Question for members of the Tennessee state legislature;
Have you ever had polio? No? Why do you suppose that is?
When I was a kid in the 50's we ALL got the Salk vaccine and a little later the boostershot.
Later on, we ALL took the Sabin oral polio vaccine on a sugar cube. (Much later on I would take some of Dr. Timothy Leary's medicine…
Question for members of the Tennessee state legislature;
Have you ever had polio? No? Why do you suppose that is?
When I was a kid in the 50's we ALL got the Salk vaccine and a little later the boostershot.
Later on, we ALL took the Sabin oral polio vaccine on a sugar cube. (Much later on I would take some of Dr. Timothy Leary's medicine on a sugar cube, but that's another story.)
Nobody complained, nobody refused, and nobody gets polio any more.
This is insane. The Republican Party is descending into collective madness, and they are doing all they can to take the rest of us with them.
I was very young when the first polio vaccine came out and the needle was very long! There was no debate, my brothers and I got the shots as did everyone else. And, then we all lined up in school to receive the sugar cube (which, in hindsight was a bit ironic years later for the Boomer generation 😆) and then the oral version in a little cup. There was no debate, no discussion. Everyone’s parents were ecstatic that there was a vaccine. It was a miracle. Polio did not actually kill that many people but the disabling and crippling impact was devastating and it was more prevalent among children, hence the urgency.
Covid is a real killer that can also have some disturbing long term debilitating impacts. We have a safe, highly effective available vaccine developed in record time. That there are people who continue to refuse to get vaccinated is just crazy; that there are political “policies” to advocate against the vaccine is criminal. Cultists never believe their “leaders” are out to kill them. It is pitiful.
My husband had polio and was hospitalized as an 18 month old for six months. This was before the Salk vaccine in the mid-1940s. As soon as possible he was given the polio vaccine even though he had had polio. Our three sons and their families all ran as fast as they could to get the Covid vaccine. People are nuts today. Politics should have nothing to do with this.
Your comment inspired me to think that perhaps we are witnessing a collective natural selection process by those apparently willing to embrace a debilitating, possibly fatal, disease.
I have patients who are not angry and hateful but rather kind and sincerely confused. When Fox News is on all around them their entire lives they simply do not know what to think. I wish there was a class action lawsuit against Fox for the suffering they have perpetuated
Certainly the families of the deceased would have cause. I’m guessing there would be plenty of health providers who could testify to the very real confusion and fear they are seeing from their patients re getting or not getting vaccinated
Not Fox News but Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham personally. Fox has deeeep pockets. Thought Carlson and Ingraham aren't poor I think the threat of a multi-BILLION dollar civil suit might make them not just back down but admit they're wrong and get vaccinated on air. That latter part is a bit of a fantasy as I'd bet my mortgage payment that they're both fully vaccinated, as are their family members.
What do you think of #45’s strategy of filing a lawsuit just for the publicity it gains. I think it is a meaningful statement for activists to quote broadly when Sydney Powell said “No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact” when sued for defamation by Dominion. Also the long list of lawsuits might be helpful for anyone with the skills and resources to look into it? https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/coronavirus/a-complete-guide-to-the-coronavirus-outbreak-legal-issues/
I have thought that too. The people I feel for are the frontline workers who have just not gotten a break. I would not blame them for up and leaving their jobs.
Far too many of them have died and many have quit. There are many jobs in health care that don't involve treating or caring for patients who believe Tucker and Laura instead of Dr. Fauci.
As a scientist friend once said "a pandemic is evolution;s IQ test. The question is "Are you intelligent enough to take this information and modify your behavior so as to maximize your chances of survival? - It's pass/fail." I'm fine with the "fail" being they Make America Great Again. Permanently.
Years ago I attended a lecture given by Herbert Marcuse in which he posited that human kind was in thrall to Thanatos - the Death Wish. That was in the context of global wars. I wonder what he'd say about the lemmings in the Republican Party who are jumping to their deaths by their willful ignorance.
Hitler, by sending the German people to war, killed about 5 million German citizens (even aside from concentration camp victims). So sending your followers into a pointless, self-destructive course of action is perfectly normal in "hot" war.
Not exactly. After all, we don't imagine an American death wish in connection with WW1 or WW2, yet many Americans died. I think this is just another case of generals sending their troops into a battle in which the odds for their survival are poor. What is the battle in this case? Trump's fight against Joe Biden's success, which depends on deploying more vaccines and suppressing Covid.
No kidding! I do remember digging in my feet and my mother having to drag me in all the while telling me this was for my own good! 😂. I outgrew the needle phobia and am now very brave! 😉. However, I never got over the dentist drilling cavities without novocaine!
I saw a cartoon the other day: "Mommy, what's that scar on your arm?" "That is my smallpox vaccine." "Why don't I have one?" "Because no one gets smallpox anymore."
I went to Europe for the first time in 1969. Before heading overseas, I had to get a bunch of vaccine updates, including ANOTHER smallpox vaccine (mine went hot, so clearly the first one hadn't taken), diphtheria, and typhoid. Because Europe was still dealing with such outbreaks--because Europeans were vaccine averse (the French still are totally stupid about this).
The very interesting early 18th-century diarist and travel writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was married to the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. In Constantinople (as it was then called and I admit what I still call it) she observed that women in the Ottoman harem were having their physicians (this is in the 1820s, folks!!) infect the children with cow pox in very small doses by scratching their arms with needles on which the cow pox had been introduced. She decided to have her own children treated. And experienced a storm of controversy. But her kids did not get smallpox at a time when it was absolutely rampant in Britain and Europe. QED.
I just have to share this parallel story for all who have not yet enjoyed Ibram X. Kendi's rich history: "Stamped from the Beginning". He mentions, (p. 71-72) an early reference to the idea of inoculation as the populations in Boston and elsewhere were being decimated by small pox. According to Kendi, the standard question in Boston households that was asked of all new African slaves coming into their household was "Have you ever had small pox?". Around 1706, Cotton Mather recorded, in his copious diaries, a notable answer from a slave known as Onesimus: "Yes and no." He then learned that for "hundreds of years" Africans had long used a rudimentary form of inoculation against disease, scratching a bit of pus from an infected patient into the skin of a heathy individual. This was long rejected as "too primitive" for the modern European medicine of the time. As small pox decimated the Boston population, Cotton Mather investigated Onesimus' reported practice and around 1721, he presented his research to the medical community. Only one physician, Zabadial Boylston responded, announcing that he had successfully inoculated his son and two slaves. According to Kendi, the medical community was "horrified" and one physician, Dr. William Douglas, concocted a conspiracy theory that it was a grand plot concocted by the African people to kill their masters by convincing them to be inoculated. And the stories go on from there......
The older we get....the more things stay the same.....
That same history of vaccination is told by Charles Eastman, MD, Lakota, in his book "From the Deep Woods to Civilization." 1916, Eastman's father encouraged his son to embrace the white man's education and religion (Christian), feeling that, in general, it was "superior" to their own, a rarely heard sentiment in our day -- and probably not PC to voice.
And excuse the typo in my post. Lady Mary was in Anatolia in the 1720s. Yep. I have chemo brain in the mornings. It was an uncomfortable summer while the smallpox vaccine spot healed and I have 2 scars as a result.
I can certainly sympathize - my son had cancer of one tonsil - had surgery, chemo & radiation - lost 50 pounds - tube in stomach (which just did not work for him) & did come out the other side - then was diagnosed with Lyme Disease! Went thru that treatment. Was a rough few years, but hes doing well now. I hope the same for you (end result that is). Really enjoy your comments - always learn something from them!!
I wish I had turned into a skinny b#$&h! That was supposed to be my silver lining. 😂 I’m so glad your son is doing well. Each one of these stories anchors me more firmly to my hope, and I hope does the same for Linda.
He also lost most of his hair - he was 51 at the time - It was really scary. At the time of the diagnosis - he also quit smoking! So there was a bit of a silver lining.
remember as a child in St. Louis in the 1950s all the other kids had little circular sores on their arms from smallpox vaccination. I can’t find one on my own arm, but I’m sure I was vaccinated (as well as getting the sugar cube for polio in school). Then I went into the military in 1963 and tho IDK what they jet-injected us with, smallpox vaccine was still likely as we could be sent anywhere in the world. Then in 1975 to travel overland to India, I actually got my International Vaccination Certificate card and got another smallpox shot (as well as yellow fever, cholera and typhoid). While working in a free clinic in rural India, I saw a young man with pockmark scars on his skin. That was the last year of any cases in India and smallpox was officially declared eradicated by 1980.
As a Tennessean, I can say definitively the Repubs of this state are batshit crazy. The disquisitions on CRT, the constant attempts to outlaw abortion through outrageous schemes and a governor who’s a “born again” Christian, it certainly screams loud and clear their care for fellow humans is nil. As every repug legislator in the country tries to out-outrage each other, we might as well settle in to watch the clown show ramp up. No vaccines for kids, including flu shots, shows you how much the TN legislature cares for its citizens.
Linda, You're on to something! Jamie Wheal, author of "Recapture the Rapture", which I'm now reading, quotes Nietzsche as saying "There was only one Christian, and He died on the cross." I'm inclined to agree with him. What passes for Christian doctrine now is right out of the Old Testament. An eye for an eye, and all that.
Sandra, you are so right. I hadn't thought of it that way but today's "Christian" is not Christian at all, but Old Testament full on with rules, condemnations, prejudices, and laws that punish those who step out of line.
The danger is that we get inured to the potential devastation of this “clown show”. Each step is but a little progression from the last, and the frequency of them dulls our capacity for outrage. Not to mention our ability to rise up and cry, “Enough!”
I don't know who you are speaking for, who are 'we' to 'get inured to the potential devastation of this 'clown show'? Your description doesn't seem to apply to subscribers here, the people I know or public responses to General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likening 'Donald Trump’s effort to hold on to power after the 2020 election to Adolf Hitler, saying the president was preaching “the gospel of the Führer” with his lies about the election being stolen, according to a new book by two Washington Post reporters.' (New York Magazine)
Are you writing that each step revealing more information about Trump's anti-democratic actions and aspirations will dull 'our capacity for outrage'? Should there be no more about his acts of bad faith, to say the least?. The investigation of the January 6th insurrection will start soon and more books about Trump are on the way. That is what we do in a Democracy.
Fern, you are taking what I say and building it into your own narrative.
There *are* amazing groups like LFAA.
There *is* outrage in many quarters. And it received a fresh jolt with yesterday’s revelations.
But in any state that went democratic to authoritarian those factors were also present in the passage through. They just were not a majority and were drowned out.
Too many people remained indifferent to the doings of government, were fooled by what the minority was not buying, and/or were overwhelmed with their own personal cares in life.
My point remains the same, although you clearly see me as tainting the energy and will of the group. What is needed *now* is positive action by the government to turn around the momentum, to check the momentum of evildoers and to begin the long and arduous process of putting America back in track.
If the Voting Rights acts get passed and signed into law, this will be a first, a necessary, and a huge check on the Republicans. I pray this happens. It will give me the hope back that I held in many. Many posts I wrote after Biden’s inauguration.
Until then, it’s pointless for you to attack me as a naysayer or to claim that I don’t know things I’m perfectly conversant with. I’m not important. I merely write small opinions in a quality forum.
Eric, There is no contest between positive work on behalf of the American people, which the Biden administration is doing in abundance, v. continuing to report the mounting evidence of Trump's acts against the country and democratic principles. Putting this country together, so that it serves the people and getting to the truth about the damage done by Trump, Dark Money and the Republican Party are both crucial for our future.
According to the IRS, the first payment from the newly expanded child tax credit were sent out today to some 39 million families with about 65 million kids. "This can be life-changing for so many families," Mr. Biden said. He argued the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit has the ability to cut poverty in the way Social Security reduced poverty among the elderly.' (CBS News) The odds favor two very large Infrastructure plans will also be passed. That's positive work on behalf of Americans.
I don't see you tainting our energy and did not make that point. My reply to you was challenging the assumption that the American people learning more about Trump's malfeasance 'dulls our capacity for outrage', in your words. I regret that you felt attacked by our difference of opinion concerning the importance of exposing Trump's horrific acts against our country. My hope is that as the evidence builds against Trump, so will it seep into the consciousness of more Americans.
Fern, your point that the American people need to know more about the authoritarian, fascist government of Donald Trump and his minions than less is what is needed. Americans have trouble dealing with the credit due them to have kept this experiment alive and well since the election of George Washington and the formation of a revolutionary government. From the day that the founding fathers decided to risk their all and begin the way to a better life for the United States Citizens to now is nothing less than a miracle.
Our imperfect government structure with its imperfect supporters for over 200 years continues to stride in the right direction. Let me put it to this group's readers that "outrage" is the least emotion that we need at this time in our history.
Instead I would suggest that we need to think clearly and rationally and discover the real problems while providing the action necessary to protect the Constitution. Many Americans tend to seek solutions before they identify the problem It is a difficult tendency to overcome as rash action is so easy to do.
With the election of Joe Biden and the continued election of the Democrats in the House and Senate a strong move to discovering the problems and solutions will continue.
The freedom to vote is imperative. It is the next giant step forward for all of us.
Fern, with all due respect, I think Eric is right. Because any one of Trump’s misdoings would have resulted in weeks of media commentary had they been done by any other administration. Instead, they all just got lost in a tidal wave of malfeasance. And we all got used to it. Now, hopefully, we are unlearning that response, and our outrage is more productive again. I am thrilled with the work the administration is doing so far, and frustrated with the lack of (visible) progress on voting rights. Here’s hoping my repeated letter writing does some good, finally.
Eric, Thank you for your like. I liked it. Clearly, a number of subscribers here agree with you and cannot get how Trump could still be barking and scheming as a free man. There are, however, still signs, here and there, of his diminished thrust.
'Trump’s popularity with Republicans is really just pretty average. There is little doubt that the intensity among his strongest supporters is high, but this asterisk is overwhelmed by another important caveat. As Gallup notes: “Fewer Americans identify as Republicans or say they are Republican-leaning independents than did so in November 2016, the month Donald Trump was elected president.”
'It may be that Trump is popular among people who identify as Republicans, simply because the Republicans who don’t like him are… no longer Republicans. In others words: Trump’s approval rating in his party climbs because his party is shrinking.' (Daily Beast)
As to the largest stumbling block, it appears the only way to get one or two significant national voting rights bill passed will be 'to amend the U.S. Senate filibuster in order to carve out laws that are directly tied to constitutionally protected rights, including voting.' (Newsweek) The link below is to an article covering Jim Clyburn's advice to Biden on the matter:
I actually partially wrote a reply, got distracted, and whoosh it was gone.
I really appreciated that you pointed out the very positive news of the child tax credits going out starting today. I knew that, but the doomsday feeling in me prevented absorption.
This is a huge step forward. And the fact that 90% of child-rearing Americans get it will reduce the predictable performative blowback of anger that accompanies any help to struggling people. Our two countries have the disease of treating poverty as a question of morality. He doesn’t have any money - ergo he’s lacking in character. I do have money - nothing to see here. The supremely ugly Prosperity Gospel at its nadir.
I needed your reminder. Thank you.
Fewer Republicans and fewer Democrats are registered. 25% each, I read. So a hug ember of (I) voters.
A fitting letter I posit. To me it seems a reflection of the rise (once again ) of Libertarianism as an article of faith to hang on one’s laundry line for all to see.
And I think it may be unimportant. People may *register* (I), but still vote (D) or (R). Just to muddy the waters some more.
As long as millions of Americans have FOX news on 24/7 - the wallpaper of their homes, literally - those same millions continue to be indoctrinated with lies meant to hurt our democracy and control their minds. There is so much to be outraged about, one doesn't know which BS story is more outrageous than the next. We become inured to these outrages. But, clearly, many of the FOX-watching Americans are filled with hate and seemingly can't wait to maim, murder, and punish in the name of their Fuhrer, who is dumb as dirt, unread, lacks insight and intelligence, but remains in his realm powerful, faultless and worshipped. FOX needs to be banned as it is the leader in the indoctrination that is ruining the minds and hearts of millions of Americans. More books may be coming out and published but those who need to read them won't. Let's hope the courts of NY do their job to attach crimes to Trump that he can't get out of...and, will that even work?
I enjoyed how this trace expanded between Eric and Fern. I learned new stuff as you pared. Personally, I would prefer to never hear about TFG, except an obituary in two words: It's Dead. And I also know we have to promote and spread the messages of success from Joe and Kamela. They have redirected the focus back to the Americans who make up America, rather than the plutocrats and oligarchs who seem to be the heros of the opposition. Our progressive penchant for self-critism, while worthy of glorifying in theory, does run the risk in public discourse to be self-defeating through the ears of the unconvinced. Sometimes a hot dog is just a hot dog and we are better off without an autopsy report.
What are the younger people feeling about all of this? Are they buying into the cultists or are they realizing their vote is significant and they must vote these Republicans out of office?
A study from Tufts University found that the youth vote increased by as much as 25% in 2020 when compared to 2016.
“ Our calculations, based on votes counted as of November 18, suggest that 52%-55% of voting-eligible young people, ages 18-29, cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election. Using the same methodology and data from a week after the election in 2016, we had previously estimated that youth voter turnout in 2016 was 42-44%.”
I don’t know. I do read that kids of fundamentalists are disturbed enough by their parents’ hypocrisy in embracing TFG they are walking away from their religious upbringing.
I was in elementary school in Dallas TX when the Sabin oral polio vaccine was distributed. According to news reports, the city of 900,000 residents at that time achieved a 90% vaccination rate over the course of just two weekends. That could never happen today. Today over 90% of deaths from Covid are people who have not been vaccinated. Republicans are literally willing to die to "own the libs."
In about 5th grade in the 1950s, there was a girl in my class a bit older than the rest, possibly from missing a school year who had an atrophied arm. I suspect that was from polio. We baby boomers who experienced all the “childhood diseases” the hard way also saw the remnants of Smallpox & Polio still active in the world.
Here's an idea: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, etc. for Democrats, mandatory doses of the good Dr. Leary's medicine for the GOP. Might be a game changer.
I think this is a brilliant plan. Biden should make this announcement: “I have heard from my friends across the aisle that they don’t want or need to be vaccinated. They feel that our vaccination program is intrusive. I am honoring their wishes. From now on, our vaccine programs will not include registered Republicans. We will only seek to vaccinate Democrats and independents.”
I imagine two reactions, both of which would be fun to watch. One, “How dare Biden leave Republicans to get sick and die!” which leads to a reply of, “So, you believe the vaccine is beneficial? That’s not what you’ve been saying.” Or two, stunned silence, leaving them nothing to complain about (vaccine-wise).
"Ted Cruz on acid". Now THERE'S a picture! Seriously, there is a lot of legitimate research being done at Johns Hopkins and other places on psychedelics in treating alcoholism, PTSD, depression and other ills. Check it out.
They aren't just handing out sugar cubes, of course; it's real scientific research, after all! 😎 Micro-dosing in conjunction with therapy/supervision is showing good results.
And this isn't new. It's what Leary and others were attempting to do decades ago. Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind gives a good history of this.
Pollan's book led me to some other sources, too. Now I've got his new one, "This is Your Mind on Plants", that I'm anxious to dig into, after I finish "Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex. and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind."
An acquaintance of, in his spiritual quest, did the ayahuasca retreats Pollan wrote about, and had positive results. Obviously not verifiable or quantifiable! Still, anecdotal testimonials are often helpful.
Love, love, love me some Michael Pollan. I've been reading his books for the last 10 years. 'How to Change Your Mind' is amazing and groundbreaking in its scope and breadth.
Christy, he'd probably have to really leave Earth first. Many astronauts had their perspective totally changed by seeing the Earth from space. OTOH, I doubt even that would phase Cruz.
My cousin contracted polio right before vaccine became available. His parents got him vaccinated. He's still here in his mid eighties today to talk about it.
Morning Lynell! A dear friend of mine, now approaching 70, grew up in the rural Midwest. He attended a birthday party for a 2 year old, and of 17 kids at that party, 15 came down with Polio. Research came out many years later that the reason for the Polio epidemic (at least in his corner of the world) came down to city water lines being installed around that time. No longer were the kids receiving homeopathic amounts of Polio from the environment (and probably well water), their water supply had been 'cleaned up' , thus the Polio outbreaks in the 40's.
What, hallucinogens in SMA? Yeah, its the hip, artsy, expat place to be. Never mind the fact that the State of Guanajuato is seeing and explosion of cartel related crime in the last couple of years. And it's too bad because the city of Guanajuato is one of the most vibrant visual and performing arts centers in the world, hosting the month long Cervantino every October.
I have been on every step you mentioned Ralph, and you are right this is insane. Ten years ago when I was a John McCain supporting Republican I would never have thought any of this was possible, now I pray 🙏 that the next several elections so thoroughly defeat the GOP that those with a brain come to their senses and the remnant fringe that remain, go howling off into the darkness where they belong. This nation needs a thorough restructuring to correct the many inequities that have been built in historically, it would be very helpful if we had a functioning 2 party system to help build it, if not we will build it without them. Thank god we have a president that is not insane.
I just thought of John McCain yesterday. What a gentleman. His legislative protocols are an example that is right there for Republicans to commemorate and follow.
I say a prayer every day that more than the few that there are will do so.
Wishful thinking, I’m afraid. Even with my rose colored glasses on, can I see that happening with what is left of this Republican Party. Remember the Lindsay Graham who John McCain called “ friend”?
But I think of retired Republican Sen Jeff Flake who Biden has announced for Ambassador to Turkey. Current Adam Kissinger…young and outspoken. Many retired Republicans who are not in office but important in the party. And they do not have to kiss any ring to keep that influence be cause they do not need former’s endorsement. Nor do they want it.
Dick, I wonder if former Republicans like you talking to current ones could help them see how the party isn’t the party it used to be. Have you spoken to any?
I have tried, I argued until I was blue in the face with my cousin, a man that I was very close to. To my everlasting shame I, like my cousin, voted for the insipid clown that was our president. I knew that we were in deep trouble from the day hestarted lying about the croud size for his inauguration, it was clear that he inspired only a fraction of the people that were motivated to attend Obama's event. I sent him countless, well thought out arguments that were all based on fact like the Jesuits tought me, only to get one or two word replies, or links to some lunatic conspiracy theory. I have been very vocal about my opposition to everything the insipid one stood for, I told him that you are on one side or the other in this, there is no middle ground, I truely believe that we are in a mortal battle for our democracy, I reminded him that Benjamin Franklin never again spoke to his son after he sided with the crown, his last reply to me was that I was no Benjamin Franklin, in that of course he was correct, but I aspire to have even a fraction of the courage and decency of our founders. I have done everything in my power to end that presidency and bring about a new senate. I'm still a member of the Lincoln Project and am proud of what we have done and will continue to do. I think that we have to get past the mid-terms and the next general election with decisive victories before we will have any time to breathe easily. Business relationships that I have had for decades are as strained as those with my cousin, I'm ok with that, maybe down the road they will have an awakening, I did, or maybe not, we might get to have a "what the hell were you thinking?" moment, I hope so. Today I write, it helps keep me sane as well as clearly formulate my thinking, this forum has been a blessing, I'm grateful to be part of this inspiring community, so thank you Marcy for your reply, it gave me food for thought.
Just to say thank you, Dick, for trying to talk with your Republican friends and cousin and for your work with the Lincoln Project. There's definitely something "wrong" with Republicans who refuse to acknowledge that DT is unfit for public office, to say nothing of the office of POTUS! He's unhinged and for them to continue to support him, tells me they are deliberately blind and willfully ignorant for reasons of their own. The best answer is to continue to speak the truth (Lincoln Project) and to get out the votes against his minions and him. Continue to overcome them time and time again in the voting booths. They must be beaten down b/c they will never be persuaded nor concede.
Your "courage and decency" are an example to others, even them ,although they wouldn't admit it, I'm sure. It sure is an encouragement to me to know there are courageous men and women like you willing and able to fight for our democracy! Thanks, again.
That's the thing, Ralph. Because vaccines ARE so effective, we no longer regularly see the evidence of what life was like without them. Same with the measles vaccines and anti-vaxers. They say, "Well, there aren't large measles outbreaks now, so why should I get my child vaccinated?" (I understand they believe all sorts of crap about the danger of the vaccines, as well, but that's a slightly different thing.)
Maybe it will take having some of these horrific diseases that have been conquered in the past come roaring back to wreak havoc, for Joe and Jill Six-pack to realize reality?
At the recent convention of Caucasian People Acting Crazy (CPAC), the invocation by a local megachurch "pastor" concluded, "And in the bible it says 'In he beginning, God created the heavens and earth.' That's all the science we need to know."
These people don't want to go back to 1850 - they want to go back to 1350.
There were already people--such as Roger Bacon and his students, among them William of Ockham who in turn taught John Wycliffe (from whom Martin Luther stole all his ideas)--in the 13th century who did not think that Genesis was reality. I suspect that even the Greeks were leery of Hesiod's Theogony as a presentation of reality. The "believe, don't think" crowd has been ever with us. But they didn't have Facebook and Twitter before this.
The cult of dopey don is not concerned about the commonweal of all fellow citizens! Rather they prefer an autocratic despot who will eventually lead them “to the cool aid”!
Folks might find this discussion on authoritarian cults in the US of interest. It’s This Sat. afternoon. Cost of a ticket is 0 to 25 dollars. Very interesting subject with some experts. Authoritarian Cults in America?
AUTHORITARIAN CULTS IN AMERICA? with the following speakers:
Steven Hassan, Ph.D. – leading expert on cults and mind control and the author of The Cult of Trump
Jon Atack – ex-Scientologist and author of several books including Opening Minds
David Weissman – former Trump cultist who has been bravely speaking out
James Cohen, Ph.D. – assistant professor of media studies at CUNY Queens College teaching social media and digital media literacies, with a focus on far right extremism
Becca Lewis – former researcher at the Data and Society Research Institute, co-author of Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online, and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University
Co-hosts:
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Ph.D. – leading historian at New York University, expert on authoritarians and their cults, and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
Bandy Lee, M.D., M.Div. – president of the World Mental Health Coalition, forensic psychiatrist and expert on dangerous personalities and street gangs, and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump
How will Tennessee Schools (and all schools) deal with a more transmissible and more deadly Delta variant with no ( none under 12 years old yet) to low vax rates and no mask mandates?
This CDC report from an Oklahoma gymnastics gym informs us:
The true history of the polio vaccine is the that the vaccine was developed well after polio started to recede. As with all viral etc. pandemics, eventually they lose steam and then only a few cases are found every year. But big Pharma jumped in and said they saved people because of the vaccine. I doubt it.
I don't think that is the true story, Elaine. The drop in occurrence of Polio in the US was precipitous when massive vacinnations started. It wasn't going away on its own. No herd immunity was developing. Polio has been also been found in countries other than the US where health conditions favor it's emergence as a child killing disease. It has pretty much been eradicated world-wide through vaccination programs over the last 75+ years. The Gates foundation has been instrumental in establishing such vaccination efforts.. There are polio watches conducted by citizen groups (Kiwanis?) and WHO. I periodically get updates on the verified cases from friends who track these. A great success story. Their counts worldwide are between 0 and 1 new case per year. The vacinnation counters the health conditions folks still try to live in in developing nations. I don't know what your sources are.
The Salk vaccine came out in 1955, so 65+ years ago. I remember being given a dose on a sugar cube in elementary school. The Sabin vaccine was available in the early 60s. I got that one, too.
The March of Dimes was founded to fund research on polio prevention.
The University of South Florida opened in 1960. It was the first university to be designed for easy handicapped access. There are no steps at building entries and all buildings have elevators. During its first years the campus served many polio victims and they could be seen all over campus, walking with braces or crutches and in wheelchairs. Polio was a scourge and feared. There was absolutely no mention of even possible herd immunity, even when it hit almost every child in a small town.
And better water treatment and delivery systems certainly aided the defeat of polio. But without the vaccine, because we're not committed to solid infrastructure in all parts of the country, there would always have been outbreaks and it would likely not have been eradicated completely.
Agree. Hot summer days in Central Illinois and standing water in the many unsuspected/uninspected private cisterns in small towns took a toll. Even at dad's parsonage.
I’m simply stating what is said in medical books. I would think you might want to research it before you bashed another person for the information therein. So I guess you made your own case.
Elaine, this article may help inform you of the actual sequence of events. It is an interview with Jonas' son in which he addresses some of the information spread in the anti-vax literature. One particular point you should note is that Jonas never patented or made much money from his discovery. He gave the knowledge away and the good story continues about how science and men of good conscience work to solve problems despite erroneous "medical" opinion. There are many good sources to add with a simple google search. Had the vaccine come a few months before, my wife might not have spent part of her childhood in an iron-lung or lives now with the post-polio effects. I hope you rethink where you are getting your information. Best.
What you claim may be true. I don't feel it's worth my time to research. Let's say it's true that polio was receding anyway. At what cost in human suffering? If the vaccines had not been widely distributed, what would the cost have been in further debilitating cases with life-long disabilities?
Question for members of the Tennessee state legislature;
Have you ever had polio? No? Why do you suppose that is?
When I was a kid in the 50's we ALL got the Salk vaccine and a little later the boostershot.
Later on, we ALL took the Sabin oral polio vaccine on a sugar cube. (Much later on I would take some of Dr. Timothy Leary's medicine on a sugar cube, but that's another story.)
Nobody complained, nobody refused, and nobody gets polio any more.
This is insane. The Republican Party is descending into collective madness, and they are doing all they can to take the rest of us with them.
I was very young when the first polio vaccine came out and the needle was very long! There was no debate, my brothers and I got the shots as did everyone else. And, then we all lined up in school to receive the sugar cube (which, in hindsight was a bit ironic years later for the Boomer generation 😆) and then the oral version in a little cup. There was no debate, no discussion. Everyone’s parents were ecstatic that there was a vaccine. It was a miracle. Polio did not actually kill that many people but the disabling and crippling impact was devastating and it was more prevalent among children, hence the urgency.
Covid is a real killer that can also have some disturbing long term debilitating impacts. We have a safe, highly effective available vaccine developed in record time. That there are people who continue to refuse to get vaccinated is just crazy; that there are political “policies” to advocate against the vaccine is criminal. Cultists never believe their “leaders” are out to kill them. It is pitiful.
My parents saw their friends put into iron lungs. That incentivizes you to get the vaccine and make sure your children do too.
My husband had polio and was hospitalized as an 18 month old for six months. This was before the Salk vaccine in the mid-1940s. As soon as possible he was given the polio vaccine even though he had had polio. Our three sons and their families all ran as fast as they could to get the Covid vaccine. People are nuts today. Politics should have nothing to do with this.
Very well said.
Your comment inspired me to think that perhaps we are witnessing a collective natural selection process by those apparently willing to embrace a debilitating, possibly fatal, disease.
I have patients who are not angry and hateful but rather kind and sincerely confused. When Fox News is on all around them their entire lives they simply do not know what to think. I wish there was a class action lawsuit against Fox for the suffering they have perpetuated
I felt a strong urge to Retweet this comment, Christy. I agree with the need for a class action suit.
Certainly the families of the deceased would have cause. I’m guessing there would be plenty of health providers who could testify to the very real confusion and fear they are seeing from their patients re getting or not getting vaccinated
Not Fox News but Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham personally. Fox has deeeep pockets. Thought Carlson and Ingraham aren't poor I think the threat of a multi-BILLION dollar civil suit might make them not just back down but admit they're wrong and get vaccinated on air. That latter part is a bit of a fantasy as I'd bet my mortgage payment that they're both fully vaccinated, as are their family members.
We would all be better off if Faux Snooze could be shut down.
Word. I wish we could think of it as "Snooze" but it's more like Live Fire and it's helping destroy America.
Amen, Christy.
I agree but, no doubt, a lawsuit would have no teeth since no one is being forced to watch these despicable bad actors.
Mmm, sort of. Children growing up in the homes with it on all the time really have no choice
What do you think of #45’s strategy of filing a lawsuit just for the publicity it gains. I think it is a meaningful statement for activists to quote broadly when Sydney Powell said “No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact” when sued for defamation by Dominion. Also the long list of lawsuits might be helpful for anyone with the skills and resources to look into it? https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/coronavirus/a-complete-guide-to-the-coronavirus-outbreak-legal-issues/
Why don't we, Christy???
Why doesn't This Happen???😡
I have thought that too. The people I feel for are the frontline workers who have just not gotten a break. I would not blame them for up and leaving their jobs.
Far too many of them have died and many have quit. There are many jobs in health care that don't involve treating or caring for patients who believe Tucker and Laura instead of Dr. Fauci.
As a scientist friend once said "a pandemic is evolution;s IQ test. The question is "Are you intelligent enough to take this information and modify your behavior so as to maximize your chances of survival? - It's pass/fail." I'm fine with the "fail" being they Make America Great Again. Permanently.
Natural Selection: Thinning the herd of its weakest minds.
Some folks are just exceptionally lucky. I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the Natural Selection basket in 2021.
This natural, or not so natural, selection reminds me of something in Germany in the 1940s.
A Republivan death wish?
Years ago I attended a lecture given by Herbert Marcuse in which he posited that human kind was in thrall to Thanatos - the Death Wish. That was in the context of global wars. I wonder what he'd say about the lemmings in the Republican Party who are jumping to their deaths by their willful ignorance.
Hitler, by sending the German people to war, killed about 5 million German citizens (even aside from concentration camp victims). So sending your followers into a pointless, self-destructive course of action is perfectly normal in "hot" war.
An American death wish?
Not exactly. After all, we don't imagine an American death wish in connection with WW1 or WW2, yet many Americans died. I think this is just another case of generals sending their troops into a battle in which the odds for their survival are poor. What is the battle in this case? Trump's fight against Joe Biden's success, which depends on deploying more vaccines and suppressing Covid.
Oh God, I'm still needle phobic as a result of that polio vaccine!
Me too. I have to look away, and I still cringe, even though the pain is minimal.
Still, I did not hesitate to get one and then the second Pfizer Covid vaccine as soon as I qualified.
No kidding! I do remember digging in my feet and my mother having to drag me in all the while telling me this was for my own good! 😂. I outgrew the needle phobia and am now very brave! 😉. However, I never got over the dentist drilling cavities without novocaine!
Oh, I hate going to the dentist. I generally load up on valium before I go (I don't drive myself, of course).
Me too, but i roll up my sleeve, look the other way, take a deep breath and hold it.
Me, too. Every shot, every time. But, I don't hesitate to protect myself and others.
Yeah, me too. 😐
I saw a cartoon the other day: "Mommy, what's that scar on your arm?" "That is my smallpox vaccine." "Why don't I have one?" "Because no one gets smallpox anymore."
I went to Europe for the first time in 1969. Before heading overseas, I had to get a bunch of vaccine updates, including ANOTHER smallpox vaccine (mine went hot, so clearly the first one hadn't taken), diphtheria, and typhoid. Because Europe was still dealing with such outbreaks--because Europeans were vaccine averse (the French still are totally stupid about this).
The very interesting early 18th-century diarist and travel writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was married to the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. In Constantinople (as it was then called and I admit what I still call it) she observed that women in the Ottoman harem were having their physicians (this is in the 1820s, folks!!) infect the children with cow pox in very small doses by scratching their arms with needles on which the cow pox had been introduced. She decided to have her own children treated. And experienced a storm of controversy. But her kids did not get smallpox at a time when it was absolutely rampant in Britain and Europe. QED.
I just have to share this parallel story for all who have not yet enjoyed Ibram X. Kendi's rich history: "Stamped from the Beginning". He mentions, (p. 71-72) an early reference to the idea of inoculation as the populations in Boston and elsewhere were being decimated by small pox. According to Kendi, the standard question in Boston households that was asked of all new African slaves coming into their household was "Have you ever had small pox?". Around 1706, Cotton Mather recorded, in his copious diaries, a notable answer from a slave known as Onesimus: "Yes and no." He then learned that for "hundreds of years" Africans had long used a rudimentary form of inoculation against disease, scratching a bit of pus from an infected patient into the skin of a heathy individual. This was long rejected as "too primitive" for the modern European medicine of the time. As small pox decimated the Boston population, Cotton Mather investigated Onesimus' reported practice and around 1721, he presented his research to the medical community. Only one physician, Zabadial Boylston responded, announcing that he had successfully inoculated his son and two slaves. According to Kendi, the medical community was "horrified" and one physician, Dr. William Douglas, concocted a conspiracy theory that it was a grand plot concocted by the African people to kill their masters by convincing them to be inoculated. And the stories go on from there......
The older we get....the more things stay the same.....
That same history of vaccination is told by Charles Eastman, MD, Lakota, in his book "From the Deep Woods to Civilization." 1916, Eastman's father encouraged his son to embrace the white man's education and religion (Christian), feeling that, in general, it was "superior" to their own, a rarely heard sentiment in our day -- and probably not PC to voice.
Fascinating! Thanks for this bit of history Linda. That must have been a shock when you found out your first vaccine hadn't taken!
And excuse the typo in my post. Lady Mary was in Anatolia in the 1720s. Yep. I have chemo brain in the mornings. It was an uncomfortable summer while the smallpox vaccine spot healed and I have 2 scars as a result.
Chemo brain is real. You seem to do very well wading through that swamp.
Hugs for the chemo brain. I have it all day 😂
Rest today, Linda. ❤
thank you for the story, with our without typos!
with our without... lol
Would love to say I intended it ;)
I can certainly sympathize - my son had cancer of one tonsil - had surgery, chemo & radiation - lost 50 pounds - tube in stomach (which just did not work for him) & did come out the other side - then was diagnosed with Lyme Disease! Went thru that treatment. Was a rough few years, but hes doing well now. I hope the same for you (end result that is). Really enjoy your comments - always learn something from them!!
Bravo for your son!
Thanks, Daria - hes fine now but it was an experience neither he nor anyone else will forget!
I wish I had turned into a skinny b#$&h! That was supposed to be my silver lining. 😂 I’m so glad your son is doing well. Each one of these stories anchors me more firmly to my hope, and I hope does the same for Linda.
He also lost most of his hair - he was 51 at the time - It was really scary. At the time of the diagnosis - he also quit smoking! So there was a bit of a silver lining.
remember as a child in St. Louis in the 1950s all the other kids had little circular sores on their arms from smallpox vaccination. I can’t find one on my own arm, but I’m sure I was vaccinated (as well as getting the sugar cube for polio in school). Then I went into the military in 1963 and tho IDK what they jet-injected us with, smallpox vaccine was still likely as we could be sent anywhere in the world. Then in 1975 to travel overland to India, I actually got my International Vaccination Certificate card and got another smallpox shot (as well as yellow fever, cholera and typhoid). While working in a free clinic in rural India, I saw a young man with pockmark scars on his skin. That was the last year of any cases in India and smallpox was officially declared eradicated by 1980.
Fascinating and relevant support for the truth as usual, Linda. Appreciation and good morning!
As a Tennessean, I can say definitively the Repubs of this state are batshit crazy. The disquisitions on CRT, the constant attempts to outlaw abortion through outrageous schemes and a governor who’s a “born again” Christian, it certainly screams loud and clear their care for fellow humans is nil. As every repug legislator in the country tries to out-outrage each other, we might as well settle in to watch the clown show ramp up. No vaccines for kids, including flu shots, shows you how much the TN legislature cares for its citizens.
Marcy maybe these Christians that love to kill people should be called "dead again" Christians instead of "born again."
The Republican Party certainly does seem like a death cult.
This.
💀💀💀
Linda, You're on to something! Jamie Wheal, author of "Recapture the Rapture", which I'm now reading, quotes Nietzsche as saying "There was only one Christian, and He died on the cross." I'm inclined to agree with him. What passes for Christian doctrine now is right out of the Old Testament. An eye for an eye, and all that.
Sandra, you are so right. I hadn't thought of it that way but today's "Christian" is not Christian at all, but Old Testament full on with rules, condemnations, prejudices, and laws that punish those who step out of line.
😂
The danger is that we get inured to the potential devastation of this “clown show”. Each step is but a little progression from the last, and the frequency of them dulls our capacity for outrage. Not to mention our ability to rise up and cry, “Enough!”
I don't know who you are speaking for, who are 'we' to 'get inured to the potential devastation of this 'clown show'? Your description doesn't seem to apply to subscribers here, the people I know or public responses to General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likening 'Donald Trump’s effort to hold on to power after the 2020 election to Adolf Hitler, saying the president was preaching “the gospel of the Führer” with his lies about the election being stolen, according to a new book by two Washington Post reporters.' (New York Magazine)
Are you writing that each step revealing more information about Trump's anti-democratic actions and aspirations will dull 'our capacity for outrage'? Should there be no more about his acts of bad faith, to say the least?. The investigation of the January 6th insurrection will start soon and more books about Trump are on the way. That is what we do in a Democracy.
Fern, you are taking what I say and building it into your own narrative.
There *are* amazing groups like LFAA.
There *is* outrage in many quarters. And it received a fresh jolt with yesterday’s revelations.
But in any state that went democratic to authoritarian those factors were also present in the passage through. They just were not a majority and were drowned out.
Too many people remained indifferent to the doings of government, were fooled by what the minority was not buying, and/or were overwhelmed with their own personal cares in life.
My point remains the same, although you clearly see me as tainting the energy and will of the group. What is needed *now* is positive action by the government to turn around the momentum, to check the momentum of evildoers and to begin the long and arduous process of putting America back in track.
If the Voting Rights acts get passed and signed into law, this will be a first, a necessary, and a huge check on the Republicans. I pray this happens. It will give me the hope back that I held in many. Many posts I wrote after Biden’s inauguration.
Until then, it’s pointless for you to attack me as a naysayer or to claim that I don’t know things I’m perfectly conversant with. I’m not important. I merely write small opinions in a quality forum.
Eric, There is no contest between positive work on behalf of the American people, which the Biden administration is doing in abundance, v. continuing to report the mounting evidence of Trump's acts against the country and democratic principles. Putting this country together, so that it serves the people and getting to the truth about the damage done by Trump, Dark Money and the Republican Party are both crucial for our future.
According to the IRS, the first payment from the newly expanded child tax credit were sent out today to some 39 million families with about 65 million kids. "This can be life-changing for so many families," Mr. Biden said. He argued the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit has the ability to cut poverty in the way Social Security reduced poverty among the elderly.' (CBS News) The odds favor two very large Infrastructure plans will also be passed. That's positive work on behalf of Americans.
I don't see you tainting our energy and did not make that point. My reply to you was challenging the assumption that the American people learning more about Trump's malfeasance 'dulls our capacity for outrage', in your words. I regret that you felt attacked by our difference of opinion concerning the importance of exposing Trump's horrific acts against our country. My hope is that as the evidence builds against Trump, so will it seep into the consciousness of more Americans.
Fern, your point that the American people need to know more about the authoritarian, fascist government of Donald Trump and his minions than less is what is needed. Americans have trouble dealing with the credit due them to have kept this experiment alive and well since the election of George Washington and the formation of a revolutionary government. From the day that the founding fathers decided to risk their all and begin the way to a better life for the United States Citizens to now is nothing less than a miracle.
Our imperfect government structure with its imperfect supporters for over 200 years continues to stride in the right direction. Let me put it to this group's readers that "outrage" is the least emotion that we need at this time in our history.
Instead I would suggest that we need to think clearly and rationally and discover the real problems while providing the action necessary to protect the Constitution. Many Americans tend to seek solutions before they identify the problem It is a difficult tendency to overcome as rash action is so easy to do.
With the election of Joe Biden and the continued election of the Democrats in the House and Senate a strong move to discovering the problems and solutions will continue.
The freedom to vote is imperative. It is the next giant step forward for all of us.
Fern, with all due respect, I think Eric is right. Because any one of Trump’s misdoings would have resulted in weeks of media commentary had they been done by any other administration. Instead, they all just got lost in a tidal wave of malfeasance. And we all got used to it. Now, hopefully, we are unlearning that response, and our outrage is more productive again. I am thrilled with the work the administration is doing so far, and frustrated with the lack of (visible) progress on voting rights. Here’s hoping my repeated letter writing does some good, finally.
Eric, Thank you for your like. I liked it. Clearly, a number of subscribers here agree with you and cannot get how Trump could still be barking and scheming as a free man. There are, however, still signs, here and there, of his diminished thrust.
'Trump’s popularity with Republicans is really just pretty average. There is little doubt that the intensity among his strongest supporters is high, but this asterisk is overwhelmed by another important caveat. As Gallup notes: “Fewer Americans identify as Republicans or say they are Republican-leaning independents than did so in November 2016, the month Donald Trump was elected president.”
'It may be that Trump is popular among people who identify as Republicans, simply because the Republicans who don’t like him are… no longer Republicans. In others words: Trump’s approval rating in his party climbs because his party is shrinking.' (Daily Beast)
As to the largest stumbling block, it appears the only way to get one or two significant national voting rights bill passed will be 'to amend the U.S. Senate filibuster in order to carve out laws that are directly tied to constitutionally protected rights, including voting.' (Newsweek) The link below is to an article covering Jim Clyburn's advice to Biden on the matter:
https://www.newsweek.com/jim-clyburn-urges-filibuster-carveout-laws-protecting-constitutional-rights-like-voting-1608558
I actually partially wrote a reply, got distracted, and whoosh it was gone.
I really appreciated that you pointed out the very positive news of the child tax credits going out starting today. I knew that, but the doomsday feeling in me prevented absorption.
This is a huge step forward. And the fact that 90% of child-rearing Americans get it will reduce the predictable performative blowback of anger that accompanies any help to struggling people. Our two countries have the disease of treating poverty as a question of morality. He doesn’t have any money - ergo he’s lacking in character. I do have money - nothing to see here. The supremely ugly Prosperity Gospel at its nadir.
I needed your reminder. Thank you.
Fewer Republicans and fewer Democrats are registered. 25% each, I read. So a hug ember of (I) voters.
A fitting letter I posit. To me it seems a reflection of the rise (once again ) of Libertarianism as an article of faith to hang on one’s laundry line for all to see.
And I think it may be unimportant. People may *register* (I), but still vote (D) or (R). Just to muddy the waters some more.
As long as millions of Americans have FOX news on 24/7 - the wallpaper of their homes, literally - those same millions continue to be indoctrinated with lies meant to hurt our democracy and control their minds. There is so much to be outraged about, one doesn't know which BS story is more outrageous than the next. We become inured to these outrages. But, clearly, many of the FOX-watching Americans are filled with hate and seemingly can't wait to maim, murder, and punish in the name of their Fuhrer, who is dumb as dirt, unread, lacks insight and intelligence, but remains in his realm powerful, faultless and worshipped. FOX needs to be banned as it is the leader in the indoctrination that is ruining the minds and hearts of millions of Americans. More books may be coming out and published but those who need to read them won't. Let's hope the courts of NY do their job to attach crimes to Trump that he can't get out of...and, will that even work?
You echo my thoughts and those of so many more. Thank you.
I enjoyed how this trace expanded between Eric and Fern. I learned new stuff as you pared. Personally, I would prefer to never hear about TFG, except an obituary in two words: It's Dead. And I also know we have to promote and spread the messages of success from Joe and Kamela. They have redirected the focus back to the Americans who make up America, rather than the plutocrats and oligarchs who seem to be the heros of the opposition. Our progressive penchant for self-critism, while worthy of glorifying in theory, does run the risk in public discourse to be self-defeating through the ears of the unconvinced. Sometimes a hot dog is just a hot dog and we are better off without an autopsy report.
What are the younger people feeling about all of this? Are they buying into the cultists or are they realizing their vote is significant and they must vote these Republicans out of office?
I think there is reason for optimism there.
A study from Tufts University found that the youth vote increased by as much as 25% in 2020 when compared to 2016.
“ Our calculations, based on votes counted as of November 18, suggest that 52%-55% of voting-eligible young people, ages 18-29, cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election. Using the same methodology and data from a week after the election in 2016, we had previously estimated that youth voter turnout in 2016 was 42-44%.”
https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/election-week-2020#youth-voter-turnout-increased-in-2020
And it beggars belief that more than a small minority of those votes went Republican.
This is their future. They are clear on that.
I don’t know. I do read that kids of fundamentalists are disturbed enough by their parents’ hypocrisy in embracing TFG they are walking away from their religious upbringing.
I dread being a witness to the deadly results (all due to parental posturing) for children in Tennessee.
I was in elementary school in Dallas TX when the Sabin oral polio vaccine was distributed. According to news reports, the city of 900,000 residents at that time achieved a 90% vaccination rate over the course of just two weekends. That could never happen today. Today over 90% of deaths from Covid are people who have not been vaccinated. Republicans are literally willing to die to "own the libs."
In about 5th grade in the 1950s, there was a girl in my class a bit older than the rest, possibly from missing a school year who had an atrophied arm. I suspect that was from polio. We baby boomers who experienced all the “childhood diseases” the hard way also saw the remnants of Smallpox & Polio still active in the world.
I remember Billy who sat next to me grade school in the 50's had to walk with a leg brace after having polio.
Here's an idea: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, etc. for Democrats, mandatory doses of the good Dr. Leary's medicine for the GOP. Might be a game changer.
I think this is a brilliant plan. Biden should make this announcement: “I have heard from my friends across the aisle that they don’t want or need to be vaccinated. They feel that our vaccination program is intrusive. I am honoring their wishes. From now on, our vaccine programs will not include registered Republicans. We will only seek to vaccinate Democrats and independents.”
I imagine two reactions, both of which would be fun to watch. One, “How dare Biden leave Republicans to get sick and die!” which leads to a reply of, “So, you believe the vaccine is beneficial? That’s not what you’ve been saying.” Or two, stunned silence, leaving them nothing to complain about (vaccine-wise).
Major snark props to you this AM
Oh man….. that is a total shade fest. The fools would prob go for it.
Bring it ON!
Nice idea, but we might create an even bigger monster. I don't like imagining Ted Cruz on acid.
"Ted Cruz on acid". Now THERE'S a picture! Seriously, there is a lot of legitimate research being done at Johns Hopkins and other places on psychedelics in treating alcoholism, PTSD, depression and other ills. Check it out.
They aren't just handing out sugar cubes, of course; it's real scientific research, after all! 😎 Micro-dosing in conjunction with therapy/supervision is showing good results.
And this isn't new. It's what Leary and others were attempting to do decades ago. Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind gives a good history of this.
Pollan's book led me to some other sources, too. Now I've got his new one, "This is Your Mind on Plants", that I'm anxious to dig into, after I finish "Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex. and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind."
An acquaintance of, in his spiritual quest, did the ayahuasca retreats Pollan wrote about, and had positive results. Obviously not verifiable or quantifiable! Still, anecdotal testimonials are often helpful.
Love, love, love me some Michael Pollan. I've been reading his books for the last 10 years. 'How to Change Your Mind' is amazing and groundbreaking in its scope and breadth.
I was about to say that maybe when he comes back to earth he could be a changed man? 😁overly optimistic for sure!
Christy, he'd probably have to really leave Earth first. Many astronauts had their perspective totally changed by seeing the Earth from space. OTOH, I doubt even that would phase Cruz.
Or Mitch McConnell. Yeah, maybe you're right.
That would be a very scary trip to witness!
You mean there is another reason for his ‘sorry ass’ behavior?
Thanks for the chuckle this morning!
Hi Kathy. Humor is a good antidote to fear and loathing, not only in Las Vegas.
Ha!
Ohhhhhhh, indeed. In San Miguel de Allende, MX there is apparently a widespread use of hallucinogens to cure what ails you.
And, if it doesn't cure you, you don't care!
Yup!
My cousin contracted polio right before vaccine became available. His parents got him vaccinated. He's still here in his mid eighties today to talk about it.
Morning Lynell! A dear friend of mine, now approaching 70, grew up in the rural Midwest. He attended a birthday party for a 2 year old, and of 17 kids at that party, 15 came down with Polio. Research came out many years later that the reason for the Polio epidemic (at least in his corner of the world) came down to city water lines being installed around that time. No longer were the kids receiving homeopathic amounts of Polio from the environment (and probably well water), their water supply had been 'cleaned up' , thus the Polio outbreaks in the 40's.
Wow. Have never heard that. Daria.
What, hallucinogens in SMA? Yeah, its the hip, artsy, expat place to be. Never mind the fact that the State of Guanajuato is seeing and explosion of cartel related crime in the last couple of years. And it's too bad because the city of Guanajuato is one of the most vibrant visual and performing arts centers in the world, hosting the month long Cervantino every October.
I have been on every step you mentioned Ralph, and you are right this is insane. Ten years ago when I was a John McCain supporting Republican I would never have thought any of this was possible, now I pray 🙏 that the next several elections so thoroughly defeat the GOP that those with a brain come to their senses and the remnant fringe that remain, go howling off into the darkness where they belong. This nation needs a thorough restructuring to correct the many inequities that have been built in historically, it would be very helpful if we had a functioning 2 party system to help build it, if not we will build it without them. Thank god we have a president that is not insane.
I just thought of John McCain yesterday. What a gentleman. His legislative protocols are an example that is right there for Republicans to commemorate and follow.
I say a prayer every day that more than the few that there are will do so.
Wishful thinking, I’m afraid. Even with my rose colored glasses on, can I see that happening with what is left of this Republican Party. Remember the Lindsay Graham who John McCain called “ friend”?
But I think of retired Republican Sen Jeff Flake who Biden has announced for Ambassador to Turkey. Current Adam Kissinger…young and outspoken. Many retired Republicans who are not in office but important in the party. And they do not have to kiss any ring to keep that influence be cause they do not need former’s endorsement. Nor do they want it.
🤞🙏🏻
I take heart in Kevin McCarthy's remark recently that Biden is the president and was legally elected. Many in his party jumped all over him.
And yet he is meeting his leader in NJ today.
Dick, I wonder if former Republicans like you talking to current ones could help them see how the party isn’t the party it used to be. Have you spoken to any?
I have tried, I argued until I was blue in the face with my cousin, a man that I was very close to. To my everlasting shame I, like my cousin, voted for the insipid clown that was our president. I knew that we were in deep trouble from the day hestarted lying about the croud size for his inauguration, it was clear that he inspired only a fraction of the people that were motivated to attend Obama's event. I sent him countless, well thought out arguments that were all based on fact like the Jesuits tought me, only to get one or two word replies, or links to some lunatic conspiracy theory. I have been very vocal about my opposition to everything the insipid one stood for, I told him that you are on one side or the other in this, there is no middle ground, I truely believe that we are in a mortal battle for our democracy, I reminded him that Benjamin Franklin never again spoke to his son after he sided with the crown, his last reply to me was that I was no Benjamin Franklin, in that of course he was correct, but I aspire to have even a fraction of the courage and decency of our founders. I have done everything in my power to end that presidency and bring about a new senate. I'm still a member of the Lincoln Project and am proud of what we have done and will continue to do. I think that we have to get past the mid-terms and the next general election with decisive victories before we will have any time to breathe easily. Business relationships that I have had for decades are as strained as those with my cousin, I'm ok with that, maybe down the road they will have an awakening, I did, or maybe not, we might get to have a "what the hell were you thinking?" moment, I hope so. Today I write, it helps keep me sane as well as clearly formulate my thinking, this forum has been a blessing, I'm grateful to be part of this inspiring community, so thank you Marcy for your reply, it gave me food for thought.
Just to say thank you, Dick, for trying to talk with your Republican friends and cousin and for your work with the Lincoln Project. There's definitely something "wrong" with Republicans who refuse to acknowledge that DT is unfit for public office, to say nothing of the office of POTUS! He's unhinged and for them to continue to support him, tells me they are deliberately blind and willfully ignorant for reasons of their own. The best answer is to continue to speak the truth (Lincoln Project) and to get out the votes against his minions and him. Continue to overcome them time and time again in the voting booths. They must be beaten down b/c they will never be persuaded nor concede.
Your "courage and decency" are an example to others, even them ,although they wouldn't admit it, I'm sure. It sure is an encouragement to me to know there are courageous men and women like you willing and able to fight for our democracy! Thanks, again.
That's the thing, Ralph. Because vaccines ARE so effective, we no longer regularly see the evidence of what life was like without them. Same with the measles vaccines and anti-vaxers. They say, "Well, there aren't large measles outbreaks now, so why should I get my child vaccinated?" (I understand they believe all sorts of crap about the danger of the vaccines, as well, but that's a slightly different thing.)
Maybe it will take having some of these horrific diseases that have been conquered in the past come roaring back to wreak havoc, for Joe and Jill Six-pack to realize reality?
At the recent convention of Caucasian People Acting Crazy (CPAC), the invocation by a local megachurch "pastor" concluded, "And in the bible it says 'In he beginning, God created the heavens and earth.' That's all the science we need to know."
These people don't want to go back to 1850 - they want to go back to 1350.
There were already people--such as Roger Bacon and his students, among them William of Ockham who in turn taught John Wycliffe (from whom Martin Luther stole all his ideas)--in the 13th century who did not think that Genesis was reality. I suspect that even the Greeks were leery of Hesiod's Theogony as a presentation of reality. The "believe, don't think" crowd has been ever with us. But they didn't have Facebook and Twitter before this.
And the fact that theocrats have social media is what makes them doubly dangerous (Christian, Muslim, whatever).
Preach it brother!
I believe you.
Ralph, all excellent points.
Thank you! I wish we could bookmark comments on this forum.
The cult of dopey don is not concerned about the commonweal of all fellow citizens! Rather they prefer an autocratic despot who will eventually lead them “to the cool aid”!
They're already drinking the cool-aid in Tennessee and other southern states.
Folks might find this discussion on authoritarian cults in the US of interest. It’s This Sat. afternoon. Cost of a ticket is 0 to 25 dollars. Very interesting subject with some experts. Authoritarian Cults in America?
AUTHORITARIAN CULTS IN AMERICA? with the following speakers:
Steven Hassan, Ph.D. – leading expert on cults and mind control and the author of The Cult of Trump
Jon Atack – ex-Scientologist and author of several books including Opening Minds
David Weissman – former Trump cultist who has been bravely speaking out
James Cohen, Ph.D. – assistant professor of media studies at CUNY Queens College teaching social media and digital media literacies, with a focus on far right extremism
Becca Lewis – former researcher at the Data and Society Research Institute, co-author of Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online, and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University
Co-hosts:
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Ph.D. – leading historian at New York University, expert on authoritarians and their cults, and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
Bandy Lee, M.D., M.Div. – president of the World Mental Health Coalition, forensic psychiatrist and expert on dangerous personalities and street gangs, and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/authoritarian-cults-in-america-tickets-162916352195
How will Tennessee Schools (and all schools) deal with a more transmissible and more deadly Delta variant with no ( none under 12 years old yet) to low vax rates and no mask mandates?
This CDC report from an Oklahoma gymnastics gym informs us:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7028e2.htm
The true history of the polio vaccine is the that the vaccine was developed well after polio started to recede. As with all viral etc. pandemics, eventually they lose steam and then only a few cases are found every year. But big Pharma jumped in and said they saved people because of the vaccine. I doubt it.
I don't think that is the true story, Elaine. The drop in occurrence of Polio in the US was precipitous when massive vacinnations started. It wasn't going away on its own. No herd immunity was developing. Polio has been also been found in countries other than the US where health conditions favor it's emergence as a child killing disease. It has pretty much been eradicated world-wide through vaccination programs over the last 75+ years. The Gates foundation has been instrumental in establishing such vaccination efforts.. There are polio watches conducted by citizen groups (Kiwanis?) and WHO. I periodically get updates on the verified cases from friends who track these. A great success story. Their counts worldwide are between 0 and 1 new case per year. The vacinnation counters the health conditions folks still try to live in in developing nations. I don't know what your sources are.
The Salk vaccine came out in 1955, so 65+ years ago. I remember being given a dose on a sugar cube in elementary school. The Sabin vaccine was available in the early 60s. I got that one, too.
The March of Dimes was founded to fund research on polio prevention.
The University of South Florida opened in 1960. It was the first university to be designed for easy handicapped access. There are no steps at building entries and all buildings have elevators. During its first years the campus served many polio victims and they could be seen all over campus, walking with braces or crutches and in wheelchairs. Polio was a scourge and feared. There was absolutely no mention of even possible herd immunity, even when it hit almost every child in a small town.
Rotary International is the non-profit I was thinking of.
And better water treatment and delivery systems certainly aided the defeat of polio. But without the vaccine, because we're not committed to solid infrastructure in all parts of the country, there would always have been outbreaks and it would likely not have been eradicated completely.
Agree. Hot summer days in Central Illinois and standing water in the many unsuspected/uninspected private cisterns in small towns took a toll. Even at dad's parsonage.
Another blithering idiot heard from. Thanks for the reminder that the other species of hairless biped on the planet, Homo Sap, is all around us.
I’m simply stating what is said in medical books. I would think you might want to research it before you bashed another person for the information therein. So I guess you made your own case.
Elaine, this article may help inform you of the actual sequence of events. It is an interview with Jonas' son in which he addresses some of the information spread in the anti-vax literature. One particular point you should note is that Jonas never patented or made much money from his discovery. He gave the knowledge away and the good story continues about how science and men of good conscience work to solve problems despite erroneous "medical" opinion. There are many good sources to add with a simple google search. Had the vaccine come a few months before, my wife might not have spent part of her childhood in an iron-lung or lives now with the post-polio effects. I hope you rethink where you are getting your information. Best.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-anti-vaccine-movement-is-forgetting-the-polio-epidemic/381986/
Nailed it!
What you claim may be true. I don't feel it's worth my time to research. Let's say it's true that polio was receding anyway. At what cost in human suffering? If the vaccines had not been widely distributed, what would the cost have been in further debilitating cases with life-long disabilities?