Make a deal with a devil, and you should expect hellish results.

That’s what West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is—or ought to be—learning, as he watches COVID-19 cases explode in his state. With infection rates the highest in the country and hospitalizations increasing rapidly, this week Justice expressed his frustration with West Virginians who have rejected vaccines, particularly those who do so in response to baseless conspiracy theories. “For God’s sake a-living,” he exclaimed, “how difficult is this to understand? Why in the world do we have to come up with these crazy ideas? And they’re crazy ideas that the vaccine has something in it and it’s tracing people wherever they go. And the same very people who are saying that are carrying their cellphones around. I mean, come on. Come on!….We just need to use good sense and get ourselves vaccinated, and then we’ll stop this thing.”

But it’s not that easy. Justice, to his credit, has been working damn hard this year to encourage shots in the Mountain State. Yet he seems intent on ignoring a major source of vaccine hesitancy: how his bosom buddy Donald Trump has warped the thinking of much of the nation with conspiracism.

In case Justice hasn’t noticed, vaccination rates have tracked with tribal politics. The red states have low rates, the blue states do not. With only 39.8 percent of its residents fully vaccinated, West Virginia, the second-most Trumpy state in the country (measured by the 2020 vote count), ranks 48th out of the 50 states. And when Justice gripes about irrational fear getting between his people and the needle, he can blame Trump for that.

Conspiracy theories have long been part of American life and often a strong undercurrent in the nation’s politics. But Trump moved them from the periphery to center stage. He became a conservative hero by pushing racist birtherism. He spent years inundating Republican voters with baseless notions about the Deep State’s devious subversions. He falsely claimed the investigations of Russia’s covert attack on the 2016 election were hoaxes concocted by a cabal comprised of his political foes (see: Deep State) and the “fake news media.” He denied Putin’s assault even happened. He winked at the QAnoners, who claim the world is ruled by a secret elite of cannibalistic pedophiles (including Hillary Clinton, of course). Then he concocted the Big Lie that these same nefarious forces stole the election from him through massive fraud. His message to his followers was simple and dark: an evil crew was out to get him (and you!). It would stop at nothing, and you can’t believe a thing they say. Under such circumstances, it doesn’t take much to reject the establishment’s statements about a public health emergency and its call for mass vaccinations.

CNN this week presented a strong example of this dynamic at work. Its correspondent Elle Reeve visited a community in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains where the population is so opposed to vaccination that some locals ask medical professionals to give them the shot secretly. She spoke to one fellow adamantly against being inoculated. His rationale was simple: “You shafted me out of my president, I ain’t taking your medicine.” Talk about spiteful synergy. He believes Trump’s conspiratorial BS about a stolen election and, consequently, has no faith in your vaccine.

Like any wannabe authoritarian, from the start Trump has endeavored to erode faith in all institutions. The media pushes false information. Government experts lie. The justice system is corrupt, except when it delivers results he favors. He and Trump-approved sources are the only reliable sources of information. Everyone and everything else are part of the sinister plot against him and his followers. In this Trumpian view, how could vaccinations promoted by Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden be trusted? And the way to prove your loyalty to the Trump tribe—to flip off the bad guys—is to just say no. Even if Trump himself received a vaccine.

And Gov. Justice, let’s be clear, you helped create this bizzarro and destructive false reality that you now decry.

Justice has been a cheerleader for Trump. He was elected governor as a Democrat in 2016, but at a 2017 rally with Trump he announced he would switch parties. Justice heaped praise upon Trump: “He’s got a backbone. He’s got real ideas. He cares about America. He cares about us in West Virginia.” Last year, he hailed Trump’s handling of the pandemic, even as hundreds of thousands of Americans were dying preventable deaths. And after Biden was declared the victor in the 2020 election, Justice refused to acknowledge the election was over, bolstering Trump’s Big Lie. In early December, he continued to quasi-endorse Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, stating, “There’s still issues out there.”

By supporting the conspiracy-pushing Trump, Justice helped set the table for the crisis he and his state now confront. In Trump’s world, disinformation reigns supreme and appeals to reason don’t wash. West Virginians and other Americans are perishing now because Trump fooled enough citizens into believing his paranoid claptrap. Justice, same as all Trump-supporting Republicans, has been a co-conspirator in this long con. This shouldn’t be so difficult for Justice to understand. It’s just plain ol’ common sense.

Got suggestions, comments, complaints, or tips? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

9/11 at 20

Anniversaries are arbitrary moments of collective remembrance, and this week, 20 years down the road, we’ve been flooded with reflections on the September 11 attacks and their legacy. I offered one in this newsletter a few days ago, recalling what occurred on Capitol Hill that horrific morning. In another venue, I wrote about the lesson we vowed to learn after 9/11 but didn’t—and that we still need to learn today. And for a change of pace, see Tim Murphy’s excellent piece about the post-9/11 fight over the so-called ground-zero mosque and how that ugly political battle was a grim preview of the Trump era.

Dumbass Comment of the Week

Since starting the newsletter, I’ve been reluctant to include Donald Trump in this feature for the obvious reason: He could win almost every week. But he put out a statement on Wednesday that may be the dumbest comment issued by anyone who has ever clocked in at the Oval Office. I am sorry to submit you to this, but...

Just watched as a massive crane took down the magnificent and very famous statue of 'Robert E. Lee On His Horse' in Richmond, Virginia. It has long been recognized as a beautiful piece of bronze sculpture. To add insult to injury, those who support this 'taking' now plan to cut it into three pieces, and throw this work of art into storage prior to its complete desecration.

Robert E. Lee is considered by many Generals to be the greatest strategist of them all. President Lincoln wanted him to command the North, in which case the war would have been over in one day. Robert E. Lee instead chose the other side because of his great love of Virginia, and except for Gettysburg, would have won the war. He should be remembered as perhaps the greatest unifying force after the war was over, ardent in his resolve to bring the North and South together through many means of reconciliation and imploring his soldiers to do their duty in becoming good citizens of this Country.

Our culture is being destroyed and our history and heritage, both good and bad, are being extinguished by the Radical Left, and we can’t let that happen! If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago. What an embarrassment we are suffering because we don’t have the genius of a Robert E. Lee!

Yes, a former American president praised a man who tried to destroy the United States, and he claimed that the general who lost the Civil War would have won the war in Afghanistan. It’s hard to measure this degree of idiocy. But I am reminded of the classic SNL bit: “What if Eleanor Roosevelt Could Fly?” (Scoot up to 14:18 in the episode to see it.) Lorne Michaels, if you’re listening, there’s a writes-itself skit here for your next show.

But Trump has stiff competition this week from a comment Larry Elder recently made that came to light. Elder is a right-wing talk-show host running to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in next week’s recall election in California. Once upon a time he was mentor to Stephen Miller, the notorious Trump nationalist henchman. Appearing on The Candace Owens Show, Elder, discussing reparations for Black Americans, tossed out this beaut: “Like it or not, slavery was legal. So, you can make an argument that the people who are owed reparations are not only just Black people but people whose ‘property’ was taken away after the end of the Civil War.”

That is, Elder was arguing for reparations for slave owners. Or now their descendants? How much would Robert E. Lee’s family get? There are still a bunch of Lees out there. Some have supported taking down statues of their famous slavery-defending ancestor; some have opposed it. As for Trump and Elder, what is it with Republicans and their infatuation with the Lost Cause? They just can’t seem to quit the Confederacy. I wonder why.

What to Read, Watch, and Listen To

White Lotus. If you enjoy the anticipatory clickety-click-click ascent of a rollercoaster more than the freefall ride that follows, here’s a show for you. HBO’s White Lotus is a slow-paced quasi-thriller that offers a languid ride to the quite clever we-fooled-you climax. I was asked if I enjoyed it, and I couldn’t say yes. But I was intrigued the whole way through. The limited six-part series is Parasite in paradise. A bunch of wealthy tourists from the mainland arrive at a ritzy Hawaiian resort, and their interactions with the help and the locals do not end well—slight spoiler alert—for the help and the locals. The visiting team lineup: the rich family (mom’s a high-octane Big Tech CEO, dad is clueless, the in-college daughter is mean, the teenage son is a lost, video-games-obsessed soul), the rich honeymooning couple (an arrogant bro and an insecure struggling journalist who fears she’s made a mistake), and the rich neurotic, alcoholic middle-aged woman who has come to scatter the ashes of her abusive mother into the sea. They’re all white—except for the daughter’s tagalong friend—and mostly clueless. All in all, not a sympathetic bunch. It’s painful to watch the guests engage with each other and with the long-suffering resort manager (a tightly wound recovering addict, who is gay) and the well-meaning and spiritually centered spa director, who is Black. Class, gender, and racial conflicts are poked at against the luscious, beautifully filmed colors of the island and a haunting musical score. The acting is superb. (Connie Britton and Steve Zahn are well-cast as the mom and dad; Australian actor Murray Bartlett is wonderful as the man supposedly in charge at the White Lotus resort.) There’s not a lot of action on the surface, but there are strong currents below—of which creator-writer-director Mike White often reminds us by cutting to dramatic shots of the turbulent ocean. Like with many vacations, I felt that when this was over, I still needed a break.

Got any recommendations? Send them to me at thisland@motherjones.com.

MoxieCam™

No dog is an island...

Read Previous Issues of This Land

September 8, 2021: 9/11 plus 20: a remembrance and a thank-you; the chilling climate crisis warning in HBO’s Reminiscence; and more.

September 3, 2021: Texas shows how Trumpism has become fascistic vigilantism; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Rock ’n’ Roll Flashback (how I was popped by Iggy Pop); MoxieCam™; and more.

August 31, 2021: How a 1954 analysis perfectly explains today’s Republican Party; on his new album, James McMurtry captures the spirit of Warren Zevon; and more.

August 20, 2021: Yes, there are laws Trump may have broken while trying to overturn the election; Dumbass Comment of the Week (special Afghanistan edition); the Mailbag (should we report on Trump’s inane remarks?); MoxieCam™; and more.

August 16, 2021: The Afghanistan debacle: How Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden bamboozled the American public; the “Banana King” of Wellfleet, Massachusetts; and more.

August 13, 2021: Hey lefties, stop telling me not to report on Trump’s dangerous comments; Dumbass Comment of the Week; rock ’n’ roll flashback: Sting abuse at a Police show; MoxieCam™; and more.

August 10, 2021: Look who’s organizing a pro-January 6 rally at the Capitol; an inspiring tale from the Myanmar jungle; the best album of the year so far; and more.

August 7, 2021: Are non-vaxxers and anti-maskers just too damn selfish?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Mailbag (can you still watch your favorite old movies if they now make you cringe?); MoxieCam™; and more.

August 3, 2021: When “worse than Watergate” is really worse than Watergate; Apple TV+’s “comedy” Physical is no comedy, but it’s worth watching; This Land in Photos (West Virginia); and more.

July 31, 2021: Can you still watch your favorite movies?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Mailbag (more on Lennon versus McCartney); MoxieCam™; and more.

July 29, 2021: Is a country music star encouraging more January 6-like violence?; a civil rights hero more people should know; and more.

July 27, 2021: Are Republicans going to sabotage police reform that doesn’t even go far enough?; how to put a senseless murder to good use; how sober is Liz Phair?; and more.

July 24, 2021: Has Paul McCartney finally won me over?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

July 22, 2021: My bizarre encounter with Rep. Jim Jordan—and why Speaker Pelosi was right to bounce him from the 1/6 committee; celebrating and grieving with musician Steve Earle; and more.

July 20, 2021: The time a Republican president did the right thing to stop an epidemic; Trump’s big narcissism fail; Nelson Algren and Norman Podhoretz; a new psychedelic Beatles-esque tune; and more.

July 17, 2021: Why the Guardian’s Trump-Russia bombshell—dud or not—doesn’t fully matter; Dumbass Comment of the Week; why Bosch works in spite of Bosch; MoxieCam™; and more.

July 15, 2021: Does President Joe Biden really stand with the Cuban people?; the time I really pissed off the Cuban regime; J. Edgar Hoover vs. MLK; one of the best movie reviews of all time; and more.

July 13, 2021: A coming referendum on Donald Trump; a suggestion for Hunter Biden; a new book on how the super-rich screw us all; and more.

July 10, 2021: Why the Republicans are right to be terrified of the new House committee investigating the 1/6 attack; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Joni Mitchell’s Blue 50; and more.

July 7, 2021: How The Summer of Soul counters the GOP’s season of hate; a debate on the recent UFO report; Garry Trudeau, American Dostoyevsky; MoxieCam™; and more.

July 3, 2021: Donald Rumsfeld, Christopher Hitchens, the Iraq War, and me; the perils of taking a home DNA test; Dumbass Comment of the Week; a Springsteen story; and more.

July 1, 2021: Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and perjury; Adam Serwer’s new book; Cézanne’s crime scene; and more.

June 29, 2021: How the new UFO report is bad news for UFO believers; my own UFO tale; HBO Max’s Hacks; an anti-racist anthem; and more.

June 26, 2021: Is Josh Hawley dumb or evil? (The answer is not both); Dumbassery that encourages mass “executions” in the United States; renowned guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson’s new tour and new book (and his claim regarding the best strings arrangement ever on a popular song); MoxieCam™ (before and after photos!); and more.

June 24, 2021: How an alleged 1/6 conspirator who called for executing Trump’s foes hooked up with a prominent Republican Party official; new Los Lobos; and more.

June 22, 2021: Why the GOP is pushing “political apartheid”; Ted Cruz wins Dumbass Comment of the Week; recommendations for an Apple TV+ series and a book on the curious origins of the universe; the first Clash tour of the United States (and being trapped in a van driven by a punk on acid); MoxieCam™; and more.

Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.