MAGA Makes Death Great Again

In addition to eroding our democracy and constitutional norms, the incoming Trump Administration presents one of the greatest modern threats to the safety, health, and well-being of American families.

(Credit: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/death-asks-us-to-live-authentically/)

A plurality of American voters decided they were fine with possibly dying just to temporarily feel great again. 

Tragically, this is nothing new when it comes to America, a stubborn and self-destructive country that will always choose pain and masochism instead of expanding and stretching itself to live out its professed ideals of democracy, equality, and fairness. A great book that examines this phenomenon is Jonathan Metzl’s Dying of Whiteness published in 2019 in which Metzl researched how the GOP played on cultural grievances, racism, and disinformation to convince white voters to embrace political policies that ultimately reduced their life expectancy and, in some specific instances, led to their death. One interviewee proudly said he would rather die than support Obamacare. (Spoiler alert: he died.)

The year is now 2024 and to quote The Talking Heads, “same as it ever was.” How else can we explain the re-election of Donald Trump, a convicted criminal, liar, and fraudster who presided over a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that has killed over 1 million Americans? This is the same man who lied to the people about the threats of COVID-19 and tried to re-open the country during a pandemic to help his sagging numbers ahead of the 2020 election. 

As President of the most powerful country on Earth, he told the people to inject bleach and sunlight as his MAGA base and brownshirts spread deadly anti-vax and anti-science conspiracies. And, despite all this, many Americans said, “Sure, let’s sign up for chaos again.” Well, we already f’d around, and here comes the find-out portion of the ongoing reality TV show that is America. 

We can go down the list of Trump Cabinet picks and shake our heads in horror and sadness at the rogue gallery of incompetent, corrupt, and authoritarian candidates who will cause chaos and destruction. But, for this article, let’s peek at his choices for health agencies, which the NYT just sane-washed as “a shake-up.” That’s a colorful way of saying, “cluster fuck.”

Our new director of Health and Human Services will be RFK Jr whose failed campaign slogan was “Make America Healthy Again.” The scion of the Kennedy family is not a medical doctor and has infamously said, “There’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective,” except for all the vaccines that, you know, are safe and effective and have saved millions of people from measles, polio, smallpox, rubella, and other diseases. In addition to being an anti-vax, anti-semitic conspiracy nut, RFK Jr. has already left a trail of destruction behind in Samoa, where he scared people from taking vaccines for measles resulting in the death of more than 80 people, mostly children. This is the man tapped to head a federal agency that includes the CDC, FDA, and oversees Medicare and Medicaid. 

What could go wrong?

Even before the pandemic, the World Health Organization listed vaccine hesitancy, primarily spread by right-wing media, as a top 10 global threat. Covid has not vanished and we’re experiencing the rise of new variants that will need new, aggressive vaccines. There’s a global rise in measles, and a case of bird flu was just found in a raw milk farm in California. (Folks, if you were ever curious about drinking raw milk, I hope this information permanently ends it.) Trump’s pick to lead the C.D.C., Dr. David Weldone, has also promoted some anti-vaccine views so if you thought there would be a guardrail or buffer against RFK Jr’s nuttiness, that won’t be happening this time around. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s pick for surgeon general, is a Fox News contributor paving the way for our first reality TV show administration where expertise is replaced by whoever is most gifted in promoting right-wing talking points while wearing makeup. Although she promoted the COVID-19 vaccine, she’s also into the “transformative power of prayer” and sells her own dietary supplements. Another TV celebrity cabinet member is Dr. Mehmet Oz who was selected to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services despite having zero experience running a federal bureaucracy. He does have experience as a former talk show host and making money by hyping snake oil supplements. Thankfully, Trump’s pick for FDA commission, Dr. Martin Makary, is pro-vaccine but, like most of Trump’s picks, is against vaccine mandates and also caters to the Fox base. 

What does it matter, though, when the entire Republican Party and conservative movement bends the knee to the whims of Donald Trump and his increasingly radicalized base that is injected with a 24-7 drip of disinformation and conspiracies? Also, Republicans have made it clear they want to dismantle Obamacare and gut Medicare and Medicaid. Trump voters are just finding out that Obamacare is the same thing as the Affordable Care Act and are, rightfully, freaking out they will lose their health insurance. (Whoopsie!)

Also, with the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and GOP states going full Handmaid’s Tale we will see an increase in maternal mortality rates. A third woman just died under Texas’s draconian abortion ban after not receiving a D&C and proper medical care. Health care providers, such as OBGYN, are increasingly afraid to pursue standard care for fear of persecution and many will flee states like Florida and Texas. (The New Yorker just did a piece on the exodus of OBGYNs from Texas.) Women in these states will continue to die just to satiate the cruelty and ideological extremity of a right-wing minority.

We haven’t even talked about the ravages of climate change, which Trump considers a hoax. 

The Grim Reaper, Azrael, and Bergman’s Death will be feasting for the next four years and beyond. I have no joy in reporting any of this. Unlike MAGA, I don’t need people to suffer to feel or be great again. I want people to have economic opportunity, access to health care, child care, paid family leave, and higher wages. But, we live in a flawed democracy and this is what the plurality wanted. 

In the meantime, we have to take care of ourselves, our families, and our communities. A great first step would be to get vaccinated as soon as possible and ensure your kids are up to date on their shots. Also, the Biden Administration can awake from its slumber and in their final 2 months use its clout to invest in messaging and ads that recommend the American people do the same.

For the rest of us, it seems that survival is victory.