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| Photo from Las Cruces Sun-News |
Why?
Is
this a generalized middle-finger toward society? O.K., that’s a
familiar feeling. Is it an aggressive display of contempt for
timidity in the face of danger? Yeah, I’ve done that, a bunch of
ways. And was lucky to survive.
I
see the ATVs. Are you saying you’re wild, untamed? Great! I was
dirt-biking this terrain in 1972. (Damn, but Bill Moore, 6’ 4”
former Aggie Final Four player, was a beautiful dirt-biker!) And,
yeah, for my taste, four-wheelers tear up too much of our fragile
desert without the wonderful rush of hurtling along far too fast on
two wheels.
I
can only guess. If you’re in that picture, I hope you call in to
our radio show and tell us directly how you feel.
How
I feel is, I don’t particularly fear the virus. I’m old, but
healthy. I’d likely survive, but I’d sure prefer not to put my
wife and myself through that.
But
a friend of 50 years has chronic health problems that make him
extremely vulnerable. We buy vegetables from a couple who live with
a newborn and a 90-year-old veteran. What if I carelessly got
infected, transmitted COVID-19 to our radio producer, and her
94-year-old father died out on his farm?
Odds
are you have an aging parent or grandparent, or a pal with diabetes.
Someone high-risk matters to you.
So
why’d you join that crowd giving the finger to our Governor’s
order?
You
skeptical? Think it’s all a hoax? NBA player Rudy Gobert jokingly
touched microphones then got COVID-19 and passed it on to his star
teammate. Boris Johnson belittled the virus, then found himself in
intensive care. (Yeah, Boris, even rich guys in expensive suits can
have these cooties.) You think the Italian death toll of
18,000 is made up, like the Holocaust or climate-change? Or those
people all died because they’re wops? Or what?
Whom
do you listen to? Donald Trump, who lies 77.23% of the times he
opens his mouth? Fox News? Infowars? No one, because you know
best?
Were
some of you trying to impress your friends, ‘cause they’d tease
you or look down on you if you didn’t act all arrogant about this.
We’ve all had moments like that, done dumb things to impress
people who weren’t always worth impressing, but mostly we grow out
of that.
Those
friends shouting loudest to gather might be the most terrified people
you know. So frightened of the disease that they have to deny its
reality (and their fear) as loud as they can.
My
conscience (a.k.a., wife) says this rant is hypocritical. Yeah, I’m
trying; I hardly see anyone, wash my hands constantly, and wear a
mask. But when I was photographing poppies last week, a stranger
offered to take my picture and I spaced out and handed him my camera.
Oops! I shop little, but when I bring home groceries I don’t
clean the packages the way doctors on You-Tube recommend. Although this column
targets the folks in that photo, I – and anyone reading this –
should look inward, before pointing fingers.
But,
seriously, if you’re in that photo, please call me on KTAL, 101.5
FM, Wednesday morning 8-9. 526-KTAL. We want to hear your side.
From a safe distance.
–
30 --
[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 12 April 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A spoken version will air during the week on both KRWG and KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org) and will be available on demand at KRWG's site. I specified 8-9 Wednesday for a call from someone in the photo, because our two-hour "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" (8-10 a.m.) already has the 9-10 hour scheduled, as we'll also be talking with candidates for Dona Ana County Treasurer; but we'd also happily accept a call during our 9-9:30 a.m. "Cruces Coronavirus Update" on KTAL.]
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| Las Cruces rolls out the yellow carpet for spring visitors . . . |
[I mention the radio show. While Las Cruces Community Radio (KTAL -- 101.5 FM) is pretty much closed to visitors, and the Board has suggested most hosts do their shows remotely or re-air earlier shows for awhile, we have added special "Cruces Coronavirus Updates" at 9 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They run from 9-9:30 -- or longer in special cases -- and cover a lot of information. Wednesdays, when we have done our regular "Speak Up Las Cruces!" show from 8 to 10 a.m. since the station went on air, the update is part of our regular show, and in fact we've been discussing coronavirus and the reaction to it almost the whole time. Starting this coming Wednesday, that'll be mixed with primary election fora. This Wednesday we'll still talk about coronavirus (and the reaction, including New Mexico primary voting -- the NM Supreme Court is expected to decide Tuesday that lawsuit over going to mail-in ballots. (The state Republican Party opposes it. Most County Clerks, Democrat and Republican, favor it, and I expect we'll have Amanda Lopex Askin, Dona Ana County Clerk, on the line Wednesday.) We'll do the "update" on important state and local news on the virus, including the latest numbers on its spread and what local governments are doing, from 9 to 9:15, but then talk with the two candidates for the Democratic nomination for County Treasurer. (I hope someone in that photograph will call between 8 and 9. Again, 526-LTA: 526 5825.) Before the primary, we'll talk with the candidates in each contested race, Democratic or Republican.]
[It's hard not to fill a column and more with all the ways Mr. Trump and his "Administration" have screwed us up. It's particularly ironic that he is screaming about the effect on our economy when a more reasonable early response by him would have mitigated the effects of the pandemic on human beings and on the economy. But it's important to remember that he's just the rather grotesque face of what has been done to our country. Experts have stated flatly for many years that a pandemic was a matter more of "when?" than "if." Obama even put in a special unit in the national security apparatus to guarantee a quick and sensible response. (We are not even seeing, yet, the kind of bio-attack for which that group was also meant to prepare.)
For decades, sparked by the Koch-Brothers-inspired Tea Party, non-military "discretionary spending" of our government has dropped. Not only Trump but many Republicans and some Democrats have participated in funding decisions that hurt the National Institute of Health and other aspects of our ability to respond to this problem. So we were weakened. Then Trump ignored repeated warnings that this thing would devastate the U.S. He initially made fun of it and accused Democrats of exaggerating the problem for political reasons. Although he eventually agreed to national "recommendations" that many states (fortunately including New Mexico) had already put into place, he watered them down, initially kind of mocked them, and has been visibly jumping up and down (like a kid who has to go to the bathroom) "Re-opening the Economy."
The choice -- or really, the relative weight given to -- saving as many lives as we can or saving as many jobs, small businesses, and corporate profits as we can -- is a fair subject for discussion. However, I'd hope we keep in mind in November that the damage could have been far less (as in other countries that did what we should have done); and, I'd wish (and here's an upcoming column, perhaps) that the discussion could be more honest. We should not pretend that prematurely opening the economy will cost lives; but whether we should limit the economic damage to our society at the cost of letting the virus and crowded hospitals prune away those of us with particular vulnerability and some bad luck, is a discussion we should have honestly. I would tend to take a strong position on the issue; but I'd like to see it framed honestly, if coldly.]
[It's hard not to fill a column and more with all the ways Mr. Trump and his "Administration" have screwed us up. It's particularly ironic that he is screaming about the effect on our economy when a more reasonable early response by him would have mitigated the effects of the pandemic on human beings and on the economy. But it's important to remember that he's just the rather grotesque face of what has been done to our country. Experts have stated flatly for many years that a pandemic was a matter more of "when?" than "if." Obama even put in a special unit in the national security apparatus to guarantee a quick and sensible response. (We are not even seeing, yet, the kind of bio-attack for which that group was also meant to prepare.)
For decades, sparked by the Koch-Brothers-inspired Tea Party, non-military "discretionary spending" of our government has dropped. Not only Trump but many Republicans and some Democrats have participated in funding decisions that hurt the National Institute of Health and other aspects of our ability to respond to this problem. So we were weakened. Then Trump ignored repeated warnings that this thing would devastate the U.S. He initially made fun of it and accused Democrats of exaggerating the problem for political reasons. Although he eventually agreed to national "recommendations" that many states (fortunately including New Mexico) had already put into place, he watered them down, initially kind of mocked them, and has been visibly jumping up and down (like a kid who has to go to the bathroom) "Re-opening the Economy."
The choice -- or really, the relative weight given to -- saving as many lives as we can or saving as many jobs, small businesses, and corporate profits as we can -- is a fair subject for discussion. However, I'd hope we keep in mind in November that the damage could have been far less (as in other countries that did what we should have done); and, I'd wish (and here's an upcoming column, perhaps) that the discussion could be more honest. We should not pretend that prematurely opening the economy will cost lives; but whether we should limit the economic damage to our society at the cost of letting the virus and crowded hospitals prune away those of us with particular vulnerability and some bad luck, is a discussion we should have honestly. I would tend to take a strong position on the issue; but I'd like to see it framed honestly, if coldly.]
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