Trump’s diagnosis a teachable moment
Say this for President Donald Trump — and what hasn’t been said about him? — he has now shown us how dangerous and irresponsible it is to mingle maskless among groups of people.
Granted, most of us knew that already. Most people carry masks with them and wear them in public; we don’t like it, but it’s the right thing to do.
It’s the skeptics and science deniers who might learn something from the example of the Anti-Masker-in-Chief coming down with the very coronavirus he has spent months downplaying.
A few times, he has said he supported mask-wearing but has rarely been seen wearing one. More often, he has made fun of people who do wear them, as if it is some sort of weakness.
In the days leading up to his diagnosis, and that of first lady Melania and senior White House staffer Hope Hicks, Trump reportedly mingled, without a mask, at a campaign fundraiser at one of his golf clubs.
It’s a safe bet a majority of the anti-mask crowd are Trump supporters, likely influenced by the dismissive attitude he took toward COVID-19. How do they think he feels now? Science, logic and empathy haven’t penetrated. Perhaps this will.
Trump played with fire and got burned. He knew the risks. No one had access to better medical advice than he did.
But for those who wouldn’t be caught dead voting for him, gloating is exactly the wrong thing to do. Trump’s diagnosis upends everything heading into the Nov. 3 U.S. election.
It’s hard to imagine this turning him into some sort of sympathetic figure, given his history with COVID-19. But if he doesn’t recover quickly, what looked to be the most chaotic presidential election in history could turn out even worse than expected.
You wouldn’t wish a bad case of COVID-19 on anyone, and we hope Trump has a full, speedy recovery.
To all the anti-maskers out there, do you think Trump is still glad he didn’t wear a mask the day he was infected? His illness pulls him off the campaign trail for at least two weeks. Do you honestly think he wouldn’t do things differently if he had a re-do?
Stop the foolishness, stop telling people masks are bad, and start wearing yours.
IF THERE HAVE BEEN CASES of Niagara Regional Police officers ticketing drivers whose licences or plate stickers expired after March 1, hopefully they are few and aren’t still occurring.
To have the charges withdrawn, drivers are forced to go through the hassle of contacting the provincial offences courthouse, asking for a review and then waiting for a decision and possibly a refund on the $110 if they already paid the fine.
In mid-March when the pandemic was coming down on us fast and hard, the province extended indefinitely the validity of stickers, drivers’ licences and other government documentation that had expired after March 1.
Across Ontario, though, drivers have complained they are still being issued tickets even though police officers have been advised against doing so. This week, Niagara Regional Police confirmed there have been a few cases here in Niagara.
Mistakes happen, especially during times like these, so it’s understandable tickets might wrongly have been handed out earlier.
It’s good that refunds are provided, and those tickets can be overturned. But there’s no reason for drivers to have to endure that frustrating process at this point.