CPAC Attendees Angry At Stonewalling

We noted yesterday the devastating irony that the recent Conservative Crackpot Political Action Conference (CPAC) seems to have been a petri dish for the coronavirus, exposing any number of right-wing zealots to the disease that many of them claim is a "hoax" or conspiracy. At least one attendee tested positive for the virus, and was an exclusive "gold-level VIP" ticket holder allowing handshake-and-selfie access to senior Republican poobahs over multiple days. Incompetent liar and very stable genius Donald "Rump" Trump was reportedly just two degrees of separation from the virus carrier.

In the ensuing panic among the wingnuts, the American Conservative Crackpot Union, which organized the coronavirus conference, is taking major heat from attendees who are having trouble discerning whether or not they were exposed:

"As of early Monday evening, event organizers have contacted 'just over a dozen' people who they have identified as having direct contact with the infected attendee, according to Ian Walters, spokesman for the American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

The ACU’s handling of the case has led to grumbling from some conference goers, who have complained of a two-tiered system: VIPs have been notified directly even to be told they did not interact with the infected man, while ordinary rank-and-file attendees have by and large been left to wonder, receiving only vaguer information in mass emails. Meanwhile, critics have noted the irony of prominent officials downplaying the outbreak even as the disease may silently have been spreading among the Trump administration’s own members and supporters."  (our emphasis)

It's hard not to snicker at that last sentence. Also, we had to smile at the "two-tiered system" for the wealthy wingnuts -- who were more likely to be exposed to the virus by one of their own -- and the everyday rubes with their "Q" buttons who will deny that the virus even exists, until they come down with it.

At least one of the conference goers, the loony, far-right joke from Tex-ass Rep. Louie 'Screwy Louie" Gohmert, isn't letting any lib conspiracy keep him from potentially spreading the virus. He led a group of about 100 school kids around the Capitol yesterday, apparently feeling cocky after a doctor told him to observe proper hand hygiene. He told the group that he wasn't showing symptoms, but wouldn't be shaking hands with them. Of course, you can be asymptomatic for days and still carry the virus, but don't tell Screwy Louie that.

(photo: Dear Leader assaulting the flag at CPAC / COVID PAC)