Thread by @ASlavitt

COVID Update December 6: I understand how hard it is to want to believe in an unpleasant reality.

I really do. 1/

Sometimes I will stare out my window and think to myself “I wish I wish I wish there was no Coronavirus.”

Then I will go outside, put on a mask & stay away from others so I don’t get sick or infect others.

But the fantasy was nice for those few minutes. 2/

When I was a kid, I used to imagine I was a Major League Baseball player, hitting the ball over the fence with the bases loaded & a roaring crowd to win the game.

But then I would hit the ball off the tee & slide with style into first base. 3/

We all have dreams. And dreams are generally free. They keep us going.

But occasionally dreams become delusions. And sometimes those delusions can hold sway over lots of people. 4/

You may imagine that you’re invincible & don’t need a mask. You may think there are voting machines plotting against you. You may invite people to your home to celebrate a judge getting a promotion & get a bunch of people sick. 5/

Sometimes your delusions hurt others. When you invite them to a big rally & laugh about all the dying. And they get sick. 6/

Rarely this delusion becomes like an infectious disease & spreads over whole towns. I was in a town in Nebraska recently & everyone refused to wear a mask despite all the medical centers pleading on the news. 7/

At a pizza shop the whole restaurant glared at me for wearing a mask. They were sitting elbow to elbow. The owner put his face a couple feet from mine & looked me in the eyes. 8/

I’m 54. Too old for a Corona-fight. In a small Nebraska town.

I’m AK-47s at dawn or no deal. 9/

But the delusion is catching. Mr “I’m won the election” has helped invent another reality. One where the hospitals are full only to make money. One where if you’re not dead it’s not real. 10/

I’ve had governors staffs repeat to me over and over for 5 months that they aren’t ready to take action because “they have plenty of room in the ICU.”

Because you should definitely wait until your ICUs are full before acting on an exponentially growing virus. 11/

I’m talking both Democratic and Republican governors: “I’m shutting down the bars at 10 pm.”

“OK. In a week you will close the bars entirely.”

Not because the governors don’t get it. They do (except for 2). But they are scared. Scared of two things.... 12/

1- They are legitimately scared to hurt businesses. You know what? I get that. I understand it. It makes sense. Mitch McConnell & Trump put them in a box by not supporting the restaurants.

It sucks.

Still, you do it. Because death. See you can’t really build back from there.12/

There’s a “what if I’m wrong?” principle. If you get it a little wrong & people die, well, probably not. If people lose their businesses or money, it’s terrible. But with our help people can recover.

As @ConnieSchultz says “you can’t undie people.” 13/

2- The second reason is the delusion chorus. The delusion chorus has an entire party of state legislators who don’t wear masks.

They have all the qualities in petiole that make them worth completely ignoring on a serious subject. 14/

But governors are politicians. And that means they want to be liked. So here is what I have to say:

Who cares if you’re liked??? No one cares if you’re liked if you’re killing people. Be unliked. Be the least popular politician in history for the next 3 months. 15/

And eventually they do. They come around to what their health team has been telling them.

But putting a mask on & closing a bar are a bit like wearing a condom. Do it before it’s too late. Not doing it “just once” is enough. 16/

Sadly even people who are focused on this & trying to do the right thing find it hard to be 100% vigilant.

So if the governor says it’s ok to keep a restaurant open, some might be inclined to say “what’s the harm?” 17/

But guess who’s at the restaurant? Having a fabulous time. That’s right.

The delusion family. And their friends. And you run into something called “Atlas’s law.”

What’s Atlas’s law? 18/

Atlas’s law says the greater the spread, the more likely the people you see out are likely to be delusionists & to have COVID. 19/

It’s like the movie Twister. Everyone is inside except the storm chasers.

Except these are storm chasers yelling: “you might as well get it!” “I’m immune!” 20/

Rudy Giuliani - Don Trump Junior - Don Trump - Kaley Macananny — is it any surprise people who live under the most delusion for our country are most deluded & get sick with COVID? 21/

Then if they survive, like Rand Paul, they’re proud of it & tell people to get it. Despite the fact that they then spread it.

So let’s set the record straight with these funny little things I like to call facts. 22/

Fact: Trump got demolished in the election. If this were a horse race, the horse got cramps, he got lapped, and by the time he limped across the line, everyone had gone home. 23/

Fact: COVID is deadly & sadly it doesn’t take a lot to get it.

Fact: a doctor or nurse ALSO has to pay the price for people who behave badly.

Fact: Each of us can be part of preventing people from getting COVID.

Fact: COVID will be controlled but not in any magical way. 24/

(Magical ways include the weather, herd immunity, prior immunity, the weather, your amazing immune system, hydroxy, just doing this one thing one time) 26/

FACT: A lot of people can’t afford to isolate. They have to work. They rely on public transportation. Putting them at higher risk kind of makes someone a bad person. (Sorry—- maybe more opinion than fact) 27/

I know sometimes facts suck. But we learned something these last 4 years. Being lied to REALLY sucks. Being lied to be someone who isn’t lifting a finger & doesn’t care sucks even worse. 28/

Soon one term losers won’t be around anymore.

That, again, is just a fact. /end