Trump is the Devil

New Orleans on February 25th (Business Insider photo)

Some people--and I used to encounter them in person on a regular basis (thank God for social distancing)--think President Trump is the devil, Hitler, evil incarnate, etc. Of course, they do know that they're speaking metaphorically.

But it's not the accuracy of the metaphor that's the subject of this post, but the convenience of having a devil to blame.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell refused to cancel Mardi Gras on February 25th and is now dealing with the consequences--151 deaths, 3,540 total cases, 1,127 patients hospitalized as of today.

Mayor Cantrell blames President Trump.

She told CNN that if the outbreak had been taken seriously on the federal level at the time, they would have called off the event.

"When it's not taken seriously on the federal level, it's very difficult to transcend down to the local level in making these decisions," Cantrell said, adding that the federal response "backed up by the response of our national leader."

Yes, we have seen this movie before. In fact, that's the opening plotline of Jaws, in which the Mayor of Amity Island refuses to close the beaches after a fatal shark attack. The fictional Mayor of a New England town and the real-life Mayor of New Orleans put the money of tourist season and Mardi Gras, respectively, over lives.

When the Mardi Gras decision had to be made, President Trump had already restricted flights from China on January 31st. In New Orleans' case, after the fact, how nice it is to have President Trump to blame.

The devil has his uses
Allows us to make excuses
For our own bad choices
When we listened to the voices
Of selfishness and avarice.
So the devil, he wins twice
When our sin leads to shame
"Not me," I say,"he's to blame."