Name: Opinion | The second-most-dangerous contagion in America: Conservative irrationality
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Opinion | The second-most-dangerous contagion in America: Conservative irrationality

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This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe most dangerous contagion we now confront is the coronavirus, which has killed Americans and thrown out of work. The second-most-dangerous contagion is the conspiracy-mongering, hostility to science and outright irrationality promulgated by President Trump and his loudmouth media enablers. It will take intensive contact tracing to follow the spread of crackpot ideas: Is Trump infecting the cable news hosts, or are they infecting him? Suffice it to say, the president and his media fans are both afflicted with perilous misconceptions that are making the threat from the coronavirus far more acute.At first, both Trump and his media toadies dismissed the threat from the coronavirus, claiming it was no worse than the flu and that it would miraculously disappear . Any suggestion that Trump was mishandling the threat was dismissed as a “.” Then on March 13, Trump finally declared a , and the tone among the Fox News propagandists — from deriding concern about the coronavirus among liberal bed-wetters to lauding Trump’s heroic wartime leadership.The new resolve did not last long: Within days, the drum beat on the right “the cure cannot be worse than the disease.” Conservative talking heads argued that the economy had to be reopened even if it meant of the aged and infirm who are most vulnerable to covid-19. Trump was listening: On March 24, he announced that he would “” to restart the economy by Easter.AdvertisementThank goodness Trump did not follow his instincts: Can you imagine how much devastation would have ensued if the economy were being reopened just as the United States was for the most confirmed coronavirus deaths on the planet? Mercifully, after being shown models predicting that millions of Americans could die from a premature reopening, Trump on March 29 to extend his social distancing guidelines until the end of April.Thanks in part to his decision, which encouraged more red-state governors to impose lockdowns in their states, there is evidence of the curve “flattening.” On March 29, Trump had spoken of as a likely scenario. Now from the University of Washington projects “only” 61,545 coronavirus deaths. ( are more pessimistic.) But instead of concluding that social distancing works, many on the right are now arguing, with characteristic illogic, that the threat was overhyped all along and that we can all go back to work.There is even a budding subculture of coronavirus truthers who claim that death figures are exaggerated by a liberal media conspiracy to make Trump look bad. Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Tucker Carlson, Brit Hume and “Diamond &amp; Silk,” among others, have all claimed that, , the “fatality numbers are inflated.” In fact, the official death toll is likely a because so many people are dying without being diagnosed with covid-19. In the 31 days ending April 4, New York City had , but only 3,350 of those were officially ascribed to the coronavirus.AdvertisementBut because the Trumpified right lives in a world of “alternative facts,” we are back to where we were a few weeks ago, with many conservative commentators and administration officials once again braying for the economy to reopen. Trump — Fox viewer No. 1 — is listening intently, and he is receptive to the message because he is seeing his fall as the unemployment numbers rise. The Post that Trump is now aiming to restart the economy by May 1. Luckily, he does not have the “” to do that, as he claimed on Friday, but, unfortunately, he does have the ability to persuade many of his followers — including red-state governors — to go back to business as usual.Doing so prematurely would be extraordinarily dangerous. The University of Washington that so many conservatives cited to minimize the risk explicitly states that it is premised on maintaining “full social distancing through May 2020.” Internal government projections, reported by the , show that “if the administration lifts the 30-day stay-at-home orders, the death total is estimated to reach 200,000.”The consensus of experts — you know, the people whom right-wingers don’t listen to — is that it will be impossible to lift social distancing requirements until much more widespread testing and contact tracing are in place. One study from estimates we will need to perform millions of tests a day. U.S. testing levels have increased but are still far short of that goal. Only were reported on Saturday.AdvertisementBut will Trump listen? It’s hard to talk sense into a president who thinks that a virus can be defeated by . Public health officials such as Anthony S. Fauci and Deborah Birx are like the passengers in a car that Trump is slowly driving down a winding mountain road: Can they convince the president that we won’t get to our destination faster by simply going straight off the cliff?Read more:The latest: , a strategic shift that puts more of the onus on individuals, rather than on schools, businesses and other institutions, to limit viral spread.Variants: BA.5 is the most recent omicron subvariant, and it’s quickly become the dominant strain in the U.S. , and why vaccines may only offer limited protection.Vaccines: For people under 50, while the Biden administration works to roll out shots . Immunizations for became available this summer. Here’s by your prior infections and booster history.Guidance: CDC guidelines have been confusing — if you get covid, here’s . We’ve also created .Where do things stand? See the latest coronavirus numbers and . The is behind much of the recent spread.For the latest news, . CommentsGift ArticleTOP STORIESGoing GlobalEssential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world.Try a different topic or to save your preferences

This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe most dangerous contagion we now confront is the coronavirus, which has killed Americans and thrown out of work. The second-most-dangerous contagion is the conspiracy-mongering, hostility to science and outright irrationality promulgated by President Trump and his loudmouth media enablers. It will take intensive contact tracing to follow the spread of crackpot ideas: Is Trump infecting the cable news hosts, or are they infecting him? Suffice it to say, the president and his media fans are both afflicted with perilous...

Opinion | The second-most-dangerous contagion in America: Conservative irrationality

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