Holy Sh*t - Notes on 2020, Vol. 2

Here’s holy shit: in 1968, we saw the outbreak of a pandemic, tumultuous social tension, protesting, police violence, not to mention assassinations of a presidential candidate and Martin Luther King.

The 1968 pandemic developed overseas in Hong Kong before making its way west. Between 1968 and 1970, it is estimated this pandemic took a million lives. Up to 100,000 in the US. These are estimates, mind you. I’m not implying that this earlier pandemic carries the same weight as COVID, but maybe in a sense it’s nice to know we’ve bounced back from similar shit sandwiches before.

Speaking of shit sandwiches. This timeframe was concurrent with Nixon’s presidency, whose unscrupulous political maneuvers would see his impeachment later in the decade. And no, I won’t compare Nixon to Trump. Despite both being unpopular Republican presidents, these men are actually rather different. Richard Nixon was actually a politician, with years of experience in the Senate and as vice president before getting the big ticket in ‘68. Trump seemed to just show up on the scene in mid-2015. Which makes his teflon manner of bouncing back from every consecutive national disgrace all the more remarkable; he’s had no business in politics since day one. Through all the junk we’ve been accusing him of—all of the misconduct, name calling, bullying, and all-out national negligence pertaining to COVID and BLM—he remains, keeps the support of most Republican politicians, and that’s fucking impressive. Like him or hate him, the man has a lucky charm.

Nixon-era politics isn’t the most accurate historical parallel you can draw when you think about the president. One of my more partial comparative mediums is actually a political thriller film from 1962 called The Manchurian Candidate. Cliff notes: during early 50s McCarthyism, a presidential candidate named Johnny Iselin campaigns with a bowl-in-china-shop communication style akin to Trump, while his wife manipulates from the sidelines. No, I don’t think Melania is doing this to her husband. I actually think it takes his entire cabinet, as well as several Republican senators, to have Trump’s ear. But if you watch the film, it is odd how poignant some of the political content can be 58 years later.