By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Try as I do to maintain my sense of compassion and empathy for those who become stricken by a killer virus, there are those on the fringes of our political spectrum to test it to the extreme.

For example …

I have seen a congressman-elect declare that the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax. He called it a “phony pandemic.” He was without a mask while bellowing the BS in front of a rally crowd. Rep.-elect Bob Good spoke to a pro-Donald Trump rally and declared the pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans and sickened millions of others isn’t real. It’s a phony sickness.

Just as egregious is that the crowd cheered this dipsh**’s rant.

Oh, my.

I have resisted the temptation to cheer when some folks become stricken by the virus. I won’t say here and now that I want Bob Good to become sick. I told readers of this blog that I wished Donald and Melania Trump a quick and full recovery when they tested positive for the virus; I wish the same for others within Trump’s inner circle.

However, when nimrods like Rep.-elect Good yammer the trash he did this weekend, they test my fairly deep reservoir of good will that enables me to wish political foes good health.

We have been listening for months on end the gut- and heart-wrenching stories of nurses and doctors who watch their patients die alone. Their grief is as visceral as it gets. Many of them are leaving the profession they love. Why? Because they no longer can cope with the heartbreak they suffer multiple times each day.

Then we hear from the likes of a congressman-elect who calls all this suffering a “phony” issue. I am left to deal initially with my rage at what they say. Then I must ask: How can anyone possibly take those who are elected to represent the public interest seriously when they utter such absolute nonsense?

Despicable.