We need to now consider the unthinkable…

Over the years, I have found one thing. When someone appears to keep doing something crazy and they keep doing it even when it looks like it is not working, it IS working for them. They may say they have the same goals but in the end, when their real goals were finally revealed and when I stood back and looked at their behavior, the consistency of it and the steadfast of it, it was clear from the beginning that they really intended a different outcome all along.

And now here we sit.

July 10th.

The coronavirus is now spreading quickly and seeming out of control in some areas of the country.

Trump’s response? To push and coerce local and state governments to open schools.

Arizona, Florida, Texas, and others are struggling to avoid another shutdown and schools would start next month so local and state governments are now engaged in a two-front war — to stop the spread of the virus and to figure out what to do with schools when the virus will likely still be out of control.

And all this is a result of the very real consequences of pushing to open the economy up prematurely in May.

It is also happening when we can look at the success of countries that stayed closed longer, followed the guidelines, and followed the science. We are failing and failing badly relative to them, but we now have evidence that best practices can and will work. None of that seems to matter.

Trump is ignoring the current outbreaks and is pushing to open schools.

And at this point, I need to also mention that he has little to no resistance from the billionaires who own and control the right-wing media outlets (Fox News, OAN, Breitbart, and Sinclair). They are in lockstep with the President and in some cases have led. They were pushing Trump to reopen weeks before he did. And while Trump and these outlets are pushing, other politicians are quiet in their criticism.

With all this going on, Trump also keeps saying that “they are doing a great job”.

I, like many people, was shocked when he first said this in light of the recent turn of events. I understand that Trump is prone to lying but we have passed a point where lying alone can explain the totality of what is going on including the support of right-wing media and silence of others.

And then I started to wonder.

Because (1) we are in the middle of a shocking uptick in new cases with an uptick in deaths likely in the next 2 to 4 weeks, (2) we now have strong evidence that what scientists were recommending last spring could work, and (3) there is little to no criticism of Trump’s push to open schools among right-wing media and Congressmen, what does Trump, etc. consider “doing a great job”?

What if their goal was actually to have a huge outbreak and substantial deaths?

Gasp! Right?

But think about this: Right-wing media outlets are owned by a handful of billionaires to influence policy. They are networks owned by billionaires for billionaires. Their ROI comes from policy changes as much as (or more than) advertising.

And think about some of the biggest issues our country faces: escalating healthcare costs, social security costs, and underfunded pensions.

Add to that, the left has been proposing a substantial tax increase on these very people to help address these issues. (It might be the only way to get the funding needed.)

Sprinkle in the fact that this virus hits those hardest who have health issues and who are older. Basically the virus targets those who are most “problematic” to these billionaires. The loss of several hundred thousand or even a couple of million people would reduce the magnitude of these concerns.

Now I am not saying Trump has this goal. He may be doing what Trump does — lying like crazy because that is all he knows how to do. BUT, and this is key, others are still supporting him, pushing him or remaining silent. They are enabling him and his recklessness. And the question is why? How are they not so horrified by what is happening, his incompetence, and poor judgment that they are not stepping in? If the billionaires in this country had enough, Trump would stop or he would be out. They have not had enough and seem absolutely fine with what he is doing.

And, maybe this should not be surprising.

These billionaires are not known to help and save the lives of people like the Gates Foundation and others. They may donate money to put their name on a building or to fund science programs (which probably has more to do with influencing content then with truly giving) but saving people is just does not seem to be their thing.

Oh and for people that think that this is a stretch, and admittedly, the evidence is still coming in so we will see if it is accurate, consider and try to explain this:

Why would the Trump administration be pushing to get rid of ACA/ Obamacare in the middle of a pandemic when they have no real plan to replace it?

The number of pieces that seem too crazy to be true (but are) keeps increasing so maybe it is time to look at other possibilities, another narrative — that the goal is NOT to contain the virus and keep people alive but it is instead to “thin the herd”.

And frankly, when the narrative switches to this, the actions of others make more sense (as horrible as it is). I hope I am wrong. I hope that there is a shift in attitude and approach, but if I am correct, they will not stop unless they are exposed.

These networks and people need to be called out for the complicity. They need to be asked point-blank: Is their goal to kill people? They will act shocked and give you a “how dare you a look” which gives the asker an opportunity to lay out their actions and ask “how else do you explain it?”. They may not admit it but it may be a nudge for them to change course or they could provide a plausible explanation. You never know until you ask.

A pandemic, as other countries have shown, is not political. It is a science problem that can be dealt with effectively. That we are not, suggests something else could be going on. It was not one mistake or misjudgment. It has been many. We need an explanation that makes sense because right now we don’t have a narrative that explains the behavior of Trump and others. I offered one possible explanation that, based on actions and evidence, makes more sense as horrible as it is than any other explanation I could come up with.