In June 2019, the Hells Angels sold their New York headquarters in the East Village and found a new location in the Bronx. It was probably a good thing they left, since they were known for punching people who parked near their bikes and one Angel shot a man for moving an orange cone. The motorcycle club doesn’t seem to be getting along much better with their new neighbors in Throggs Neck. Their annoying weekend parties have drawn complaints and there was a shooting in January.
Of course, this isn’t my neighborhood, so I am more interested in what a notorious motorcycle gang does in a time of coronavirus. After all, the restrictions New York State put in place on March 22, aren’t exactly consistent with the habits of the Hells Angels. For example, these seem problematic:
- Non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason (e.g. parties, celebrations or other social events) are canceled or postponed at this time;
- Any concentration of individuals outside their home must be limited to workers providing essential services and social distancing should be practiced;
- When in public individuals must practice social distancing of at least six feet from others;
- Individuals should limit outdoor recreational activities to non-contact and avoid activities where they come in close contact with other people;
But, I scoured the interwebs and didn’t find a peep from any Hells Angels complaining about these restrictions. That doesn’t mean their chapters are consistently complying but they aren’t making a show of defiance. I can’t say the same for the Bundy family:
The rancher behind the 2014 armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge is threatening to hold a large gathering on Easter in defiance of Idaho’s coronavirus stay-at-home mandate.
Ammon Bundy asked followers to show up at his ranch Sunday.
“Our goal is to get enough people together and secure our rights,” Bundy said, according to the New York Post. “We are not trying to provoke, we want people to be able to worship.”
Bundy seemed unconcerned about contracting or spreading the virus, the paper reported.
“I actually want the virus,” the paper quoted Bundy as saying. “I’m healthy, my family is healthy. I’d rather have it now so my body is immune to it.”
It seems like there are lot of people all of a sudden who want to do the “Born Free or Die” thing. But most of them appear to be doing it as part of an effort to reopen the economy or to defend Trump’s initial assurances that Covid-19 is no worse than the seasonal flu. Some are even getting retweeted by the president.
Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN https://t.co/d40JQkUZg5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020
The right seems particularly apoplectic about restrictions put in place by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, perhaps because they want to dirty her up in case she joins Biden’s ticket.
On Twitter, there’s no shortage of incredibly “brave” people who are suddenly born rebels fancying themselves as defenders of liberty. When Hunter S. Thompson wrote his book about the Hells Angels back in the mid-1960’s, he said, “The Angels don’t like to be called losers, but they have learned to live with it. ‘Yeah, I guess I am,’ said one. ‘But you’re looking at one loser who’s going to make a hell of a scene on the way out.'”
Right now, that’s a better description of the president and his supporters than the Angels.
You can be opposed to authority and devoted to freedom, or you can be an idiot.
My wife had a phone conversation earlier this morning with a coworker, who has also become a close friend, who was doing the whole “eye roll” over this, saying it’s no different than the flu, and that my wife shouldn’t be “drinking the Kool-aid”. She can’t understand why they can’t just go back to work, since we don’t shut down the country over the regular flu. My wife tried to explain that this isn’t the regular flu, there is no vaccine, and no real treatment, beyond experimental stuff and hoping runs its course without killing you. Her co-worker was not persuaded. I am hearing this more and more around here. The Trump and Fox News messaging is slowly encircling its tentacles into the general populace. Of course, her coworker knows no one who has actually had the virus, and like many of us, her only exposure is what she sees on television. But we live in a bubble here. Cases are not widespread, death from it is not something nearly anyone in the area has to deal with. In our 4 county area there is a population of about 1,637,000 people. There are 768 confirmed cases, with 535 of those in and around the city of Cincinnati. There have only been 21 deaths, with 17 of those in Hamilton County/Greater Cincinnati. So it’s no wonder that so many people feel like this is just so much about nothing. In their minds, it’s just a real problem worthy of this level of action. I will be curious to see how Governor Mike Dewine handles himself as the pressure begins to build to open things up. So far, he has listened to the medical experts. But Trump and his allies are not far off from bringing an intense pressure to bear on Governors like Dewine, who acted early and with a necessarily heavy hand to protect the citizens of the state.
The pressure is building to reopen the economy. People need their jobs. And in rural areas the virus is likely somewhat remote unless you are in a medical field, say at a nursing home. Personally, I am not at all certain Trump can simple snap his fingers and with a bang we are off and running. We have to beware that the virus will worsen once the social distancing is abandoned and we have fired all the experts. I have a sense that the best we can do is accept it. Perhaps they will see the error of their ways in a few weeks.
Everything Trump does surrounding Covid-19 has selfish motives. I have a strong sense that if it were up to him, he would simply sign an order that no more statistics be released by the Federal government concerning the infections and deaths from this virus, and that all official discussion come only from a personally approved Trump loyalist. He would open the economy completely, all at once, and sit back believing that everyone will worship and revere his actions. He knows that this virus, and all the real-world fallout from it, is out of his control. So the best method he can use is to simply keep everyone in the dark, as much as possible, about the extent and danger of what we are facing. He doesn’t care if people die. He doesn’t care if people suffer. And every day, more and more of his loyal base are falling in line with that same sentiment. It’s just a matter of time until there is a collision between his side and the rest of the country about which direction we go in near future.
DeWine has been good. I’m not afraid to say it.
l do hope he can hang in there with the experts, but unlike you, I have little faith in republicans to challenge their lord and master so De Wine will need to show me. So far I do not believe it.
The stupid…it burns. The whole point of social isolation and working from home is so it’s nota big deal for most folks. Stay at home, don’t get sick, and don’t spread it if sick. It doesn’t feel like a big deal because the measures in place are working.
We open back up, and we will be right back to staying at home this summer.
My wife’s coworker, like myself, has parents in their 80’s. Why she would be willing to entertain the risk of endangering the life of her 80-something mother can all be laid at the feet of the misinformation campaign of the President and his #1 mouthpiece, Fox News. She doesn’t think this is any big deal. Most of these people are just too far gone to convince them with facts, except when they have a personal experience. It takes a dead loved one for them to even have a chance at being jolted back into reality.
Mike, this report from southern Ohio is so disheartening. Fox News is poisonous and will eventually prove fatal to some of their audience. If this woman watched any of the major networks’ coverage of deaths and suffering in NYC, I don’t see how her attitude could remain so blasé. 80% of the patients in NY who go on ventilators never come off. They suffer for many days and then die alone. The chaos and fear in NY hospitals is palpable to anyone seeing the daily video coverage. Selfishness disguised as ‘common sense’ is never a flattering look, and I feel nothing but resentment toward the useful idiots that our President is manufacturing daily with his false and deadly messaging. I just hope that innocent bystanders in Ohio aren’t the ultimate victims of this woman’s willful ignorance.
While there is some value in moderation of space, etc. for a period, this article is written by an “Acorn” associate? laughing! The only reason these sites and most on the list to the right exist is to suck money out of peoples pockets. WE are not a Democracy, and expecting good people to subscribe to an “etch – a – sketch” intellect site is sad. To those who want true information, the Federalist, American Thinker, are well done. As for anyone under say 30, you were told what to learn, not how to learn. Example, this article wants to tie people who risk safety for the ability to feed their kids etc. The Hells Angels, in no way is related. Second, “Antifa” is notedly absent from the scene- Why you should ask? because they are a paid shill group to use as the ” Good guys ” ? Democracy is chaos, and we are a Republic, People who read these sites, are slaves
of another kind – Example: The “Left” created the KKK, to abuse the Blacks, a straw group, to pretend to be against. This author would cheer the “Hells Angels” and fund “Antifa, if Soros was not doing that for him. One of a multitude of fake sites. Possibly dear Nancy Pelosi will share some of her “Ice Cream” with you.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/seeing-the-open-the-economy-protests-in-their-proper-light
The orchestrators are Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Works, Club for Growth, and the Trump reelect campaign, all national professional operations. The advocacy groups are all ultra-free-market operations that most certainly do not want most Americans to become reliant upon public benefits or more trusting of government.