HOW LONG? NOT LONG. — The Weekly Opine

Normally, this time of year school signs say “Welcome back.” But because of Trump’s coronavirus ineptitude schools ask for prayers. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

UNC folds. Dr. Birx regrets. Dems rock.

It came about faster, as the saying goes, than a New York minute.

Even those with the most pessimistic view, regarding high schools and colleges inviting students back for in-person learning, probably did not have nightmares that universities would fold their tents after just one week.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, facing four coronavirus cluster outbreaks, announced they would immediately shelve on-campus learning, after just one week. UNC’s plan that brought students back, with processes to mitigate the virus, could not withstand the vagaries of youth.

UNC’s blink-of-an-eye surrender is the latest example of powers-that-be paying the price, after ignoring the advice of healthcare experts. Of course, the prime example of this is Trump ignoring Dr. Fauci.

County health officials recommended that UNC not open for in-person learning. After UNC did open last week, 10 positive cases quickly became 130. UNC’s dean of public health, Barbara Rimer, said “the number of clusters is growing and could soon be out of control.” To their credit, UNC officials slammed the brakes on in-person learning.

UNC is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC, along with two other Big Five power conferences (the SEC and Big 12), recently flipped-off science and data by announcing fall sports, including lucrative football, will be played on campus this fall. As we wrote last week, cooler heads prevailed in some parts of the country. Presidents at the Mid-American Conference, the Big Ten and the PAC-12 announced fall sports are cancelled as the pandemic rages out of control.

UNC says athletes will remain on campus, take classes online, and continue training and practicing.

So, what will UNC administrators tell the parents of fall sports athletes? The guess is they will claim an NBA-like bubble can now be set up, allowing the university to protect their money-making athletes and still proceed with the games! Theoretically, with other students off-campus, it should be easier to control the spread, thus ensuring revenue is generated on Saturdays.

Many office towers stand silently empty as employees work remotely. Will that fate befall lots of college classroom buildings this fall? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

It is no surprise that litigation began prior to UNC’s big setback. Some staff and faculty at UNC sued the school claiming unsafe working conditions. They also urged undergraduate students not to show up on campus. Here we go...

Last weekend at the University of Alabama, student partying, without masks or social distancing, got so out-of-hand at least one football player took to social media to denounce his fellow students. He said ‘no thanks’ to attending classes on Monday, understandably fearful the coronavirus would be transported into classrooms.

Across the landscape you can hardly blame athletes with pro career aspirations if they start knocking some heads, if their classmates’ actions put their school’s college football season in jeopardy.

What happened at UNC is occurring at schools throughout the land. This week, the University of Notre Dame announced temporary suspension of in-person learning for at least two weeks. The South Bend, Indiana school had only been open for one week.

Michigan State University backtracked before even giving in-person learning a try. MSU says they will now proceed with virtually all virtual learning this fall, telling students to stay home. Hopefully, these instant reversals from in-person to online classes will serve as a wake-up call for students to slow their roll.

Attending college on-campus is one of life’s greatest experiences. Students participating at a school that rightly or wrongly decided to proceed with on-campus learning should recognize their delicate opportunity. Do the right thing, youngins’. Otherwise, more schools will be forced to send you home to learn via Zoom. Didn’t that suck last spring?

Italy mandated a hardcore shutdown last March. The U.S. took it easy. Dr. Deborah Birx would like a do-over. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

What kind of doctors are these people?

Apparently, Dr. Deborah Birx smelled the coffee, or glanced at the calendar, and realized Election Day is less than three months away. Surely, she knows that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden already told the esteemed Dr. Anthony Fauci his job is safe (if Biden wins).

You’ll recall that Birx, who waffles like she wants to change the name from the White House to the Waffle House, said nothing when Trump suggested drinking Clorox would kill the coronavirus. Incredibly, Birx excused Trump’s stupidity, saying he was thinking aloud as he processed something he heard. Astonishingly, Birx also claimed Trump reads and understands science. No wonder it’s doubtful Biden would extend Birx’s tenure at the White House.

There will no doubt be a long line of Trump bootlicking acolytes lining up for a rehabilitation tour. The smartest one so far is Anthony Scaramucci. “The Mooch” lasted only 10 days as White House Director of Communications, then quickly pivoted to quasi-Trump defender and has since become a card-carrying Trump critic.

This week, Birx began an attempt to hang onto what little cred she has by asserting she wishes the U.S. would have implemented a draconian shutdown six months ago, like Italy did. To wit, in just the last month Italy added only 400 COVID-19 deaths compared with an astounding 32,000 in the U.S.

Regretfully, during the critical timeframe between February 1 - March 31, Birx played along with fake-Christian VP Mike Pence’s obfuscation during coronavirus task force updates. (No wonder America is in tatters; the worst president in history and the worst vice president in history are ‘serving’ at the same time!)

Dr. Birx is not alone. The assistant secretary at Health and Human Services, Dr. Brett Giroir; the director at the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Robert Redfield; and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams all played along with Trump-Pence subterfuge, resulting in an explosion of virus cases and deaths. Belatedly, with 5.6 million Americans infected and 175,000 dead, the doctors we expected to tell us the truth are searching for a rebuild-credibility exit ramp.

Giroir, the nation’s coronavirus testing czar, still does not get it. With a straight face he told CNN the Trump administration has done “everything that can possibly be done” relative to testing. Did Giroir not see Trump publicly beg U.S. officials to “slow down” testing during the Tulsa rally? Data show testing has indeed slowed in the U.S., keeping us woefully behind re: testing, tracing and isolating.

No offense to the many doctors doing courageous work, but if Birx, Giroir, Redfield, Adams and hapless Ben Carson are doctors, maybe I should have given medical school a try. At least I would have passed the ethics portion.

The Democratic convention has us feeling good. So does the Postmaster General’s double-quick backtrack. Now get out the vote! (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Hope and change

Tom Perez and the Democratic National Committee produced a stellar, nearly flawless virtual convention. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden spoke from their hearts while touching ours. It felt intimate, like we were among a small group listening to them speak at their homes. Powerfully personal and authentic.

(If Melania Trump and Karen Pence plan to speak at next week’s Republican convention, they should reconsider. Nothing they say will matter. It will be fraudulent to laud their husband’s performances, after Donnie and Mikey have incompetently shredded America.)

Handing the mic to highly respected Republicans Colin Powell, John Kasich and Cindy McCain was a brilliant move by the DNC. So was the stirring, America the beautiful roll-call of state and territory delegates.

Last night, President Barack Obama demonstrated how real presidents comport themselves. To apply one of the current president’s favorite words, Trump is a hoax. So are those who claim to be patriotic Americans yet are unable to separate from Trump’s immoral pull. Once again America, if you are still with Trump you are greedy, crazy or racist. It’s that simple.

Obama poignantly made clear the gravity of our situation and the importance of voting - for president but also in down ballot contests. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris met her historic moment by delivering an inspiring speech. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reminded us that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a lazy, insufferable man who, in cohorts with Trump, has ruined America.

Now we must vote in overwhelming numbers and crush Trump and McConnell and Lindsey Graham.

The searing contrast between good Biden and evil Trump is now etched in voter’s minds. The contrast between the way things are (absolute chaos, fascism and criminal behavior) and how they should be (patriotism built on competence, integrity and empathy) is a stark reality.

As we have stated before, beating Trump is what counts. After “the Trump matter” is handled, we can return to vigorously addressing systemic racism, gun control, healthcare, educational inequality, student debt, climate change, immigration, police reform and more. Modernism and progressivism are the “keywords.” Anyone not on board has been forewarned; the days of old are fixin’ to end.

The Biden-Harris team best recognize that protests will continue and intensify. People will be in the streets until this nation joyously commits, supported by actions that speak louder than words, to immediately begin creating a safer, fairer and more compassionate America.

This week, for the first time in a long, long time, we felt a glimmer of hope as we settled in each night.

Sweet dreams.

Publisher’s note: Starting tomorrow, The Weekly Opine will be on vacation. However, commentary is always available on Twitter @TheWeeklyOpine. Fresh blog content will appear again on Thursday, September 10.