On Friday night, a series of devastating tornadoes ripped through parts of six states, killing at least 79 Americans. Once again, COVID-19 shrugged and said, “Hold my beer” before hastily interjecting, “Oh, shit, don’t drink it! I’ve got COVID-19!”
Of course, no matter what disaster Republicans and the media tout on a day to day basis—inflation, the liberal war on Christmas, Kamala Harris’ earbud choices—nothing compares with COVID-19. Unfortunately, Republicans don’t seem to get it until they, well, get it—and end up in the ER either for supplemental oxygen or an emergency horse paste butt-bong removal.
The latest of these wayward GOPsters is Washington State Sen. Doug Ericksen, a staunch opponent of pandemic restrictions who once promised to introduce a bill opposing vaccine mandates. Yeah, you guessed it. He got COVID-19. In fact, he got it so bad, he apparently went “poof.”
Yeah, if I’d staked my career and reputation on the idea that COVID-19 is no big deal and then ended up hospitalized with COVID-19, I’d probably hide, too.
According to a Dec. 10 story in The Bellingham Herald, no information has been available on Ericksen’s whereabouts for three weeks, following news that he was receiving treatment for COVID-19 at a Florida hospital after testing positive in El Salvador.
Calls to Ericksen have not been returned recently, leading to public speculation about his condition.
Several of Ericksen’s constituents have written The Bellingham Herald, wondering why there has been no updated information. Well-wishers have also sent messages to his public Facebook page, which has not been updated recently.
Well, that sure doesn’t sound good.
Meanwhile, the people you’d think have the best handle on his whereabouts … don’t. “I really don’t have any information,” his legislative assistant, Sandy Ruff, said on Dec. 9. “It’s all going through the family now.”
“We haven’t seen any communication from him during this whole ordeal,” added Brad Henrickson, secretary of the Senate. As for contacting Ericksen’s family, The Bellingham Herald tried that and has heard bupkis.
So where is he? Who the hell knows? What’s not a mystery, though, is how he likely got the virus.
According to The Bellingham Herald, while Ericksen’s vaccination status is unknown, he’s “been critical of continuing state measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, including business closures, social distancing and masking.” He was also spotted at a business forum in late October without a mask. Because that’s how Republicans roll, man—when they’re not literally being wheeled around on ICU gurneys, that is.
So, yeah, Republicans are doing their level best to make COVID-19 great again, and they’re falling on their spike proteins to make their point. But sure, let’s see another 200 or so stories on how inflation is surging in the middle of a roaring economic recovery—after prices were unusually depressed last year by a historically grim recession. (I swear, we should all put a dollar in a jar every time the mainstream media runs a hair-on-fire inflation story featuring a "typical" U.S. family, without mentioning that they're getting at least $250 per child, per month in federal tax credits. That should take enough money out of the economy to kill inflation right there.)
Let’s hope and—if you’re into that sort of thing—pray for Ericksen’s full recovery. More importantly, though, we should hope that he and other influential GOP lawmakers finally see the light. Because the pro-death party’s years-long purge has gotten kind of old. Maybe if he bothers to show his face again, Ericksen can become a voice of reason. But I won’t hold my breath. Unless I’m standing next to a Republican, of course. Then it’s just common sense.
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