And as crazy as it sounds, where I live deep in Trump country, consequences are mounting toward the tragic.

People here genuinely believe coviy19 is not a real problem. People here genuinely believe wearing masks is silly and counter to American liberty.

They aren’t kidding. When Trump takes credit for “ending covid,” as he has done, people take his word as gospel.

In the meantime, our local hospital is becoming overwhelmed as a viral wave hits us for the first time. Our rural community missed it the first time around.

Now infection rates are soaring, hospitalizations are way up, and people are dying. But when local nurses and doctors beg people to pay attention, Trump supporters ignore them or shout them down.

We are going to pay tragic price for all the propaganda.