By Glenn Melancon
We all know to take the keys away from a drunk driver. Drinking impairs decision making and judgment. In government, lies produce the same results. Over 400,000 of our neighbors have died because of COVID-19 lies and political denial. Will our democracy be next?
On Jan. 22, 2020 a reporter asked Donald Trump whether there were “worries about a pandemic.” Donald answered “No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Less than a month later, on Feb. 7, Donald made a private confession.
“It goes through air Bob. You know, the touch, you don’t have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus… This is more deadly five per, this is five percent versus one percent and less than one percent. You know so, this is deadly stuff.”
Did this reality stop the lies and denial? No.
On Feb. 26, at a White House news conference, Donald commented on the country’s first reported cases: “We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people. And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”
Here we are a year later, and COVID-19 has not disappeared. A drunk has been driving our car, and the results have been deadly. Donald’s lies threaten more than our health. They threaten our democracy.
In the spring, state and local governments took steps to slow the spread of COVID-19. Since Donald’s followers believed COVID-19 was a hoax, they saw public health measure as tyranny.
Donald fanned the flames. He called on his supporters to “liberate” the states. In Michigan Donald’s rhetoric inspired a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Luckily, the terrorist attack failed, but they were a sign of things to come.
After losing the Presidential election to Joe Biden, Donald Trump launched another huge lie: the election was stolen. This lie, like the COVID hoax lie, inspired anti-American violence at the US Capitol. Finally, Republicans are trying to take away Donald’s keys before he crashes our democracy.
On January 19, 2021, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
Finally, some Republicans are telling truth. They refused to tell the truth about COVID-19, and 400,000 Americans died. By telling the truth now, can they help us save American democracy, or have they already crashed the car?
Glenn Melancon is the chairman of the Grayson County Democratic Party. He is resides in Sherman, is a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Parish and is a professor of history at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He can be reached at glenn@glennmelancon.com. His opinons are his own and do not reflect those of the Whitesboro News-Record.