by Guest Blogger Peter David

It would be easy to focus on Trump because, as always, not a week passes where he doesn’t say or do something stupid. This week he threatened two states because their Democratic leaders were endeavoring to make sure that people could vote by mail, threatening to try and withhold financial support because of their attempts to encourage election fraud. This despite the fact that election fraud is not an issue and absentee voting doesn’t tend to favor either Democrats or Republicans. Basically he’s renewing his whole quid pro quo, threatening to keep help out of the hands of people who need it unless those people knuckle under to his demands. And why not? The GOP covered his ass in January, so he believes he can do whatever he wants with impunity.

Which, so far, he can. Inspectors General threaten to ride herd on him? Fire them. People testified before Congress over his actions or reported their concerns to their superiors? They’re gone. Walk around in public without wearing the face mask that his own people are saying should be a part of one’s apparel in pubic? Screw that: the press would take delight in depicting him wearing one, so why not risk being exposed or infecting others?

Because with Trump, it’s all about weakness. He doesn’t want to appear weak in any way, shape or form, because to be weak is to be a loser, and he absolutely cannot ever lose. Ever. This is so much a part of his persona that he literally could not say that the tests he’s taken for the Coronavirus were negative, because to him, a negative test was a failure, and failure is a loss. So he actually said, “I tested positively towards negative.” This yutz actually has the nerve to claim that Biden can’t speak properly when his own twisted psychology prevents him from saying, “I tested negative.” Meanwhile he continues to attack journalists, especially female ones, who have the nerve to ask him actual questions about his contradictions and vagueness. Indeed, for some reason he’s started talking like Yoda: “A rude question that is.” I know he’s been accused of being a Russian puppet, but it was never intended to be a literal charge.

But you know what? Screw Trump. I feel like talking briefly about his followers.

They are the ones whom experts have been describing as being members of a death cult. Although they claim that the left wing is viewing the pandemic through the haze of partisanship, this is actually a classic example of something Trump does all the time: Accuse the opposition of something that you yourself are doing. Because the fact of the matter is that it’s the Trumpies whose perceptions are being governed entirely through the haze of cult membership and tribal partisanship. They condemn Democratic governors for the unspeakable crime of worrying about citizens’ health and obeying the advisories of medical experts and epidemiologists while lauding GOP governors who place the economy above health concerns. Meanwhile evangelical intellectuals are loudly proclaiming that it’s silly to elevate fear of death over spiritual concerns and that people should be ready to die if it will serve the greater good, i.e., the economy and attending services so they can donate to the churches.

And the reason I say their opinions are tribal is because we all know that if Hillary Clinton were President and she were saying the exact same things that Trump was—that the country should reopen, that doctors’ advice should be ignored—the Democrats would be appalled and the right wing’s heads would be exploding. They’d be demanding she be impeached and loudly declaring, “That’s what happens when you put a Democrat in charge!” But no, instead they line up behind Trump, endorse his talking points no matter how stupid they are, and oh, do they hate Democrats. Indeed, that’s really why they love Trump: Because they believe he irritates the left, and it’s all about aggravating the left. Nothing else matters.

So allow me to address their perceptions, their lies, their distortions:

We wanted to be proven wrong about Trump. We really did.

We wanted our concerns to be groundless, our worries to be misplaced. We wanted to believe he would grow into the job, that the whole racist, brainless thing was an act to get elected. That he would rise to the challenges of the position. That he would protect us, and would protect the United States’ position as leader of the free world. That he could grow to be the man we needed.

We wanted our fears that, if confronted with a genuine threat to American health and safety, he would rise to the challenge.

Why?

Because WE LIVE HERE, you dumbasses. Our fates are tied in with yours, and we do not benefit from friends and family members dying, jobs disappearing, and businesses go bankrupt.

We are not so obsessed with Trump losing that we’re happy that over 100,000 people are going to be dead by June 1, that the economy has crashed, that the entire country is spiraling down the drain. Hell, my daughter was supposed to attend a BTS concert tomorrow; that’s not happening. Who knows if it ever is. No one knows anything. We’re living on suppositions, guesses and speculation, and we’re no more comfortable than you are. The difference between us is, our opinions are not shaped by cult like devotion, and yours are. You can and do hate us with all your souls, and by and large, we don’t return that hate. We just feel sorry for you and shake our heads, wondering if there is anything that can shake your faith. Apparently the only thing that can is if you die from the Coronavirus.

Which you’re very likely to do as you hold your idiotic protests and ignore basic safety measures, strutting around with your guns to prove how tough you are. You’ll infect each other because the virus doesn’t give a damn what your political affiliations are. It’ll just make you sick and possibly kill you.

To quote your leader: Sad.

Peter David is a writer whose novels include many of his own stories as well as novels in the world of Star Trek and Babylon 5 (and others).  Besides novels, Peter has written comic books (Incredible Hulk, Aquaman, Supergirl), television shows (Babylon 5, Space Cases, Ben 10), short stories, blogs, and more. Check out his web page and his wikipedia page and prepare to be overwhelmed.