Amid the reckless rush back to consumeristic normalcy, we haven’t paused to mourn as a nation. Trump had to be pushed to lower the flag to half-staff last week. Seeing this, I am unsure if America needs mourning as much as accountability. Perhaps both can happen simultaneously. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1264427825639063553

(I realize sarcasm about Trump and America blithely ignoring death is a coping mechanism for a lot of folks, and I don’t begrudge you if that’s how you’re staying sane these days. But please exercise a bit of decorum and keep it out of this thread. I’ve had my fill of it today.)

I often think of this steady desensitization to death. To indigenous and enslaved peoples; to foreigners; to the poor, the incarcerated, the homeless; to targets of racist and misogynistic violence; to American soldiers at war; to Puerto Rico; to schoolchildren. Now, to COVID-19.