This is a COVID update post, but I think it’s important for me to start tonight’s post by addressing the big elephant in the room: yesterday’s violent happenings in Washington.
I live in New York City, so for all my international friends, I am okay and far away (as in a couple hundred miles away far) from what happened yesterday. However, that doesn’t make the violent uprising in Washington okay.
What happened yesterday was un-American. As I said already on my personal Facebook wall, as well as my blog’s Twitter page, part of life in living in this democratic republic is dealing with the fact that your candidate of choice sometimes loses, and dealing with that fact in a peaceful manner. Sometimes, dealing with the aftermath of that internally is tough, and acting with grace is tough when you are upset with the result. I know that from experience because there have been times when my candidate of choice lost. But the American thing to do is to move on from that loss with dignity and with accepting the will of the people, not by invading the United States Capitol Building and disrupting the proceedings of democratically-elected legislators. The individuals who did this were insurrectionists, not patriots.
On the topic of COVID, which is the main purpose of these weekly updates, the numbers are looking increasingly bad. In my part of New York City, the positivity rate has climbed to above 15%–high enough that certain things I felt safe going to when numbers were lower (such as church) are now places I don’t feel safe going to these days. More disturbingly, it feels like, as the numbers get worse, the compliance people are having with mask-wearing and social distancing has also become worse. Americans, and New Yorkers, need to do a whole lot better with their mask-wearing and social distancing.
One of the alarming things to me about COVID is that, as I learned when I listened to a CNN show discussing how the United States responded to the Spanish Flu in the late 1910s, many of the same mistakes we made then are mistakes we’re making now. Some of those mistakes include not following basic disease prevention precautions (such as…wearing a mask) and a president wanting to focus attention on other things (in the late 1910s, Woodrow Wilson wanted to focus on World War I, and in 2020, it was President Trump wanting to win re-election). In both cases, the consequences of our mistakes led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
On a personal level, my family is still COVID-free, thankfully. Hopefully it stays that way. That being said, I did struggle with a head cold for some of the holidays so I was not 100%, but thankfully I am now feeling better physically. Emotionally though, I am definitely still a bit rattled from what happened in Washington yesterday.
Blind Injustice 
I share your feelings about what happened yesterday Brendan. I’m still shaken by the images. I hope this is a wake up call to everyone, no matter your political persuasion. Those politicians who through their inflammatory rhetoric are complicit in this attempted coup should immediately resign. Obviously they’re not, but people like Cruz, Brooks and Hawley (for his raised fist), should at least be censured.
I’m glad you remain safe. We’re in pretty bad shape as well so my husband and I continue to isolate as much as possible.
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I agree that such elected officials should immediately resign. And if they don’t resign, they must be voted out at the next election. Of course, for some (like one of your senators, Tuberville), that may be more hope than reality. But for people who live in swing districts or states (like Ted Cruz, who nearly lost in 2018), such an act is a possibility.
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Reblogged this on By Hook Or By Book and commented:
Here is Brendan’s latest coronavirus update from NYC. While the attempted coup was happening in our Capitol yesterday, the pandemic claimed thousands more.
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Being, not American. That was horrible to watch, and just drained me emotionally even more.
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It was horrid. I hope it never happens again.
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It really is rather shocking to watch events that we see happening in Africa, happening in the leading country in the world. It makes me really worried for the future. I am sorry about the high C-19 rates in NYC – is it the new variant? We have the new variant here and our infection and death rates are also worrying.
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I’m worried as well about the future, and particularly the near future.
As for the new strains, there aren’t tons of official reports of it where I am to my knowledge. That being said, I would not be surprised if the new strains are already widespread here.
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I was heartbroken, angry and felt helpless. Hey I wasn’t happy he won in 2016, but after the initial shellshock I realized that at least I could give him the benefit of the doubt, no one is perfect. I am sorry to say that he did not rise to the challenge and was a disappointment everyday, but I knew that we could vote him out if people rose to the occasion. We did that and now we need to give Biden/Harris the benefit of the doubt although I will say the mess that they are walking into is incredible.
I am glad you and your family are staying covid free as are we, please remain vigilant.
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One thing I heard some time ago is that one of the positives of many Americans is that we tend to give incoming presidents the benefit of the doubt. But when those doubts turn out to be true and then some…
Yes, I will continue to remain vigilant.
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I hope those involved in what happened at the Capitol, including the Fomenter-in-Chief, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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Agreed. It was an insurrection and should be prosecuted as such.
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Sometimes I feel like the only NOT conservative Christian on WP. Thanks for sharing your perspective and updates and letting me know I’m not an island.
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You’re welcome! You’re definitely not on an island alone, even if it might feel that way.
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