A FB Friend who is a Trumper shared an online plea for prayers from the brother of a Trumper who is now in the ICU. The plea accompanies of a picture of her 62-year brother, a retired veteran, in dress uniform at a pre-COVID Trump rally earlier this year. Out of respect for privacy, I won’t divulge any further personal info other than to say that he lives in a GOP-led state that is among the most impacted by COVID right now.
Visiting the original post, pretty much without exception the posts are offering prayers for speedy recovery. But there was one that jumped out at me especially, saying “Are they not giving him hcq? [hydrochloroquine] I'll be pissed if [State] is not making it available. In 4 hours people breathe easy again and in 6 hours their temp goes down to normal.”
That comment, is, of course, pure unadulterated BS not confirmed by any reputable medical study, anywhere. If hydrochloroquine was even close to that effective, we’d have a drug that would have had a huge impact on this pandemic months ago because we’d have an indisputably effective treatment that would keep the death toll at a minimum and patients out of the ICU and hospital.
But it illustrates just how deeply the hydrochloroquine conspiracy has infiltrated the MAGA folks. Dear Leader said it works, so it must be true. The Friend in question still occasionally shares pro-HCQ stuff, despite the fact that I’ve hammered him relentlessly with links to studies and articles showing that no, it most definitely doesn’t work. I’ve given up on that since it’s like screaming at a brick wall to get out of my way.
And, of course, my Friend shared a television interview with Trump’s “Demon Seed” doctor this morning. [eyeroll]
And before you ask why I don’t unfriend him — I just don’t do that. For one, I’ve only ever unfriended one person — a Trumper who laughed at a story I shared about Parkland survivor David Hogg getting death threats. Yeah, that crossed the line. He’s gone. By keeping this guy, and a few others like him on my list, it lets me see what they’re sharing and thinking, so gives me a window into what’s going on on that side of the fence and what’s influencing their thinking.
Anyway, this gives you some insight on why we’re having such an awful time getting this pandemic under control. The True Believers still hang on to the idea that discredited snake oil miracle cures and prayers will save them.