covid diary: day 83

“God is always on the side of the oppressed. Mr. President,
I promise your hands are too small to box with God.”
Rev. George C. Gilbert Jr. of Holy Trinity United Baptist Church in D.C.

photo: Heidi Thompson

Last night, the president of these United States gave a press conference, where he threatened to use the U.S. military to attack U.S. citizens protesting on U.S. soil. Yes, that's a lot of repetition but it bears repeating: he threatened to send the military to attack the people of his own country. And he did it. While he was speaking in the Rose Garden, various police/National Guard/Secret Service tear-gassed peaceful protesters across the street in Lafayette Park without warning, throwing flash-bang grenades and coming in on horseback to drive the protesters from the park. And it turns out they did this at the president's direction, so the president could walk from the White House across the park to St. John's Episcopal Church (aka the Church of the Presidents) so he could pose in front of the church with a bible in hand.

He attacked American citizens so he could have a photo op.

Not just protesters. The clergy members at St. John's, who had been giving refuge and welcome to the protesters all day on the patio of the church, were tear-gassed and driven from their own church so the president could stand there and hold up a bible. (Reporters: "Is that your personal bible?" Trump: "It's a bible.") Episcopal bishops have denounced the president's violence and opportunism and false idolatry in no uncertain terms. But will it make a difference? No, because this man is beyond shame.

Because of the weirdness of our laws, unless he invokes the Insurrection Act of 1807, Trump can't override the governors or send military to perform police actions on American soil (the law that says he can't do that is the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, and the only way he can override it is to invoke the Insurrection Act). HOWEVER, Washington, D.C., isn't a state, and doesn't have a governor, so the president felt free to send in the troops last night. They used a military Blackhawk helicopter to fly low over the protesters. Here's how the New York Times explains it: "As scores of protesters made their way into Washington D.C.'s Chinatown district, a Blackhawk helicopter with U.S. Army markings descended to rooftop level, kicking up dirt, debris, and snapping trees that narrowly missed several people. The maneuver, often conducted by low flying jets in combat zones to scare away insurgents, is known as a show of force."

Police drove the protesters from Lafayette Park into nearby neighborhoods, using tear gas, flash-bangs, clubs, and mace, then trapped them on a short street, blocked all avenues of escape, and started arresting people for violating the 7 p.m. curfew. (I mean, how exactly were they supposed to go home?) One man who lives in the neighborhood, a true American hero, urged nearly 100 protesters into his home, giving them shelter and asylum until the curfew was lifted at 6 this morning. The homeowner's name is Rahul Dubey, he's a 44-year-old first-generation Indian American, and he gave each protester one of his business cards as proof that they weren't trespassing (which the police tried to say they were). When he was asked by a Washington Post reporter by phone about the events of the night, Dubey said, "I opened a door. You would have done the same thing. ... If people like us aren't going to open a door, then who the fuck is?"

The protesters did get to go home this morning, but what a harrowing, traumatizing experience.

A brief word about the Insurrection Act of 1807. I did some reading on it today, and guess what? The law was created for the sole purpose of "defending" the country against black slaves who might rise up and demand their freedom. American slavers and the politicians leading slave states watched in fear as this happened during the Haitian Revolution, and they pressured the U.S. government to do something to ensure that "our" slaves couldn't rise up and do the same thing. The Insurrection Act has been invoked very infrequently by presidents. Most recently, it was invoked in 1992 by George H.W. Bush after the Los Angeles riots in the wake of the police beating of Rodney King. And now Trump wants to invoke it to take away the right of mostly black protesters to peacefully assemble. It's a through line, isn't it? Not surprising, but devastating and evil nonetheless.

This afternoon, Trump doubled down on his notion of "religious liberty" by showing up at the shrine of Saint John Paul II (or JPII, as Gramps used to fondly call him) to sign an executive order to "advance international religious freedom." By which, of course, he means only a specific kind of "Christian," and at the expense of all others. But hey! Archbishop Wilton Gregory had some words to say about this too. Look:

I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree. Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity.

So in 24 hours, he's royally pissed off the Episcopalians and the Catholics and the Baptists (these are VERY strong statements from organizations that usually try to stay above the fray). He doesn't even countenance the Jews/Muslims/atheists/etc. The one religious group he hasn't pissed off is ... oh let's see ... give me a minute ... it'll come to me ...

Anyway.

Mike went back to work yesterday, and word around the plant is that maybe they won't be laid off again next week. Yay? Or maybe they will. Boo? Or maybe some of them will and some of them won't. Apparently they really like playing this game where they keep everyone guessing until the last possible minute for no sensible reason.

Also of note: I went back to the pool this morning. I've been reading tons of articles about the risks, and thinking for weeks about how I could maybe do it with minimal risk because there are so many benefits. The system still needs a little bit of tweaking (like a waterproof barrier on my van seat instead of just a towel) but here's how it worked this morning: I arrived at 5:25 (pool opens at 5:30), put my mask on, went in through the revolving door, signed in on the keypad using a cotton swab instead of touching it, then walked through the workout areas, into and through the locker room, and into the showers. I hung my bag on a hook, took off my outer clothes (I was wearing my suit underneath), showered (it operates via sensor), took my bag with me into the pool and hung it on a hook, walked into the therapy pool, did my thing, grabbed my bag, went back to the showers, dried off quickly, put my outer clothes back on over my wet suit, put my mask back on, and got the heck out of there and came home to shower immediately. I don't think I actually touched any surfaces with my bare hands, and I was the only one in the therapy pool the whole time I was there. The lap pool had six people in the four lanes, but I don't swim, I do water walking, and the therapy pool is heated to 90 degrees and is glorious. In this picture it's in the foreground, with the lap pool in the back. I'll stop going if I feel like anything risky is going on, but for right now I think the benefits definitely outweigh the fairly minimal risk.

Nationwide cases: 1,831,730. Deaths: 106,180.