Too many American don’t believe in science

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered by the New York attorney general to stop selling his fake coronavirus cure. (Sean P. Anderson)

If you’ve read my previous work, you’ll know that I have often used the phrase “terminal stupidity.” This means when a person’s ignorance puts their own life in danger. That’s why, in my heart, I knew the coronavirus scare was going to be a disaster in America. Unfortunately, a large swath of the country doesn’t believe in science, cannot tell real news from propaganda, has no critical thinking skills and is proudly ignorant.

For several months, President Donald Trump ignored briefings from the intelligence field warning that was a global pandemic on the horizon. He also shut down the National Security Council’s pandemic unit. But it wasn’t just the Trumpistas who were skeptical of facts and science. It’s pretty much the entire right-wing media sphere. Like Trump, they don’t trust experts and think scientists are uncool lab nerds who have too much education. They prefer to rely on “common sense” from “real Americans,” whatever that means.

Case in point, way before the outbreak of the coronavirus, FOX News commentator Pete Hegseth proudly stated that he didn’t wash his hands anymore. A Pew Research poll showed only 14 percent of conservative Republicans believed human activity was contributing to climate change and right-wing propagandist Rush Limbaugh downplayed the health risks of smoking. Now Limbaugh now has lung cancer.

FOX News responded to their huge error by relying on a commonly used right-wing tactic — gaslighting. Commentator Sean Hannity tried to act like he never called the virus a hoax, even though there’s video of him saying this. Media Matters stated, “On the March 11 edition of his radio show, Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity argued that he isn’t concerned about coronavirus because ‘we’re all dying.’’

The entire right-wing noise machine is based on the principle of denying the truth and creating its own reality. So for weeks FOX News, the nation’s leading right-wing propaganda outfit, kept saying the coronavirus was a hoax cooked up by the liberal media and the Democratic establishment. FOX Business news commentator Trish Regan also delivered a now-infamous speech blithely dismissing the coronavirus scare.

“The chorus of hate being leveled at the president is nearing a crescendo as Democrats blame him and only him for a virus that originated halfway around the world. This is yet another attempt to impeach the president,” said Regan.

She has since been disappeared from the airwaves.

However, much worse came from other right-wing hucksters.

Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist and notorious disaster capitalist, tried to con his followers into buying toothpaste that could “eliminate” the coronavirus until ordered to stop by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Fellow conman Jim Bakker, a former televangelist, was hawking a “Silver Solution” concoction that he claimed could stop the coronavirus too, until he received a cease and desist letter from the state of Missouri.

The behavior of other clergy has been just as bad. Some pastors, such as Trump supporter Rodney Howard-Browne, have urged their followers to still keep coming to church, even as governors and medical experts have told the public to stay at home and practice social distancing. Kenneth Copeland, a prosperity gospel preacher, who managed to persuade his followers to buy him a new private jet, even said that people should keep tithing, even when they are facing layoffs and reduced hours. Copeland also claimed he healed people of the coronavirus — through the television.

Politicians have also fallen into the trap of science denialism. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt recently posted a picture of him and his family at a restaurant proudly defying the warnings. (Stitt later deleted the tweet.) Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis stubbornly refused to follow pleas by the medical community to shut down the beaches and let thousands of Spring Break revelers keep partying. Now five University of Tampa students have tested positive. (DeSantis eventually closed the beaches.) And Sen. Rand Paul tested positive for the disease after going to the Senate gym on Sunday. (I stopped going to the gym a week ago!)

After weeks of denial, FOX News has finally admitted the coronavirus is not a liberal hoax. At least four FNC staffers have tested positive and Lou Dobbs, a major Trump supporter, has been quarantined.

FOX News responded to their huge error by relying on a commonly used right-wing tactic — gaslighting. Commentator Sean Hannity tried to act like he never called the virus a hoax, even though there’s video of him saying this. Media Matters stated, “On the March 11 edition of his radio show, Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity argued that he isn’t concerned about coronavirus because ‘we’re all dying.’’

But it may be too late. FNC has already created an audience that refuses to accept the truth. Many FOX News viewers still believe the coronavirus is overblown. Ironically, since most FNC viewers are senior citizens that puts them in the category most likely to be affected by the disease! However, it’s not just right-wingers, today I discovered one of my Facebook “friends” didn’t believe in the coronavirus!

It should be obvious to anyone who can process information that the virus is real. Right now there are currently 300,000 people infected worldwide and about 14,000 have died. Italy has so many deaths the morgues have stopped accepting bodies and now military trucks are being used to transport the dead.

Medical experts say America is where Italy was two weeks ago, so the death toll here is going to spike as more people discover they have the disease and hospitals struggle to cope with a flood of patients. Bear in mind Italy has a universal health system and America doesn’t. So millions of Americans will suffer as they either can’t get to see a doctor or can’t afford to see one. Some patients who have been treated with the disease have been hit with bills for up to $3,000.

Hocus pocus and propaganda won’t save us from this disease. It’s going to take scientific research, testing, information sharing and following the guidelines from medical experts. It’s time to listen to the experts and follow their advice. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if some Americans know how to do that.