Americans should “adapt”
to coronavirus, like the famous pioneers who “had to turn to cannibalism” Rush Limbaugh, Media Matters for America, July 14, 2020
Something to sleep on tonight by our faithful idiot Rush.
“In the Spanish flu — ’17, ’18, ’19, 1917, ’18 — much death. Do you know that there was not one mention of it by the president of the United States at the time, Woodrow Wilson? Never talked about it, there was no national policy to deal with it. There was no shutdown, there was just, “Hey, go outside, get some fresh air, stand in the sun as long as you can, get some vitamin D, feel better.” It had numerous waves to it. It coincided with World War I, which is what Woodrow Wilson’s concern was. Soldiers going off to war arguably spread one of the waves. But there was no, “Woe is us.” It was just the next in a long line of things that happened to people that they dealt with — like the Donner party.
You’ve heard of the Donner Party? Maybe some of you haven’t. The Donner Party, the Donner family and a bunch of travelers trying to get to California over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. They made the mistake of trying to make the trip in the middle of winter. We’re talking the Lake Tahoe region. They get to the peak. It was so bad that they had to turn to cannibalism to survive. That’s what’s noteworthy about the Donner Party. If you read the diaries written by the leaders of the Donner Party, the only reference to how cold it was, was one sentence: “It was a particularly tough winter.”
It’s just what was. They didn’t complain about it, because there was nothing they could do. They had to adapt. This is what’s missing. There seems to be no concept of adaptation. There seems to be no understanding in the Millennial generation that we can adapt to this, and that we’re going to have to.
Because there’s nothing stopping it right now. We don’t have a vaccine, we don’t have therapeutics. We can’t shut down bars and restaurants every two months for a couple of weeks, for the next three years. We can’t do this cycle that we’re doing. This cycle that we’re doing’s not stopping anything, it’s not saving anybody, it’s not preventing the spread. It’s just a knee-jerk reaction to a bunch of shock, scary numbers in the media.
Life has to go on. Life is to be lived. It’s not meant to be spent cowering and curled up in the corner in fear. It’s not meant to be spent as a victim. Your life is worth more than simply saying, “There’s nothing I can do about it, I have an excuse for not even trying.” But this is exactly where we are — and it’s not who we are.
And I believe this should become one of the themes that the president adopts, as he adapts to what’s necessary going forward in his presidential campaign. A national address to the – heck, I’ll do it — a national address to the country, telling the people of this country the truth of this. Who we are, how we got here — not here with the virus, here as a superpower. We need to contradict all of this tripe and meaningless B.S. that Black Lives Matter and Antifa and Occupy Wall Street are trying to spread. People need to be told the inspirational, uplifting truth about who they are, about their inheritance as an American citizen — and their responsibility as an American citizen.”
That wraps it up for me. I never had something quite as inspirational as this to motivate me.
Bert:
You disappoint repeatedly . . .
Wilson didn’t say a thing huh? And since he supposedly didn’t say anything then no one at that time cared Rush? Dip shit, my grandfather had plenty to say about it seeing as how he lost several family members including a 21 year old sister. But yeah, with only 650,00+ dead in the US back in the day I’m SURE no one ELSE cared.
Putting out fires is hard, and the fire department is busy insulting people. You need to just adapt to living in a burning house.
Seriously, Europe and Canada got this thing under control. So could we, if one-third of our population didn’t consist of the kind of morons who listen to Rush Limbaugh.
I wish it was only one third.
I’m sorry. Is this meant to be satire? If it is, it is very good although it certainly says something about the current climate that I cannot tell.
George:
Rush does not do satire. It is enough of a commentary to make one wonder which is what I was arriving at in the beginning and in the end.
George:
If I were to look at your comment and reason from your viewpoint after reading such, it is as you thought. A “what was I thinking moment.”
Adapt? OK. In the spirit of the Donner Party, then all one can say about Rush Limbaugh is “Taste like chicken.” Pass the Sweet Baby Ray’s.
I think he is saying that society ought to remain open and people adapt to how they interact with the social possibilities this presents in accordance to their own assessment of the situation. Sick people have an obligation to isolate but people not sick have no such obligation. People who are not sick do not owe it to a nursing home residents not to go out for a drink if they want to. Most people understand that not everyone is going to be rigorous in their isolation, but this is the same with all infectious diseases and people adapt all the time to ambiguity.
Those who want continued (or renewed) mandatory restrictions should work much harder at getting consensus. A huge number of people want their incomes (and health insurance) restored without worry for the duration of the emergency – and probably 12 months past it to let the system reaccelerate. It is not good enough to observe that killing the virus off facilitates this more readily than anything else. If that is the case, then it ought to be “sleeves from the vest” to commit to this. But nope, it is all dreck like PPP or “unemployment on steroids”. If the reality is that millions won’t have jobs and public health decisions make the job market far too weak – right now – for most of them to replace that income (and health insurance) then step up to something serious here and seriously a lot simpler to understand, like your employer of March is going to rehire you for the duration and if they have no real work for you then that will be where subsidy dollars are spent.
The best I can tell is that Limbaugh is perfectly fine with a few million dead and ten to fifty million disabled. He thinks we’ll just have to accept that health care workers will have a high chance of dying on the job, and when it becomes hard to replace them, we’ll all have to accept degraded health care and that entails. Meat cutters will just have to accept that COVID is just another occupational hazard, like sharp knives, slick floors and heavy carcasses, except that it is more likely to be fatal, and when we start running out of meat cutters, well, I hope he is thinking that we’ll have to cut back on meat rather than going do-it-yourself on our neighbors. (I may be wrong here in light of his remarks on the Donner party.)
Limbaugh is probably rich enough to figure that even as our health care system is radically pruned – I’d say decimated, but that’s only a 10% cut – and our food supply is weakened, he himself will be able to buy what health care he needs and what food he desires. Like most Republicans, he’s more than happy, like Milton’s Lucifer, to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven.
You’ll notice Limbaugh never tells the wealthy to suck it up and get used to higher taxes or big corporations to stop whining and get on with business despite environmental or workplace regulations. Dying or getting permanently damaged by disease is one thing. Losing a Q3 bonus is another. Getting on with it is for the rest of us, the ones who are not going to be able to buy their way out of it.
Kalesberg:
I agree. Isn’t true, it is always the mouthy ones who want to direct and never lead by their own actions.