Let’s do a fact check on Bill Bunker’s latest letter attacking governors as tyrants and the rest of us as spineless co-conspirators (Monitor letters, April 24).
First paragraph: Which “several governors” have said that life after the virus will be the “new normal”? Please cite them.
Second paragraph: Who on the left (whoever they are) has made clear they’re gleefully hoping life after the coronavirus will not be the same? Not only is that comment reprehensible, it’s completely lacking in fact. Bunker also misinterprets the “better red than dead” phrase which goes back to 1931, but popularized by Bertrand Russell in the 1950s, not the ’60s, during the Cold War. Russell used it to describe his fear communism would take over the world, leaving folks with a frightening Sophie’s choice.
Third paragraph: He claims we can’t even go to Home Depot to buy grass seed. I went there the other day in Concord and bought bark mulch. Another error: the governor of Virginia has not shut down gun stores. As of March 25, only Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, New Mexico and Washington have shut gun stores.
Fourth paragraph: Despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ongoing disputes with the Catholic Church, he did not threaten fines and arrests for people congregating in church. That was the governor of Virginia.
Fifth paragraph: Governors have not become tyrants; they have merely followed federal guidelines to weather the pandemic and save lives. I don’t think anyone believes that after the pandemic we will become a fascist state.
Sixth paragraph: Bunker confuses authoritarian government with actions designed to save lives, with 58,000 of our fellow citizens already dead as I write this.
CHUCK ANNAL
Concord