Herman Cain dead at 78

Former Presidential candidate and conservative icon Herman Cain has passed.

He died today after battling COVID-19 for the last month.

If Mr Cain and I had ever had a chance to talk about this pandemic and the way it’s taken so many lives, I’m quite sure the discussion would reveal that we were seeing things very differently.

Having said that, it’s a tragedy that Mr Cain has passed from the scene too soon. It’s tragic when anyone is laid low by this horrible disease. Anyone here in the US–anyone, anywhere.

But it’s also true that Herman was in firmly, clearly in the denialist camp. When he attended Donald trump’s Tulsa rally, he and his party sat proudly in the Bank of Oklahoma Center with no masks.

I certainly understand that it’s possible that Mr Cain became infected in some other way. That’s certainly true.

Nevertheless, I seriously doubt whether he and his family did anything that would put them at greater risk than attending that rally in Tulsa back on June 20th.

There have been many large gatherings in the last few months that have put people at great risk. And many Americans are paying a steep price for their apparent rejection of the facts about this pandemic. About the pandemic and ways to lower your risk.

It’s not too late to put the politics around all of this aside, embrace the science and protect yourself.

Do it for your loved ones. Do it because you have something to live for.

Do it even if your family and everyone around you might think you’re stupid. Or that you’re a snowflake.

So many have died because of this accursed virus. Please take the precautions you can to make it less likely that you’ll be one of them.

“Bulldog Ben” Basile 

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Follow this link to see guidance from the CDC on ways to lower your risk.