Jeb Bladine: It’s November, and COVID still is news
Famously, in October, President Donald Trump delighted political rally crowds by rejecting legitimacy and dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic. “They prolonged the pandemic,” he said. “That’s all I hear about now. It’s all I hear. By the way, on Nov. 4, you won’t hear about it anymore.”
“They,” for Trump, appeared to mean Democrats and the media. But it turns out, after national spikes in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, COVID-19 still is in the news.
In Oregon, the state targeted nine counties with new “two-week pause” mandates and limitations on social gatherings and other COVID-spread safeguards. Yamhill County would have qualified with a one-week delay in those calculations and, at this writing, state health officials haven’t responded to questions about additions to the list.
Unfortunately, that’s an all-too-common situation.
Even more unfortunately, COVID-19 became tangled with presidential politics in ways we may never fully understand. Here are a few election observations that admittedly lack complete context:
In 20 states with the highest overall number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, voters in 17 of them — including all top 12 — supported President Trump over Joe Biden. Voters backed Biden in 9 of 10 states with last week’s lowest case counts per 100,000 population; Trump won pluralities in 13 of 15 states with the highest ratios last week.
Perhaps smaller, more rural states have high COVID-19 ratios due to cultural and lifestyle factors; perhaps large city populations are more responsive to peer pressure about masks and social distancing; or perhaps, the president was very effective in convincing his supporters that COVID-19 is at least a partial scam.
One person so convinced is newly reelected state Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, who this week returned to online newsletters following the campaign-season blackout. His message includes claims that Gov. Kate Brown “has gone from a power-hungry politician to a dictator;” that COVID-19 case counts are fraudulently misrepresented by false-positive test results; that the “Mainstream Media” has become the “State-Run Media.”
“Mainstream Media” today, of course, would include Fox News and CNN alike. Apparently it’s OK for mainstream media to be one-sided, but only if it’s the preferred side.
Sen. Boquist urges readers to connect with a new, anonymous website for unbiased news. We will consider reporting about that website when its operators find the courage to identify themselves and their sources – you know, like they do in the mainstream media.
It seems a matter of time before COVID-19 vaccines are tagged as a socialist mind-control plot.
Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.
Comments