Tucker Claims Victim Blaming, Because Of Course

Tucker Carlson demonstrates once again that he is a hack. He is first, claiming that Democrats are saying Trump deserved to catch COVID, which may be true in some cases, but in a very limited way. Then he says this is like blaming a woman who dresses provocatively for being raped.

Victim blaming is a difficult subject because two things can be true at the same time. The woman dressed provocatively, walking in a bad neighborhood is being foolish or naive at best. At the same time, many other people walk in that neighborhood all the time, there are laws that punish people who assault others, and there are police patrolling the street. 

A presumption of safety is naive, but our human and societal values say that she SHOULD be safe to walk in that neighborhood.

Now look at COVID. We have been warned for months of the imprudence of not distancing and using a mask. We would like to be able to assume that we can do otherwise, but COVID is not human. It doesn't follow human laws. NOr can it be punished when it assaults a human. A presumption of safety from COVID without taking measures is idiocy, So is Trump a victim? Sure. He's sick. That sucks. 

Are people who blame Trump for catching COVID victim blaming? Sure.

Is his circumstance the same as the provocatively dressed woman? No. A presumption of safety in human society is naive, but not unreasonable, whereas Trump's assumption of safety is totally unreasonable. COVID acts under natural laws, not human ones.

Finally, there is the irony and comeuppance angle, like when a bully gets what's coming in a movie. If you are purposely placing yourself in the proximity of others it is statistical assault--assault and battery if you know you have it already. He has downplayed the virus calling it a democratic hoax, ridiculing people who wear masks, and encouraging his followers to go to his packed rallies undistanced and unmasked. His actions are almost perfectly consistent with a person who is apparently doing everything he can to make people sick. The one exception was his fake ban on flights from China. It was actually a ban on Chinese people flying in from China, and 40,000 people got into the US under that travel ban.

Is it poetic justice that the man who is responsible for 38% of the disinformation in this nation and who encourages people to take actions that may kill them has gotten the bug? Of course it is.

Donald Trump is Jim Jones.

Trump's rallies are Jonestowns.

The air that Trump's supporters are breathing is statistical Kool-Aid. 

250k excess deaths later and counting, Trump is not a good person by any measure.


Here's a few good takes from Twitter.


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