Thoughts opinions #6

The Politicization of Breathing

Rita Wilson has become a target of the extreme right for openly discussing her negative experiences with chloroquine.

PHOTOGRAPH: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES; free imbed

Political polarization in this country has just veered beyond insanity.

Donald Trump’s lauded drug of promise against the scourge of Covid-19 may not be the panacea for which we have all been hoping.

From a CBS interview with Rita Wilson, based solely on her personal experience with the drug: They gave me chloroquine. I know people have been talking about this drug. But I can only tell you that — I don’t know if the drug worked or if it was just time for the fever to break. My fever did break but the chloroquine had such extreme side effects, I was completely nauseous, I had vertigo and my muscles felt very weak … I think people have to be very considerate about that drug.”

That was the gist. Innocuous, at best; valuable at most. She said nothing political; Wilson was, on the surface, expressing nothing but her own personal experiences.

There was likely no subtext to her words, regardless of her personal political leanings. See this article from an anti-Trumper, the author of this piece, that explains the viewpoint of many of those, including myself, who presently veer left on the political spectrum:

If “we” want Trump to fail in the fight against Covid-19, then we are effectively asking for people to die.

No one is asking for that.

To be clear, everyone needs hope. That’s a given. But also, to be scrupulously accurate, we need remind ourselves that tests for both chloroquine, and its less toxic derivative hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), are still ongoing for this purpose. See here for another recent article:

Wilson’s comments aired earlier today.