“This is a test of our humanity, whether we will put each other’s lives ahead of our own economic self-interest. I know we’re passing it here in Kentucky. We need to pass it as a country.”
– Andy Beshear, Democratic Governor of Kentucky, on PBS April 6, discussing the personal and professional sacrifices his state’s residents have made during the COVID-19 crisis.
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“Prophecy” classes canceled?! Wow! Imagine reality smacking head-on into religious ideology! Happens every time there’s a REAL crisis!
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“I think we have a responsibility to our students – who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here – to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they’ve already paid for and to not interrupt their college life.”
– Jerry Falwell, Jr., on why he kept Liberty University open, despite the COVID-19 crisis.
As some 5,000 students returned from spring break, Falwell defied the national trend of closing campuses and ordered faculty to return to their offices, even as classes moved to online forums. Within a week, COVID-19 began showing up among some Liberty students. In some way, I really don’t have much sympathy for anyone at Liberty. It’s founder, the late Jerry Falwell, Sr., was one of the worst bigots this country ever produced. After the 9/11 catastrophe, for example, he blamed the usual cadre of un-wantables: feminists, gays, environmentalists, etc. He was also among the gang of right-wing assholes who declared that AIDS came directly from the “Hand of God.” At one time, many years ago, Liberty would not allow interracial “dating” and access to handicapped individuals. They may have changed their stance on those matters, but their early 1900s, Neanderthal-style reputation speaks for their ignorance.
I keep thinking, if people like those at Liberty refuse to accept the dire warnings associated with the COVID-19 scare and end up getting sick and dying, that’s fine with me. The fewer morons among us, the better! As we say in Texas, ‘You can’t fix stupid.’
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“Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise. In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that movement has sown.”
– Katherine Stewart, on how President Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his religious-right allies.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, at a White House press briefing on March 22, reacts to the incorrigible Donald Trump.
“I’ve been telling the president things he doesn’t want to hear,” Fauci declared. “I have publicly had to say something different with what he states,” explaining that he’s engaged in “risky business” but insisting that Trump is not and has not been “pissed off” at him to date. “I don’t want to embarrass him,” Fauci added.
Thankfully, Fauci doesn’t have to worry about embarrassing Trump. The President does a good job of that all by himself.
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“How long is this social distancing supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to get into the house.”
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“Am I crazy, or are they crazy? Could I be right, and Harvard and all these CDC guys be wrong? Yeah, because they’re all conventional. They don’t talk about how you can keep yourself from getting sick … Why don’t you just not get it [the coronavirus]? Why don’t you just stay healthy?”
– Dr. Steve Hotze, a religious-right activist offering the view of a “medical professional who also has a Christian worldview” about how best to respond to the current COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
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“You’ve got to be realistic. And you’ve got to understand that you don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”
– Dr. Anthony Fauci, on CNN’s “Prime Time”, on suggestions by Donald Trump that businesses return to normal operations by Easter.
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Outside of China, Italy has mysteriously and sadly become an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 35,000 documented infections and more than 3,000 deaths, health and government officials in one of the most uniquely European nations are embroiled in the worst health crisis in decades.
Yet, amidst the heartbreak and carnage, something beautiful, extraordinary and unexpected has occurred: dolphins and swans have returned to the famed canals of Venice; the ancient city of dreamers and lovers. Because of its popularity, this beloved community has had to endure trash and pollution in its waterways. But nationwide lockdowns have allowed the Venetian canals to refresh themselves. In a Facebook group, “Venezia Pulita” (“Clean Venice”), locals are sharing pictures of the city’s water looking unbelievably clean.
Now dolphins and swans – two of nature’s most heralded and mystical creatures – have innocently made their way back into Venice. It’s a bright spot in a world consumed with illness and tragedy.
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