I feel really foolish. Each week I think that the insanity will end (or at least calm down a little), but The Asylum that is the United States never really gets any saner. Cue the organ music and step into the cackling in the shadows.
First are reports that the White House has lobbied South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem regarding getting President Trump on Mt. Rushmore. Turns out that the president suggested it back during a 2018 interview with Noem and has never really given up on the idea. Personally, I love the thought of President Trump on Mt. Rushmore. America deserves it.
Speaking of South Dakota, next up we have the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Sturgis, a town of 6,000 and change, annually hosts the 10-day event. These kinds of middle-of-nowhere festivities are notoriously hazy in terms of actual patronage, but the absolute low end figure is 250,000 attendees. Some possibly exaggerated Sturgis rally estimates, in years past, have ranged from 500,000 to 700,000.
It's a lot of people jammed into a town of 6,000. Obviously, with this kind of gathering of lemmings, social distancing goes out the window. Some attendees who have had Covid-19 reported little mask wearing in Sturgis. In fact, one tavern hosted a sneezing contest to see who could spray the farthest.
Bear in mind that Sturgis parallels the rest of the country in one regard. The majority of its citizens (60%) did not want the rally to take place this year. Economics and conservative politics, however, carried the day.
It's fortunate that Sturgis is in The Asylum, which eliminates the need to build asylums in Sturgis itself. Asylums in The Asylum, after all, is unnecessarily redundant. Best to maintain that mirage of freedom which comes from not recognizing that one is in The Asylum. Keeps everyone happy. While Sturgis therefore has no need for padded rooms, it may find itself needing hospital rooms a few weeks down the road. Many, many hospital rooms. I'm sure Sturgis is well prepared.
Next I want to revisit last week's Tales from The Asylum stalwart, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert. Mr. Gohmert, one of the more recalcitrant maskers on Capital Hill, caught Covid-19 two weeks ago. In a video, he then said that wearing a mask was probably to blame for his catching the virus. Gohmert retreated to Texas and began a treatment of hydroxychloroquine, a Z-Pak, and steroids. His daughter chastised him publicly for ignoring science and medical experts.
I'm going to devote a separate entry to discussing Gohmert because I caught a television interview he did with East Texas Now on Thursday, August 6. That interview featured Gohmert using a GOP public relations template. His arguments and overall presentation were so predictably and perfectly designed to state A while ignoring B that it may be the best single opportunity to investigate Republican talking points, both overt and subtle, regarding the pandemic. So please look for that analysis later this week.
Meanwhile, admitted manic depressive Kanye West has been lovingly guided by GOP agents into running for president. Oh, if only he could win. Perhaps I can help with a national write-in campaign. We sure could use a sixth face on Mt. Rushmore. May as well shoot for diversity.
Finally, red state governors in hot spots ushered children back to school this past week, which forced some schools to reverse pivot a few days later after hundreds of students and staff had to be quarantined due to positive tests. Gotta love those red state governors. They tend to call three-way all-ins with 6-2 off suit. Optimism is their strong suit. And lack of math. And science. And caring.
Empathy, if you haven't noticed, is in short supply in The Asylum. Residents in most asylums tend to lack math skills, or science training, or logic. The utter lack of empathy in The (ostensibly Christian) Asylum, however, has been a bit of a surprise. Good thing it's The Asylum. As long as nobody gets out, the rest of the world should be A-OK. I guess that's why we have a wall.
Tune in next Monday for another (cue the organ music) descent into the madness that is The Asylum. Next week may be more sane, but if I were you, I wouldn't bet on it. As I like to say, what fun is sanity?
Bob Dietz
August 11, 2020
