It is the perfect image to encapsulate Trumpism: A re-open America protester holding a Covid-19 is a Lie placard while wearing a protective mask. The Trump messaging machine isn’t about getting people to believe a particular message. It’s about flooding the zone with so much information that they don’t know what to believe. President Trump’s all-caps calls to Liberate certain states while also expressing support for a science-based, cautious re-opening is hardly a new messaging strategy. What’s changed, as Washington Governor Jay Inslee explains, are the stakes: “I hope someday we can look at today’s meltdown as something to be pitied, rather than condemned. But we don’t have that luxury today.” Of course, the president and his allies want the condemnation. Turning a complex issue into a partisan rage fest is the only play in their playbook; if some people have to die of exposure, so be it. The Guardian: Thousands of Americans backed by rightwing donors gear up for protests. (One hopes the protesters will note that those donors are watching events roll out on Fox News from the safety of their socially-distanced living rooms.) Will the president’s germ warfare strategy incite violence? One hopes not. Will it cause more virus spread? One assumes so. That’s what makes this strategy particularly sick and reckless in an era defined by sick recklessness. What we really need is to liberate America from this black hole of imbecilic narcissism. In the meantime, one hopes the president will liberate his head from his ass.

+ One of the truths this strategy is intended to distract people from: Coronavirus Testing Needs to Triple Before the U.S. Can Reopen.

+ While the re-open protests are getting a lot of attention, it’s worth noting that there is a counter-protest made up of people staying at home; supporting each other, their health care workers, the elderly, and reality. And that counter-protest is hundreds of thousands of times bigger than the one in the headlines. This is where all 50 states stand on reopening.

+ “It’s the paradox of public health: When you do it right, nothing happens.” Vox: We’re not overreacting to the coronavirus. (In layperson’s terms: If you’re alive, that’s a good thing.)