September 1, 2021: Grim Numbers from Afghanistan and the COVID-19 Wars

 

September 1, 2021: Grim news and grim days bring August to an end. We mourn the loss of lives in Afghanistan, where a suicide bomber killed 13 Americans, and scores of Afghans hoping to catch flights to freedom. 

The complete and utter collapse of Afghan military forces proves, frankly, impossible to fathom. 

You know, of course, that Donald Trump is happy. He gets to blame President Biden for the mess and his nemesis’s approval ratings tank. You also know, the loss of life doesn’t bother the ex-president, a man who has proven repeatedly that he is incapable of showing empathy for others.

 

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“All eligible populations should be vaccinated.” 

Letter signed by heads of 68 pediatric hospitals

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THE CORONAVIRUS continues to thin the ranks of the unvaccinated, and snuff out the lives of those whose behavior increasingly threatens even the lives of the nation’s children. On ten different days in August the United States recorded at least 150,000 new infections. 

On August 13, more than a thousand Americans died from the coronavirus, the first time since March the toll had been so high. Then the bodies really began to pile up once more. On August 18, we lost 1,174 people, two days later another 1,073. Then a streak of four terrible days: 

8/24:  1,219 dead

8/25:  1,177

8/26:  1,288

8/27:  1,217 

By comparison, before the Delta variant exploded, we were averaging 190 deaths per day, for a seven-day average.

 

By Sunday, August 29, the situation was so dire, the heads of 68 children’s hospitals, from Arkansas to Michigan, from Washington D.C. to Texas, sounded alarm in a full page call to action in The New York Times. They begged all of us to take action to protect the youngest in our society. 

First, these heads of pediatric hospitals, who devote themselves to helping kids, asked that, “all eligible populations should be vaccinated.” 

Second, they asked that “everyone should mask responsibly.” 

Third, they cautioned that we should go back to social distancing and careful hand washing.

 

This isn’t hard to grasp. When you have an operation in a hospital the doctors and nurses mask up, not for their protection, but yours. They don’t want to cough out germs on your open surgical site. 

You wear a mask for the same reason. If you’re infected (and don’t know it) your mask helps stop the spread of the coronavirus to others. 

For example: We now have the case of the unvaccinated California teacher who took off her mask to read to her class. She ended up infecting half her students, and, including other staff members, siblings of children in her class, and parents, causing 27 new cases (and counting) all by herself.

 

Meanwhile, in Florida, Gov. “Typhoid Mary” DeSantis continues to block school boards that institute mask mandates for kids from accessing state funds. 

Speaking of DeSantis, as of August 31, five states, including Florida, have less than 10% of ICU beds available, as virus-infected patients once again swamp the U.S. medical system. The other four are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas. 

In Georgia, the CEO of Northeast Georgia Health Systems said it had 287 Covid patients Monday morning, which is more than the hospital has had since January.

 

“So, in essence, our hospitals are full,” Carol Burrell said. “We’re looking to add space in hallways and conference rooms in waiting areas. Our emergency rooms and our urgent care centers are seeing higher volume than they’ve seen throughout this pandemic,” she said.

 

The unnecessary wastage of human life continues. Mark Bernier, a longtime conservative radio voice in Daytona, died as he lived. Bernier had been a loud voice against the Biden administration’s push for wider vaccination efforts. In his last tweet before he ended up in a hospital with COVID-19, Bernier warned, “Now the US Government is acting like Nazi’s,” ordering us, “Get the shot!” 

Bernier didn’t. Now one of his friends mourns the fact he will never get the chance to retire.

 

Down in Texas, Caleb Wallace also succumbed – just as unnecessarily – from the ravages of the disease. After falling ill, he ended up unconscious, ventilated and sedated in ICU. He died on August 30. Wallace had organized an anti-mask “freedom” rally and fell victim to his ill-founded beliefs. His wife and three young daughters now pay the high price of losing someone they loved. 

The hospital had asked his wife, Jessica, about a “do not resuscitate” order. She replied, “My heart just can’t. I can’t imagine my life without him.” No one should suffer such anguish, especially when a vaccine could have saved not only Wallace and Bernier, but almost every other person who died in August from the virus, and nearly everyone who died in July and June, too.

 

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Mush-mouth call from Donald J. Trump. 

WE KNOW President Biden has pushed hard for Americans to get shots. What about Mr. Trump? 

At a rally in Alabama (now one of the most infected states, and as of August 31, the state with the 49^th lowest vaccination rate), he gave a half-hearted effort and told his followers to get the shots. 

Here was his mush-mouth call for people to take the vaccines: 

“I believe totally in your freedoms. I do,” he told a rally crowd. “You’ve got to do what you have to do.” 

“But, I recommend take the vaccines. It’s good. I did it. Take the vaccines,” he added.

 

Then came a scattering of boos and a few of his fans dared to jeer. With that, the former president beat a retreat – because the man doesn’t care if Americans die, a thousand per day. 

He only cares about keeping hold of his base. 

So, he qualified his statement. He watered down an already weak message. “You got — no, that’s okay. That’s all right. You got your freedoms. But I happened to take the vaccine. If it doesn’t work, you’ll be the first to know.” 

Then he adds, “But it is working.” 

Clearly, this was not the kind of ringing endorsement for shots the entire nation needs to hear.