Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, and catch the occasional whiff of seditionist right-wing rhetoric. But I hadn’t really fully understood just how horrifying that combination of right-wing extremism, Facebook, and a killer virus was until I became a regular at the Herman Cain Awards subreddit. This series will document some of those stories, so we are aware of what the other side is doing to our country.
Today’s cautionary tale is Lisa.
Lisa was your run-of-the-mill anti-vaccine right-wing Christian.
Looked up this guy. He’s yet another Rush Limbaugh wannabe on local conservative talk radio, this one in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. That said, posting a meme with “get vaccinated or pay the price” would prove quite prophetic, given that the very next day, this happened:
The crowd that sneers at the idea of Islam being a “religion of peace” also calls themselves the “prayer warriors.”
OMFG. They’re now “making” their own Hydroxychloroquine? No, this doesn’t work! (Neither does the actual drug.) Yet one day into her COVID symptoms, Lisa was still well enough to post that idiotic meme, presumably make some of this …. concoction, and continue shit-posting anti-vaccine memes.
“Hi, nurse who is trying to save my life and those of my family and neighbors and community. I have zero interest in said efforts to save said lives. I’m too busy boiling lemon peels. Why? I saw a meme on Facebook. Now get out. I’m assembling prayer warriors.”
Proof that when these people say, “I did my own research,” they actually mean “I asked randos on Facebook.” I mean, she’s posting instructions on boiling citrus peels by “Dr. Betty Martini”!
Five days after her wanting to see her doctor, the disease had progressed significantly. She was back in the hospital, and soon thereafter, on a ventilator. That’s never a good sign. And in this case, it ended poorly. That was her last post, ever.
It is remarkable how these people will endanger themselves and their families (Nana was also infected!) based on Facebook memes.
Take, for example, that “boil your lemon and orange peels” nonsense. The source? Dr. Betty Martini. The name alone should’ve been a big red flag! “Hi markos, your doctor today will be Dr. Jimmy Vodka.” Me: “Hold on, gonna have to do a little research first….”
Turns out, it should be “Dr.” Betty Martini, who has been on the conspiracy-theory circuit for over 20 years.
Imagine googling her name, arriving at her about page, and thinking “she seems legit!”?
Vaccination idiocy aside, what might’ve happened if Lisa had gone straight to the hospital, instead of complaining about nose swabs and trying out bullshit home remedies pushed by hucksters and grifters? Heck, what might’ve happened had she not been freaking out about nurses knocking on her door, or listening to noxious conservative talk radio?
She’d likely still be alive. About the only silver lining to this story is that Nana pulled through, and wasn’t taken down by her daughter’s irresponsibility. I just hope her daughter, who seems genuinely lovely, is vaccinated or has learned from the ordeal the importance of being vaccinated.
Today’s cautionary tale is Lisa.
Lisa was your run-of-the-mill anti-vaccine right-wing Christian.
Looked up this guy. He’s yet another Rush Limbaugh wannabe on local conservative talk radio, this one in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. That said, posting a meme with “get vaccinated or pay the price” would prove quite prophetic, given that the very next day, this happened:
The crowd that sneers at the idea of Islam being a “religion of peace” also calls themselves the “prayer warriors.”
OMFG. They’re now “making” their own Hydroxychloroquine? No, this doesn’t work! (Neither does the actual drug.) Yet one day into her COVID symptoms, Lisa was still well enough to post that idiotic meme, presumably make some of this …. concoction, and continue shit-posting anti-vaccine memes.
“Hi, nurse who is trying to save my life and those of my family and neighbors and community. I have zero interest in said efforts to save said lives. I’m too busy boiling lemon peels. Why? I saw a meme on Facebook. Now get out. I’m assembling prayer warriors.”
Proof that when these people say, “I did my own research,” they actually mean “I asked randos on Facebook.” I mean, she’s posting instructions on boiling citrus peels by “Dr. Betty Martini”!
Five days after her wanting to see her doctor, the disease had progressed significantly. She was back in the hospital, and soon thereafter, on a ventilator. That’s never a good sign. And in this case, it ended poorly. That was her last post, ever.
It is remarkable how these people will endanger themselves and their families (Nana was also infected!) based on Facebook memes.
Take, for example, that “boil your lemon and orange peels” nonsense. The source? Dr. Betty Martini. The name alone should’ve been a big red flag! “Hi markos, your doctor today will be Dr. Jimmy Vodka.” Me: “Hold on, gonna have to do a little research first….”
Turns out, it should be “Dr.” Betty Martini, who has been on the conspiracy-theory circuit for over 20 years.
Imagine googling her name, arriving at her about page, and thinking “she seems legit!”?
Vaccination idiocy aside, what might’ve happened if Lisa had gone straight to the hospital, instead of complaining about nose swabs and trying out bullshit home remedies pushed by hucksters and grifters? Heck, what might’ve happened had she not been freaking out about nurses knocking on her door, or listening to noxious conservative talk radio?
She’d likely still be alive. About the only silver lining to this story is that Nana pulled through, and wasn’t taken down by her daughter’s irresponsibility. I just hope her daughter, who seems genuinely lovely, is vaccinated or has learned from the ordeal the importance of being vaccinated.