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By Michael Rosenthal

The power of a story is immeasurable, but in a time when we isolate ourselves and hunker down to protect our loved ones from COVID-19, I am writing my truth about how this coronavirus might just save our country and our planet. This is the fourth year of Donald J. Trump's presidency, and our country and our planet may not survive a second term. This could be the plague to save the U.S.A. and the Earth.

Trump won the election, although he did not win the popular vote, because his populist message was heard by the forgotten and frustrated white Americans in the cities, suburbs, and rural America who felt the economy wasn't working for them. Trump won the election because he was able to give white America an enemy they could visualize, Latino immigrants coming across our border with Mexico. His call for a wall and the demonizing of undocumented workers played to the fears of white Americans of increased violence, drugs, and unemployment. This hate and fear of non-whites was always draped in the red, white, and blue of our flag.

This call to arms to stop illegal aliens from crossing our southern border was also couched in language understood by white supremacists, who feared that the demographics showed that within a generation whites would be a minority in the United States of America. The fear of being in the minority went to the primal fear of white supremacists; they feared that the systematic subjugation of blacks, latinos, and native Americans during the past 125 years would happen to them before the 21st century was over. Our society and criminal justice system claims to be unbiased, but the actions of police, our government, and our penal system tell another story. There are not any white people I know who fear for their life when going out for a jog, while unarmed like Ahmaud Arbery, or who are fearful when they are stopped by the police while behind the wheel because of the color of their skin.

Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, rightfully and peacefully protested injustice to people of color who looked like him by the police by taking a knee during the national anthem. Those whites who said Blue Lives or All Lives Matter were missing the point; black lives should matter, too. That "too" makes all the difference in the world. Instead of addressing injustice, President Trump wrapped himself in the flag and questioned the patriotism of anyone who kneeled during the anthem. The president then proceeded to strong-arm the 32 white owners of NFL teams who blackballed Kaepernick from the league, and who dropped any support or concerns of their players due to a threat on their bottom line. Even during this isolation it was amazing to me how it was the players who stepped up to protect the lost wages of stadium employees often before the actions of the billionaire owners or the professional leagues.

The sway that the alt-right has with our president should be of concern to all Americans. These all-white rallies with citizens either in paramilitary gear including body armor and assault rifles, or draped in the flag and their MAGA gear should have all Americans afraid for our country. These rallies to "liberate" citizens from state governments, put the lives of police, first responders, and the medical profession in greater danger of exposure to the virus, and often the police are even physically threatened. Those same Americans who bemoaned Blue Lives Matter when Kaepernick took a knee are now showing their true colors. These same police who forcibly and violently take down unarmed blacks whom they think have weapons fail to make arrests of armed white men who physically confront them while packing serious heat.

These paramilitary protests are also a dangerous foreshadowing that these "good people" who are flexing their muscle now in armed peaceful protests in front of the state houses, will revolt to keep another president from taking office if and when Trump loses the 2020 election. These armed peaceful protests by "good people" threaten to provoke the first violent transfer of power in our country's history.

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There are many reasons why Trump has been a danger to our nation as well as the future of our planet, and this pandemic has exposed his failures as President, the flaws in our society, and the resiliency of our planet. Therefore the coronavirus might just be the plague that saves this country and the world.

Trump's failures as a leader have been apparent from the start of this pandemic. Looking at the differences between the responses of South Korea and the United States to this crisis is a good place to illustrate his deficiencies as a leader. Both South Korea and the United States had their first reported case of COVID-19 in their country on the same date in January. As of early May, South Korea has had fewer than 300 deaths compared to the greater than 80,000 deaths here in the United States. South Korea learned from their experiences with SARS, Mers, and H1N1, and treated news of the outbreak in China with a sense of urgency. Within two weeks South Korea had developed a test for coronavirus and had begun a massive effort to test their population, and trace the path of the virus, isolating those with positive tests and quarantining those who had contact with people who tested positive.

President Trump on the other hand is a science denier, and failed to approach this outbreak with a sense of urgency. His administration did not follow the playbook developed from the Obama administration response to H1N1 and ebola. In addition he dismantled the part of the White House security council responsible to respond to an infectious epidemic. Unlike South Korea, it took the United States two months to develop a test, as they even eschewed tests developed by the World Health Organization. During February and most of March the president downplayed the threat of the virus, failed to stockpile personal protective equipment, or use the war powers act to get the full weight of the U.S. government behind efforts to stop this invisible enemy. He would rather lie to the American people than tell us the truth.

Failure to understand the scope and severity of this pandemic is one of his flaws as a leader, as are failure to listen to experts, reliance on inexperienced cronies, and promoting unfounded and potentially dangerous coronavirus treatments; but how can we follow any leader who fails to ever take responsibility for his actions? These are the same leadership qualities he displayed in avoiding serving in our military during the Vietnam War. During this crisis he has blamed President Obama, China, the governors of various states, and the media for his failings. He doesn't want to be a leader, instead he has said he has acted as a cheerleader. He won't even lead by example by wearing a mask.

The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear: the future of the United States depends on making Trump a one term president in November.

Michael Rosenthal writes from Williston, Vt. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer.

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Michael Rosenthal: The COVID-19 pandemic just might be an antidote for the 'plague' of Trump - Brattleboro Reformer