The threat to us from old white guys in politics might not be just their laser like focus on the concerns of other old white guys. It might be the case that they’re more likely to be exposed to and die from Covid19.
I’m going to assume that their campaign staffs have recently taken steps to reduce the chance of possible infection by restricting hand shaking and selfie taking. But since the virus has a relatively long incubation period, up to 14 days, there’s a possibility that our candidates have already been in the vicinity of someone with the illness.
The illness is especially hard on the elderly and those people with pre-existing underlying health issues. The candidate most likely to become seriously ill from it is…
Bernie Sanders.
He’s 78, he just had a heart attack, and he won’t disclose his medical records. The likelihood that he has some underlying medical condition is probably high.
Other candidates who are at risk: Biden (77), Bloomberg (78), Warren (70) and Trump (74). Holy hemiola, take that in. They should all be retired.
We’ve seen Warren’s health report. She’s ridiculously healthy. Her chances of having a heart attack are lower than people decades younger than her. She’s lean, fit, energetic. That doesn’t mean her immune system could withstand an onslaught with a nasty virus but my guess is her heart and lung could hang in there better. Bloomberg has excellent healthcare and his doctor’s report is good but he’s also had some heart issues that are typical of someone his age.
Biden gets a good report but he’s had some minor heart issues, high cholesterol, and has had a brain aneurysm.
Trump looks like a heart attack waiting to happen and unlike the Democrats, looks like he hasn’t worked out in decades.
I’d say Bernie is most at risk. Trump should probably stop doing rallies. Not for his health but just because his rallies are more likely to spread fascism, an equally unpleasant viral infection that leads to the deaths of people his supporters don’t like, ie the rest of us.
Remember that Trump was in India just last week and India is not accurately reporting its confirmed infection rate. No, don’t try to tell me it still only has 3 cases. It’s statistically improbable. So, there’s a good chance that Trump was exposed at one of his events. That’s not hyperbole. Iran has had some of their top government officials actually die from Covid19 or become ill on TV.
The politicians most likely to withstand the illness with more typical flu like symptoms are Amy Klobuchar (59) and Pete Buttigieg (37). Well, Pete’s out, thank goodness but who knows? Maybe we’ll have to bring him and Kamala Harris back.
Still, this pandemic should shine a light on the problem we have at our highest levels of politics. There are too many old White guys acting like our wise elders who shouldn’t be running for various reasons. It’s just too risky. And since the infection is going to be with us for months, probably right up to Election Day and beyond, the person at the top of the ticket should be someone who had a better chance of not dying from it. Just another good reason for Bernie to drop out before he drops dead.
Biden too.
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My company has issued travel alerts as of yesterday with some other precautions. But it too has been ignoring the elephant in the room and has blissfully ignored India. Soooo, pretty much useless.
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