The Blur

Of course Biden has tested positive for Covid. Because it’s still 2020. Covid? Still here. The debates over whether we should have shut down schools or worn masks—representative of a broader debate about the value of science and scientists? Still here. Traumatic, historic events that should have brought us together but instead drive us further apart? Yup. A national obsession with breaking news that is breaking our minds? That feels worse than ever. Heated debates over what happened during events we all saw with our own eyes? Still here. The Big Lie? It’s as big of a driving and dividing force as ever. Biden v Trump? At least for now, yes. Seriously, at this point would you be that surprised to see cardboard cutouts in the seats at major league baseball games? My book about that year was subtitled Breaking News and Nervous Breakdowns in the Year That Wouldn’t End. I thought I was speaking metaphorically. It turns out that line works better as a prediction. We boarded a roller coaster that won’t let us off. We haven’t cured Covid. We haven’t cured Trumpism. I’m not sure we’ve even begun to deal with the trauma of that year. All the ultraviolet light, injected disinfectants, and ivermectin in the world can’t release us from the grip of the past. Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but 2020 was a blur. And … it … will … not … end.

+ “A summer covid wave has washed over most of the United States, bringing yet another round of gatherings turned into superspreaders, vacations foiled by illness and reminders that pandemic life has not been fully erased.” WaPo (Gift Article): Covid summer wave spreads across U.S., even infecting Biden.