It turns out science denial isn't just a political ploy for Republican lawmakers. They're not doing it just because they can get those sweet, sweet fossil fuel dollars and appeal to the not-so-bright "take your government hands off my Medicare" base. They ARE the not-so-bright base. Consider Sen. Ron Johnson, who admittedly is the lowest common denominator of Republican intelligence, but who also is actually infected with coronavirus right now. Despite the fact that his sick president appears to be the superspreader in chief, Johnson told a conservative radio host that the nation has "a level of unjustifiable hysteria" over COVID-19. The disease that has killed more than 210,000 Americans in eight months and is running rampant in the White House right now.
"Why do we think we actually can stop the progression of a contagious disease?" is a thing he actually said out loud, apparently ignorant about the discovery of penicillin in 1928 or the polio vaccine in 1955 or the advent of treatments in the last two decades allowing people with HIV to live normal lives. In order to be a Republican in 2020, you have to forget all that (if indeed Johnson was ever aware of these things) and assume that you can't fight a deadly disease. That's in support of his argument that "from day one, we never should have gone through the shutdowns." Again. This is a guy who has the disease. "We've got to carry on with our lives." Which is what 87-year-old Chuck Grassley, third in line to the presidency by the way, is doing with his life. He is refusing to be tested even after being in meetings with another Republican senator who has tested positive, Utah's Mike Lee.
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Even when pretending to exhibit soberness over the disease, Republicans fall short. Here's Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor Monday: "The standard cliche would say these past few days have provided a stark reminder of the danger of this terrible virus. But the truth is that our nation did not need any such reminder. […] More than 209,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives. Millions have battled illness or had their lives disrupted by positive tests. . . . We all need to remain vigilant. We all need to remain careful." He says that, but he's the guy insisting that—while six of his own senators have been in quarantine because of infection or exposure—that the Supreme Court vote on Amy Coney Barrett must happen in the next three weeks. That's the message Republicans hear—they are voting no matter what, and no matter who they will be endangering in the process.
That's why the odious Arkansan Tom Cotton told Fox News "there is a long and venerable tradition of ill or medically infirm senators being wheeled in to cast critical votes on the Senate floor […] I'm confident every senator will be in attendance when his or her vote is needed." The example he gave was the late Sen. Robert Byrd who cast a vote for the Affordable Care Act from his wheelchair at age 92. Being 92 isn't contagious—he was endangering no one but himself. But you can't be a full-fledged member of the Death Cult if you acknowledge inconvenient truths like that.
It's not just Cotton. Johnson said he'd show up no matter what, saying that he'd wear a "moon suit" if necessary to cast a vote. Because McConnell is pushing that hard. "We think this is pretty important. I think people can be fairly confident that Mitch McConnell is dedicated to holding this vote," Johnson said. There have been reports that Senate Republican leadership is considering having COVID-stricken members cast their "aye" votes from the Senate gallery, to ensure that McConnell has his 51 votes to seat Barrett. (Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowksi have been given permission to vote against her, since McConnell secured his 51 without them—when he had a healthy 51, that is.)
McConnell doesn't care who could be killed. It's entirely possible that he has issued a directive not to be tested or to release the result of a test until this vote is taken. That's something that's at the back of Democrats' minds as they try to figure out their strategy for the coming hearings and votes. McConnell and his fellow Republicans will have absolutely no qualms about endangering their colleagues.
That's all to put a Trump justice on the Supreme Court. A justice who will rule to toss the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, the thing McConnell promised he would do 10 years ago because he hates Barack Obama that much. That nullifies every word of empathy McConnell mouths about the victims of coronavirus. Because he's hellbent to take health care away from the survivors.