Trump tells us to live with COVID- 19; 210,000 died trying

After Donald Trump got out of Vietnam with student deferments and a spurious claim of bone spurs, he proposed that those who did serve in Vietnam were “stupid” and “losers,” according to various accounts. He mocked their sacrifice by saying he was a “brave soldier” in his “personal Vietnam” -- avoiding sexually transmitted diseases.

We’re seeing the same thinking now with COVID- 19. After getting treated for his infection by a team of top- notch doctors using antidotes that are rationed or entirely unavailable to other Americans, President Trump shared a description of himself as “an invincible hero” -- in contrast to all those wusseswho are taking precautions against the virus.

“Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it,” Trump proclaimed in a video message after returning from the hospital. “Don’t let it take over your lives. . . . I’m better and maybe I’m immune. I don’t know. But don’t let it dominate your lives.” He exulted on Twitter that “we are learning to live with COVID,” which he falsely claimed is “in most populations far less lethal” than the flu.

Itwas an implicit rebuke of those 210,000 Americans who already let the beatable and lesslethal virus “dominate” them and “take over” -- by dying. On the four days in which Trump spent time in the hospital, 2,264 Americans died of COVID- 19 without access to the care and treatments he got -- the modern equivalent of those stupid losers who died in Vietnam while Trump bravely dodged the clap.

As Trump staged photos at Walter Reed, the Twitter account @ FacesOfCovid continued its grimwork of collating obituaries of the deceased:

The West DesMoines ( Iowa) Community School District announced that Jennifer Crawford, a junior high school special- education assistant, had died of COVID19 complications.

Julie Davis, a beloved thirdgrade teacher at Norwood Elementary School in North Carolina, succumbed to the virus. Davis, 49, died two months after the district resumed some inperson classes. She decided to devote her life to helping children after the Columbine shooting.

John Stephen Forester, 72, of McKenzie, Tennessee, died of the virus. He had helped adults with developmental disabilities and was a longtime volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels. The death notice said his family is “heartbroken at his sudden and preventable loss.”

In Highland Village, Texas, Sgt. Dennis Oliver died of COVID19 after some 11 days in the hospital. The 17- year veteran of the Highland Village Police Department leaves behind a wife and two sons.

As the virus spread around the White House, WOOD- TV in Michigan reported the COVID19 death of Michelle McCrackin, 53, a Title I teacher in Carson City and mother of five. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Rebecca A. Cryer, a 73- year- old judge on the Choctaw Nation District Court, also died of COVID19. She had survived serious injuries in the Oklahoma City bombing 25 years ago.

And on. And on. Young and old, hearty and frail. So many people who, unlike our “invincible hero” president, inexplicably let the virus “dominate” their lives.

Now the White House Gift Shop is taking preorders for $ 100 commemorative coins announcing “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP DEFEATS COVID.” The company, which calls itself the “original official” White House gift shop, was privatized long ago. But it has pro- Trump sentiments, saying the coin design conveys “a hint of superhero qualities.”

If we’re really going to commemorate this moment, other slogans come to mind. Perhaps: PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP DEFEATS EMPATHY.

Or, if we’re trying to lend a “hint of superhero qualities” to a president who tells us to live with the virus while he receives care unavailable to ordinary losers, I’d go with this:

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, SUPERSPREADER.