After weeks of pleading with Americans to get vaccinated as Republican governors opposed mask mandates, ICUs filled up, and people died, today President Joe Biden went on the offensive.
About 18 months ago, I was fairly skeptical of Joe Biden being the Dem nominee. I knew well his experience with foreign policy (more than all of his competitors, combined--and yes, this IS in the president's wheelhouse as Head of State and Cdr in Chief), but could he beat Trump? And gosh, he's so old...
I realized in the month leading to the election how lucky we were. Since his inauguration, even more so. He's not perfect, but really, he's (mostly) struck the right tone at the right moments, had the right amount (and number) of focuses (people on the left have criticized some of the issues he HASN'T taken on yet. To those folks: whaddya say we stop the pandemic that's now killed as many people in 17 months as our CIVIL WAR did in 4 years? (look it up) And start fixing the thousands of bridges that're gonna fall? We'll get to you in a bit, okay?
And he's not afraid to punch people in the face once they've proven an impediment. I love it. His words--perfectly stated--say what most of us have thought for months. Good on him. I hope he makes more. Every simple-minded, Faustian-era conspiracy theorist can scream to the heavens (and will, without even a simple "thanks" afterward) but if it means we can get past this (oh, like we coulda-shoulda by now) who cares?
I read your comment which totally reflects my thoughts and opinions. I am baffled by people who are”concerned Biden is losing his mind”. His latest intervention on the pandemic is mind boggling. It is so right with impeccable timing. I think most of us are so fed up with these policies to protect the anti maskers of Abbot and DeSantis
I pointed out to someone recently that, while Trump routinely tries to poke at Biden's age, he's in fact only four years younger himself (he was surprised). No, he's definitely not losing his mind--in fact, I've been impressed with his strategic mindset, pace and messaging tenor. A lot. I DO think age is a factor, and no Biden's age isn't ideal (if he gets re-elected, he'll turn 87 before leaving office), but that's one "rule" there isn't a crime in bending (in an era when people are justifying any means for their "ideals").
I believe Biden’s age is his political superpower. What does he has to loose? Re-election? Of course he doesn’t care for re-election at his age. He is free to do and say whatever his moral compass tells him. Politicians are not so much immoral as they are slaves of the next election results
Presidents have two terms. Rather he is here one or two he is stepping up to the plate with action and working hard to combat the destruction our governors are doing to our citizens. It is shameful that they are willing to put our children at risk by not requiring masks in school. He is confronting this. I think you are underestimating his stepping up to the plate. In my mind he is leaving a legacy we can be proud of. He was not my choice of Democrats but I think he was the right choice for our country at this time.
His age means he's had a long lifetime of experience, likely meaning he's learned from his mistakes and better recognizes his weaknesses. (At least that's what I tell myself when looking at the stranger in the mirror.) Combine these qualities with his deep innate empathy and we have the right kind of leader at such a perilous time. Imagine dealing with a pandemic and trying to help a delusional cult that despises you avoid death and suffering.
In a sense, I agree, but there will be TREMENDOUS pressure on Biden to run again, esp. if Trump runs again. Lots of people conjecture about him "stepping down" and "letting VP Harris" become president. It doesn't work that way. The DNC will see this an an imperative; unless his health is failing, he will run again.
Maybe not re-election ? But he really loves, cares and takes pride in his family, years serving and last but not least our Country, I think his Son’s Legacy and his own are important to him, Has he made mistakes along the way ? They all have. You know/ we all know a Narcissistic Con’s life blood is the ‘Con’. If TFG stops he’s done for.Sucker born every 3 minutes. And boy do I know ! Any loyalty to him will be personal choice , Not Demanded.He will read the Briefs ! I’m good with our “ New and Improved Alternative Reality “.
Your words echo my thoughts. Initially, my thought was that at least he isn't TFG, but even knowing the depth of his experience, I worried about his age (the same as mine). I had it all wrong. He has performed amazingly, despite his age, and despite the morass he inherited. Now, if his mandate reduces the spread of Covid, and if he can take Manchin and Sinema to the woodshed and pass the infrastructure bills, then tackle voting rights, with the help of newly-energized AG Merrick Garland, he will not only have worked miracles, but also be able to overcome the loudmouthed, racist Rethuglican hordes at the ballot box.
President Biden's age needn't even be a factor when it is his insight, his experience, his learning and his concern for our country and its citizens that matter!
Yes hope we learned that it is important to have a President who has experience in government unlike the apprentice who had no relevant experience and has serious learning disabilities. I see how Joe’s experience in Congress has really made a huge difference. Even more than that a narcissistic sociopath should be disqualified. Biden has a conscience and empathy which needs to be a trait our President should have.
I’m with you Robert. I too had reservations about Biden at first, I worried that his age and his polite demeanor wouldn’t be able to match the sociopath currently residing in the White House at the time. I am pleased to know that he didn’t resort to playing the dirty tricks and manipulation game of the right, he took the high road and it paid off. Since his inauguration Biden has shown himself to be the right man for the job, and surrounded himself with a team of smart, experienced women and men, many of whom are smarter than he, he knows it and is not intimidated! Instead he sees the advantage, unlike his predecessor who was under the delusion that he was smarter than those around him—even as he hand picked a team of misfit puppets… I digress.
President Biden, while not perfect, is what presidential should look and sound like!
He and Kamala need to set a fire under the asses of Manchin, Sinema, Cortez and a few others before they ruin it all, allowing us to regress to the US in the 1950’s as the idjts would have it.
I believe our children bring many gifts if we’re paying attention and that Joe Biden was given some very special ones from his. Beau, guided well by his Dad, returned to our POTUS, increased strength and courage to hold onto what is right despite intense opposition. Every morning I awaken and give thanks to everyone who overcame difficult barriers to cast their vote for Joe Biden, saving us from the too frightening alternative.
Precisely my thoughts and feelings about President Biden, Robert McTague. Thank you for expressing them so clearly -- and with a nice sprinkle of sarcasm and wit.
I believe with 100% of my being that TFG would not have brought ‘Any’ Afghanistan supporters out .Releasing those 5K would have been part of my End Game or up them.Like closing the barn door after the horse got loose.Not i discussion with the Taliban ? If Ur spending all Ur time focused on a Loss of an Election. When do you find time to plan a withdrawal ?Most newly elected presidents have time from Election Day until an Inauguration to be briefed on TFG’s “ Deals “. Not this time, never have seen that in my whole lifetime .
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.”
“Today, the United States of America sued the state of Texas for acting “in open defiance of the Constitution” when it passed S. B. 8 and deprived “individuals of their constitutional rights.”
Finally, the federal government has been poked in the eye with sharp sticks often enough to do battle directly.
“There were other wins today for the Biden administration.”
True, I guess. But only if one is willing to entertain the loosest of definitions for “wins”.
Eric, I usually admire your analysis, but in this case, I think you're being too pessimistic. I like what Biden is doing, and not just because he isn't TFG.
I wrote a long paean to Biden a month or two ago. I think he has governed with rectitude and some force, and was of the same mind as you, that it was much more than him not being TFG.
I am certainly in favor of what he did vis-a-vis the vaccination front yesterday. But I am sickened and alarmed by the increasing boldness and inhumanity from the red states. It troubles me that we seem to be acquiescent (too strong a word) in the face of these moral outrages.
So his action feels late, but still worthy.
To describe it as a “win” and Garland’s action similarly was surprisingly ill-considered, coming from one whose judgment is so acute. It’s like declaring victory at the kickoff of a football game. The DOJ has, charitably, unclear standing in the Texas case. And the Administration will face a queue of lawsuits and duplicity en route to cornering the refuseniks.
But he is at last unequivocally in the battle and I am heartened by that.
I like his path and would like it more if I saw some more speed. But this is probably unjust - the pressures must be fearsome.
These times. Alberta, which is more like your 51st state and a red one at that, has just announced a $100 payment to all people getting vaccinated going forward. Their hospitals are cancelling elective surgeries of all sorts and the province has no mandates. And they’re paying people to get vaccinated. Should I be paid to wear a seatbelt? We are accepting moral turpitude.
And I feel like the skunk at the garden party.
Thank you for your point. A large part of me disagrees with myself. :)
Eric, I value your insights, and I've been frustrated often by what seems like inaction by Biden and DOJ. However, I've also observed that the fact that they're not constantly playing public defense doesn't necessarily indicate that they haven't formed a strategy. At issue in this country is, obviously, the fact that we are so divided. I believe that Biden is doing his best to not divide us further. He is doubtless hoping to engage those on the right who haven't fallen under TFG's thrall, and are not so hostile and wed to fascism that they're not salvageable or beyond forming actual policies beyond racism and authoritarianism.
I'm also hopeful that, because those who favor fascism, misogyny, and racism have been so bold, their behavior will be a tipping point for all but their acolytes. DeSantis, Abbott, and other extremists have allowed havoc in their states by mishandling of the pandemic, climate issues, voter suppression, and social hot-button issues that are not aligned with the will of the majority of people in this country.
I see all sorts of landmines in front of Biden, but if he's able to pass voting rights legislation and the infrastructure bills, and if his vaccine mandates help to derail Covid's blight, I think this country has a chance at healing.
Like you, I'd like more tangible results - immediately. However, considering that this pot has been simmering for over 50 years, perhaps that is too much to ask. The simmering pot, plus the current trend in today's political climate worldwide toward authoritarian government, is frightening, and must be viewed through the world-view lens. Anti-democracy is a plague everywhere. Even Canada is experiencing symptoms of our disease, encouraging anti-vaxxers and more conservative government.
Something that you wrote does puzzle me. You characterize Garland's action being "surprisingly ill-considered, coming from one whose judgment is so acute." Many commentators have hailed his stance, and analysis by legal experts has been positive. Garland has been roundly criticized up until now, in that he has been hesitant to denounce the right's actions. Could you please expand on your opinion of yesterday's announcement?
You're no skunk at the garden party. We welcome the intelligence that we see in our relative to our north.
Your analysis and the support you offer for it is brilliant. I must give sustained thought to it.
I think you are, in a clear-eyed way, pointing generally towards positive outcomes (not without setbacks).
I think I have flipped towards generally feeling that there will be negative outcomes and they should be faced sooner rather than later, so that if possible, the fever breaks.
In February I was decidedly optimistic (and running against the general spirit of opinion on the forum). I felt that the Republican position was hopeless. They had lost an election. backed the insane “steal” theory, we’re riddled with internecine strife, and were widely seen as culpable for the horror show of 1/6. My feeling was - how does a political force recover from sinking so deeply into an ocean of sickness?
Then I watched them surviving at first, then creating an alternate reality and then, wonder of wonders, beginning to thrive. It has been a stunning six months for me to absorb all this. I feel like I’m staring into the pit of madness.
The Biden game plan is indeed as you have described, and in a world that has not lurched into insanity, would be met with huge approbation, especially on this forum.
To me it has been rigid and ignored the changing landscape. There has been, in the past couple of months, an increasing sense of irrelevance despite the earnestness and excellence and daring of what they want to do.
The key pieces of legislation are estimable but hopelessly ensnarled in knots. It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.
Yesterday may have been a game changer. It certainly indicated a willingness to engage in a vigorous way with the tidal wave of irrationality gripping America.
I am a person who takes small things as harbingers of bigger truths and this trait may be weakening my position. The other day I watched video from Nebraska where a woman verbally assaulted a mask wearing mother and daughter. She followed them around the store berating them in a smiling, mocking tone, while coughing energetically in their direction. It struck me that there is no shame any more, that 10 years ago only a person with a severe certifiable mental illness would lose it to this extent.
Yesterday I read that she was fired from her job at SAP - clearly she must have some education. I was jubilant to be honest.
As for the DOJ, I feel that they are going up against a fiendishly clever law designed to be opaque to lawsuits because the government of Texas is ostensibly not the agent acting in these cases. Jeffrey Tobin, whom I respect, made a similar observation. (So I guess I thought I was smart there for a hot minute. :)
I’m any cases lawsuits take an inordinate amount of time and the Supreme Court has already planted a flag. So it feels like a grand gesture. And the clinics are closing. And the legislation is spreading.
You thoughtfully detailed your idea Eric, in response to Nancy's interest and a question she raised. I have a somewhat different take on a few points you made and wondered if I could appeal to your generosity for a bit more clarification.
1. You wrote, 'To me it has been rigid and ignored the changing landscape.' I gathered from this sentence that you were referring to Biden and his administration as being 'rigid'. That was not my impression. In the early months of his presidency, I thought Biden's efforts at 'bi-partisanship' futile and that he seemed unprepared or unwilling to counter the Trump/Republican offense. Other than that, I thought his goal of getting Americans vaccinated, focused and necessary.
2. Your wrote, 'There has been, in the past couple of months, an increasing sense of irrelevance despite the earnestness and excellence and daring of what they want to do.' Your sense of the public's attitude may not reflect the animosity on the right and, perhaps, a mixture of feelings for the rest. Until 'Delta', Biden's approval ratings were good. Might it instead be that most Americans were relieved by Biden's presidency rather than thinking it 'irrelevant'?
3. Your wrote, 'The key pieces of legislation are estimable but hopelessly ensnarled in knots. It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.' Getting legislation through the house and senate in the USA is often a very time consuming process, called 'sausage making'. What is your basis for believing that key pieces of legislation are '...hopelessly ensnarled in knots'?
Your desire for faster responses to the Republican Party's and extreme right's onslaught as well as quicker solutions to serious problems mirrors the wishes of many Americans. You get some pushback from me having lived through the seemingly endless process of getting important problems successfully addressed. Improving governance in the USA is imperative but so is responding to some who may be unrealistically rushing to judgement.
4. As to your statement, 'It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.' I believe here, you were referring to 'key' legislation. I think that passing one and, even better, both infrastructure bills would make a big difference in the 2022 mid-terms elections, boosting the Democrats' performance in some states. Those bills may win a number of elections. Most outstanding, passing one or two national voting rights bills would clearly have a big impact on voting access and election results. Why have Republicans been rushing to suppress voting access and the subvert of elections?
It is good practice for me to bat around differences of opinion with subscribers on the forum. I hope that is true for you as well. Thank you for your consideration. Eric.
Eric, you are reasonable to anticipate that negative outcomes can occur, and after the last five years, that has been the case. Temperamentally, my thought process functions like that. If I anticipate the worst and it doesn't occur, then I'm pleased. However, I do hope that Americans are bone-tired and ready for some peace and reason. If Biden can manage to enact his proposed legislation, I'm hopeful that the people who've lost hope will be able to see that things can be better, even those who've been voting against their own self interest. I know that, whatever the outcome, the extremism on the right will not die peacefully. Still, Biden's agenda will help the hopeless, provide jobs while improving our infrastructure, ensure that everyone can vote without obstruction, solidify women's rights, and improve our environment, although that will be a work in progress - no instant gratification there.
We still must deal with an overly-politicized Supreme Court, and overturn Citizens United and any other legislation that allows dark money into politics. Those objectives will be thorny, and there will be a great deal of dark money behind blocking them. I firmly believe that the military industrial complex is behind the drubbing that Biden is taking because of the exit from Afghanistan. $6 trillion over 20 years that will quickly dry up explains a lot about usually-liberal networks joining the cacophony.
I agree that there is a tremendous amount of hostility here, and it borders on insanity. Clearly, that has been simmering just under the surface, and I think TFG (I can't write his name) provided permission for it to erupt. I think that social media and faux news outlets have contributed to it as well. Yesterday, while waiting to check out at the pharmacy, the man ahead of me began to talk about Covid. He was masked, and said he'd been vaccinated (I didn't ask), but was holding forth that we'd have to wear masks forever, pointed out that my mask (multi-layered washable cotton) did no good, and pointed to others in line who were also wearing other than n-95 masks, calling them just germ-laden jokes (his was not an n-95). Seeing blinking red lights, I stayed quiet, until he asked when boosters were going to be available. Foolishly, I said "Dr. Fauci said," and he again erupted into a diatribe about "Crooked Fauci - you can't believe a word he says"-isms, "follow the money, he was giving Wuhan cash through the NIH," "it was spread on purpose." Luckily, the cashier called him to check out, and I beat a path to another register. If the ship is ever righted, maybe some of these angry people will be helped, but I'm not counting on that. For those who are politically motivated, there are 40 million more of us, so perhaps we can stifle some of it.
As far as AG Garland's statement, what I heard from several legal authorities (Neal Katyal and others whose names I've forgotten) said that DOJ's suit will put an immediate halt to the Texas law, and although it will be countersued, it would hold the line for now. Eventually, it will end up at the Supreme Court, which can be problematic, but SCOTUS didn't rule on it because it "wasn't presented properly" or words to that effect, and Garland's order would be presented in such a way that they'll have to deal with it, with no such smokescreen. His ruling compares it to Confederates enabling vigilantes - the KKK, which has been ruled to be unconstitutional, so that would do away with the premise that Texas is not the agent. Meanwhile, maybe the Biden administration can end all of this by codifying Roe. Even those who wouldn't rule on the Texas law all said during their congressional hearings that Roe v. Wade was "established law." I'm no legal scholar, but I tend to believe that Garland has the bona fides, and has been reticent in making statements he knows will be successfully challenged, so believes he's on solid ground in this. Anyway, Little Merry Sunshine is signing off for now. The outcome will probably fall somewhere in between our analyses. Even that would be an improvement over TFG.
As Bret Stephens and other Chicken Littles are bleating about the ‘failed’ Biden presidency, Heather documents that Biden is in firm command and is most presidential. He is addressing the anti-Vaxers, the no maskers, and such jerkish governors as DeSantis and Abbott head on. After launching a flank speed vaccination program, the Delta virus and the non-vaxed have delayed a swift economic recovery.
Using his presidential powers, Biden is implementing a sweeping assault on those who who are dilly dalling about curbing the pandemic. While some Republican ‘leaders’ and others are playing a dog-in-the-manger game, President Biden is forcefully imposing a national policy that is positive, immediate, and should provide swift results. That is what I call effective presidential leadership. Ditto with his riposte to the unconstitutional Texas abortion laws.
I find it most refreshing to have a president who is honest, empathetic, and who is fully committed to pursuing what best serves a vast majority of Americans. Every month he is trumping his predecessor.
Great comment! I kind of like how the right wing talks smack about President Biden being out of it. Let them keep underestimating him while he just does the work
Discussions here in Ohio about whether or not mandating vax for companies with > 100 employees is legal. Consider this: It is a brilliant strategy. Gives businesses who want to enforce vaccination but fear pushback an out. "I would never force you to get vaccinated, but it's the law. You HAVE to get vax'd or we'll get fined so much, we'll have to close down."
As the bodies are piling up in FL and TX and they are needing refrigerated trucks to hold them, it seems to me that the feds should park a few, maybe more than a few, in front of the governor’s mansions in any state that needs them. The hell with no parking zones, the federal government can park anywhere they want. That would focus the media and the public on the direct relationship between the occupants of both. Feel free to share that idea with anyone you want to.
Christopher, DeSantis’s ploy to downplay the disaster he created should be the headlines and lead stories across the entire US. It might show other state and local officials who do as he does that they should stop, eh?
Absolutely, now who will step up to bat and DO SOMETHING about Florida secreting away the numbers. Asking for a friend (my little sister is a public school teacher in Florida.)
I’m supposed to go to FL for a short golf trip in December. I am considering canceling. While I can be away from the general public, I’m still wary of the flights and I don’t want to go to to a state where people actually condone and stupidly follow an evil governor who advocates killing people ….which is what he is doing with his “policies”. And, God forbid I got hurt or sick ….. no hospital beds available.
More people should announce they are not vacationing in Florida! But, the masses (with unvaccinated kids) will flock to Disney World this winter and be encouraged to do so …. Disney and FL want the $$’s. Have to feed the machine.
Your going or not going may may not make much economic difference to Florida, but burning the fuel to get there may make a difference to the biosphere.
Florida stopped reporting death data by county in June. Case reporting has also become erratic which makes comparison with other states a bit of a problem. As the reliability of the data goes down the validity comes into question.
Again. Just as he tried to do last year at the hospitalizations and death rates ramped up. So he fired the person charged with tracking and releasing the data about Covid impacts in Florida.
Judith, hopefully he is digging his hole deeper and deeper. I have some friends who moved to Florida a couple of years ago. They are now somewhat seriously thinking it’s time to leave DeSantis’s Swamp.
Any State declaring or inducing Federal Law to be invalid in their State is effectively declaring secession and should be dealt with accordingly. The primacy and universality of Federal law must be upheld. Any legislature passing such a bill and governors who sign on to them should be recalled and new elections held under Federal rules, districting and control.
That's what I thought. OK, you don't want Federal laws, well then no Federal $$$. Most "red" states have more $$$ flowing in than out. Cut 'em off at the pass.
Some states are turning into fiefdoms. If the average person does not have recourse to a higher authority than the local strongman, they don’t have a country. It’s beginning to look like Biden is playing Richard the lion-heart to trump’s king John and Abbott’s sheriff of Nottingham.
Also in the news today, LA School District is the first to mandate vaccinations for all students, staff, and administrators.
This made me proud to be an American today, as well as President Biden’s speech in support of Public Health, common sense, and the increased effort made to end this Pandemic for America, and the world. Generally a good day for humanity.
Joe Biden is demonstrating....oh, whadyacallit......oh yeah, leadership. Remember leadership? Faced with a common threat, leaders, from tribal to national, marshal available forces to defeat the common threat.
And HCR makes a valid point about the political repercussions for Biden and congressional Democrats as they push back against common threats, political and biological, to the nation's wellbeing. One might even be cautiously, very cautiously, optimistic about the coming midterm elections. If the Republicans maintain their destructive course, the Democrats might buck history and pick up some seats. It would require that enough Democrats and independents disgusted with Republicans take the time and effort to get over and around newly enacted impediments to voting thrown up by Republican state legislatures, but they might just be mad enough, and/or scared enough, to do just that.
My delegate in VA is a Republican who showed up on 1/6 to demand Pence invalidate Biden's win. He is up for reelection this coming November. I am working toward his defeat.
And they localize. I used them for the CA recall elections. Sent 50 in a week. My hands were not happy! I could only do 3-4 at a time but spaced out during a day, they added up.
I’m also sending postcards but mine are for NJ (though i live in VA) and they’ve asked me not to mail them until 10/25. That concerns me as mail delivery is not what it used to be. I was contacted by “PostcardsToSwingStates” or Progressive Turnout Project. I’ll send postcards to any state I’ve been asked to but perhaps I should look into another organization. Last year I wrote very specific messaging to vote for Warnock in GA but this go round my messaging is basically to be a VOTER! Go to VotingMatters.org for polling locations and hours. Nothing about voting BLUE. 🤷♀️
Not extinct, but I do wonder if they have lost more voters with their anti vaccine/mask insanity than the more Democratic cities that were hit hard due to density during the initial pre-vaccine waves. I’ve been wondering about the aftermath of the Sturgis motorcycle rally. I haven’t seen any articles about a related outbreak this year. Maybe most of them were actually (secretly?) vaccinated?
Hey, Danielle. This paragraph is imbedded in the article posted below: "That's what makes Sturgis an important test. If it had gone off without big spikes in COVID cases, it would have provided strong evidence that this level of population immunity — around 75% — would allow us to get back to the way we did things in 2019. But unfortunately, that's not what happened. In the weeks since the rally began in early August, infection numbers have shot up more than 600% in South Dakota."
Thanks, Lynell. I did see an article a week or so ago about a spike of infections in the Sturgis-area population but Newsday won't let me read the article you posted as I'm not a subscriber.
District 1 here... what’s sad is that pre TeaParty he was an okay guy. Saw him often as my husband delivered his PAC checks from UPS. Now he’s just a right wing mouthpiece trying to hold his seat. He joined the Texas lawsuit FFS.
Abigail Spanberger is our Member of Congress. We fought hard to get her elected last time and we are probably going to have to fight even harder this time. Any and all assistance would be deeply appreciated.
Now that's what I'm talking about. There might be enough sane people in VA to do it. Unfortunately, my sister up there isn't one of them. We wish you success Lynell! Throw the whole house at him!
Thank you, Gus! Sorry to hear about your sister. Paul Siker is running against him. I have been donating to Paul's campaign since early spring and telling everybody to VOTE for him! Virginia has a goodly supply of R's, some more radical than others. What makes it considered blue are the populous cities who have more D's. Sound familiar?
I'll say it again. I think that the Abbott's, DeSantis' and the like have overplayed their hand. They are cementing support from 15-20% of the population and alienating about 40%. Not good odds. And if they keep it up and get more bizarre every day it will only get worse for them. This may be the end of the modern (Reagan) Republican party.
I donate small amounts to many campaigns, focussing on Get Out The Vote campaigns. I keep the donations flowing every month. I just reviewed my ActBlue account for recurring donations and deleted two duplicates (I guess I got excited).
Actually, if I decided to re-jigger my donations, I'd keep the local campaigns, which tend to be starved of cash. Plus a small amount going to a local campaign matters more than that same amount going to a high-profile national campaign.
ActBlue is pretty obvious about begging for recurring donations. If you read the screen carefully, you'll know when you're making a one-time donation and when you're making a recurring donation.
Thanks, Bob. I too have been making self-recurring donations. I fear getting "trapped" by signing up to have it done automatically.
What you said about contributing to local campaigns makes sense. But the list is long for supporting everybody we need to unseat the R's in office and keep the seats for the D's that are already in office. I'm inundated with lots of emails for practically all of them! I guess the best thing to do is to set up your own personal budget and stick to it.
"Those Republican lawmakers furious at the new vaccine requirements are possibly less worried that they won’t work than that they will." And, I love it that Biden said he wants to "just get them out of the way." DeathSantis is trying to fool his citizens by no longer publishing daily numbers. Another nail in his political coffin as people can't be fooled. As someone on Nicole Wallace said yesterday...."DeSantis is not known for his deep self-awareness." HA!
Last night I attended a Zoom meeting hosted by Indivisible of Florida. The guest speaker was Rebekah Jones, the data scientist that was fired after creating the COVID dashboard, and who had police come to her house and point guns up the stairs at her kids. She has been granted whistleblower status and, boy, did she have a lot to say about DeathSantis. This man is a despicable excuse for a human being and wants nothing more than to cover up what is happening in Florida. And already he is mouthing off at President Biden’s plan as being “coercion “.
If Floriduh Governor DeSantis were an opponent of masking mandates or required vaccinations because of the hollow illogical reasons the gullible accept as justification for their positions, his actions would be more understandable. But his educational background (Yale undergrad degree, Harvard Law) suggests he is capable of knowing better. That he takes these positions anyway leaves no alternative other than to describe him as an inherently bad person, politically motivated, with no consideration whatsoever for others. If it fits into one’s religious beliefs, he might even be considered a disciple of the Devil, who is currently wielding his Covid19 weapon against humanity, with the help of those like DeSantis.
I sympathize with you. I am in a very conservative part of CA and I have such a hard time with this topic. One thing that has come to my attention is the idea that people who fly the flag, so to speak, are low information voters who are in fact “angry”. They are, in some cases, rightfully angry and feel powerless. Our government has made a multitude of missteps that has led to a deep distrust of the government above and beyond what they may have already been susceptible to. This makes them more responsive to “click-bait” style politicians and to the conspiracy theory internet universe. These voters will openly admit that they don't really know what they are talking about but they feel like these people are speaking directly to them and that is good enough for them. Once I spend some time thinking about it I have to treat these people like drug addicts; keeping them at arms length, protecting myself but also realizing that these people are suffering too. They may be on the wrong side of history but, they are not going away either.
The US is divided because 60% of its white voters refuse to support a party that doesn’t support preserving the advantages that white Americans have over those with non-European ancestors. Compromises with that white contingent on that issue has preserved the division since 1789. We now have a slim window to put a stop to it, but that requires getting out the vote in 2022 and 2024. Not compromise or persuasion. There’s not enough time for that, and losing in 2022 makes autocratic white rule for the foreseeable future a likely outcome.
Because so many people are ruled solely by emotion, the mind must be engaged. I've usually tried to trust my gut instinct, and my analysis is that it is a combination of intellectual and emotional. It has served me well.
Perhaps God, Jesus and/or Lady Karma will treat Governor DuhSantis to delta Covid-19 at its finest. The ambulance taking him to the nearest ER has 4 flat tires at the same time, when the back up ambulance finally arrives and gets him to the ER, it is so full that a line is waiting around the block and all beds in that hospital are full and sick patients are lying side by side in ward hallways. So, a helicopter is called to take Governor Duh to another hospital, which is in the same shape as the first hospital. As are all other Tallahassee hospitals, and every hospital in the Florida Panhandle and elsewhere in Florida. So, the helicopter takes Governor Duh to Mar-a-Lago, where heavily-armed U.S. Secret Service forces and highly-paid mercenaries prevent Governor Duh from leaving the helicopter. The helicopter then flies to Havana and is shot down by Russian Migs as it enters Cuban airspace.
That's where God, Jesus and Lady Karma might have their say.
I have a Republican friend, who once served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and saw intense jungle combat. Although he voted for Donald Trump, he told me the January 6 Capitol rioters should have been shot. He did not way Trump also should have been shot, which I think he should have been.
My friend has a daughter, who is a physician in a southern red state hospital. He told me this morning that his daughter and other doctors in the hospital are having serious moral struggles treating unvaccinated Covid-19 patients. The ones with with already existing serious medical are the ones who usually die.
My friend said it looks to him like Darwin's selection of the species.
I agreed, and said it also looks like tempting God and fate, and suicide. Why should I care about them, if they are culling themselves? Why should they be allowed into hospitals where they take beds away from and put at risk patients who do not have Covid-19?
I bet if hospitals stop accepting unvaccinated Covid-19 patients, that would turn the anxi-vaxxer nation upside down and inside out and every which a way but loose.
Imagine Governor DuhSantis catching the mu variant and not being allowed into a hospital.
As I see it, the problem with Darwin's selection process is that many of us who are vaccinated and behave responsibly are vulnerable to their recklessness and ignorance.
What I find ironic is that after the moronic Sarah Palin and other Repugnants dramatically predicted that the ACA would produce "death panels" where granny would be ignored because she was old, in favor of patients who had better survival prospects, here we are watching bright red Idaho, with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, faced with rationing care! My, my, my - imagine those brilliant right-wingers faced with a disaster of their own making. Karma is such a b**ch.
Sociopath: a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience (Dictionary.com).
Exactly! The Rethugs have been criticizing Biden because of the Covid spread, although most of the wildfire is attributable to their own adherents. They intend to weaponize it, and in Georgia, Brian Kemp is promising to fight Biden's mandate with everything in his power to beat down "this overreach." Kemp has refused mask mandates, sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for enacting a mask mandate, and tried to straddle the fence on vaccines - all to keep the Trumpies from running him out of town on a rail. As a result, Georgia is currently tied with Florida in Covid cases. Of course, he's terrified that Biden's mandate will work.
Glory be!!! This was a powerfully uplifting Letter. I laughed with joy and applauded all points. President Biden "is the bomb!" as my students used to say. In one fell swoop, President Biden has dramatically enhanced the well-being of this nation. I am so glad I waited to read Heather's Letter about how Biden went on the offensive. I process written words easier than spoken words, and I have the luxury of re-reading the Letter any time I want to feel good.
[From the "Damn! Krugman Nails It Again" department]
Foreign Terrorists Have Never Been Our Biggest Threat
By Paul Krugman
<snip>
It may seem like a terrible thing to say, but a fair number of people — especially in the news media — are nostalgic about the months that followed 9/11. Some pundits openly pine for the sense of national unity that, they imagine, prevailed in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. More subtly, my sense is that many long for the days when the big threat to America seemed to come from foreign fanatics, not homegrown political extremists.
But that golden moment of unity never existed; it’s a myth, one that we need to stop perpetuating if we want to understand the dire current state of American democracy. The truth is that key parts of the American body politic saw 9/11, right from the beginning, not as a moment to seek national unity but as an opportunity to seize domestic political advantage.
And this cynicism in the face of the horror tells us that even at a time when America truly was under external attack, the biggest dangers we faced were already internal.
Belligerence and obstinacy have become the trademarks of the Republican Party. As an Independent, I have strived to keep a "balance" between the two political parties. However, Republicans have been digging their hole of tyranny and treachery more deeply with each passing day, week and year. Their in-your-face intransigence causes me to wonder if they are totally bereft of any humanity at all.
I have become increasingly angered at the fact there are so many anti-vaxx belligerents now taking up residence in hospital beds because they refused to get vaccinated. Cruel, perhaps, but I firmly believe they should stand in line behind those who really need that hospital bed and/or that ventilator. Let them suffer the fate they have brought upon themselves.
The dissension and contentiousness that crisscrosses the U.S. today compels me from time to time to simply go to "ignore". The right wingers are sucking all the good oxygen out of lives that are intended to be enjoyed. We can too easily be swept into their dark and sinister vapor.
The framework within which the latest-reported nineteen Republican governors work is anti-human. Their bold step to deny the requirement for vaccinations speaks volumes about their Draconian mindset. Their tribe of evil embraces all that is wrong and soulless, and that evil has become a dark pall across our land.
Knowing some innocents who have died needlessly, I don't view your comment as "cruel" at all:
"I have become increasingly angered at the fact there are so many anti-vaxx belligerents now taking up residence in hospital beds because they refused to get vaccinated. Cruel, perhaps, but I firmly believe they should stand in line behind those who really need that hospital bed and/or that ventilator. Let them suffer the fate they have brought upon themselves."
Thank you! I apologize for my delayed response. I saw your comment just today. Some folks may think it heartless to be so totally indifferent to the plight of the vaccine deniers. But, their belligerence is an in-your-face middle finger to the rest of us.
"Their in-your-face intransigence causes me to wonder if they are totally bereft of any humanity at all." I no longer wonder. They have gone full Nazi.
Their selfish hubris has convinced them that they have no need or requirement to consider the society as a whole. They are the community of "self"; not the community of "us".
"The right wingers are sucking all the good oxygen out of lives that are intended to be enjoyed."
This!
I continue to enjoy myself. That is central to my life. It also makes me stronger and more resilient. I enjoy good company, good surroundings, art, literature food & wine, (did I mention Fashion Week yet?)
For my entire life I have see other who get consumed by their own hatred.
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday after returning her Corgi mix pup. Daisy likes to come visit me and my dog and wiggled under the fence when she spotted us out in the yard.
Sheri is a Trump style Republican who watches Fox News assiduously. She was also incredibly kind and helpful last year when my husband was dying of ALS. i asked how she was doing, not expecting much of an answer - and spent the next twenty minutes listening to a litany of problems that would overwhelm the strongest among us. Because I’d lived through and experienced some similar things, I actually could help a little so I did. Some days, helping your neighbor is the most important thing.
Last February, we talked briefly about the January 6th insurrection. Sheri spouted the usual BS and I kicked myself roundly for giving her that opening. Yesterday, I saw a very different person, one that I could relate to and help.
Listening to Biden yesterday made me smile. Anyone getting in DeSantis’s face with facts, including the fact that Florida is manipulating death statistics around Covid, and needing to rent refrigerated morgue trucks-from the feds-deserves all the public shaming and criticism we can heap on him. That governor should be tried for murder- yes murder.
This weekend, I will be selling my art at a fine art fair here in Minnesota. The weather will be near perfect, the promoters have strong Covid protocols and requirements, and I have good inventory. If it translates to good sales, I will have more money to donate to the causes near and dear to me- solutions to the climate crisis, voting rights, and a woman’s right to manage her own health, reproduction and future. I will also donate to my candidates of choice. Any other ideas? Are there credible candidates to oppose Abbott or DeSantis? Those boyz are giving me a headache. Any Advil candidates worth noting?
Sheila, It was very fortunate for me, after technical difficulty getting through to the forum, that it was your comment, which I read after one or two others. I had been thinking of an enemies list comprised of the DeSantis' in government doing what they can to harm constituents for their own power as well as to defeat every effort that Biden makes towards the welfare of the American people. My temperature rose, even when writing those words.
You offer us something more. The one-to-one richness that come from working together and caring for one another. You and your neighbor, Sheri, are a lesson. It is a blessed one.
Now, you asked our suggestions for 'Advil candidates (a splendid label) worth supporting. I found a few possibilities. Another good idea -- 'Friends of the People' lists for candidates who will work for our welfare as dedicated public servants.
'Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has been very critical of Governor Ron DeSantis, and she’ll have even more of a chance to question his leadership as she tries to unseat him.'
'U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 2010, hasn’t yet said if he plans to seek reelection in 2022. Even so, a hefty number of Wisconsin Democrats are clamoring for the opportunity to run against him — or whoever Republicans choose in his absence.'
'Twelve candidates have filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission so far to compete in the Democratic primary for the seat, which will be held in August 2022. The candidates include Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, Wausau physician Gillian Battino, former state Senate candidate Adam Murphy, Milwaukee alder Chantia Lewis, state emergency management director Darrell Williams and activist Steven Olikara'.
That field has narrowed. Wisconsin is a good state to find a sterling Democrat for the US senate.
'In 2022, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will be running for a full term after winning a partial term in 2020. He’s raised $5.9 million in the most recent quarter and has $7.6 million on hand. The GOP field to take on Kelly is evolving, but it’s expected to produce fireworks stemming from the aggressive, pro-Trump posture of the state Republican Party and the ongoing “audit” of the election pushed by allies of Trump.'
In Georgia
Warnock, like Kelly in Arizona, must run again in 2022 after winning a partial term last year. And Warnock, like Kelly, has posted impressive fundraising numbers, raising more than $7 million in the first quarter and reporting $10.5 million in cash on hand.'
The Keystone State has been a political battleground every campaign cycle in recent years, and 2022 should be no exception.
'The governor’s office is coming open after being held for two terms by Democrat Tom Wolf. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is expected to be the prohibitive favorite for the nomination. The GOP field is unsettled and includes former Rep. Lou Barletta and several other local Republican officials and legislators. The Democrats start with an edge, but if the Republicans can nominate a candidate with centrist appeal, the general election could become more competitive.'
The Senate race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey starts off as more compelling. The Democratic field includes several credible candidates, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, Montgomery County Commission Chair Val Arkoosh and moderate Rep. Conor Lamb. The GOP field includes Trump-backed veteran Sean Parnell (who lost to Lamb in 2020), developer Jeff Bartos (who lost to Fetterman in 2018) and former Trump-nominated Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands.'
“There is likely to be a high degree of synergy between the Senate and gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania next year,” Christopher Borick, a Muhlenberg College political scientist, said in an email. “The broader political climate and high polarization are likely to limit the ability of candidates to distance themselves from their parties, and thus force unified messaging and campaigning by the candidates. This may be even more the case if the GOP nominees are both fully immersed in the Trump wing of the party, allowing Democrats to try and attach the Republican nominee to Trump's baggage."
Geez, Sheila B, you sound like just the kind of person I'd delight in meeting for lunch once or twice a month -- dog-loving; compassionate with Faux-News-addled neighbors; familiar with some of life's darkest, heaviest lessons; artistic; supporter of important causes -- an overall average HCR reader and commenter! Isn't this forum a soul-refresher?!! If you're ever in the Philadelphia area ... !
I love the phrase, “soul -refresher”! Exactly what I find here. And thanks for the kind compliment- I’ve never been to Philly- would be a walk through some really meaningful and important history and great to have lunch with a fellow LFAAer!
Has HCR written about the Second Amendment? I need it explained to me, explained as if I were a kindergartner.
First, some definitions; here is the amendment, in its entirety: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."
And here is the definition of a militia: "1) a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency, 2) a military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities in opposition to a regular army, 3) all able-bodied civilians eligible by law for military service".
Using only the first and second definition of 'militia', please explain how what we do here in the States -allowing everyone to have a gun- is a 'military force'? I understand 'military force' to mean there's training, meetings, and regulations, at the very least. There's little to none of that in the States. That's my confusion about that.
If one were to use the third definition of 'militia', the words 'eligible by law' stand out. As do the words 'able-bodied'. Is there not some wiggle-room in the wording to allow for laws limiting gun ownership in those words?
And then I question the words, "necessary to the security". Are they still necessary? My dad argues with me that Americans having weapons in their homes was the reason we were not invaded during WWII. Ok, but is that still true today?
I understand the SC and legislatures don't just do a quick Google-search for dictionary definitions; that's why I'm asking for this amendment to be explained to me.
Every single day when I send my two high schoolers off to school, I worry if today is the day there will be a shooting. Every day when my husband leaves for work, I worry if today is the day there will be a shooting. Every.single.day.
When we were under quarantine last year, and then again when my children chose to do remote learning for the 20-21 school year, I cannot tell you what it was like to have that worry-burden lifted. Sure, there were other worries (would my husband be laid off? how much would my kids' education suffer?), but at least I didn't have the anxiety of them being shot.
When I think of the Founders, I wonder how many of them had cannons (the only equivalent I can think of to the modern, powerful weapons we have today) in their homes. I wonder how they would have felt if their neighbors had had pointed cannons at homes, places of work and worship, schools.
This trajectory of more and more guns cannot be sustained. And when it ends, it will be bloody.
Unfortunately, the 2nd Amendment was expanded by the decision of DC vs Heller (below) to include the right to “bear arms” for personal protection (which was never the intent of the 2nd amendment). Heller vs. DC was not intended to mean no gun control - or, so they say. However, we now essentially have unfettered gun ownership of the most deadly of weapons. 4 year olds go through “active shooter” drills in preschool for crying out loud. Listen to inner city mothers talk about the death count and devastating long term impact on the Black and Latino communities. It is a disgrace and IMO as much of a stain on this country as slavery. Guns have destroyed the lives of so many and should be considered another man made (and it is a guy thing) disaster.
I wanted to come back to this and thank you for your response. The SC decision you linked was the 'missing link' I needed. Thank you for taking the time to find and send that.
Historically, the REASON for the 2nd Amendment was to protect an existing institution, the so-called "slave patrols" that existed in the slave states to put down slave uprisings. These were, in fact, well-ordered local militias with mandatory service of (white, male) citizens, with exemptions for certain professions (ministers, officials). When the Constitution was drafted, the South feared that their slave patrols would be absorbed into the Continental Army, and demanded the second Amendment.
The nonsense that has grown up around that, due largely to the National Rifle Association, is exactly that: nonsense. What I always ask the "defenders of the nation" with their personal arsenals is: "Do you know how your Commanding Officer will contact you if there is a need for your service?" It's a mind-blowing question for most of them. But... but... no, they are "free citizens." They're not in any stinking "army." So it raises the question of how, if the Nazis were to arrive in force, the armed citizens will know to kick off their man-slippers and come out shooting. They seem to have some romantic notion of booted soldiers coming to their door, ringing the bell, and asking for their "papers," I suppose, giving them time to assess the situation, slam the door, go fetch their gun from the gun safe, find the ammunition and load it, then come back to the door to find the soldiers just standing there, patiently waiting to be shot with a surprised/dismayed look on their faces, regretting their decision to accost an armed "free citizen" in the US.
Re your brilliant comment: "They seem to have some romantic notion of booted soldiers coming to their door, ringing the bell, and asking for their "papers," I suppose, giving them time to assess the situation, slam the door, go fetch their gun from the gun safe, find the ammunition and load it, then come back to the door to find the soldiers just standing there, patiently waiting to be shot with a surprised/dismayed look on their faces, regretting their decision to accost an armed "free citizen" in the US.
It's seriously stupid."
A Marine friend's perspective bears sharing: if the dreaded government is going to "come after you," you won't even know it because you'll be dead before you have time to blink. These "seriously stupid" idiots seem not to realize that when the National Guard arrives, terrorist are stopped in their tracks and put out of business. The military might of highly trained, focused soldiers armed with rocket propelled missiles, drones, and what have you is instant, powerful, and deadly. Those armed fool "citizens" have absolutely no ability to counter such a force.
My husband and I just finished having lunch. Our conversation aligned precisely with your Marine friend's opinion that "you'll be dead before you have time to blink".
Mischele, I ask myself all of those same questions frequently. As for your father's assertion that the Japanese did not attack mainland US because private citizens had guns? That's nonsense. Apparently though, some people actually believe it. From a 2013 HNN article.
"Ed Emery, Republican representative to the Missouri state legislature from Lamar, MO. In a video produced last April, Rep. Emery said:
"We know in a historical context that Japan was considering an invasion on the land mass of the United States of America, but they were afraid to, and the reason they were afraid to [is] because they knew that every American is armed. And although they were not afraid of our armies, they were afraid of our citizens.""
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! Everybody here should know by now how much I LOVE JOE. I have memorabilia to prove it. So it is in that spirit that I present the following. (I, too, have been confused by the messaging we have been receiving by our WH, the CDC, and whoever else controls the vaccine/masking narrative):
If you are not familiar with this takeoff on the old Abbott and Costello routine, just remember this when you get to the last line.
“Who’s on first, what’s on second, and I don’t knows on third.”
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO’S ‘WHO’S BEEN VACCINATED?’🤣🤣
Bud: ‘You can’t come in here!’
Lou: ‘Why not?’
Bud: ‘Well because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But I’m not sick.’
Bud: ‘It doesn’t matter.’
Lou: ‘Well, why does that guy get to go in?’
Bud: ‘Because he’s vaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But he’s sick!’
Bud: ‘It’s alright. Everyone in here is vaccinated.’
Lou: ‘Wait a minute. Are you saying everyone in there is vaccinated?’
Bud: ‘Yes.’
Lou: ‘So then why can’t I go in there if everyone is vaccinated?’
Bud: ‘Because you’ll make them sick.’
Lou: ‘How will I make them sick if I’m NOT sick and they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘But they can still get sick.’
Lou: ‘So what the heck does the vaccine do?’
Bud: ‘It vaccinates.’
Lou: ‘So vaccinated people can’t spread covid?’
Bud: ‘Oh no. They can spread covid just as easily as an unvaccinated person.’
Lou: ‘I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Look. I’m not sick.'
Bud: ‘Ok.’
Lou: ‘And the guy you let in IS sick.’
Bud: ‘That’s right.’
Lou: ‘And everybody in there can still get sick even though they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Certainly.’
Lou: ‘So why can’t I go in again?’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘I’m not asking who’s vaccinated or not!’
Bud: ‘I’m just telling you how it is.’
Lou: ‘Nevermind. I’ll just put on my mask.’
Bud: ‘That’s fine.’
Lou: ‘Now I can go in?’
Bud: ‘Absolutely not?’
Lou: ‘But I have a mask!’
Bud: ‘Doesn’t matter.’
Lou: ‘I was able to come in here yesterday with a mask.’
Bud: ‘I know.’
Lou: 'So why can’t I come in here today with a mask? ….If you say ‘because I’m unvaccinated’ again, I’ll break your arm.’
Bud: ‘Take it easy buddy.’
Lou: ‘So the mask is no good anymore.’
Bud: ‘No, it’s still good.’
Lou: ‘But I can’t come in?’
Bud: ‘Correct.’
Lou: ‘Why not?’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But the mask prevents the germs from getting out.’
Bud: ‘Yes, but people can still catch your germs.’
Lou: ‘But they’re all vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Yes, but they can still get sick.’
Lou: ‘But I’m not sick!!’
Bud: ‘You can still get them sick.’
Lou: ‘ So then masks don’t work!’
Bud: ‘Masks work quite well.’
Lou: ‘So how in the heck can I get vaccinated people sick if I’m not sick and masks work?’
I’ve grown to really, really appreciate Joe. He’s playing the long game and displaying courage in facing down relentless negative media. At 80, Biden has a lifetime of experience. I’m rooting that Dems get their act together and support this narrow window of opportunity. ❤️🤍💙
The skit above is cute but it misses the entire point of vaccinations and masking by ignoring the term “mitigation” and instead relying on absolute “black and white/either or “ statements
Vaccines MITIGATE the spread of the virus to minimize the number of transmissions
Thats the point. Reduce the number transmissions
Refusing admission to the unvaccinated is the consequence of continuing to be a hot vector
Morning Lynell. Je l'adore. I recognize very clearly the on-going logic and coherence of the situation!....and it gives me a new appreciation of these two.
As I understand it Stan wrote and directed most of the shows while Hardy went off every afternoon to play golf ⛳️. He was a comedic genius and also a craftsman who made a lot of people laugh 😂
And of course the over-educated, under-intelligent, otherwise-unemployables of the DC Press Corpse are all going "can he do that?" Dumbasses can't go read Washington's message at Valley Forge, the 1905 Supreme Couut ruling that the government can in fact require vaccinations, or manage to remember all those vaccinations they got back in school. So much for "democracy dies in darkness."
“DC Press Corpse”. Perfect. Nailed it again TC. I’m so frustrated with the “dirty laundry.... get the widow on the set” reporting both in print and *ahem* CNN.
I am baffled by the people who refuse to take the vaccine. I think at this point I have heard every excuse to not take it. Although practically no excuse rings valid. The company where my partner works is very laissez-faire about enforcement of COVID-19 protocol. In return they constantly have active cases of COVID-19 and the variant. They respond by sending out a company email out to everyone's phone with a canned letter saying someone within the company has tested positive for COVID-19 and "we are doing everything to rectify the situation ". Translation, we are doing absolutely nothing to follow protocol.
I'm hoping that President Biden's enforcement of vaccinations or testing of employees for employers with 100 + employee companies will force these slugs to actually do something to protect the employees and their families.
Ron and I are pretty well resigned to the probability that although we are fully vaccinated, will get a variant because of other people's defiant choice.
Here is hoping the enforcement of the vaccinations will take effect swiftly. 🍷
Linda, that is truly awful. Have you also heard about the school where the kindergarten teacher was COVID positive, exposed all the students, and the school didn’t say anything? Somehow the “grapevine “ alerted the parents. I’m sorry I don’t have the link but if I find it I’ll post it later unless someone else has it.
Annette, no I haven't. It makes me wonder how many other cases there are that we won't hear about. I was in a drug store over the summer and overheard 2 employees talking about how they both had COVID-19 earlier in the year and neither would tell their employer because they didn't want to lose hours at work. One boasted that she only had to lose 4 days of work, but she came right back as soon as she could. The other girl said, "oh I know, I only lost 2 days. Because, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I asked "are you sure you had COVID-19 and not just the flu?" They both proudly proclaimed that yes, we were tested but we don't have to tell our boss.
That teacher was in Marin County in CA not far from where I live. It is unconscionable to me that these unvaccinated teachers exposed their young scribes to this virus! Selfish!
For what it's worth, Americans should know that the phenomenon of no-vax, no mask citizens supported by the extreme Right (the insurrectionist Right? the vigilante Right? the racist right?) is, unfortunately, not unique to the USA.
Here in Italy there continue to be rowdy, well-attended (I wouldn't say "mass") anti-mask/anti-vaccine rallies and demonstrations which, though they include every sort of conspiracy-theory-motivated citizen including some very green and organic folks who are generally pretty far left on most issues, appear to be organized largely by the political Right. For you Italophiles, this includes the parties known as The Brothers of Italy and the League -- formerly the Northern League) representing roughly 40% of Italians according to recent polls.
Also, despite some early supply issues and negative press regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine (similar to the J&J in the US) which has turned out to be highly effective at preventing Covid hospitalization and death, Italy has now fully vaccinated 63% of the population, enough to make a huge difference, but not enough to eliminate the Delta variant or really end the health crisis. Does this sound familiar?
Also, as of this morning's headline in La Repubblica (widely read like the WaPo or NYT) the government is investigating people who are allegedly planning to introduce guns, bombs and assassination to their anti-vax efforts. Contemporaneously, the widely popular Prime Minister -- Mario Draghi, former head of the European Bank -- has said "enough is enough" and has required people to show a "green pass" (proof of vaccination, recovery from the Covid illness or a negative test within the prior 48 hours) before being allowed to do most anything in enclosed and/or crowded public places. This will (or already has been) extended to schools, government workplaces, other workplaces with more than 100 employees, public transportation, stadiums, cinemas etc. And while Draghi is still talking softly, he is letting it be known that simply making vaccination obligatory for EVERYONE is definitely on the table. I suspect if the contagion/hospitalization rates do not diminish soon (not nearly as bad as in US GOP states in any case), that he will will just do it and be done with it.
Until this morning's news about some Italian anti-vaxxers' violent intentions, I figured the situation in the USA was unique, but clearly the Italian Government has its eye on the US, knowing how often in the past ill-considered American experiments have arrived in Italy just as they were being discarded in America. Also, Italy has already taken one unhappy trip down the Fascism road and knows how that can end up.
About 18 months ago, I was fairly skeptical of Joe Biden being the Dem nominee. I knew well his experience with foreign policy (more than all of his competitors, combined--and yes, this IS in the president's wheelhouse as Head of State and Cdr in Chief), but could he beat Trump? And gosh, he's so old...
I realized in the month leading to the election how lucky we were. Since his inauguration, even more so. He's not perfect, but really, he's (mostly) struck the right tone at the right moments, had the right amount (and number) of focuses (people on the left have criticized some of the issues he HASN'T taken on yet. To those folks: whaddya say we stop the pandemic that's now killed as many people in 17 months as our CIVIL WAR did in 4 years? (look it up) And start fixing the thousands of bridges that're gonna fall? We'll get to you in a bit, okay?
And he's not afraid to punch people in the face once they've proven an impediment. I love it. His words--perfectly stated--say what most of us have thought for months. Good on him. I hope he makes more. Every simple-minded, Faustian-era conspiracy theorist can scream to the heavens (and will, without even a simple "thanks" afterward) but if it means we can get past this (oh, like we coulda-shoulda by now) who cares?
I read your comment which totally reflects my thoughts and opinions. I am baffled by people who are”concerned Biden is losing his mind”. His latest intervention on the pandemic is mind boggling. It is so right with impeccable timing. I think most of us are so fed up with these policies to protect the anti maskers of Abbot and DeSantis
I pointed out to someone recently that, while Trump routinely tries to poke at Biden's age, he's in fact only four years younger himself (he was surprised). No, he's definitely not losing his mind--in fact, I've been impressed with his strategic mindset, pace and messaging tenor. A lot. I DO think age is a factor, and no Biden's age isn't ideal (if he gets re-elected, he'll turn 87 before leaving office), but that's one "rule" there isn't a crime in bending (in an era when people are justifying any means for their "ideals").
So let’s remind the trump supporters how old HE will be in 2024. Tfg ought to shut up.
Boxer Biden got ‘Sloppy Seconds ‘ for a plate from day one.
This is just right wing talk. I see it all the time on threads in posts made by members of death star's cult.
I believe Biden’s age is his political superpower. What does he has to loose? Re-election? Of course he doesn’t care for re-election at his age. He is free to do and say whatever his moral compass tells him. Politicians are not so much immoral as they are slaves of the next election results
Presidents have two terms. Rather he is here one or two he is stepping up to the plate with action and working hard to combat the destruction our governors are doing to our citizens. It is shameful that they are willing to put our children at risk by not requiring masks in school. He is confronting this. I think you are underestimating his stepping up to the plate. In my mind he is leaving a legacy we can be proud of. He was not my choice of Democrats but I think he was the right choice for our country at this time.
Term limits in congress might be helpful.
I’m not underestimating Biden And think he is more free to fight establishment because of his age than a younger politician
His age means he's had a long lifetime of experience, likely meaning he's learned from his mistakes and better recognizes his weaknesses. (At least that's what I tell myself when looking at the stranger in the mirror.) Combine these qualities with his deep innate empathy and we have the right kind of leader at such a perilous time. Imagine dealing with a pandemic and trying to help a delusional cult that despises you avoid death and suffering.
I didn't even know what I was doing before I aged a bit.
You too? ;-)
In a sense, I agree, but there will be TREMENDOUS pressure on Biden to run again, esp. if Trump runs again. Lots of people conjecture about him "stepping down" and "letting VP Harris" become president. It doesn't work that way. The DNC will see this an an imperative; unless his health is failing, he will run again.
Maybe not re-election ? But he really loves, cares and takes pride in his family, years serving and last but not least our Country, I think his Son’s Legacy and his own are important to him, Has he made mistakes along the way ? They all have. You know/ we all know a Narcissistic Con’s life blood is the ‘Con’. If TFG stops he’s done for.Sucker born every 3 minutes. And boy do I know ! Any loyalty to him will be personal choice , Not Demanded.He will read the Briefs ! I’m good with our “ New and Improved Alternative Reality “.
Dang ! Loyalty to Boxer Biden I meant.
I was an early supporter of Biden. He has not let me down. Steve Schmidt has declared Biden the man of our time.
Yes! Hoping Steve Schmidt will declare a woman for our future.
Your words echo my thoughts. Initially, my thought was that at least he isn't TFG, but even knowing the depth of his experience, I worried about his age (the same as mine). I had it all wrong. He has performed amazingly, despite his age, and despite the morass he inherited. Now, if his mandate reduces the spread of Covid, and if he can take Manchin and Sinema to the woodshed and pass the infrastructure bills, then tackle voting rights, with the help of newly-energized AG Merrick Garland, he will not only have worked miracles, but also be able to overcome the loudmouthed, racist Rethuglican hordes at the ballot box.
President Biden's age needn't even be a factor when it is his insight, his experience, his learning and his concern for our country and its citizens that matter!
That's the reason I voted for him, but I was still concerned. Shouldn't have been.
Yes hope we learned that it is important to have a President who has experience in government unlike the apprentice who had no relevant experience and has serious learning disabilities. I see how Joe’s experience in Congress has really made a huge difference. Even more than that a narcissistic sociopath should be disqualified. Biden has a conscience and empathy which needs to be a trait our President should have.
Nicely said, Susan.
I’m with you Robert. I too had reservations about Biden at first, I worried that his age and his polite demeanor wouldn’t be able to match the sociopath currently residing in the White House at the time. I am pleased to know that he didn’t resort to playing the dirty tricks and manipulation game of the right, he took the high road and it paid off. Since his inauguration Biden has shown himself to be the right man for the job, and surrounded himself with a team of smart, experienced women and men, many of whom are smarter than he, he knows it and is not intimidated! Instead he sees the advantage, unlike his predecessor who was under the delusion that he was smarter than those around him—even as he hand picked a team of misfit puppets… I digress.
President Biden, while not perfect, is what presidential should look and sound like!
He and Kamala need to set a fire under the asses of Manchin, Sinema, Cortez and a few others before they ruin it all, allowing us to regress to the US in the 1950’s as the idjts would have it.
He, Kamala and Nancy need to .... Never underestimate an old woman either... Obama didn't.
I believe our children bring many gifts if we’re paying attention and that Joe Biden was given some very special ones from his. Beau, guided well by his Dad, returned to our POTUS, increased strength and courage to hold onto what is right despite intense opposition. Every morning I awaken and give thanks to everyone who overcame difficult barriers to cast their vote for Joe Biden, saving us from the too frightening alternative.
Precisely my thoughts and feelings about President Biden, Robert McTague. Thank you for expressing them so clearly -- and with a nice sprinkle of sarcasm and wit.
I believe with 100% of my being that TFG would not have brought ‘Any’ Afghanistan supporters out .Releasing those 5K would have been part of my End Game or up them.Like closing the barn door after the horse got loose.Not i discussion with the Taliban ? If Ur spending all Ur time focused on a Loss of an Election. When do you find time to plan a withdrawal ?Most newly elected presidents have time from Election Day until an Inauguration to be briefed on TFG’s “ Deals “. Not this time, never have seen that in my whole lifetime .
Correction: Up to them.2 Correction : Not one discussion with the Taliban ?
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.”
“Today, the United States of America sued the state of Texas for acting “in open defiance of the Constitution” when it passed S. B. 8 and deprived “individuals of their constitutional rights.”
Finally, the federal government has been poked in the eye with sharp sticks often enough to do battle directly.
“There were other wins today for the Biden administration.”
True, I guess. But only if one is willing to entertain the loosest of definitions for “wins”.
Eric, I usually admire your analysis, but in this case, I think you're being too pessimistic. I like what Biden is doing, and not just because he isn't TFG.
I wrote a long paean to Biden a month or two ago. I think he has governed with rectitude and some force, and was of the same mind as you, that it was much more than him not being TFG.
I am certainly in favor of what he did vis-a-vis the vaccination front yesterday. But I am sickened and alarmed by the increasing boldness and inhumanity from the red states. It troubles me that we seem to be acquiescent (too strong a word) in the face of these moral outrages.
So his action feels late, but still worthy.
To describe it as a “win” and Garland’s action similarly was surprisingly ill-considered, coming from one whose judgment is so acute. It’s like declaring victory at the kickoff of a football game. The DOJ has, charitably, unclear standing in the Texas case. And the Administration will face a queue of lawsuits and duplicity en route to cornering the refuseniks.
But he is at last unequivocally in the battle and I am heartened by that.
I like his path and would like it more if I saw some more speed. But this is probably unjust - the pressures must be fearsome.
These times. Alberta, which is more like your 51st state and a red one at that, has just announced a $100 payment to all people getting vaccinated going forward. Their hospitals are cancelling elective surgeries of all sorts and the province has no mandates. And they’re paying people to get vaccinated. Should I be paid to wear a seatbelt? We are accepting moral turpitude.
And I feel like the skunk at the garden party.
Thank you for your point. A large part of me disagrees with myself. :)
Eric, I value your insights, and I've been frustrated often by what seems like inaction by Biden and DOJ. However, I've also observed that the fact that they're not constantly playing public defense doesn't necessarily indicate that they haven't formed a strategy. At issue in this country is, obviously, the fact that we are so divided. I believe that Biden is doing his best to not divide us further. He is doubtless hoping to engage those on the right who haven't fallen under TFG's thrall, and are not so hostile and wed to fascism that they're not salvageable or beyond forming actual policies beyond racism and authoritarianism.
I'm also hopeful that, because those who favor fascism, misogyny, and racism have been so bold, their behavior will be a tipping point for all but their acolytes. DeSantis, Abbott, and other extremists have allowed havoc in their states by mishandling of the pandemic, climate issues, voter suppression, and social hot-button issues that are not aligned with the will of the majority of people in this country.
I see all sorts of landmines in front of Biden, but if he's able to pass voting rights legislation and the infrastructure bills, and if his vaccine mandates help to derail Covid's blight, I think this country has a chance at healing.
Like you, I'd like more tangible results - immediately. However, considering that this pot has been simmering for over 50 years, perhaps that is too much to ask. The simmering pot, plus the current trend in today's political climate worldwide toward authoritarian government, is frightening, and must be viewed through the world-view lens. Anti-democracy is a plague everywhere. Even Canada is experiencing symptoms of our disease, encouraging anti-vaxxers and more conservative government.
Something that you wrote does puzzle me. You characterize Garland's action being "surprisingly ill-considered, coming from one whose judgment is so acute." Many commentators have hailed his stance, and analysis by legal experts has been positive. Garland has been roundly criticized up until now, in that he has been hesitant to denounce the right's actions. Could you please expand on your opinion of yesterday's announcement?
You're no skunk at the garden party. We welcome the intelligence that we see in our relative to our north.
Your analysis and the support you offer for it is brilliant. I must give sustained thought to it.
I think you are, in a clear-eyed way, pointing generally towards positive outcomes (not without setbacks).
I think I have flipped towards generally feeling that there will be negative outcomes and they should be faced sooner rather than later, so that if possible, the fever breaks.
In February I was decidedly optimistic (and running against the general spirit of opinion on the forum). I felt that the Republican position was hopeless. They had lost an election. backed the insane “steal” theory, we’re riddled with internecine strife, and were widely seen as culpable for the horror show of 1/6. My feeling was - how does a political force recover from sinking so deeply into an ocean of sickness?
Then I watched them surviving at first, then creating an alternate reality and then, wonder of wonders, beginning to thrive. It has been a stunning six months for me to absorb all this. I feel like I’m staring into the pit of madness.
The Biden game plan is indeed as you have described, and in a world that has not lurched into insanity, would be met with huge approbation, especially on this forum.
To me it has been rigid and ignored the changing landscape. There has been, in the past couple of months, an increasing sense of irrelevance despite the earnestness and excellence and daring of what they want to do.
The key pieces of legislation are estimable but hopelessly ensnarled in knots. It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.
Yesterday may have been a game changer. It certainly indicated a willingness to engage in a vigorous way with the tidal wave of irrationality gripping America.
I am a person who takes small things as harbingers of bigger truths and this trait may be weakening my position. The other day I watched video from Nebraska where a woman verbally assaulted a mask wearing mother and daughter. She followed them around the store berating them in a smiling, mocking tone, while coughing energetically in their direction. It struck me that there is no shame any more, that 10 years ago only a person with a severe certifiable mental illness would lose it to this extent.
Yesterday I read that she was fired from her job at SAP - clearly she must have some education. I was jubilant to be honest.
As for the DOJ, I feel that they are going up against a fiendishly clever law designed to be opaque to lawsuits because the government of Texas is ostensibly not the agent acting in these cases. Jeffrey Tobin, whom I respect, made a similar observation. (So I guess I thought I was smart there for a hot minute. :)
I’m any cases lawsuits take an inordinate amount of time and the Supreme Court has already planted a flag. So it feels like a grand gesture. And the clinics are closing. And the legislation is spreading.
I will be thrilled to be proven wrong.
You thoughtfully detailed your idea Eric, in response to Nancy's interest and a question she raised. I have a somewhat different take on a few points you made and wondered if I could appeal to your generosity for a bit more clarification.
1. You wrote, 'To me it has been rigid and ignored the changing landscape.' I gathered from this sentence that you were referring to Biden and his administration as being 'rigid'. That was not my impression. In the early months of his presidency, I thought Biden's efforts at 'bi-partisanship' futile and that he seemed unprepared or unwilling to counter the Trump/Republican offense. Other than that, I thought his goal of getting Americans vaccinated, focused and necessary.
2. Your wrote, 'There has been, in the past couple of months, an increasing sense of irrelevance despite the earnestness and excellence and daring of what they want to do.' Your sense of the public's attitude may not reflect the animosity on the right and, perhaps, a mixture of feelings for the rest. Until 'Delta', Biden's approval ratings were good. Might it instead be that most Americans were relieved by Biden's presidency rather than thinking it 'irrelevant'?
3. Your wrote, 'The key pieces of legislation are estimable but hopelessly ensnarled in knots. It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.' Getting legislation through the house and senate in the USA is often a very time consuming process, called 'sausage making'. What is your basis for believing that key pieces of legislation are '...hopelessly ensnarled in knots'?
Your desire for faster responses to the Republican Party's and extreme right's onslaught as well as quicker solutions to serious problems mirrors the wishes of many Americans. You get some pushback from me having lived through the seemingly endless process of getting important problems successfully addressed. Improving governance in the USA is imperative but so is responding to some who may be unrealistically rushing to judgement.
4. As to your statement, 'It is to the point where they don’t seem to have won the elections.' I believe here, you were referring to 'key' legislation. I think that passing one and, even better, both infrastructure bills would make a big difference in the 2022 mid-terms elections, boosting the Democrats' performance in some states. Those bills may win a number of elections. Most outstanding, passing one or two national voting rights bills would clearly have a big impact on voting access and election results. Why have Republicans been rushing to suppress voting access and the subvert of elections?
It is good practice for me to bat around differences of opinion with subscribers on the forum. I hope that is true for you as well. Thank you for your consideration. Eric.
Eric, you are reasonable to anticipate that negative outcomes can occur, and after the last five years, that has been the case. Temperamentally, my thought process functions like that. If I anticipate the worst and it doesn't occur, then I'm pleased. However, I do hope that Americans are bone-tired and ready for some peace and reason. If Biden can manage to enact his proposed legislation, I'm hopeful that the people who've lost hope will be able to see that things can be better, even those who've been voting against their own self interest. I know that, whatever the outcome, the extremism on the right will not die peacefully. Still, Biden's agenda will help the hopeless, provide jobs while improving our infrastructure, ensure that everyone can vote without obstruction, solidify women's rights, and improve our environment, although that will be a work in progress - no instant gratification there.
We still must deal with an overly-politicized Supreme Court, and overturn Citizens United and any other legislation that allows dark money into politics. Those objectives will be thorny, and there will be a great deal of dark money behind blocking them. I firmly believe that the military industrial complex is behind the drubbing that Biden is taking because of the exit from Afghanistan. $6 trillion over 20 years that will quickly dry up explains a lot about usually-liberal networks joining the cacophony.
I agree that there is a tremendous amount of hostility here, and it borders on insanity. Clearly, that has been simmering just under the surface, and I think TFG (I can't write his name) provided permission for it to erupt. I think that social media and faux news outlets have contributed to it as well. Yesterday, while waiting to check out at the pharmacy, the man ahead of me began to talk about Covid. He was masked, and said he'd been vaccinated (I didn't ask), but was holding forth that we'd have to wear masks forever, pointed out that my mask (multi-layered washable cotton) did no good, and pointed to others in line who were also wearing other than n-95 masks, calling them just germ-laden jokes (his was not an n-95). Seeing blinking red lights, I stayed quiet, until he asked when boosters were going to be available. Foolishly, I said "Dr. Fauci said," and he again erupted into a diatribe about "Crooked Fauci - you can't believe a word he says"-isms, "follow the money, he was giving Wuhan cash through the NIH," "it was spread on purpose." Luckily, the cashier called him to check out, and I beat a path to another register. If the ship is ever righted, maybe some of these angry people will be helped, but I'm not counting on that. For those who are politically motivated, there are 40 million more of us, so perhaps we can stifle some of it.
As far as AG Garland's statement, what I heard from several legal authorities (Neal Katyal and others whose names I've forgotten) said that DOJ's suit will put an immediate halt to the Texas law, and although it will be countersued, it would hold the line for now. Eventually, it will end up at the Supreme Court, which can be problematic, but SCOTUS didn't rule on it because it "wasn't presented properly" or words to that effect, and Garland's order would be presented in such a way that they'll have to deal with it, with no such smokescreen. His ruling compares it to Confederates enabling vigilantes - the KKK, which has been ruled to be unconstitutional, so that would do away with the premise that Texas is not the agent. Meanwhile, maybe the Biden administration can end all of this by codifying Roe. Even those who wouldn't rule on the Texas law all said during their congressional hearings that Roe v. Wade was "established law." I'm no legal scholar, but I tend to believe that Garland has the bona fides, and has been reticent in making statements he knows will be successfully challenged, so believes he's on solid ground in this. Anyway, Little Merry Sunshine is signing off for now. The outcome will probably fall somewhere in between our analyses. Even that would be an improvement over TFG.
As Bret Stephens and other Chicken Littles are bleating about the ‘failed’ Biden presidency, Heather documents that Biden is in firm command and is most presidential. He is addressing the anti-Vaxers, the no maskers, and such jerkish governors as DeSantis and Abbott head on. After launching a flank speed vaccination program, the Delta virus and the non-vaxed have delayed a swift economic recovery.
Using his presidential powers, Biden is implementing a sweeping assault on those who who are dilly dalling about curbing the pandemic. While some Republican ‘leaders’ and others are playing a dog-in-the-manger game, President Biden is forcefully imposing a national policy that is positive, immediate, and should provide swift results. That is what I call effective presidential leadership. Ditto with his riposte to the unconstitutional Texas abortion laws.
I find it most refreshing to have a president who is honest, empathetic, and who is fully committed to pursuing what best serves a vast majority of Americans. Every month he is trumping his predecessor.
Great comment! I kind of like how the right wing talks smack about President Biden being out of it. Let them keep underestimating him while he just does the work
They aren't underestimating him - they're scared stiff.
Great last sentence. Refreshed indeed.
Discussions here in Ohio about whether or not mandating vax for companies with > 100 employees is legal. Consider this: It is a brilliant strategy. Gives businesses who want to enforce vaccination but fear pushback an out. "I would never force you to get vaccinated, but it's the law. You HAVE to get vax'd or we'll get fined so much, we'll have to close down."
Yep!
That's a pretty low bar.
As Rachel Maddow said last night, when quoting various angry Repugs crying "he can't do that!" - Yes, he can."
As the bodies pile up in Florida, DeSantis is trying to bury their numbers. Should be the headlines and lead stories on TV and radio.
As the bodies are piling up in FL and TX and they are needing refrigerated trucks to hold them, it seems to me that the feds should park a few, maybe more than a few, in front of the governor’s mansions in any state that needs them. The hell with no parking zones, the federal government can park anywhere they want. That would focus the media and the public on the direct relationship between the occupants of both. Feel free to share that idea with anyone you want to.
Put the refrigerated trucks in front of DeathSantis's house, then turn off the refrigeration.
Hmmm, Governor Abbott's would be more appropriate considering his GRID problems!
HA! Morbid and yet so apropos.
Christopher, DeSantis’s ploy to downplay the disaster he created should be the headlines and lead stories across the entire US. It might show other state and local officials who do as he does that they should stop, eh?
Absolutely, now who will step up to bat and DO SOMETHING about Florida secreting away the numbers. Asking for a friend (my little sister is a public school teacher in Florida.)
Socially distanced big hug to your brave little sister.
Us?
Maybe what will?
That is so sad and disrespectful for the deceased and the families. To be denied a decent accounting of one's death is so unreal.
It's the Republican way and has been for some time to "make your own reality" regardless the consequences to the health and happiness of others.
But we're the mudsills - remember? Our health and happiness doesn't count.
I’m supposed to go to FL for a short golf trip in December. I am considering canceling. While I can be away from the general public, I’m still wary of the flights and I don’t want to go to to a state where people actually condone and stupidly follow an evil governor who advocates killing people ….which is what he is doing with his “policies”. And, God forbid I got hurt or sick ….. no hospital beds available.
More people should announce they are not vacationing in Florida! But, the masses (with unvaccinated kids) will flock to Disney World this winter and be encouraged to do so …. Disney and FL want the $$’s. Have to feed the machine.
While we can't vote in Florida with our votes we can vote with our dollars by not spending them there. It's not worth the risk imho.
Your going or not going may may not make much economic difference to Florida, but burning the fuel to get there may make a difference to the biosphere.
I couldn't agree more.
Florida stopped reporting death data by county in June. Case reporting has also become erratic which makes comparison with other states a bit of a problem. As the reliability of the data goes down the validity comes into question.
Time for Marshall Law to enforce Public Health Law in Florida.
Martial Law.
Again. Just as he tried to do last year at the hospitalizations and death rates ramped up. So he fired the person charged with tracking and releasing the data about Covid impacts in Florida.
Judith, hopefully he is digging his hole deeper and deeper. I have some friends who moved to Florida a couple of years ago. They are now somewhat seriously thinking it’s time to leave DeSantis’s Swamp.
Any State declaring or inducing Federal Law to be invalid in their State is effectively declaring secession and should be dealt with accordingly. The primacy and universality of Federal law must be upheld. Any legislature passing such a bill and governors who sign on to them should be recalled and new elections held under Federal rules, districting and control.
That's what I thought. OK, you don't want Federal laws, well then no Federal $$$. Most "red" states have more $$$ flowing in than out. Cut 'em off at the pass.
I'm sick of paying for their free ride. I made my money the old-fashioned way. (Writing from Fashion Week)
Some states are turning into fiefdoms. If the average person does not have recourse to a higher authority than the local strongman, they don’t have a country. It’s beginning to look like Biden is playing Richard the lion-heart to trump’s king John and Abbott’s sheriff of Nottingham.
Unfortunately the reality of Richard's reign does not live up to the myth created by Robin Hood!
"... and to the republic for which it stands, one nation ..." How can we be "one nation" if states can pick and choose what laws they will follow.
And Marshall Law invoked in that state?
Martial law. It’s not named after anyone. I keep seeing the above spelling! 😗 (I’m an English major, sorry can’t help myself.)
The Marshall Plan (aid to western Europe afrter WW2) -
Countless times I’ve seen this cited as “The Martial Plan."
Thanks!
But there was a Marshall PLAN, following WWII to send recovery aid to Western Europe, and it was named after a person.
Named after George C Marshall, Truman's Secretary of State
Ahhh. Thanks.
Probably a necessary concimitant whilst the other measures are put in place in order to prevent action by violent groups.
Also in the news today, LA School District is the first to mandate vaccinations for all students, staff, and administrators.
This made me proud to be an American today, as well as President Biden’s speech in support of Public Health, common sense, and the increased effort made to end this Pandemic for America, and the world. Generally a good day for humanity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/us/la-vaccine-mandate-students-schools.amp.html
And a good day for President Biden and all the good guys and gals. Including us, right? I'm off to bed, will sleep well in Georgia for a change. 😷💤
So will I.
Yes! Wonderful LA Schools! And I, too, am proud to be an American! And a public health nurse in America! We can do this!
Yowzaa.
Joe Biden is demonstrating....oh, whadyacallit......oh yeah, leadership. Remember leadership? Faced with a common threat, leaders, from tribal to national, marshal available forces to defeat the common threat.
And HCR makes a valid point about the political repercussions for Biden and congressional Democrats as they push back against common threats, political and biological, to the nation's wellbeing. One might even be cautiously, very cautiously, optimistic about the coming midterm elections. If the Republicans maintain their destructive course, the Democrats might buck history and pick up some seats. It would require that enough Democrats and independents disgusted with Republicans take the time and effort to get over and around newly enacted impediments to voting thrown up by Republican state legislatures, but they might just be mad enough, and/or scared enough, to do just that.
My delegate in VA is a Republican who showed up on 1/6 to demand Pence invalidate Biden's win. He is up for reelection this coming November. I am working toward his defeat.
Lynell, I am getting ready to send out postcards to registered voters here in VA. 🤞🏻that our efforts will pay off!
Great, Sara. May I ask who you are using to send postcards?
Lynell, Postcards4VA.com
Thanks, Sara!
I use Postcards to Voters -
https://postcardstovoters.org/
They are also on Twitter and Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/TonyTheDemocrat.org/
And they localize. I used them for the CA recall elections. Sent 50 in a week. My hands were not happy! I could only do 3-4 at a time but spaced out during a day, they added up.
I’m also sending postcards but mine are for NJ (though i live in VA) and they’ve asked me not to mail them until 10/25. That concerns me as mail delivery is not what it used to be. I was contacted by “PostcardsToSwingStates” or Progressive Turnout Project. I’ll send postcards to any state I’ve been asked to but perhaps I should look into another organization. Last year I wrote very specific messaging to vote for Warnock in GA but this go round my messaging is basically to be a VOTER! Go to VotingMatters.org for polling locations and hours. Nothing about voting BLUE. 🤷♀️
Thanks, JJ!!
TY!
Still a chance the Republican Party could go extinct, after killing off their own voters with COVID?
Not extinct, but I do wonder if they have lost more voters with their anti vaccine/mask insanity than the more Democratic cities that were hit hard due to density during the initial pre-vaccine waves. I’ve been wondering about the aftermath of the Sturgis motorcycle rally. I haven’t seen any articles about a related outbreak this year. Maybe most of them were actually (secretly?) vaccinated?
Hey, Danielle. This paragraph is imbedded in the article posted below: "That's what makes Sturgis an important test. If it had gone off without big spikes in COVID cases, it would have provided strong evidence that this level of population immunity — around 75% — would allow us to get back to the way we did things in 2019. But unfortunately, that's not what happened. In the weeks since the rally began in early August, infection numbers have shot up more than 600% in South Dakota."
https://www.newsday.com/opinion/commentary/covid-19-immunity-delta-variant-1.50354381
Thanks, Lynell. I did see an article a week or so ago about a spike of infections in the Sturgis-area population but Newsday won't let me read the article you posted as I'm not a subscriber.
I don't subscribe to Newsday either but was able to read it. Strange.
Found this at WaPo, also by Dr. Jha. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/09/07/sturgis-covid-delta-variant/
LOL, MaryPat...If Only!
Witless? Me too Lynell. His daily emails disgust me. I don’t unsubscribe as “know your enemy”.
I agree, Gail. Best to know what's going on in the other camp! BTW, I'm in District 33.
District 1 here... what’s sad is that pre TeaParty he was an okay guy. Saw him often as my husband delivered his PAC checks from UPS. Now he’s just a right wing mouthpiece trying to hold his seat. He joined the Texas lawsuit FFS.
Abigail Spanberger is our Member of Congress. We fought hard to get her elected last time and we are probably going to have to fight even harder this time. Any and all assistance would be deeply appreciated.
I'm a regular on her FB lol, and yes, contribute when I can. She represents her district well and glad Freitas was defeated. She's a powerhouse.
Abigail rocks! Paul Siker is a first-timer up against Dave LaRock who's been our delegate for ages.
This is so sad and infuriating, Gail. Wish us luck this November!
Now that's what I'm talking about. There might be enough sane people in VA to do it. Unfortunately, my sister up there isn't one of them. We wish you success Lynell! Throw the whole house at him!
Who is the most likely challenger?
Thank you, Gus! Sorry to hear about your sister. Paul Siker is running against him. I have been donating to Paul's campaign since early spring and telling everybody to VOTE for him! Virginia has a goodly supply of R's, some more radical than others. What makes it considered blue are the populous cities who have more D's. Sound familiar?
I'll say it again. I think that the Abbott's, DeSantis' and the like have overplayed their hand. They are cementing support from 15-20% of the population and alienating about 40%. Not good odds. And if they keep it up and get more bizarre every day it will only get worse for them. This may be the end of the modern (Reagan) Republican party.
From your lips, etc...
Charlie, 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Yes, please!
I donate small amounts to many campaigns, focussing on Get Out The Vote campaigns. I keep the donations flowing every month. I just reviewed my ActBlue account for recurring donations and deleted two duplicates (I guess I got excited).
Actually, if I decided to re-jigger my donations, I'd keep the local campaigns, which tend to be starved of cash. Plus a small amount going to a local campaign matters more than that same amount going to a high-profile national campaign.
ActBlue is pretty obvious about begging for recurring donations. If you read the screen carefully, you'll know when you're making a one-time donation and when you're making a recurring donation.
Thanks, Bob. I too have been making self-recurring donations. I fear getting "trapped" by signing up to have it done automatically.
What you said about contributing to local campaigns makes sense. But the list is long for supporting everybody we need to unseat the R's in office and keep the seats for the D's that are already in office. I'm inundated with lots of emails for practically all of them! I guess the best thing to do is to set up your own personal budget and stick to it.
Wouldn’t that be Marvelous
Ralph, from your lips to voters’ ears.
"Those Republican lawmakers furious at the new vaccine requirements are possibly less worried that they won’t work than that they will." And, I love it that Biden said he wants to "just get them out of the way." DeathSantis is trying to fool his citizens by no longer publishing daily numbers. Another nail in his political coffin as people can't be fooled. As someone on Nicole Wallace said yesterday...."DeSantis is not known for his deep self-awareness." HA!
Last night I attended a Zoom meeting hosted by Indivisible of Florida. The guest speaker was Rebekah Jones, the data scientist that was fired after creating the COVID dashboard, and who had police come to her house and point guns up the stairs at her kids. She has been granted whistleblower status and, boy, did she have a lot to say about DeathSantis. This man is a despicable excuse for a human being and wants nothing more than to cover up what is happening in Florida. And already he is mouthing off at President Biden’s plan as being “coercion “.
He tried to close Rebekah’s mouth. And there she is….talking….was a good meeting. There were many meetings in FL yesterday.
IIRC, Rebekah Jones continued doing her best to compile and publicize stats even after her firing.
If Floriduh Governor DeSantis were an opponent of masking mandates or required vaccinations because of the hollow illogical reasons the gullible accept as justification for their positions, his actions would be more understandable. But his educational background (Yale undergrad degree, Harvard Law) suggests he is capable of knowing better. That he takes these positions anyway leaves no alternative other than to describe him as an inherently bad person, politically motivated, with no consideration whatsoever for others. If it fits into one’s religious beliefs, he might even be considered a disciple of the Devil, who is currently wielding his Covid19 weapon against humanity, with the help of those like DeSantis.
My neighbor just hoisted his DeSantis 2024 flag. I’m disgusted. My heart yells “But they’re nice people”. My mind yells “No, they’re not”.
They may often act nice, but at their core they are promoting a murderer.
They may smile, and smile, and prove a villain (remembered from a half-century ago).
Cowboy in chief?
I sympathize with you. I am in a very conservative part of CA and I have such a hard time with this topic. One thing that has come to my attention is the idea that people who fly the flag, so to speak, are low information voters who are in fact “angry”. They are, in some cases, rightfully angry and feel powerless. Our government has made a multitude of missteps that has led to a deep distrust of the government above and beyond what they may have already been susceptible to. This makes them more responsive to “click-bait” style politicians and to the conspiracy theory internet universe. These voters will openly admit that they don't really know what they are talking about but they feel like these people are speaking directly to them and that is good enough for them. Once I spend some time thinking about it I have to treat these people like drug addicts; keeping them at arms length, protecting myself but also realizing that these people are suffering too. They may be on the wrong side of history but, they are not going away either.
They have no judgment. Maybe no empathy. Maybe they’re not so nice.
Listen to your mind.
Sorry, listening to the mind is what is dividing this country. Listen to the heart! ❤
The US is divided because 60% of its white voters refuse to support a party that doesn’t support preserving the advantages that white Americans have over those with non-European ancestors. Compromises with that white contingent on that issue has preserved the division since 1789. We now have a slim window to put a stop to it, but that requires getting out the vote in 2022 and 2024. Not compromise or persuasion. There’s not enough time for that, and losing in 2022 makes autocratic white rule for the foreseeable future a likely outcome.
We have to turn out on "off-year" state and local elections, too. Every. Single. Time.
Because so many people are ruled solely by emotion, the mind must be engaged. I've usually tried to trust my gut instinct, and my analysis is that it is a combination of intellectual and emotional. It has served me well.
Perhaps God, Jesus and/or Lady Karma will treat Governor DuhSantis to delta Covid-19 at its finest. The ambulance taking him to the nearest ER has 4 flat tires at the same time, when the back up ambulance finally arrives and gets him to the ER, it is so full that a line is waiting around the block and all beds in that hospital are full and sick patients are lying side by side in ward hallways. So, a helicopter is called to take Governor Duh to another hospital, which is in the same shape as the first hospital. As are all other Tallahassee hospitals, and every hospital in the Florida Panhandle and elsewhere in Florida. So, the helicopter takes Governor Duh to Mar-a-Lago, where heavily-armed U.S. Secret Service forces and highly-paid mercenaries prevent Governor Duh from leaving the helicopter. The helicopter then flies to Havana and is shot down by Russian Migs as it enters Cuban airspace.
Unlikely to happen. DeSantis is fully vaccinated.
True, and so are Kemp and Abbott, but what about breakthroughs? I think they are more virulent for hypocrites.
That's where God, Jesus and Lady Karma might have their say.
I have a Republican friend, who once served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and saw intense jungle combat. Although he voted for Donald Trump, he told me the January 6 Capitol rioters should have been shot. He did not way Trump also should have been shot, which I think he should have been.
My friend has a daughter, who is a physician in a southern red state hospital. He told me this morning that his daughter and other doctors in the hospital are having serious moral struggles treating unvaccinated Covid-19 patients. The ones with with already existing serious medical are the ones who usually die.
My friend said it looks to him like Darwin's selection of the species.
I agreed, and said it also looks like tempting God and fate, and suicide. Why should I care about them, if they are culling themselves? Why should they be allowed into hospitals where they take beds away from and put at risk patients who do not have Covid-19?
I bet if hospitals stop accepting unvaccinated Covid-19 patients, that would turn the anxi-vaxxer nation upside down and inside out and every which a way but loose.
Imagine Governor DuhSantis catching the mu variant and not being allowed into a hospital.
As I see it, the problem with Darwin's selection process is that many of us who are vaccinated and behave responsibly are vulnerable to their recklessness and ignorance.
What I find ironic is that after the moronic Sarah Palin and other Repugnants dramatically predicted that the ACA would produce "death panels" where granny would be ignored because she was old, in favor of patients who had better survival prospects, here we are watching bright red Idaho, with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, faced with rationing care! My, my, my - imagine those brilliant right-wingers faced with a disaster of their own making. Karma is such a b**ch.
But then, with God all things are possible, just ask any Bible believer.
Dang
You're hired! Any room on the 'copter for other passengers?
Lots quicker, cheaper and easier if hospitals stop accepting unvaccinated Covid-19 adult patients.
We can only hope, that would solve one of our problems. 😎
Sociopath: a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience (Dictionary.com).
Sound familiar?
Indeed. The Republican party apparently requires this trait in its current members.
Prerequisite to becoming a Repub, set up by the Federalist Society.
and being enforced by the SCOTUS majority.
Exactly! The Rethugs have been criticizing Biden because of the Covid spread, although most of the wildfire is attributable to their own adherents. They intend to weaponize it, and in Georgia, Brian Kemp is promising to fight Biden's mandate with everything in his power to beat down "this overreach." Kemp has refused mask mandates, sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for enacting a mask mandate, and tried to straddle the fence on vaccines - all to keep the Trumpies from running him out of town on a rail. As a result, Georgia is currently tied with Florida in Covid cases. Of course, he's terrified that Biden's mandate will work.
Glory be!!! This was a powerfully uplifting Letter. I laughed with joy and applauded all points. President Biden "is the bomb!" as my students used to say. In one fell swoop, President Biden has dramatically enhanced the well-being of this nation. I am so glad I waited to read Heather's Letter about how Biden went on the offensive. I process written words easier than spoken words, and I have the luxury of re-reading the Letter any time I want to feel good.
I’m in your boat Andrea! 🤩
Me, too! Don't call, send me a letter.
[From the "Damn! Krugman Nails It Again" department]
Foreign Terrorists Have Never Been Our Biggest Threat
By Paul Krugman
<snip>
It may seem like a terrible thing to say, but a fair number of people — especially in the news media — are nostalgic about the months that followed 9/11. Some pundits openly pine for the sense of national unity that, they imagine, prevailed in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. More subtly, my sense is that many long for the days when the big threat to America seemed to come from foreign fanatics, not homegrown political extremists.
But that golden moment of unity never existed; it’s a myth, one that we need to stop perpetuating if we want to understand the dire current state of American democracy. The truth is that key parts of the American body politic saw 9/11, right from the beginning, not as a moment to seek national unity but as an opportunity to seize domestic political advantage.
And this cynicism in the face of the horror tells us that even at a time when America truly was under external attack, the biggest dangers we faced were already internal.
</snip>
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/opinion/foreign-terrorists-domestic-extremists.html
Belligerence and obstinacy have become the trademarks of the Republican Party. As an Independent, I have strived to keep a "balance" between the two political parties. However, Republicans have been digging their hole of tyranny and treachery more deeply with each passing day, week and year. Their in-your-face intransigence causes me to wonder if they are totally bereft of any humanity at all.
I have become increasingly angered at the fact there are so many anti-vaxx belligerents now taking up residence in hospital beds because they refused to get vaccinated. Cruel, perhaps, but I firmly believe they should stand in line behind those who really need that hospital bed and/or that ventilator. Let them suffer the fate they have brought upon themselves.
The dissension and contentiousness that crisscrosses the U.S. today compels me from time to time to simply go to "ignore". The right wingers are sucking all the good oxygen out of lives that are intended to be enjoyed. We can too easily be swept into their dark and sinister vapor.
The framework within which the latest-reported nineteen Republican governors work is anti-human. Their bold step to deny the requirement for vaccinations speaks volumes about their Draconian mindset. Their tribe of evil embraces all that is wrong and soulless, and that evil has become a dark pall across our land.
Knowing some innocents who have died needlessly, I don't view your comment as "cruel" at all:
"I have become increasingly angered at the fact there are so many anti-vaxx belligerents now taking up residence in hospital beds because they refused to get vaccinated. Cruel, perhaps, but I firmly believe they should stand in line behind those who really need that hospital bed and/or that ventilator. Let them suffer the fate they have brought upon themselves."
Thank you! I apologize for my delayed response. I saw your comment just today. Some folks may think it heartless to be so totally indifferent to the plight of the vaccine deniers. But, their belligerence is an in-your-face middle finger to the rest of us.
"Their in-your-face intransigence causes me to wonder if they are totally bereft of any humanity at all." I no longer wonder. They have gone full Nazi.
Their selfish hubris has convinced them that they have no need or requirement to consider the society as a whole. They are the community of "self"; not the community of "us".
"The right wingers are sucking all the good oxygen out of lives that are intended to be enjoyed."
This!
I continue to enjoy myself. That is central to my life. It also makes me stronger and more resilient. I enjoy good company, good surroundings, art, literature food & wine, (did I mention Fashion Week yet?)
For my entire life I have see other who get consumed by their own hatred.
For you:
https://youtu.be/cRjQCvfcXn0
"And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."
Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/26LYjMww0GY
A dark pall indeed.
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday after returning her Corgi mix pup. Daisy likes to come visit me and my dog and wiggled under the fence when she spotted us out in the yard.
Sheri is a Trump style Republican who watches Fox News assiduously. She was also incredibly kind and helpful last year when my husband was dying of ALS. i asked how she was doing, not expecting much of an answer - and spent the next twenty minutes listening to a litany of problems that would overwhelm the strongest among us. Because I’d lived through and experienced some similar things, I actually could help a little so I did. Some days, helping your neighbor is the most important thing.
Last February, we talked briefly about the January 6th insurrection. Sheri spouted the usual BS and I kicked myself roundly for giving her that opening. Yesterday, I saw a very different person, one that I could relate to and help.
Listening to Biden yesterday made me smile. Anyone getting in DeSantis’s face with facts, including the fact that Florida is manipulating death statistics around Covid, and needing to rent refrigerated morgue trucks-from the feds-deserves all the public shaming and criticism we can heap on him. That governor should be tried for murder- yes murder.
This weekend, I will be selling my art at a fine art fair here in Minnesota. The weather will be near perfect, the promoters have strong Covid protocols and requirements, and I have good inventory. If it translates to good sales, I will have more money to donate to the causes near and dear to me- solutions to the climate crisis, voting rights, and a woman’s right to manage her own health, reproduction and future. I will also donate to my candidates of choice. Any other ideas? Are there credible candidates to oppose Abbott or DeSantis? Those boyz are giving me a headache. Any Advil candidates worth noting?
Sheila, It was very fortunate for me, after technical difficulty getting through to the forum, that it was your comment, which I read after one or two others. I had been thinking of an enemies list comprised of the DeSantis' in government doing what they can to harm constituents for their own power as well as to defeat every effort that Biden makes towards the welfare of the American people. My temperature rose, even when writing those words.
You offer us something more. The one-to-one richness that come from working together and caring for one another. You and your neighbor, Sheri, are a lesson. It is a blessed one.
Now, you asked our suggestions for 'Advil candidates (a splendid label) worth supporting. I found a few possibilities. Another good idea -- 'Friends of the People' lists for candidates who will work for our welfare as dedicated public servants.
'Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has been very critical of Governor Ron DeSantis, and she’ll have even more of a chance to question his leadership as she tries to unseat him.'
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/looking-ahead-here-are-the-contenders-for-the-2022-florida-gubernatorial-race
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/looking-ahead-here-are-the-contenders-for-the-2022-florida-gubernatorial-race
'U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican who was first elected to the Senate in 2010, hasn’t yet said if he plans to seek reelection in 2022. Even so, a hefty number of Wisconsin Democrats are clamoring for the opportunity to run against him — or whoever Republicans choose in his absence.'
'Twelve candidates have filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission so far to compete in the Democratic primary for the seat, which will be held in August 2022. The candidates include Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, Wausau physician Gillian Battino, former state Senate candidate Adam Murphy, Milwaukee alder Chantia Lewis, state emergency management director Darrell Williams and activist Steven Olikara'.
That field has narrowed. Wisconsin is a good state to find a sterling Democrat for the US senate.
https://www.wpr.org/tremendous-degree-unity-wisconsin-democrats-face-slew-high-profile-2022-primary-elections
'In 2022, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will be running for a full term after winning a partial term in 2020. He’s raised $5.9 million in the most recent quarter and has $7.6 million on hand. The GOP field to take on Kelly is evolving, but it’s expected to produce fireworks stemming from the aggressive, pro-Trump posture of the state Republican Party and the ongoing “audit” of the election pushed by allies of Trump.'
In Georgia
Warnock, like Kelly in Arizona, must run again in 2022 after winning a partial term last year. And Warnock, like Kelly, has posted impressive fundraising numbers, raising more than $7 million in the first quarter and reporting $10.5 million in cash on hand.'
The Keystone State has been a political battleground every campaign cycle in recent years, and 2022 should be no exception.
'The governor’s office is coming open after being held for two terms by Democrat Tom Wolf. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is expected to be the prohibitive favorite for the nomination. The GOP field is unsettled and includes former Rep. Lou Barletta and several other local Republican officials and legislators. The Democrats start with an edge, but if the Republicans can nominate a candidate with centrist appeal, the general election could become more competitive.'
The Senate race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey starts off as more compelling. The Democratic field includes several credible candidates, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, Montgomery County Commission Chair Val Arkoosh and moderate Rep. Conor Lamb. The GOP field includes Trump-backed veteran Sean Parnell (who lost to Lamb in 2020), developer Jeff Bartos (who lost to Fetterman in 2018) and former Trump-nominated Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands.'
“There is likely to be a high degree of synergy between the Senate and gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania next year,” Christopher Borick, a Muhlenberg College political scientist, said in an email. “The broader political climate and high polarization are likely to limit the ability of candidates to distance themselves from their parties, and thus force unified messaging and campaigning by the candidates. This may be even more the case if the GOP nominees are both fully immersed in the Trump wing of the party, allowing Democrats to try and attach the Republican nominee to Trump's baggage."
https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2021-08-03/states-to-watch-in-the-2022-midterm-elections
Please let us know about the 'Advil' candidates you think worth supporting. Thank you, Sheila for your one-to-one lesson.
Fern, you never cease to amaze me! Stellar post!
Thank you, Marlene. We are a team; the more we know -- the more we do, and I'm always following you, too.
Geez, Sheila B, you sound like just the kind of person I'd delight in meeting for lunch once or twice a month -- dog-loving; compassionate with Faux-News-addled neighbors; familiar with some of life's darkest, heaviest lessons; artistic; supporter of important causes -- an overall average HCR reader and commenter! Isn't this forum a soul-refresher?!! If you're ever in the Philadelphia area ... !
I love the phrase, “soul -refresher”! Exactly what I find here. And thanks for the kind compliment- I’ve never been to Philly- would be a walk through some really meaningful and important history and great to have lunch with a fellow LFAAer!
It’s a wonderful town for history. Just let me know. I’m a Midwesterner transplanted — i’ll be able to understand your accent. ;-)
Charles Booker has declared himself in the Senate race against Rand Paul in Kentucky. Check Mr. Booker out. I like him a lot.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cb-ads-dd-google-senate-launch?source=ads_ms_CHB_20210701-DD-GS-SenateLaunch_brandedkw-Natl-1865U-MF_a002-CHB-ocb-gstxt-txt&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOyJBhA4EiwAEcJdcSnbMT_H0Nw50h1fM5pRl3RyOxlUnqcfgCydXK27PamjAa9XuZnUKRoCX8oQAvD_BwE
Got this one covered, at least! Thanks, MaryPat.
ACLU. Not sure if there is a way to donate to Eric Swalwell’s or the Capitol Police’s lawsuits against the Insurrection’s head gangstas but really hoping we have the resources to beat these fascists down with law and order. Justice! https://www.justsecurity.org/75032/litigation-tracker-pending-criminal-and-civil-cases-against-donald-trump/
Val Demings in Fl. Running for US Senate will unseat weasel Marco Rubio. With support!
Yes, Yes, Christine!!! Thank you.
Has HCR written about the Second Amendment? I need it explained to me, explained as if I were a kindergartner.
First, some definitions; here is the amendment, in its entirety: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."
And here is the definition of a militia: "1) a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency, 2) a military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities in opposition to a regular army, 3) all able-bodied civilians eligible by law for military service".
Using only the first and second definition of 'militia', please explain how what we do here in the States -allowing everyone to have a gun- is a 'military force'? I understand 'military force' to mean there's training, meetings, and regulations, at the very least. There's little to none of that in the States. That's my confusion about that.
If one were to use the third definition of 'militia', the words 'eligible by law' stand out. As do the words 'able-bodied'. Is there not some wiggle-room in the wording to allow for laws limiting gun ownership in those words?
And then I question the words, "necessary to the security". Are they still necessary? My dad argues with me that Americans having weapons in their homes was the reason we were not invaded during WWII. Ok, but is that still true today?
I understand the SC and legislatures don't just do a quick Google-search for dictionary definitions; that's why I'm asking for this amendment to be explained to me.
Every single day when I send my two high schoolers off to school, I worry if today is the day there will be a shooting. Every day when my husband leaves for work, I worry if today is the day there will be a shooting. Every.single.day.
When we were under quarantine last year, and then again when my children chose to do remote learning for the 20-21 school year, I cannot tell you what it was like to have that worry-burden lifted. Sure, there were other worries (would my husband be laid off? how much would my kids' education suffer?), but at least I didn't have the anxiety of them being shot.
When I think of the Founders, I wonder how many of them had cannons (the only equivalent I can think of to the modern, powerful weapons we have today) in their homes. I wonder how they would have felt if their neighbors had had pointed cannons at homes, places of work and worship, schools.
This trajectory of more and more guns cannot be sustained. And when it ends, it will be bloody.
Unfortunately, the 2nd Amendment was expanded by the decision of DC vs Heller (below) to include the right to “bear arms” for personal protection (which was never the intent of the 2nd amendment). Heller vs. DC was not intended to mean no gun control - or, so they say. However, we now essentially have unfettered gun ownership of the most deadly of weapons. 4 year olds go through “active shooter” drills in preschool for crying out loud. Listen to inner city mothers talk about the death count and devastating long term impact on the Black and Latino communities. It is a disgrace and IMO as much of a stain on this country as slavery. Guns have destroyed the lives of so many and should be considered another man made (and it is a guy thing) disaster.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller
I wanted to come back to this and thank you for your response. The SC decision you linked was the 'missing link' I needed. Thank you for taking the time to find and send that.
Historically, the REASON for the 2nd Amendment was to protect an existing institution, the so-called "slave patrols" that existed in the slave states to put down slave uprisings. These were, in fact, well-ordered local militias with mandatory service of (white, male) citizens, with exemptions for certain professions (ministers, officials). When the Constitution was drafted, the South feared that their slave patrols would be absorbed into the Continental Army, and demanded the second Amendment.
The nonsense that has grown up around that, due largely to the National Rifle Association, is exactly that: nonsense. What I always ask the "defenders of the nation" with their personal arsenals is: "Do you know how your Commanding Officer will contact you if there is a need for your service?" It's a mind-blowing question for most of them. But... but... no, they are "free citizens." They're not in any stinking "army." So it raises the question of how, if the Nazis were to arrive in force, the armed citizens will know to kick off their man-slippers and come out shooting. They seem to have some romantic notion of booted soldiers coming to their door, ringing the bell, and asking for their "papers," I suppose, giving them time to assess the situation, slam the door, go fetch their gun from the gun safe, find the ammunition and load it, then come back to the door to find the soldiers just standing there, patiently waiting to be shot with a surprised/dismayed look on their faces, regretting their decision to accost an armed "free citizen" in the US.
It's seriously stupid.
Re your brilliant comment: "They seem to have some romantic notion of booted soldiers coming to their door, ringing the bell, and asking for their "papers," I suppose, giving them time to assess the situation, slam the door, go fetch their gun from the gun safe, find the ammunition and load it, then come back to the door to find the soldiers just standing there, patiently waiting to be shot with a surprised/dismayed look on their faces, regretting their decision to accost an armed "free citizen" in the US.
It's seriously stupid."
A Marine friend's perspective bears sharing: if the dreaded government is going to "come after you," you won't even know it because you'll be dead before you have time to blink. These "seriously stupid" idiots seem not to realize that when the National Guard arrives, terrorist are stopped in their tracks and put out of business. The military might of highly trained, focused soldiers armed with rocket propelled missiles, drones, and what have you is instant, powerful, and deadly. Those armed fool "citizens" have absolutely no ability to counter such a force.
My husband and I just finished having lunch. Our conversation aligned precisely with your Marine friend's opinion that "you'll be dead before you have time to blink".
It's amazing how stupid some people can be.
Joe, you ask:
"Do you know how your Commanding Officer will contact you if there is a need for your service?"
That is brilliant and I will ask that same question in the future.
You are not alone in your confusion. Justices on the Supreme Court have a problem with it too.
Mischele, I ask myself all of those same questions frequently. As for your father's assertion that the Japanese did not attack mainland US because private citizens had guns? That's nonsense. Apparently though, some people actually believe it. From a 2013 HNN article.
"Ed Emery, Republican representative to the Missouri state legislature from Lamar, MO. In a video produced last April, Rep. Emery said:
"We know in a historical context that Japan was considering an invasion on the land mass of the United States of America, but they were afraid to, and the reason they were afraid to [is] because they knew that every American is armed. And although they were not afraid of our armies, they were afraid of our citizens.""
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/150227
💜
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! Everybody here should know by now how much I LOVE JOE. I have memorabilia to prove it. So it is in that spirit that I present the following. (I, too, have been confused by the messaging we have been receiving by our WH, the CDC, and whoever else controls the vaccine/masking narrative):
If you are not familiar with this takeoff on the old Abbott and Costello routine, just remember this when you get to the last line.
“Who’s on first, what’s on second, and I don’t knows on third.”
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO’S ‘WHO’S BEEN VACCINATED?’🤣🤣
Bud: ‘You can’t come in here!’
Lou: ‘Why not?’
Bud: ‘Well because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But I’m not sick.’
Bud: ‘It doesn’t matter.’
Lou: ‘Well, why does that guy get to go in?’
Bud: ‘Because he’s vaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But he’s sick!’
Bud: ‘It’s alright. Everyone in here is vaccinated.’
Lou: ‘Wait a minute. Are you saying everyone in there is vaccinated?’
Bud: ‘Yes.’
Lou: ‘So then why can’t I go in there if everyone is vaccinated?’
Bud: ‘Because you’ll make them sick.’
Lou: ‘How will I make them sick if I’m NOT sick and they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘But they can still get sick.’
Lou: ‘So what the heck does the vaccine do?’
Bud: ‘It vaccinates.’
Lou: ‘So vaccinated people can’t spread covid?’
Bud: ‘Oh no. They can spread covid just as easily as an unvaccinated person.’
Lou: ‘I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Look. I’m not sick.'
Bud: ‘Ok.’
Lou: ‘And the guy you let in IS sick.’
Bud: ‘That’s right.’
Lou: ‘And everybody in there can still get sick even though they’re vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Certainly.’
Lou: ‘So why can’t I go in again?’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘I’m not asking who’s vaccinated or not!’
Bud: ‘I’m just telling you how it is.’
Lou: ‘Nevermind. I’ll just put on my mask.’
Bud: ‘That’s fine.’
Lou: ‘Now I can go in?’
Bud: ‘Absolutely not?’
Lou: ‘But I have a mask!’
Bud: ‘Doesn’t matter.’
Lou: ‘I was able to come in here yesterday with a mask.’
Bud: ‘I know.’
Lou: 'So why can’t I come in here today with a mask? ….If you say ‘because I’m unvaccinated’ again, I’ll break your arm.’
Bud: ‘Take it easy buddy.’
Lou: ‘So the mask is no good anymore.’
Bud: ‘No, it’s still good.’
Lou: ‘But I can’t come in?’
Bud: ‘Correct.’
Lou: ‘Why not?’
Bud: ‘Because you’re unvaccinated.’
Lou: ‘But the mask prevents the germs from getting out.’
Bud: ‘Yes, but people can still catch your germs.’
Lou: ‘But they’re all vaccinated.’
Bud: ‘Yes, but they can still get sick.’
Lou: ‘But I’m not sick!!’
Bud: ‘You can still get them sick.’
Lou: ‘ So then masks don’t work!’
Bud: ‘Masks work quite well.’
Lou: ‘So how in the heck can I get vaccinated people sick if I’m not sick and masks work?’
Bud: ‘Third base.'
I’ve grown to really, really appreciate Joe. He’s playing the long game and displaying courage in facing down relentless negative media. At 80, Biden has a lifetime of experience. I’m rooting that Dems get their act together and support this narrow window of opportunity. ❤️🤍💙
The skit above is cute but it misses the entire point of vaccinations and masking by ignoring the term “mitigation” and instead relying on absolute “black and white/either or “ statements
Vaccines MITIGATE the spread of the virus to minimize the number of transmissions
Thats the point. Reduce the number transmissions
Refusing admission to the unvaccinated is the consequence of continuing to be a hot vector
Thank you, Dave.
That’s sums it up to a T! 😂
Morning Lynell. Je l'adore. I recognize very clearly the on-going logic and coherence of the situation!....and it gives me a new appreciation of these two.
As I understand it Stan wrote and directed most of the shows while Hardy went off every afternoon to play golf ⛳️. He was a comedic genius and also a craftsman who made a lot of people laugh 😂
Lovely. Nice way to start the day.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
And of course the over-educated, under-intelligent, otherwise-unemployables of the DC Press Corpse are all going "can he do that?" Dumbasses can't go read Washington's message at Valley Forge, the 1905 Supreme Couut ruling that the government can in fact require vaccinations, or manage to remember all those vaccinations they got back in school. So much for "democracy dies in darkness."
“DC Press Corpse”. Perfect. Nailed it again TC. I’m so frustrated with the “dirty laundry.... get the widow on the set” reporting both in print and *ahem* CNN.
Public Health LAW
Queue the ridiculous column of Bret Stephens of the NYT. Who knows, if he keeps this up, Tramp may be correct in calling it the failed New York Times.
I recently ran across my old vaccination card/booklet that my parents kept for all six of us kids. Right on, TC - yes, he can do that
Used to think highly of the press. After their slobbering coverage of tfg from the moment he announced, no more. They fell for his shtick.
Thank you Heather.
I am baffled by the people who refuse to take the vaccine. I think at this point I have heard every excuse to not take it. Although practically no excuse rings valid. The company where my partner works is very laissez-faire about enforcement of COVID-19 protocol. In return they constantly have active cases of COVID-19 and the variant. They respond by sending out a company email out to everyone's phone with a canned letter saying someone within the company has tested positive for COVID-19 and "we are doing everything to rectify the situation ". Translation, we are doing absolutely nothing to follow protocol.
I'm hoping that President Biden's enforcement of vaccinations or testing of employees for employers with 100 + employee companies will force these slugs to actually do something to protect the employees and their families.
Ron and I are pretty well resigned to the probability that although we are fully vaccinated, will get a variant because of other people's defiant choice.
Here is hoping the enforcement of the vaccinations will take effect swiftly. 🍷
Be safe, be well.
Linda, that is truly awful. Have you also heard about the school where the kindergarten teacher was COVID positive, exposed all the students, and the school didn’t say anything? Somehow the “grapevine “ alerted the parents. I’m sorry I don’t have the link but if I find it I’ll post it later unless someone else has it.
Annette, no I haven't. It makes me wonder how many other cases there are that we won't hear about. I was in a drug store over the summer and overheard 2 employees talking about how they both had COVID-19 earlier in the year and neither would tell their employer because they didn't want to lose hours at work. One boasted that she only had to lose 4 days of work, but she came right back as soon as she could. The other girl said, "oh I know, I only lost 2 days. Because, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I asked "are you sure you had COVID-19 and not just the flu?" They both proudly proclaimed that yes, we were tested but we don't have to tell our boss.
Since when .
That teacher was in Marin County in CA not far from where I live. It is unconscionable to me that these unvaccinated teachers exposed their young scribes to this virus! Selfish!
So sad. The incentives are for people NOT to tell.
It seems that way Claudia.
The school must have done something criminal that they can be held to account for in this.
How the Delta Variant Infiltrated an Elementary School Classroom https://nyti.ms/3sVn0DC
So sorry to hear that. Maybe it will take some company executives to get COVID for them to do something more.
Claudia I have said that since day 1. This is an international company and I feel they defer to that fact and say "our hands are tied" BS.
How the Delta Variant Infiltrated an Elementary School Classroom https://nyti.ms/3sVn0DC
Good Letter, Heather. Thanks.
For what it's worth, Americans should know that the phenomenon of no-vax, no mask citizens supported by the extreme Right (the insurrectionist Right? the vigilante Right? the racist right?) is, unfortunately, not unique to the USA.
Here in Italy there continue to be rowdy, well-attended (I wouldn't say "mass") anti-mask/anti-vaccine rallies and demonstrations which, though they include every sort of conspiracy-theory-motivated citizen including some very green and organic folks who are generally pretty far left on most issues, appear to be organized largely by the political Right. For you Italophiles, this includes the parties known as The Brothers of Italy and the League -- formerly the Northern League) representing roughly 40% of Italians according to recent polls.
Also, despite some early supply issues and negative press regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine (similar to the J&J in the US) which has turned out to be highly effective at preventing Covid hospitalization and death, Italy has now fully vaccinated 63% of the population, enough to make a huge difference, but not enough to eliminate the Delta variant or really end the health crisis. Does this sound familiar?
Also, as of this morning's headline in La Repubblica (widely read like the WaPo or NYT) the government is investigating people who are allegedly planning to introduce guns, bombs and assassination to their anti-vax efforts. Contemporaneously, the widely popular Prime Minister -- Mario Draghi, former head of the European Bank -- has said "enough is enough" and has required people to show a "green pass" (proof of vaccination, recovery from the Covid illness or a negative test within the prior 48 hours) before being allowed to do most anything in enclosed and/or crowded public places. This will (or already has been) extended to schools, government workplaces, other workplaces with more than 100 employees, public transportation, stadiums, cinemas etc. And while Draghi is still talking softly, he is letting it be known that simply making vaccination obligatory for EVERYONE is definitely on the table. I suspect if the contagion/hospitalization rates do not diminish soon (not nearly as bad as in US GOP states in any case), that he will will just do it and be done with it.
Until this morning's news about some Italian anti-vaxxers' violent intentions, I figured the situation in the USA was unique, but clearly the Italian Government has its eye on the US, knowing how often in the past ill-considered American experiments have arrived in Italy just as they were being discarded in America. Also, Italy has already taken one unhappy trip down the Fascism road and knows how that can end up.
Vigilance is the word here these days.
Pretty much the same in France, David.