Blame the cumulative impact of the year’s events.
“Is there something funny, Mr. Harris? Do you have something to share with the rest of the class?” “No, ma’am. Beg your pardon. All good.” We all know the teacher is right: People who find something amusing in news that the president of the United States has coronavirus — or that any citizen of any land has contracted the potentially deadly virus — must in their own way be pretty sick. And yet: I know from a barrage of emails and texts and conversations with all manner of friends and sources, including some Donald Trump backers, that I was not the only one biting hard on the inside of my cheeks Friday morning in order to treat the news that Covid-19 has infected the commander in chief with the proper solemnity. In my case, I honestly was not laughing at the reality that Trump and first lady Melania Trump have a dangerous disease, or that the pandemic is derailing presidential politics with just 32 days to the Nov.3 election. I am more just punch-drunk at the cumulative impact of events in 2020 — a year that seems to be vindicating the notion of “American exceptionalism” in ways that no one would wish. A virus, and riots, and wild fires, and a Supreme Court vacancy timed for the precise moment to push American politics to the breaking point, and the most rancorous and degrading presidential debate in history, featuring Trump mocking Democrat Joe Biden for wearing “the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.” And now,48 hours later, this. Does it not seem a little like the cosmos is toying with the U.S. of A, like a cat’s paw swatting a frightened mouse? At a minimum, a tragic year is taking on slapstick dimensions. The natural human reaction to slapstick is to laugh. So, is it OK to laugh at Trump’s news? My recommendation: Nope, not OK. One reason is: Come on, get a grip. Even in a raucously irreverent age, the acids of modern politics haven’t corroded decency entirely.
