Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form.
And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
The craziest part about Trump’s reluctance to take even the most basic steps to protect himself or those around him from this outbreak is that he is famously a committed germophobe.
In my opinion, he is not a germophobe, he is a self-centered egotist. A germophobe would not grab women by the pussy, would not have unprotected sex with porn stars, and would take reasonable steps to protect himself, like practicing social distancing and using a mask.
He is a despicable human being, stealing tests from the states so he can have himself and other people in the White House tested everyday, while saying that more tests are not needed for the general population. As with the Fox News paymasters, they do one thing and say another. They just want to preserve their privilege and their wealth, at any cost, by fooling idiots into believing the crap that they spout.
This always struck me as odd since he appears to like shaking hands a with world leaders. My guess is that he doesn’t shake hands with people who work for a living, which includes teachers.
As for elevators, Trump probably feels that it’s beneath him to press buttons. He grew up when there were elevator operators in every elevator in NY. But I also bet he believes that he should walk into a Trump building elevator and is magically transported to his floor.
A true germaphobe wouldn’t eat takeout and would definitely wear a mask.
I strongly suspect he is a germophobe. I just don’t think he really understands how germs spread.
I mean, this is the guy who was speculating about how a good flu vaccine would help with coronavirus and of course injecting disinfectants at fucking press conferences. He clearly doesn’t understand what’s going on and he can’t be bothered to learn from his own advisors.
I don’t think he’s a germophobe in the traditional sense that he actually knows or cares how diseases spread, more in the sense that he’s afraid of contracting “cooties” from close contact with poor people/minorities/liberals/fresh vegetables.
I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere, surprisingly, but if both Trump and Pence were incapacitated or, heaven forbid, died from COVID-19, then Nancy Pelosi would become President. She could only hold office until January at the longest, when the winner of the 2020 election would take over, of course, but that would be the ultimate karmic comeuppance I could conceive of.
I agree that he clearly does NOT know how germs spread.
But I still don’t believe he’s a real germaphobe, either; I think that’s his narcissism combined with his belief in his own superiority at work, and calling it “germophobia” is just the excuse that makes his antisocial attitude seem marginally less horrible than it is.
Exactly. I would add that he feels wearing a mask would make him look weak, and preventing that is what’s really important here.
The real message here is that Trump is in denial of reality. He doesn’t want to believe that the virus will affect him, so he doesn’t. He wants to open up the country, so he ignores his advisors who say we shouldn’t. This is in line with his shitty response to COVID-19; he’s only done things when he’s been forced to.
As much as I deep down want this to be a problem that solves itself in the white house … I have to admit those are evil thoughts and I know deep down the reality is assholes survive though luck and just the universe likes to be a dick.
I think he is so insecure that he is phobic about everything and everyone not himself. Panphobic. Come to think of it he is probably afraid of looking too closely at himself, too.
