Beyond hideous

After all the destruction they've delivered these past eight years, shouldn't these people collectively curl up into a quivering, defensive, fetal ball in anticipation of the savage beating karma is sure to inflict? Instead, it's business as usual, right up to the end, as if there isn't a thing wrong.

The picture of laura holding the animals like that brings up a question: what do you call a human shield's (Laura) shield (the animals)?