The insurance agent – Trump receives endorsements from multiple sources – Patriarch Filaret – Evening statistics
Some days ago I noticed a slight crack, less than a half-inch long, on my windshield and I decided to get it fixed today. The repair itself presented no difficulty, but dealing with the insurance company was rather frustrating. I could not make the representative understand that I noticed the crack after it had actually occurred, perhaps well after. She kept asking me for particulars about how it happened, even after I assured her that I had not the slightest idea. Finally I gave up the attempt, realizing that the only way to make progress was to give her the answers she wished to hear. “When did it happen?” I supplied a fictitious date. “Did it occur while you were driving?” I couldn’t really see what bearing this question had on the matter; but – OK, yes, sure, it occurred while I was driving. “Where did it happen?” There are several highways in the area that I use fairly often, so I chose one of these at random. “And what do you think the cause was?” By this time I was getting caught up in the game our conversation had become, so I spun a yarn about how that highway had traces of recent construction and when I was driving behind a truck some bits of asphalt flew about as the truck’s wheel went over it, causing several of them to strike the windshield. In retrospect I’m rather pleased with my powers of invention. In this way we had an amicable discussion that ended in the claim getting processed. So it worked out in the end, but I am still a bit nonplussed by the insurance agent who virtually demanded me to lie to her.
I am feeling somewhat less hopeful about the upcoming election. Donald Trump is clearly worried about the outcome; he has been attacking people at random, Kamala Harris in particular. But he has also received boosts from an array of people whose opinions will have some influence.
Dr. Fauci has publicly stated that Trump did not distort what he was hearing about the virus from the various experts and that much of his optimism during the early months reflected the current wisdom at the time. He is responding to a report by Bob Woodward which claims that Trump knew about the severity of the virus from early days onwards and deliberately suppressed this knowledge. My own recollection is closer to Woodward’s account of the matter than Dr. Fauci’s. I have not forgotten, for instance, how Trump sparred with various state governors, in many cases actively thwarting their efforts to ensure the health and safety of the citizens of their states. He has also disparaged Dr. Fauci publicly on several occasions. So it is rather odd that Dr. Fauci has said so much on his behalf. Fauci is a man of integrity and has worked tirelessly during the pandemic, so I cannot write him off as a highly placed crony such as Attorney General Barr or Secretary of State Pompeo; but it is something of a blow to see him making excuses on Trump’s behalf.
And if that were not enough of a setback, Donald Trump has received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. He did indeed help to broker a negotiation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, to the extent that they are now allowing air travel between the two countries, and it is possible that this arrangement will pave the way towards easing tensions in the Mideast at large to some degree. In all honesty I cannot see that this nomination is as outrageous as the episode of the prize being awarded in 1973 to Henry Kissenger for his arranging a “peace” between North Vietnam and South Vietnam that led directly to the latter country being invaded 18 months later. But the timing of this nomination is, to say the least, unfortunate.
In addition Trump has received an endorsement from an unexpected source. Noor Bin Laden, the niece of Osama Bin Laden but a dedicated opponent of ISIS who has unequivocally denounced her uncle’s terrorism, has gone so far as to say that Trump’s re-election is crucial to preventing a repetition of the attacks made on 9/11/2001. She also claims that ISIS grew in stature during Obama’s presidency as a result of his policies, implicating Biden as well by association.
I do not see that Trump can be acquitted of irresolution and poor decisions in his handling of the virus, to the extent that our nation is now accounting for well over a third of the world’s active cases. I believe that the new accord between Israel and the UAE must undergo the test of time for at least a few months before anyone can judge how lasting it might be. I do not agree with Noor Bin Laden’s assessment that Trump is better qualified than Biden to handle potential terrorist threats, especially in light of his rocky relationship with the national military. But all of these claims have given a new impetus to Trump’s campaign and will make Biden’s attempt to defeat him much more arduous.
A report has come in of yet another religious leader who believed his priestly status exempted him from the ravages of the coronavirus, only to discover how very much mistaken such an assumption is. Patriarch Filaret, who leads the Kyiv Patriarchy of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians (one of the largest religious groups in the Ukraine), declared that the pandemic was a punishment from God for permitting same-sex marriages. In March he said that God “will not allow me to get sick, because I have to serve the church.” He is now being treated for the virus, which, if we are to believe his explanation of the pandemic, leads one to speculate whether he has been fondling the altar boys. There is a certain type of humility that is sometimes called “Jesuitical”: an elaborate display of self-effacement that professes a great lack of pride in words, but which is extremely self-conscious and which generally conceals a core of self-satisfied, smug superiority over the other sinners that comprise the greater part of mankind. It is a species of humility by no means confined to followers of Ignatius Loyola, and may be said to be something of an occupational hazard for religious leaders generally. Patriarch Filaret is only one of many heads of congregations whose protestations of their sense of unworthiness are nothing but veils drawn over their arrogant assumption that they are God’s favorites.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 27,998,402; # of deaths worldwide: 907,055; # of cases U.S.: 6,548,340; # of deaths U.S.: 195,184. Another day with lower new case numbers than the previous week (just over 30,000) but today we saw more than 1,000 deaths.