Opinion

Synergy is when two or more agents come together to create a reaction greater than any one of them could have achieved on their own. It can be good or bad, depending on the desired outcome.

If there ever was an issue that seemed to defy comedy, it is the new coronavirus. I mean, if we were to make a list of off-limit topics for jokes, certainly a contemporary global pandemic would make the list. There is a huge difference, though, between making fun of the virus and making fun of ridiculous responses to it. The pandemic itself might be deadly serious; but many responses to it deserve a great deal of mockery, and that has been especially true for the those coming from the Trump administration.

As much of the economy melts down amid the coronavirus pandemic, many large corporations are lining up for financial bailouts from the federal government.

As it turns out, American capitalism doesn't hold up all that well under the stresses and strains of a virulent pandemic.

Of all the wild turns 2020 could have taken, I doubt anyone had "Kentucky's new governor becomes a sex symbol during the coronavirus crisis" on their bingo card, but here we are. Or rather, here we were until Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, 42, delivered a loving yet stern call-out during his press briefing Wednesday to defiant bingo halls that weren't closing to enforce social distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. These updates, live-streamed daily at 5 p.m. Eastern time, have become must-see and -listen events for Kentuckians thanks to Beshear's combo of trustworthy information, empathy, and uplifting we're all in this together messages. "If you are a bingo parlor in Pike County, you ought to be closed by the end of today," he said, with unmistakable concern in his eyes. "Those parlors cater to an older and more at-risk crowd." Forget being brave enough to face the toilet paper-hoarding supermarket crowds, there's a new benchmark for courage: Andy Beshear's not scared of angering stir-crazy grandmothers in order to protect his people.

The United States of America is a weak country. All the flag-waving, patriotic speeches and obtuse declarations of superiority have long seemed overly conspicuous — and history has no sympathy for the delusional. It continually exposes the vulnerability, fragility and inanity of a nation that has the wealth, resources and human intelligence to cultivate a magnificent civilization, but repeatedly sacrifices the common interest and public good on the altar of avarice.

Many Never Trump conservatives have been delighted over former Vice President Joe Biden’s recent surge in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, from the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to just about anyone who writes for The Bulwark — including the site’s co-founder Bill Kristol, formerly of the now defunct Weekly Standard. Kristol and his colleagues have made it clear that they would much rather see Biden receive the nomination than Sen. Bernie Sanders — and would much rather see Biden in the White House in 2021 than President Donald Trump. Yet Kristol, in a March 19 listicle, offers three reasons why Trump — despite his abysmal handling of the coronavirus pandemic — might win reelection in November.

I know, I know. It sounds absurd, right? The man who only a couple of weeks ago was telling us the coronavirus will be going away "very quickly" is now standing in the White House press room every morning and bragging, "I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic." The number of lies emerging from the White House on a daily basis is so overwhelming, everyone has stopped counting. Even the Washington Post seems to have suspended its Trump lie-o-meter.

One of the arguments in support of the Affordable Care Act that Chief Justice John Roberts cited, when he sided with the court's majority to uphold the law as constitutional, was the idea that health care cannot be solely left to the states. A disease, after all, does not respect borders.

The No. 1 rule, when it comes to Republican behavior during a crisis, is that it is always worse than you imagined. That was true during Donald Trump's Russia scandal, when it turned out that the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee was denying and hiding evidence while trying to undermine the federal investigation into Trump. It was true throughout the impeachment process, when various Republican figures made no bones about their belief that there was no crime Trump could commit that they would convict him for.

You may have noticed by now the number of celebrities, professional athletes and public officials who have come forward to say they are infected by the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The Brooklyn Nets announced Wednesday that the entire team had been examined by a private lab. Four players tested positive, including star Kevin Durant.

In early March, an angry, longtime Republican source contacted me to vent. He was a dedicated conservative, but was furious not only Trump Administration’s bumbling in dealing with COVID-19, but also the endless lies told by his fellow GOPers to persuade the party faithful that the scientific warnings about the outbreak were a scam.

Republicans and the right-wing media cannot be allowed to live down the bad, dangerous, horribly wrong information they promoted on coronavirus for weeks