There’s this dread floating around, a dread of an unknowable and terrible enemy force.
But the enemy force is the other side of American politics. It’s people across the aisle. They’re not orcs. They’re not dragons. They just disagree.
The virus is inhuman. It’s not a person. Covid doesn’t have emotions, and it can’t be reasoned with. It must be understood and dealt with, but there is no cognizance there.
People aren’t diseases. Sometimes, they just disagree with you, and the odd refusal to understand the other side is a poison. Once people refuse to believe that the other side could be thinking rationally, that there is no logic there and there cannot be logic over there, then neighbors, friends, and family become orcs. They become Sauron’s forces.
But they’re not. They just disagree.