I’m just so angry
Isaac J. Bailey



I’m angry and I can’t help but be angry about what this country
faces.


I’m not angry at the coronavirus that
threatens to cause so much havoc it might unleash a second Great
Depression. It’s just a virus, after all, that likely lurked
in a bat somewhere in China until it was transferred into
another animal before making its way into human beings. It’s a
virus. It’s trying to live. There were others before it and are
others out we have yet to be introduced to.

But I am angry.

I’m angry that 63
million Americans decided to make a man president each of us
knew had neither the qualifications nor character to be in the White
House. I’m angry that they spent the past three years excusing
his behavior and disgusting
speech and pretending he, and he alone, was responsible for
an economy
that was already growing long before he was sworn in.

I’m angry that that president spent several weeks downplaying
the seriousness of the coronavirus, precious time we can’t
get back, precious time that allowed the virus to spread within our
midst undetected and uncontrolled.

I’m angry that that president said it was only a hoax
by a media trying to harm his reelection chances, that it
would magically
disappear, that the number of the infected would go
down not up, that we had it totally
under control, for falsely claiming it was the Obama
administration, rather than his own, that was responsible for the
criminal lack of testing in the United States that has hampered our
ability to corral the virus.

I’m angry that his lack of focus and belief in conspiracy
theories and hyper focus on his own image meant there was no one to
put his administration on full scale alert in January, when the first
case was
confirmed on our soil, instead of March, when community
spread had affected just about every state in the nation.
I’m angry that he had to be browbeaten into taking this seriously
and must constantly be showered with praise no matter how awful his
performance.

I’m angry that to have learned that his team did not take
seriously the warnings they were given about a potential
pandemic as they were transitioning into office and I’m
angry that he disbanded
a global health unit in 2018 that was designed to detect and
respond to such crises.


I’m angry that the media spent the past few years twisting
itself into illogical knots to find ways to not call Trump’s lies
lies.

I’m angry that Trump lied that he always
believed the crisis was a serious one, breezily and easily
lying on national television that he knew it was a pandemic before
it was called a pandemic.

I’m angry that Trump’s lies convinced a larger percentage
of older
Republicans than other groups to believe the crisis isn’t
a crisis, even though many of them are most at risk.
I’m angry that he has so little credibility that I don’t feel
compelled to follow his lead the way I was happy to follow President
George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the way
everyone felt compelled — and honored — to.

And I get angrier still when I remember back to 2009, when we
faced the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression and
note that the Republican Party proudly prioritized its own political
fortunes rather than helping Americans get through a trying time. Not
a single Republican in the House of Representatives voted
for an economic stimulus package that was a primary reason
the economy began turning around, and only three Republicans in the
Senate voted yes.

During this crisis, Democratic lawmakers gave the White House more
than twice as much money as it initially asked for to fight
the virus, quickly passed another bill to provide even more funding,
and still stand ready to help the White House get money into the
hands of everyday Americans to stem the tide against a burgeoning
economic crisis White House officials say could result in a 20%
unemployment rate, twice as bad as what happened in 2009.

They are doing that knowing their efforts might in effect improve
the reelection chances of a man they believe should have been tossed
out of office for abusing his power.
I’m angry that pointing out those facts might offend the “both
sides” brigade, those so focused on pretending our political
parties are equally broken they warp rather than deal with reality.


I’m angry at the man in Kentucky who contracted the virus, left
the hospital against medical advice and required police
patrols around his house to keep him quarantined, angry at the
foolish people who bragged
about congregating in large crowds in bars and restaurants,
angry at the administration’s inability to ensure COVID
tests for Americans returning from countries where travel
bans are now in effect.

I’m angry at the elected officials and their supporters who are
using a moment like this to spread
bigotry.

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