COVID-19. Part I. Week One. March of 2020.

The Dummy Went Down to Georgia

Part I:  The Man of the Hour Stumps for Science

On Friday, 6 March 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia, a man stood in a relatively clean set of clothes.  He was inside a laboratory at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or, CDC).  On his feet were a pair of brown suede leather boots or loafers, whose rubber black heels looked brand new, suggesting that this pair of shoes either had rarely been worn or had recently been bought.  On his legs and around his wide waistline were a pair of trousers.  They were cream in color, and they had a fine ironed crease on either legging.  The man wore a white dress shirt, with an open collar at his neckline, with no tie, and with some bizarre orange substance lining portions of the inside of the collar.  The dress shirt was underneath a black or possibly dark navy windbreaker.  A zipper on the front of the windbreaker stopped just above the man’s round belly.  On the windbreaker was a seal of the man’s post of employment, which was emblazoned over the man’s heart.  And on the top of the man’s head was a red baseball cap, declaring in front of his forehead for all the universe to read in bold white letters “Keep America Great”.

The man was not alone in the laboratory.  Several others were with him.  The 83rd Governor of the State of Georgia, Brian Porter Kemp, was in the lab.  So, too, were the pair of U.S. Senators from the State of Georgia:  the senior one, David Alfred Perdue, Jr.; and the junior one, Kelly Lynn Loeffler.  Not to be outdone, U.S. Representative Douglas Allen Collins from the 9th District of the State of Georgia was in the lab.  The U.S. Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (or, HHS), Alex Michael Azar II, was in the lab.  The Director of the CDC, Robert Ray Redfield, Jr., and the Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Safety (or, ADLSS) under the Office of Laboratory Science and Safety (or, OLSS) at the CDC, Steve Monroe, were also in the lab.  And, last but not least, members of the press were in attendance, so as to capture this moment in time for posterity.

However, the man of the hour—the one who wore the red baseball cap—was none other than Donald John Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America.  Never mind that he broke the law in 2016 with one of his former attorneys, Michael Dean Cohen, so as to increase his electoral chances to become the 45th President of the United States of America.  Never mind that he settled a court case with aggrieved parties at the end of 2016 who had once attended his fraudulent Trump University.  Never mind that he and three of his five children settled another court case at the end of 2019, so as to avoid a verdict against them for using their charity for non-charitable purposes.  And never mind that members of the U.S. Department of Justice still to this very day uphold an Office of Legal Counsel opinion (not a law, just an opinion) from September of 1973 which stipulates—in a nutshell—that a sitting president of the United States of America (and a few other federal civil officers) shall not be indicted for a criminal prosecution while in office—that is, not until at least members of the United States Congress impeach and remove from office the fugitive(s) from justice.

The fact is:  Donald John Trump is proof that a profound sense either of justice or of injustice, depending on one’s point of view, exists throughout the entirety of the American legal system.  On the one hand, if one is rich, then one is likely to receive a special kind of treatment from members of the American legal system.  On the other hand, if one is poor, then one is likely to receive a different kind of treatment from members of the American legal system.

Notwithstanding any judicial oaths of office, of course.

Nevertheless, putting aside any criminal acts of Donald John Trump (or members of his family), the point is:  Donald John Trump loves science.  And as the pandemic of COVID-19 continued to spread around the globe, throughout the months of December of 2019, January of 2020, February of 2020, and March of 2020, Donald John Trump, who is not one to refrain from giving an opinion about something—with little to no factual support whatsoever—demonstrated his scientific prowess with the study of pandemics before the whole of the human race on Friday, 6 March 2020, at the CDC Headquarters, in Atlanta, Georgia.

[Question]  Mr. President, on the numbers, where are we now with the forecast?  What sort of numbers are you working to, in terms of—

[Trump] We don’t have a forecast because we don’t know.  We don’t know how many people are—you know, have this, aren’t going to see a doctor, aren’t going to see a hospital.  And the higher that number is, the better the numbers from the standpoint of death—the death count.  They get better without seeing doctors, without seeing hospitals.  So nobody is marking it down.  And I think the number is very high.  I think that number is much higher, but it never gets reported because they’re not going to hospitals or doctors.  The ones that get reported are people that are really sick enough to go to a hospital or to a doctor.  So it makes the numbers look worse.

[Question] But how can hospitals be preparing if they don’t know how many people they’re going to have to deal with?

[Trump] Well, we’re prepared for anything.  We’re prepared.  We are, really, very highly prepared for anything.  And in a short period of time—I mean, what they’ve done is very incredible.  And I’ve seen what they’ve done back there.  It’s really incredible.

[Question] And just from a health perspective—

[Trump] And, by the way, NIH, what they’ve done—I spent time over there—and I like this stuff.  You know, my uncle was a great person.  He was at MIT.  He taught at MIT for, I think, like a record number of years.  He was a great super genius.  Dr. John Trump.  I like this stuff.  I really get it.  People are surprised that I understand it.  Every one of these doctors said, “How do you know so much about this?”  Maybe I have a natural ability.  Maybe I should have done that instead of running for President.  But you know what?  What they’ve done is very incredible.  I understand that whole world.  I love that world.  I really do.  I love that world.  And they should be given tremendous credit.  And the whole world is relying on us.

Thus, in the midst of a new pandemic in the twenty-first century, one which is now wreaking havoc throughout the United States of America (and around the globe), one thing is clear:

Donald John Trump is—beyond a reasonable doubt—one of the dumbest human beings alive on planet Earth today, that I can tell you.

A Few Words About Part II of This Essay

The second part of this essay shall explore some more events, some more persons, and some more places from the first week of March of 2020—that is, when it is ready for publication.  Until then, folks, stay safe out there, wheresoever you may be on planet Earth.

Yours in Service,

Travis Ray Garner

24 March 2020