The Jewish Journal and Universal Hub reported that Tom Mountain, chairman of Newton’s Republican Committtee and vice-chair of the Republican State Committee, has returned home after being admitted to the Brigham & Women’s hospital for Covid-19. He apparently contracted the case at the White House’s Hanukkah party on Dec 7.
Mountain says that he regrets that the virus also spread to his family. “My mother-in-law had to go in for treatment in a snowstorm,” he said. “It was awful. She’s 85. It’s terrible … I feel terrible about it.
Mountain says “I feel terrible about it.”
As he should!
Besides your family including your poor mother-in-law, how many others will suffer with days spent in the hospital, steep medical bills, and possible lingering and chronic health conditions, because of the infection cluster spread by your hubris, typhoid Tom? Irresponsible and inexcusable.
What a fool. Going to a White House event and spreading it to his family. What a complete and utter fool. But we all knew that already.
“I didn’t listen to the warnings of my own family, and now I’m paying the price.” Good lord…
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/26/metro/state-republican-official-was-hospitalized-with-covid-19-after-attending-white-house-hanukkah-party/
Darwin Award Candidate
Well I for one am in a complete state of shock over Tom Mountain’s reckless behavior, not
The reckless and inane behavior described in the Boston Globe article at the following link is why the pandemic is so out of control in the U.S. This behavior and the GOP’s lack of any leadership, let alone sound leadership, is disgraceful.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/26/metro/state-republican-official-was-hospitalized-with-covid-19-after-attending-white-house-hanukkah-party/
marti,dulles,mary mary,rich,norman!!!
better to remain silent and be thought a fool
and HEARTLESS than to speak out
and remove all doubt!!!!!!!!!
a.l.
No one should feel shame if and when they text positive for Covid. If the data is correct, this is highly contagious and no one, regardless of their political views should me made to feel this way.
Be better!
Glad to hear Tom has recovered.
I would concur that now is not the time for schadenfreude, tempting though it be when any Trump supporter contracts the Coronavirus. Tom has been of mine for many years though we are poles apart politically. He has a wonderful family and great group of children. No rejoicing on my part that he has fallen ill, and I wish him a complete recovery.
We have to acknowledge, however, that it has been an active, consistent policy of Trump and his allies to dispute the efficacy of masks, disparage measures to maintain social distancing, and to downplay the need for a national policy and coordinated strategy to fight this horrific pandemic. Tom is just one of many who apparently fell under the spell of Trump’s absurd but apparently charismatic personality. The consequences for our country have been dire, and that cannot be denied.
I agree that Tom’s mask-less behaviors were EXTREMELY ill-advised. But I also wonder if any masked or non-masked Democrats have caught Covid-19. Are all the victims of this virus Republicans?
It kind of reminds me of the reaction that Bible-thumpers had about those who suffered AIDS in the early years of that disease.
@Bob Jampol: One definition of charismatic is, “exercising a compelling charm which inspires devotion in others.” Using this definition, Donald Trump is far from charismatic. Rather, he is a demagogue, and, as such, he does inspire devotion in some of the lowest elements of our society, including racists, bigots, white and other supremacists, misogynists, sexists, and jingoists. He also has the support of many low information voters and that portion of society that will vote for the GOP even if the candidate is a bag of rocks, as do many Democratic voters.
But it’s no mistake that Trump was routed in the Presidential election in 2016 and 2020 in his home state of New York precisely because he lacks appeal if you really know something about him. In 2016, Trump received 36.5% of the vote in NY, and in 2020, he did slightly better, garnering 37.8% of the vote. Those who know Trump best, know what an execrable human being he truly is. Sadly, the rest of the country was sold a bill of good, which is what the right wing media has been doing for decades.
@FedUp: No one should feel shame for engaging in inane and reckless behavior? Who are you kidding?
Tom Mountain should hang his head in abject shame. He not only put himself at risk, he put his family at risk including his elderly mother-in-law who is squarely in a high risk category.
We seem to live in both a post-truth and post-shame society. Neither of those are good things.
I hope you are proud of yourself. Through your selfish behavior, you have managed to infect your family and unnecessarily tax the over-burdened medical system. You should be denied a hospital bed. You don’t deserve one!
Sallee has missed the point: A political leader urged his followers to disregard science and sound medicine and thereby endanger not only themselves but the public at large. That differs from random citizens who carelessly or inadvertently caught the disease. No moral equivalency here, in my opinion. As Bob Woodward’s book makes clear, Trump was well aware of the dangers in March, at the same time he was orchestrating his campaign of disinformation. Note, by the way, the numerous members of the Trump administration that have been infected.
Mr.Mountain was well aware of the dangers involved in failing to wear a mask and to maintain social distance. And we were all very much aware of how the White House and it’s “leadership” thumbed it’s nose at all of the warnings. So when Mr.Mountain makes the decision to go to the White House, knowing full well what the conditions would be, and chooses to mingle maskless….well, you can’t fix stupid. This is not a case of one political party versus the other. This was one man, wanting to schmooze with others regardless of the dangers involved, not just to him but to anyone he would come in contact with. Someone above mentioned “be better” to those that are criticizing Mountain and his foolish behavior. Maybe he should have “been better”. I don’t feel bad for him. I do feel bad for his family that were harmed because of his stupidity.
@joe rizza Personally, I have heartfelt concern for his family who asked him not to risk their health (and who knows how many others that he may have put in jeopardy). The only HEARTLESS fool in this scenario is Tom Mountain himself, who ‘man’s up’ and tells the world that ‘now I’m paying the price.’ Yeah, because it’s all about him…Too bad he didn’t sell his house and leave Newton like he promised he would – at least Newton’s numbers would be slightly lower.
The contrition tour continues, with a Mountain-penned article in the Herald:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/01/05/an-act-of-coronavirus-contrition-from-denier-turned-patient/
I don’t have a subscription and the Herald’s paywall is hostile to more casual readers, so haven’t read it through.
But considering the Herald’s target audience, my hope is this article gets through to some people who are likewise not treating the pandemic seriously enough, and as a result save a life or three. This is -perhaps – a good thing out of a bad thing, so I won’t knock it.
I agree with Doug. While I disagree with most of what Tom Mountain espouses politically, I have to give him serious credit for sharing his story in the hopes that it reaches others who have also let their political ideologies lead them into putting their own lives and the lives of their loved one in jeopardy. Hopefully sharing his story in the Herald will help reach those who need it most.
Despite it all, Tom Mountain continues to defend trump. With a larger armed insurrection being planned for Jan 17, and no apparent disavowal by trump, this is extremely dangerous.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/mass-gop-official-tom-mountain-condemns-anarchy-blames-fringe-group-not-trump/35152957