Pence thus finds himself completely without allies, and his cringing sycophancy makes his isolation well-deserved.
Experts are predicting a new surge of COVID cases this winter. The number of daily cases and deaths has gone downward over a period of several weeks, but the rate appears to have reached a plateau; in some states it is rising again. There simply are too many people who remain unvaccinated to make another surge improbable – more than 52 million over the age of 18 in all. People are becoming careless about wearing facemasks as well. It is not so bad in this area; as I went shopping today, nearly everyone was wearing one. But in places such as Idaho, masks have almost completely disappeared. The same situation prevails in much of Virginia outside of the DC and Richmond metro areas. Our medical facilities reflect this situation. In Northern Virginia hospitals the bed shortage that we have seen in September has receded. But in other parts of the state many hospitals are without available ICUs. CC, who has several relatives who work in health care, tells me that in Winchester, for example, the hospitals are filled to overflowing with COVID patients.
Looking back on this entry, I see that it is fairly doleful; and yet on a personal level there was nothing to complain about. Indeed after a rainfall in the night that cleared away in mid-morning, the day became another one of those splendid days that this area sees in autumn. No painter has been able to duplicate the strange intensity of sunlight during this season, not even those of the Luminist school.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 253,183,516; # of deaths worldwide: 5,103,630; # of cases U.S.: 47,829,911; # of deaths; U.S.: 782,869.