In Part 1 of this series we considered whether or not it is unconstitutional for Virginia’s governor (Governor Ralph Northam) to rule by decree. The subject of this post is the propensity of some politicians to be opportunistic, to use any crisis for their own advantage. However, before we get to that let’s set the table.
President Calvin Coolidge died a couple of decades before I was born. So, I don’t know as much about him as I wish. However, I do know he is responsible for this quote.
The business of America is business.
Of course, we are famous for taking liberties with other people’s words. Here is what Coolidge actually said.
After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world. (from here (blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/))
We spend most of our lives working, that is, doing business. Since Coolidge considered work one of the ways we worship, when he said “profoundly concerned”, he was not referring to greed.
I agree that the measure of success is not merchandise but character. But I do criticize those sentiments, held in too many respectable quarters, that our economic system is fundamentally wrong, that commerce is only selfishness, and that our citizens, holding the hope of all that America means, are living in industrial slavery. I appeal to Amherst men to reiterate and sustain the Amherst doctrine, that the man who builds a factory builds a temple, that the man who works there worships there, and to each is due, not scorn or blame, but reverence and praise. — Calvin Coolidge (from his second speech to the Amherst Alumni Association in 1916)
What’s the point? Government exists to protect our rights. That includes our right to life, but our rights also include our rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we pursue our business activities, we exercise our rights liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Is the pursuit of happiness all about money and getting stuff? No. Contrary to what some think, getting “good” sex, hoarding lots of stuff, being “scientific”, controlling the state, and being worshiped by the masses does not bring happiness. What brings happiness doing the right thing the right way, that is, behaving virtuously. Hence, if we want to live in a joyful society, we must do what Coolidge did. We must pursue virtue and encourage each other to pursue our business activities virtuously. That begins with protecting each others rights liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including the right to engage in business.
When the Coronavirus (COVID-19) first came on the scene, we did not know what we were dealing with. Now? The CDC’s New ‘Best Estimate’ Implies a COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate Below 0.3%. Coronavirus (COVID-19) is about as dangerous as a relatively nasty flu bug, and we don’t shut down business for the flu. Therefore, anyway we look at it it does not make sense for governors to issue a bunch of unconstitutional decrees that make it difficult to do business. Fear of the unknown once at least partly justified lockdown, but now we know the virus is not that dangerous. The science does not justify shutting down the economy, especially using unconstitutional measures. Once we understand that the lost jobs and income also results in deaths (See the articles related to Deaths From Economic Shutdown below.), this is unarguably true.
Consider. What was the first thing God did for Adam after he created him? Didn’t He give him a job? Didn’t God make Adam His gardener (Genesis 2:15)?
We need to work. We need to feed, cloth, and shelter ourselves and our loved ones. We also need the dignity of work. When we don’t work, we suffer both emotionally and physically. That’s is why economic downturns result in lost lives. That’s why we don’t shut down the economy just to fight the flu.
Nevertheless, Democrats have obstructed restarting our economy. Why? Well, as an example let’s consider some of the big budget items in that Heroes Act (1815 pages long).
- Three trillion dollars in new spending. The Federal Government normally spends about four trillion dollars every year. Since we already spend more than we collect in taxes, we don’t have three trillion dollars more to spend. All we can do is borrow the money or just print it.
- Giveaways to state and local governments. We have a bunch of blue states that were spending themselves into oblivion BEFORE the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Now they want a bailout, effectively from the red states. To discourage such spendthrift spending, we need to make certain the blue state voters understand the consequences of excessive spending, bankruptcy.
- Giveaways to: “frontline workers”, unemployed workers, students who borrowed money, farmers, renters and homeowners, Americans, and who knows who else. Essentially, these giveaways, including giveaways to state and local governments, are a raid on the Federal Treasury. Pelosi proposes steal our money and buy the votes of her Democratic Party constituencies. This both unethical and stupid. Because Pelosi will have to print more money to pay these people, she will just render the money we already have worth less. Such stupidity just undermines the economy and makes everyone except a few elites, like Pelosi, poorer.
- Federalizing “election security”. That includes voting by mail, which would make voting far less secure. Don’t we already have enough crooked politicians? This nonsense is coming from people who had the gall to claim Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election. Supposedly, we need to increase election security, yet Democrats want to decrease election security?
- And who knows what else?
What is going on? Some people see a crisis as opportunity to blackmail other people to get what they want? Don’t give them what they want? Then they obstruct any attempt to fix the problems causing the crisis. These opportunists expect foolish, desperate people give in, not realizing that giving them what they want creates greater problems.
Deaths From Economic Shutdown
- 500 doctors tell Trump to end the coronavirus shutdown, say it will cause more deaths (washingtontimes.com)
- The COVID-19 shutdown will cost Americans millions of years of life (thehill.com)
- IT NEEDS TO END. NOW’: New York Post Front Page Comes After The Coronavirus Lockdowns (dailycaller.com)
- Analysis raises questions about coronavirus shutdown’s effectiveness (foxbusiness.com)
- Coronavirus: I was in the stay-home-until-it’s-safe camp. But I just can’t take it anymore. (usatoday.com)
Pelosi’s HEROES Act References
- Liz Peek: Pelosi’s $3 trillion coronavirus bill lets her play left-wing Santa Claus with your tax dollars and Newt Gingrich: Pelosi’s crazy $3T coronavirus spending bill may have secret purpose – Don’t underestimate her (foxnews.com)
- Nancy Pelosi Unveils $3 Trillion, 1,815-Page Leftist Coronavirus Bill (breitbart.com)
- House narrowly passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill (rollcall.com)
- House Democrats unveil new $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill (cnbc.com)
- Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act (cbsnews.com)
Citizen Tom 
“Coronavirus (COVID-19) is about as dangerous as a relatively nasty flu bug, and we don’t shut down business for the flu.”
In the US, the flu kills between 20,000 and 60,000 people each year, and that’s when it basically has had access to the entirety of the population, with about 30 million people showing symptoms. Covid-19 deaths are above 100,000 after just a small fraction of the population has been exposed. You can argue for opening up the economy all you like, I’d just prefer you to use correct data to base your decision upon.
BTW, if this really is just like a flu, what exactly is Trump blaming the WHO for?
hehehe.. good point.
@marmoewp
You are conflating things.
The flu kills people, especially when an especially virulent strain starts spreading. COVID-19 is just about as dangerous as such a flu. I expect the 1917-18 flu was worst, especially since it killed young people. That is one issue.
The Chinese government release COVID-19 into the world deliberately and with malice. The WHO cooperated with the Chinese government, lulling many unsuspecting nations into complacency. With warning we could have delayed the spread of the virus, done a better job of characterizing the threat, protected the vulnerable, and avoided an economic shutdown.
Trump didn’t listen and let weeks pass having ignored intel people. Don’t smooth over Tom.
@Doug
I have no idea what your point is. It is not even related.
China delayed confirming/telling for a week. Trump ignored it for another 3 weeks.
@Doug
I have no idea where you are getting your timetable, but it’s stupid. When Trump acted, Democrats called him a racist.
I think acted as soon as it was politically feasible.
Of course they did because he has a charming history of basing decisions on some level of bias. In fact.. not ALL Democrats did.. nor did traditional GOP’ers like me. The public was not aware initially of the intel available to Trump at the time which sometimes happens to any sitting prez… they have to suffer initial criticism when the public does not know the reason for a decision. Part of the job.
The flu kills people, especially when an especially virulent strain starts spreading. COVID-19 is just about as dangerous as such a flu. I expect the 1917-18 flu was worst, especially since it killed young people. That is one issue.
So by now you realize, that you need to reach for the Spanish flu to find a flu comparable in impact to Covid-19. While I don’t think you had the Spanish flu in mind, when you called SARS-CoV-2 “about as dangerous as a relatively nasty flu bug”, but I’ll take progress where I can find it. By the way, other coronavirus strains cause the common cold, it’s just that the SARS-CoV-2 strain, like the Spanish flu, turns out to be one of the killers.
@marmoewp
Great idea! Shut down the economy to fight the common cold.
Seriously, when the “experts” started talking about flattening the curve to keep our hospitals from being overloaded, they were talking about a mortality rate 5 times greater than what we are seeing. Now these so-called experts want to keep the economy shut down so we can completely prevent the spread of the virus. That’s nonsense! Sales people call it bait and switch.
So much for thinking you made progress. Sigh.
That “comon cold” multiplied total deaths by a factor of six in New York City, while touching only a small fraction of the population. Yes, you do have to get the economy get going again, no question about that. However, if you do it as if nothing had happened and ignore the virus, you will end up with about 700,000 thousand people dead from Covid-19 (assuming 0.3% IFR and herd immunity at 70% of the population infected) and a hunderdthousands of people crippled with low capacity lungs, possibly for life. And yes, it would touch a lot of young people, too, not just the 60+ that you seem to be willing to sacrifice anyway.
@marmoewp
When I say that the solution you propose will not work and will create more serious problems, how does that equate to indifference? If 70% of the population is going to get COVID-19, you don’t have any way of stopping it. That was never the intention of flattening the curve. We can slow but we cannot stop the virus from spreading.
My solution, such as it is, is letting people decided for themselves what they want to do. Since I have not seen much evidence know what they are doing, I don’t see any point in letting boss everybody around.
The isolation/quarantine for this strand of covid has now surpassed the length of the most stringent lockdowns for Spanish flu (which only happened in certain areas…never the whole country).
Here is a site some folks might enjoy. Slowfacts. It’s the original source of the tweet below.
https://slowfacts.wordpress.com/about-slowfacts/?fbclid=IwAR0aK_QXuM0gr75ZE2Ckdr2Fiyk0bIShGFevy74ZAKNcMnf4ETVpmt8Hefg
Now, I will agree that death is a very high bar. Sickness sucks, and is destructive as well (not to give Doug ammo). Some victims of covid have lasting consequences, from what I’ve read (though similar can be said of untreated strep).
That said, this map is pretty illuminating:
I find it funny, that people never use cartograms, when doing visual arguments like this one. Please help me out, is it land area that has the deaths or population?
I am not willing to spend the time to do a county based cartogram, but if you go by state the corresponding cartogram, where equal area represents equal population, looks like this
Still a lot of green, but way less useful for the impression EcholonRight tries to convey.
@marmoewp
I assume, like Liz, that the distortion is the result of the differences in population density. That distortion is illustrative of regional differences, population being one of those differences. The United States is federation because the framers of our Constitution anticipated that different regions of our nation would benefit from autonomy.
Consider another aspect of this discussion. What qualifies the areas that could not control the virus to give advice to the areas that never had a problem? Why would anyone want to take advice from a governor who was foolish enough to deliberately send people infected with COVID-19 into nursing homes?
Still a lot of green, but way less useful for the impression EcholonRight tries to convey.
Population density obviously matters.
The point was, different areas of the country present different risk assessments.
There should be no one-size-fits-all policy. A one-size-fits-all is detrimental and unwarranted.
@Liz
That’s funny! What a way to put it!
The Chinese government release COVID-19 into the world deliberately and with malice. The WHO cooperated with the Chinese government, lulling many unsuspecting nations into complacency. With warning we could have delayed the spread of the virus, done a better job of characterizing the threat, protected the vulnerable, and avoided an economic shutdown.
The WHO holds no power over China, just as it does not hold power over the USA. It is dependent on the goodwill of governments for access to data and for being allowed to send its own research teams into a country. The WHO had to find a difficult balance between informing the world and saving face for China, lest the WHO lose the precious and needed access to the situation on the ground completely. I do blame China for that, that saving face was more important to them than openly reporting on the severety of Covid-19. But Trump is in need of a defenseless scapegoat within striking distance and the Republicans are all too happy to join in the destruction of the WHO, pretending to do something productive. Mankind – Americans included – will pay the price for this folly. In short, the WHO found itself between a stone and a hard place, and the stone has now decided to crush the WHO as a distraction.
That said, the partial travel restrictions came after the first cases had reached the US, already. It was obvious from the get go, that restricting travel can only buy you that much time to get your defences to a ready-state. Instead, the Trump administration acted, as if a travel ban is a panacea to keep Covid-19 in check. The federal government for weeks did not ramp up testing capabilities, did not assess and buy stocks of PPE for the medical staff. The CDC decided to develop its own test kit and failed, rather than take the test kit offered by the WHO. So when it counted most, when you still would have had a chance to handle Covid-19 with aggressive mass testing and tracing, the US stood there bare handed. It was outdone in testing capacity by orders of magnitude by countries like South Korea. During all this time, Trump went on playing golf and fantasizing that Covid-19 would just go away, like magic.
@marmoewp
I don’t think the WHO has found the right balance, not even after everyone knows the government of China lied.
The WHO had to find a difficult balance between informing the world and saving face for China, lest the WHO lose the precious and needed access to the situation on the ground completely. I do blame China for that, that saving face was more important to them than openly reporting on the severety of Covid-19.
They did more than that. China locked down their country locally (stopped travel in and out of Wuhan), while having unfettered travel to and from Wuhan internationally. With the WHO’s blessing. They even praised China for the way they handled this.
Per PPE…the supply line was a logistical problem since everything we buy was made in China. We did have some stockpiled, but not enough. This is not a problem Trump created, it’s a problem he inherited.
“This is not a problem Trump created, it’s a problem he inherited.”
Correct.. which was brought to his attention from the departing Obama administration transition bunch… and he ignored for 3.5 years to attempt any remedy.
Just to add, in fact, I think I brought up the problem with relying on other (untrustworthy) nations for critical supplies in here a couple of years back. And I said Trump was the only president in my memory to take this threat seriously and try to do something about it. I said this long before the covid showed up. These things take time though…and we’ve relied on China for critical supplies for well over a decade. It became deathly serious over a decade ago (under Bush junior), and no administration took it seriously until Trump.
I noted:
Today the world global economy has become intensely specialized. Markets informed by the internet and low cost shipping allow companies to prosper or fail based on a 0.5% cost difference half a world away. Just as Wall Street imagined that squeezing extra profit out of the sale of credit swaps was a smart move. As long as everyone is making money, you cannot fight the herd mentality.
Then something big changes and the whole system collapses. Stuff happens. Fires, natural disasters, wars, ect The current economic system will not forgo an extra 0.25% profit this quarter against the speculative possibility that some major shift in the supply chain will blow the entire economy apart. So just as happened on Wall Street, everybody sits back and books profits and acts surprised when the highly specialized economy goes to hell when conditions change.
@Liz
I think what you describe, oddly enough, is a religious problem. When we set God aside and look only at immediate profits, counting beans, we forget why we exist. We lose perspective of the world, even our customers. We just myopically perceive the bottom line. Then we cannot even anticipate obvious problems. Soon thereafter, as pilots like to say, we lose the bubble.
We have to remember that our work is an act of worship. We serve God by serving our customers. When we do what is best for them, it may take time for the people we serve to appreciate what we are doing for them, but events like this recent debacle have a way revealing the truth.
Doug, I’m not going to be able to respond to you for at least a few days.
I’m getting to the point of frustration it would only be insulting. Citizen Tom is right you are turning into a pure troll.
As I mentioned to Tom.. I fully understand. You all need time to fall back and affirm each other’s Trumpian ideals and Kumbaya a bit.
Remember all the democrats screaming about relying on China?
Yeah…it was part of Hillary’s platform.
Oh, wait. That was the “women, womenfolk, girls, if you are a woman and don’t vote for me there’s a special place in hell for you because…I’m a woman”
Platform.
And…”let’s put a no fly zone over Syria because whatever could go wrong?!?”
Anyone wish we had a no fly zone over Syria now? How about the Iranian terrorist. Are we still angry we took that guy out? How about ISIS? Or have we forgotten they used to be a thing?
Oh, yeah….the economy had never been better before the pandemic…but that was Obama’s gift! Which kept on giving up and until the pandemic which is Trump’s fault!
Good Lord.
Thank you liberals for reminding me why I support Trump.
As I mentioned to Tom.. I fully understand. You all need time to fall back and affirm each other’s Trumpian ideals and Kumbaya a bit.
Still wish that terrorist was targeting our soldiers, Doug?
Or has that ship sailed?
On to the next thing….it’s always about deaths.
People will die because Trump!
(what about these people?)
Those are the wrong people! They should die! I only care that Trump is wrong!
Kumbaya.
@Liz
Doug puzzles me. What does he think he is proving? Taunting the people he disagrees with is junior high school behavior.
Runs into room, farts, exclaims “haha! You can’t take dat! Trumpie!”
Runs into room, farts again…”Haha! Continue on with your kumbaya!”
Folks can disagree. This is just trolling.
Correct.. which was brought to his attention from the departing Obama administration transition bunch… and he ignored for 3.5 years to attempt any remedy.
Excuse me, incoming president….we’ve managed to build an economy where we are 100 percent reliant on China for everything from computers to medicine to…well, everything.
You might want to get crack-a-lackin.
Beware the economists are all going to scream at you the minute you try, and my party will call you a racist xenophobe.
Also, we will attempt to distract the public from our close relationship with China by claiming you are a Russian puppet.
And we’ll undermine your administration by vilifying folks who agree to work for you. We have deep pockets, and own the FBI, CIA, et al.
Good luck buddy!
I think what you describe, oddly enough, is a religious problem. When we set God aside and look only at immediate profits, counting beans, we forget why we exist. We lose perspective of the world, even our customers. We just myopically perceive the bottom line. Then we cannot even anticipate obvious problems. Soon thereafter, as pilots like to say, we lose the bubble.
We have to remember that our work is an act of worship. We serve God by serving our customers. When we do what is best for them, it may take time for the people we serve to appreciate what we are doing for them, but events like this recent debacle have a way revealing the truth.
So true and well said, Citizen Tom.
Nice blog
Tom
In reading this post and comments in regards to masks, jobs, economy, government mandates etc., in my opinion, this whole COVID-19 catastrophe is the result of elite politicians not understanding globalism and manufacturing consequences.
While I personally believe a citizen should make his own personal decision whether or not to wear masks to protect from infectious virus, I also believe employers or businesses have the right to demand masks be worn to protect fellow workers and patrons..
Why the shortage of N95 masks, the only mask that reduces the risk by 95 percent of breathing in the infectious virus, is the core reason for the high rate of the virus being spread and causing the need to quarantine an entire Nation.
In other words, the quarantine could have been avoided and the risk of infection could have been reduced 95 percent of the present infections if masks were available, if government planners for the pandemic understood and planned for the pandemic as was their responsibility.
If interested,
Read my latest post on this sad result of having politicians requiring mandates instead of doing what was necessary before the pandemic which has been and will be in the future repeated unless we as a nation wise up, in my opinion.
Understanding the N95 Mask Folly in USA
https://rudymartinka.com/2020/05/29/post-four-the-boomer-remover-king-solomon-blog/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
Tom, Doug, Tricia,
In reading this post and comments in regards to masks, jobs, economy, government mandates etc., in my opinion, this whole COVID-19 catastrophe is the result of elite politicians not understanding globalism and manufacturing consequences.
While I personally believe a citizen should make his own personal decision whether or not to wear masks to protect from infectious virus, I also believe employers or businesses have the right to demand masks be worn to protect fellow workers and patrons..
Why the shortage of N95 masks, the only mask that reduces the risk by 95 percent of breathing in the infectious virus, is the core reason for the high rate of the virus being spread and causing the need to quarantine an entire Nation.
In other words, the quarantine could have been avoided and the risk of infection could have been reduced 95 percent of the present infections if masks were available, if government planners for the pandemic understood and planned for the pandemic as was their responsibility.
If interested,
Read my latest post on this sad result of having politicians requiring mandates instead of doing what was necessary before the pandemic which has been and will be in the future repeated unless we as a nation wise up, in my opinion.
Understanding the N95 Mask Folly in USA
https://rudymartinka.com/2020/05/29/post-four-the-boomer-remover-king-solomon-blog/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
Here’s a real possible scenario, Rudy.
You’re out in public.. not wearing your mask because you’re a Trump person, presuming wearing a mask means you are surrendering to Liberals.. commies.. the Second Amendment.. whatever your imagination conjures up. I brush up against you at the store.. I catch the virus from you.. take it home.. give it to a loved one.. they get sick and die.. and tracing reveals it directly to you. Is it within my Constitutional right to extract revenge on you and or your family for the murder of my loved one? Maybe I shouldn’t even care one way or the other if it is a right or not.. since I will be in so much pain and remorse that likely I’d never get convicted. In the real world, if you passed it to me I’d likely die anyway given I am in all the risk factors.
If I didn’t have respect for you I’d say, “Quit being an idiot and think American.” But I think I have an understanding of you enough to presume you are just misguided and blinded by Trump’s nonsense.
Doug,
I wear a mask because if I become infected, it will be my time withing 2 days.
If you read my posts on COVID-19, you will discern how I have been a strong voice to give my opinion every since February for everyone to wear masks to reduce the risks for both themselve, thier family, and their community.
I have commented often that whenever you see a picture of people in China, they seem to all be wearing masks.
If you don’t want to read my posts. check out this links which I linked in my last post.
Source Links
Vox- Why Masks Required
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/29/21273625/coronavirus-masks-required-virginia-china-hong-kong
How Infections Enter the Human Body
http://needtoknow.nas.edu/id/infection/encountering-microbes/entering-the-human-host/
e
Regards, goodwilll blogging, and stay safe.
In your last reply you indicated wearing a mask was a personal choice and should not be mandated… so I presumed what seemed kinda obvious.. you don’t wear one, or will wear one when you are damn good and ready and no one is going to tell you otherwise. Good to see you don’t practice what you preach… you and I are in the same boat then. I figure I have two options if I get it. I die… or by some lucky draw of the Viking gene pool I hail from (and I have no history of being lucky in drawings) I will live.
Doug,
The reason for my opinion to let people choose is because it is impossible to mandate to fools who are intent on living the way they choose.
Same of their choices like smoking, drugs, risky sex, and now ignoring face masks will result in them dying sooner on average that those who choose to make more wise choices.
Sad that by their not wearing masks, innocent people are at risk. What I do if I see a non-mask come near me is just distance myself from them.
Government enforcement has limits especially in a Nation where everyone believes they have Rights but don’t understand Rights have Constitutional limitis.
..
Employers and private businesses can do a better job of policing if they choose.
Actually, because there are so many foolish choices, the USA by not having free medical insurance, the insurance rates are lower for those who choose healthier life choice.
Remember insurance rates are a shared expense, the more government rewards those who do not work in order to obtain medical insurance the higher the taxes will be for those who work and pay insurance premiums and taxes to support subsidies.
Of course, there should be exceptions for special needs .
Regards and goodwill blogging.
I tend to agree. Been watching Chicago demonstrations. Reminds me of the 60’s.
It’s funny to me that some people get upset when stating the obvious fact that some politicians will always take advantage of chaos to push an agenda. I’m sure the Right does it, but it’s just so darn easy to pick in the Left for this because they don’t even try and hide it. My Governor, Gavin “Nuisance” Newsom literally came out and said he would use our Covid response to enact a more Liberal agenda. Wasn’t shy about it at all.
Of course Nancy Peolosi’s dead on arrival bill was a laundry list of Left wing treats which she knew would never pass the Senate. It was however a clarion call for the agenda the D’s will push if Trump loses the election. Again, noting hidden about it.
And while you are lamenting the same old nonsense about Liberals… Black Americans think the pandemic is racist, along with the cop killings. Lot’s of skin in this game for sure.. different colors skin too.
@Tricia
Power mad people don’t hide their agenda. They may soft-peddle it, but they don’t hide it. We hide the truth from ourselves because we don’t want to deal with it.
You need to read IB’s comment to my post today regarding the attempts by various governors to “legalize” mask wearing— seems that’s a No no— thank heavens!
Like you posted… Trump people don’t wear them because it represents a symbol of power-hungry Liberals… and government-gone-too-far.. and science-believers. Oddly.. the mask isn’t about you.. it’s about the other guy. Oh, well. It’s only 100,000 people anyway, like Tom said.
But.. not to worry. It’s all gonna get worse.. and before the election (and not just the effects of the virus).
Doug- it’s not about me, it’s about all of us— and cloth face masks do not protect the person wearing them or those around them— the medically fragile need to have access to medical grade masks — that makes sense— the most effective measures are practicing good hygiene, keeping our distance and limiting our outings -and I don’t exactly recall ‘power hungry liberals’ but rather the media is politicizing mask wearing — and isn’t that the positive attitude.. we’re all going to die, run and hide….
Well, doesn’t it seem like something has been reducing the spread.. at least until all this opening? It’s either the masks, the distancing, or both. That’s simple common sense. Sometimes in the absence of real science, until real science can catch up, common sense is all we have. Also… listening to those who have the knowledge to know better.. and I side with the science.. and it was stated very early on the virus could still seep through the average mask. BUT… the mask does provide some level of barrier in projecting it out… and provides the same barrier for your own protection when others wear one. You alluded to it in your own post… Trump isn’t responsible for the virus at all… no question. He IS responsible for addressing all this according to his political and moral biases and getting re-elected and thus has made things far worse than needed.
My warning of further doom & gloom is akin to running and hiding in a panic? A segment of the population is flippant about this entire pandemic. Before anything changes with them far more than 100,000 people must die.. and the bug has to hit their home and family before they wake up. Then you have the divisive politics creating a scientific divide… then you have civil strife about to accelerate beyond Minneapolis (partly as I said.. people are “pandemically” stressed) which will most certainly turn into political dissent as the electioneering accelerates…. and still yet the worst in all this that feeds the entire antiphony of collective disunity in the nation is Trump himself, unable to display anything resembling presidential leadership, feeling cornered and lashing out at his real and imagined “enemies”…. decrees, lawsuits, endless mindless Tweets to feed is base…
You tell me, Julie… you seeing any reason for a happy dance anytime soon in the nation’s future? Whether Trump wins or loses… this isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Time to re-access priorities.
And you know what ticks me off so much about all of this? I’m an optimist by nature.
I’m choosing to remain optimistic— it’s like Oneta said the other day— God, has a plan for us— I’m trusting Him
You know.. what you just said gives me hope… and let me place that in context. I try and keep out of religious discourse and I am certainly not worthy to comment one way or the other… for a myriad of reasons. If at the end of the day He’s your guidepost and not anyone “earthly”, then that’s good enough for me. 🙂
On the other hand.. does God not help those who help themselves?
That He does and I think we’re trying— each in his or her own way ——
@Doug
The reason people are “flippant” about the virus is that it is not much more dangerous than the flu. The proposed “cure”, the economic shutdown, is actually much more dangerous than the virus.
Do I wear a mask when I am out in public? Yes. I don’t want to bring the virus home to my lady. We are both old enough even the flu is trouble. However, I don’t see the sense in placing my children and grandchildren under house arrest. What good does that do them?
No, siree… three times the people have died from this bug than the simple flu so far.. also.. the simple flu has a vaccine and people who decide to take it or not make choices in life on their own. Quit going to those naysayer Conservative sites that deny science.
And… the shutdown in it’s original form was not indefinite or even forever. It was meant to by some time for science to get a grasp… testing.. and tracing. But Trump messed all that up. If Congress had done their job stimulus could have covered most problems… and.. no.. more deaths would not have came about from a shutdown. Again… common sense helps.
@Doug
You have helped to make the pandemic political.
1. If Conservatives call something unconstitutional and unnecessary, that make them science deniers? That crap just politicizes science.
2. Tricia said nothing about race, but you did.
3. You can’t even say what Trump did wrong, but you keep repeating your mantra, “Trump messed it all up”.
1. We are in a middle of a national emergency and a declared pandemic that is killing Americans resulting in measures that are needed to TRY and abate the spread of this thing… and it appalls me that Conservatives have chosen complain and moan about some perceived loss of rights and scream “Constitution”. Be an American and not some mindless Trumpian supporter and realize the the scientists and government has never dealt with this before.. and that very likely some “take charge” is necessary. In my case.. I would readily accept.. and anticipate… that in a situation like this some rights might have to be suspended for a while for the benefit of all. This is why we give our leaders emergency powers. But there’s always a segment of people who feel government involved in anything is a threat to their individual rights… “government” is just lurking around for an emergency just like this to take away your rights forever. If you can’t use your common sense that government would not be able to continue any suppression of rights indefinitely.. then that reflects your lack of confidence in your leaders. Of course.. if you ALWAYS have a lack of confidence in your leaders because you can draw a solid line from being elected to being corrupt.. then maybe you would prefer another system instead of the Constitution.
No, Tom… Trumpian Conservatives made this political to defend Trump.. or more to the point.. Trump is killing himself and the handwriting is on the wall.
@Doug
Let me sum up all your nonsensefor you.
You are being ridiculous. You constantly complain about Trump, and you have confidence in our leaders? You don’t even believe yourself.
@Doug
You can’t explain how social distancing — keeping people from making personal contact — helps. The original idea was to flatten the curve to prevent the hospitals from being overloaded, but the same number of people eventually get sick. Now the idea is to keep people from ever getting the virus. That won’t work. More people will die from the economic shutdown. But go ahead. Signal your virtue. Screw your neighbors and pretend you are doing them a grand favor.
Hells bells, Tom.. Trump should have picked you rather than Fauci!
@Doug
So you can’t explain why people should not be getting back to work. All you can do is make a pointless wisecrack.
Dr. Fauci is a political appointee. The fact he has an opinion does not make his opinion science. That is why he has been known change his mind. At best he makes educated guesses, and his advice has not been all that great.
And who exactly do we put in charge of a national emergency that requires science? People like Trump?
@Doug
Trump is who we elected. Before that it was Obama. Why do you think I want a limited government restricted by a constitution that the People enforce? We don’t ever elect anyone everyone is happy to obey.
Why do you have a problem with making your own decisions and running your own life and letting others do the same?
“Why do you have a problem with making your own decisions and running your own life and letting others do the same?”
In normal situations I don’t have any problem with that. In a national emergency and a pandemic such as this I freely admit I do not have all the answers and I am willing for a limited time surrender some of that for the good of all and to contribute, as an American, to some collective effort to support our leaders to get stability back and come forward with the best plan of attack possible. You wanna wave the Constitution around for every burp government makes.. that’s on you. But the Constitution has done ZERO to protect those 100,000 Americans who have died.. and the thousands more about to die. Fix your priorities and quit making politics of it all.
@Doug
We use constitutional government to authorize people to lead us because we fear tyranny. Tyrants kill people by the tens of millions. Even in this country, government supported slavery, which clearly violated the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence, harmed blacks more grievously than COVID-19. Therefore, I think you fear the wrong things. We should fear men without honor more than disease.
Ohh.. no, no, no… it’s not ME with the fear. I believe in the Constitution and in the basic soul of America and the diversity of Americans. I’m ok with you wanting Trump’s agenda.. it’s all debatable in Congress and on the street. I am NOT tolerant of some clown that got elected on a minority of the people (due to some electoral anomaly) that has no comprehension for the office and public trust given to him. He has no public mandate.. and simply look at today’s news alone.. day after day this idiot is a clear and present danger to the security of the nation and public decency. He will be bounced out in the election.. and very likely the GOP will loose the Senate because of his bungling. Can’t say I am all for a complete Democratically dominated administration, save SCOTUS but I can certainly tolerate 4 years of that than 4 more years or the Orange Man.
You proclaim yourself as some sort of Constitutionalist yet you are in constant fear of elements, if not all, of the Constitution somehow vanishing before your eyes by some renegade power monger. Where does all that fear nonsense come from? You want the Constitution to stifle and smother your life that’s up to you. I’m ok with the variety of changing administrations… and I am certainly ok with getting Trump the hell outta here.
@Doug
You just hate Trump, and you cannot even explain why. Since hatred isn’t rational, I suppose I should not be surprised you are not going to let the Constitution get in your way. Still, I think it is funny you think you are some kind of Conservative, and you have so little regard for the Constitution. I guess the news media you watch leaves you quite ignorant. Being propagandized isn’t the same thing as being informed.
I follow a blogging buddy.. one of the few that I follow that have similar opinion to mine.
He has broke down those “reasons” regarding Trump you seem to always be searching for…
https://lobotero.com/2020/05/29/100000-milestone/
I tried to respond in a post to your blogging buddy, Doug. Think he deleted it.
Since I don’t like having my time wasted, here is what I said:
So much to say here. I’ll just start with this one:
He blocked reopening guidance. For several weeks, Trump blocked the release of detailed CDC guidance for how to safely reopen businesses.
Just to state the obvious:
Businesses haven’t been open “for several weeks” for the most part. Are you saying they should have opened earlier and Trump didn’t allow it?
Or are you saying there is some sort of secret information in this document (which has been made available) that illuminates everything and could have solved problems? I read it and don’t see anything.
Maybe you can point to it?
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6883734-CDC-Business-Plans.html
States are opening at different times, depending on the local risk assessment.
I live up in Colorado and our county just opened.
I could go on for hours addressing this ridiculous post.
But both you and i know this would be a total waste of time.
We have had total reliance on China for our manufactured PPE, and virtually everything else, for years.
Yes, everyone has known for a long while that reliance on a foreign country that can’t be trusted is a bad idea. But you can’t go against the herd. Trump did and all the economists were screaming that it was economic suicide. All the liberals were calling him a racist xenophobe. Where to start with ending our dependence on China? Our department of defense computer hardware? Medicines? or hospital gowns and masks.
Hindsight 2020 is great. One can always say something that was done should have been done sooner.
@Liz
Propaganda is not logical. Propagandists direct their messages at our emotions, trying to get us so worked up we cannot think straight. Once we start hating another person, we don’t want to admit in shame we did so wrongly.
Is hatred the only emotion driving Liberal Democrats? Well, do Liberal Democrats actually love Obama or H. Clinton?
Do Democrats really do any of their constituent group any good, or do they just punish their scapegoats? Is identity politics about bringing us together or dividing and conquering us?
Sorry, Tom.. your religious references are yours to make… the rest of what you said here.. the misguided and totally unsubstantiated presumptions that Liberals.. or any Americans actually (outside the Trump administration), are taking advantage of the pandemic for political power domination makes you and your ilk sound absolutely nuts.
Now in the news there is a breaking story that the Pennsylvania statehouse GOP have been hiding one of their own getting tested positive and not telling anyone else… and the Dems are furious about having taken it home to their families.
I’d not point fingers around too much, there Tom.. What this Trump has brought down on this country regarding moral decay and behavioral acceptability and national disunity is truly beginning to infuriate me. 100,000 Americans dead and all Conservatives worry about is defending Trump.
I better stop.
@Doug
Read Pelosi’s own words. => https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/51220-0
She says she sees the whole thing as a “momentous opportunity”, and her own bill is full of unrelated nonsense. People can go to Walmart, but they can’t vote? That’s BS. It is no secret Democrats will do anything to steal an election. Even if the virus was as dangerous as Pelosi wants us to believe, it is not an excuse for a power grab, federalizing the control elections.
Meanwhile, you run around blaming Trump for everything and anything, and you cannot even show what exactly it is he did to mess up everything and anything. TDS.
Am I saying Democrats are guilty of everything and anything? No. Am I saying Republicans are without guilt? No. I am just saying there are 330 million Americans. We only live about 80 years. Since several million of us die every year (=> https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm), making a huge, big stink about the death 100,000, mostly over 80 years old is sort or weird. That is especially true of people whose favor governor forced nursing homes to take patients with COVID-19 (https://www.nationalreview.com/news/cuomo-claims-obligation-is-on-the-nursing-homes-to-reject-covid-patients-despite-his-march-order-prohibiting-testing/). You elect dishonest people, and you want them to run everything and anything. Trump may be an idiot, but I sure as hell did not vote for him so he could run everything and anything.
What we should be angry about is that the Chinese Communists lied about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) being capable of human-to-human spread. What we should be angry about is that the Chinese Communists allowed their people (from Wuhan) to travel to our country while preventing those people from traveling to other parts of China. For all practical purposes, they deliberately spread that virus throughout the world.
If we don’t want to become more like Red China, then we don’t want to elect Liberal Democrats.
As a bit of a side note kinda unrelated… I do follow a couple other Conservative blogs that make your opinion sound way too restrained. These too guys I don’t think even allow comments.. but I follow their radical posts just to stay current on the flaming rhetoric from the Right…
“Jim Campbell’s” at….
https://whatyouthoughtiwentaway.wordpress.com/
“GDS44”
https://gds44.wordpress.com/
I present them simply if you want to indulge… and to acknowledge your tolerance for allowing me to bitch you out for your politics on your blog.
This fellow allows me to do that also… although his followers tend to engage me more. Really Right Wing Trump people.
https://statelymcdanielmanor.wordpress.com/
Your boy in the White House is going to make things way worse, Tom… which means things in general are going to get way worse. Part of that mess up in Minneapolis is also due to, under the surface, pent up stress over the pandemic. It’s gonna get violent before the election.
@Doug
I don’t know enough about Feinstein to argue about her husband’s business dealings, but it is fairly obvious our politicians have been selling us out. There is no excuse for ENCOURAGING so many American companies to move their manufacturing to China.
Define assault rifle. As a security guy, you should know the difference between an automatic and semiautomatic weapon.
Yeah, well.. assault rifles.. and you may quote me… “look big and nasty and with giant containers for bullets and all military like” I tried not to get too technical.
@Doug
Sounds like a sound basis for a law.
There is this plaintive cry that some people make.
Use to be a comic strip based upon that idea, but when we put Liberal Democrats in charge of making laws it is not funny.
@ Doug, “the misguided and totally unsubstantiated presumptions that Liberals.. or any Americans actually (outside the Trump administration), are taking advantage of the pandemic for political power domination makes you and your ilk sound absolutely nuts.”
Your naivety here is kind of cute. Or it was a joke, I’m not sure which but it was entertaining to read so thank you.
Trump supporters don’t wear masks because that’s what he says. Lemmings?
100,000 Americans dead and all Conservatives worry about is defending Trump.
I better stop.
2 months ago it was supposed to be 2 million dead.
Why aren’t you praising him for saving 1.9 million lives?
This is just an example of how the entire last 3 and a half years have been.
Georgia is doing great after opening up (knock on wood). But…don’t cover that or mention it, pick out one person in the state who has died and make that the story.
Propaganda has never been so refined.
Hm. Thought I’d hit the reply button. The above is a response to a quote by Doug.
@Liz
The red states are doing just fine. Big states like Texas and Florida are opening up. No problems.
BINGO! All doing is doing is telling us what he has been told to believe. Since it does not make sense, he cannot explain why he believes what he believes. While calling us deniers, he just angrily denies.
Yes. To give another example of the outrage du jour…
In a just world, this would be the biggest scandal in US history:
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/eli-lake/michael-flynn-gets-railroaded-by-the-fbi/?fbclid=IwAR1NW9kPIUNv5dTfKPx5I-Ht0VGpNMiwza15RMtlf0Z_d5fco46ekIo4ck8
But instead the media has convinced a huge portion of the masses that Flynn got away with treason. It’s unbelievable. And they’re literally changing the story from week to week successfully and no one blinks they just accept the new story…even if it completely contradicts the last one.
Disturbing doesn’t cover it.
With all that is going on.. why is Flynn even being discussed. Who cares what happens to the guy. Any meaningful career is over anyway. Trump should just pardon the guy and get it over with. “Obamagate?” That isn’t going anywhere. But I think Trump should assign as many resources into that as he can.. full it up with resources. Let’s not forget Hillary in all that.
I will be voting for Biden (more like that’s for his VP given Biden is old) but for me it matters not. I will be voting entirely to get Trump outta there… to save the country.
With all that is going on.. why is Flynn even being discussed.
I’m speechless.
It isn’t about Flynn the individual, it’s about the way our intelligence agencies went about wiretapping and blackmailing.
But it doesn’t surprise me that you think none of that matters.
Thank you. This says it all.
Yeah… if after three and a half years you don’t understand why people dislike Trump… it’s not worth repeating. Heads buried in the sand comes to mind.
On the other hand… maybe there’s a shared responsibility in constantly supporting Trump. If you support Trump you obviously support what he’s doing to the country. I could go on and on with that logical progression. Since my dislike for Trump originated during his candidacy performance.. and I have said all along is very little in regards to his political agenda… I have centered on his being a true mental deficient, a behavioral psychotic, a social malcontent, and of course a narcissist.
“But Dougie-boy.. are you a professional to make that assertion?” I understand the dynamics but I am no professional. “Ohh well.. then you have no idea what you are talking about.” Nope.. guess not.
In the meantime.. we are 3.5 years later and the nation is far more worse off than when we started.
“But it would have been far worse under Hillary!”
1. How do you know? Are you any sort of professional? (yeah, yeah.. the “It’s so obvious” defense)
2. If you have to ask.. “How are we more worse off?” Well.. if what is currently going on in the nation is your idea of some political Utopia to what YOU want America to be because of this Buffoon-in-Chief’s demeanor and bullying… again, speaks more of you personally.
You want to carry out his agenda then find another person to carry it forward. If you prefer Trump because of these behavioral traits… because you personally like that he’s being a non-traditional president… socking it to the elites (who are those people actually?).. making the Liberal media squirm… making the Liberals get angry… defying norms and traditions because he’s a bully… if you like all that, well.. sorry.. says more about you personally… and what you think of America and being an American.
As I’ve quoted from Wren’s epitaph…. if you seek his monument look around.
Wait.. Last I heard… and I do keep track.. the entire South is on an increase for infections… gradual as it might be. Georgia’s “grand” opening… ok.. define exactly what THAT success might be.
And please.. Trump has NOT been any sort of a savior in all this. He’s part of the problem. Trump does NOTHING unless it for his own benefit. Now he’s fighting Twitter because it’s his “enemy”. The man is a mental case… but.. in the end it’s ONLY 100,000 people. what’s a few more or less. He said wearing the mask is a sign of weakness and being enslaved. Go for it.
I am waiting for an infection tracing to reveal that it originated from one person who didn’t give a damn about masks or distancing.. and that person’s political agenda killed someone’s loved one, and there’s deadly retribution. It will happen.
@Doug
The virus is contagious. All that we might be able to do is keep our hospitals from being overloaded. Since the virus is not nearly as dangerous as we first feared, that is doable without us doing much of anything. So what is the problem? In dense urban settings when the weather is cold (winter), the virus spreads real fast? Well, tell the Democrats to stop wasting our money on 60’s style mass transit systems. The darn things spread disease.
Mass transit is a culprit now? Hehe…
I am waiting for an infection tracing to reveal that it originated from one person who didn’t give a damn about masks or distancing.. and that person’s political agenda killed someone’s loved one, and there’s deadly retribution. It will happen.
Well, the vast majority of deaths are occurring in nursing homes where isolation precautions are mandatory. So good luck with that.
I’m sure CNN will be able to find at least one though…and they will surely report it.
Per your pithy commentary below (re “mass transpiration now he he”)….
Yes, contagion on mass transportation is a thing.
That’s why…pretty much any first world large city other than New York started deep cleaning their subways months ago.
Not rocket surgery, this.
He said wearing the mask is a sign of weakness and being enslaved.
He said making the wearing of masks mandatory was about social control. And I agree.
Seriously. What on earth is the bug in your programming that somehow interprets “mandatory” (aka the government requirement for everyone to wear a mask everywhere) with “all masks are slavery!”
Side note: Did you know the WHO still doesn’t recommend masks for asymptomatic folks outside the healthcare industries? Just curious. I never understood the “don’t wear masks!” any more than I understand the “everyone must wear masks at all times, or any kind!”
both are absurd.
Too much absurdity these days.
yeah…Blame Trump!
See exhibit number 500000 above of Trump’s words taken out of context to be purposefully misleading.
Seems that might indicate something, doncha think? If he’s always taken out of context, and never defends himself at all using that excuse (ever), yet all his supporters seem to be Trump Whisperers to completely understand all his contexts.
Perplexing.
Do Trump supporters have one of those 1945 decoder rings Tom had as a post illustration? Is there a secret wink or handshake?
Seems that might indicate something, doncha think? If he’s always taken out of context
Sure does. How do you misread something stated right in front of you?
Answer: you’re not reading the actual statement, you’re reading the portion the media you’ve chosen has selected for you to view. This is why I try to go to the source whenever the information is available. I’ve said this before.
And in this case it can be found very easily. You’re just lazy.
BTW, if you’re still on the hydrochloroquine is dangerous and ineffective paradigm (hard to tell, the mantra seems to change on the day to day).
The Lancet study was debunked, quite effectively:
https://t.co/XwXTMQ5XCh?amp=1
and
@Doug
The Lancet study is silly. How does a drug that has been used for decades suddenly become dangerous? Trump said he wants to try it, and orange man is bad.
It takes a sick person to do scientific studies on a drug that way.
Science is bad, Tom. It makes Trump look bad.
I’d forget the crazy drug. There’s more important things going on. Dare to shift from the usual fairy dust and Unicorns on those sites with Trump bias and check out the deja vu on the White House lawn. I’m sure you remember the days.
@Doug
There is nothing scientific about lying.
Normally I would agree with you.. but Herr Trump has managed to bring lying to a science. By golly… that’s certainly one accomplishment!
@Doug
Lying predates Trump. The Devil perfected the “art” long ago.
What was the Devil’s worst lie? The one he told himself. He convinced himself he should be God.
Well, for all of Trump’s mental maladies I’d never assign him to be Satan, the devil, or even a tool of either. He’s misguided and lost in a sea of incompetence for the position.. and thrives on the “enemies” around him… most perceived. It gives him purpose and importance. Having said that.. he does believe himself to be somewhere between man and God for political purposes; the proverbial Messiah complex.
@Doug
If all you can think about is Trump, you have got a problem.
We are in the midst of a cold war, a civil war being fought between Americans. You have picked sides just because you don’t like Donald Trump. That is a stupid reason to side against your fellow Americans.
Why have I chosen the side I am on? Why am I a Constitutional Conservative? I believe in the teachings of Jesus. I am a Christian. If I am going to contribute to the spread of His Gospel as my Savior commanded, then I think it best to strive for a government which promotes freedom of religion. That includes both the freedom of to choose what we want to believe and the free to exercise those beliefs.
Liberal Democrats don’t think much of the Constitution, and they seem to think religious belief gets in the way of worshiping the state. Conservative Republicans, on the other hand, cannot be trusted, but most will make some effort to abide by the Constitution.
Is Trump perfect? No, but Hillary Clinton would have been disastrous for constitutional government.
You don’t agree? Well, all you seem capable of doing is hating on Trump. You got a problem.
Just to add (per “defending” oneself over out of context, inaccurate, and/or fabricated allegations)….misinformation is a hydra. Once one tries to go down that bunny trail of explaining each and every bit of misinformation there is no end to it. For every false detail that is refuted, two more sprout up in its place. Journalists have little to do other than play “gotcha”.
The president, by contrast, has a very busy job.
“Truthers” were the quintessential example of false information…people wrote books filled with false absurdities based on information taken out of context. It filled books, and a good portion of the population bought it. Enough to make a lot of money for those charlatans.
Could it possibly be that the “good portion of the public” knows something you don’t? Or.. maybe those folks refuse to hide their heads in the sand? Just speculating.
Demonstrations have reached outside the White House.. along with a number of cities. A fair mix of white folks and black folks it seems. Think there’s any Conservatives in this bunch? I don’t see a lot of flags… hardly a one. Everyone perched on Trump’s doorstep and word is they are keeping personnel inside the White House grounds… no one leaving. Somebody must be afraid. Seen all this before.. decades ago, for other reasons.
Let’s hope we don’t get some inspired Right Wing nutjobs showing up thinking they are defending the White House like some self-proclaimed Knights Templar protecting the Holy Grail.
Takes notes, Liz. This is what happens when a president isn’t in control of pandemics, racial strife, national unity, and his own behaviors.
@Doug
You seem to be intent on ruining an old poem. https://poets.org/poem/how-do-i-love-thee-sonnet-43
Just substitute love with hate and thee with Trump, and then make a few more choice edits. Well, that’s TDS.
@Liz
@Doug
There is a reason propaganda is effective. Propagandists know how to contrive their lies so that we hear what we already want to believe.
We eagerly repeat the “news” we wish to believe.
Could it possibly be that the “good portion of the public” knows something you don’t?
You a truther too?
Dude.
Didn’t think there were any still around.
(whispers shrilly into closet at hangar X)
He knows! HE KNOWS!!
A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes
Except in the internet age a lie travels to Andromeda and back while the truth is locked up in the basement screaming.
😂
I prefer to think that truth, once determined, isn’t locked up anywhere except in one’s own mind… and sits there until such time our bias wants to unlock it… or not. Either way it’s always for some expediency. Which simply says truth is totally up to the individual’s will to accept it as such… or not.
But.. I’m inclined to believe this national divide, this social acceptance of a bastardization interpretation of a preferred truth, is entirely based on a devotion to a single person… and yes… Trump. Oddly.. those red states of rural America suffering economically that are alleged to have tipped the scales for his election are perhaps the more applicable reason one might expect in voting for someone for president… their personal lives have been affected in some way, which supports all politics are local. This MAGA nationalistic stuff is assigned strictly to identify Trump himself in addressing a broader base of people who think the white dominated America of the 50’s is vanishing. Too many foreign-looking people… too many foreign languages being spoken (or translated on the products we buy, forms we fill out)… too many Americans living along the coasts being educated and preferring some we-are-the-world globalism and (seemingly) dictating to the rest of the country.. too many racial identities demanding political correctness… too many “new” religious diversities… too many rich people getting richer… and technology advancing far quicker than society can absorb it.
Trump comes along.. he’s abrasive as hell in his persona, arbitrary, biased in all respects, thumbs his nose (more like flips his finger) to traditional elitism, and essentially is the poster boy for a large segment of the population that just plain hates or dislikes the way the country is being run no matter who is in charge. Trump’s unfiltered, loudmouth, bullying, arrogant attitude many find completely welcome on the American scene… (finally.! To some). It matters not any experience Trump lacks for taking the position as President… he’s the “upset the apple cart” persona. It matters not what he’s done in his past that are socially, morally, and/or legal or illegal. He uses the common “villains” his base also finds as “bad”, largely for racial biases. His base could care less about national unity because “their man” sits in the Oval Office.
I’ve said this before in here…. I will NEVER align my political preferences to worship a single individual. This blind devotion to Trump is in itself un-American given as Americans we bow to no one.. foreign or domestic. Yet he manages to only rally those who find his behavior wonderful… and with the others he bullies them into submission. It’s one thing to have voted for Trump as a better choice than Hillary and her 30,000 emails baggage at the time… but if you still support Trump after 3.5 years then perhaps there’s enough blame to assign. You enjoy this national divide he’s created. You enjoy his inability to unite the country. You enjoy his bullying, name calling, abrasive behavior as displayed through his Tweets. You enjoy his racial animus. You enjoy our nation, our presidency, being a laughing stock to the world. You enjoy his arbitrary bias being revealed in his incompetent appointments of incompetent people..and random acts of firings.
But for any of that to be valid one has to accept all that as a reality first. Trump supporters do not. So here we are.. back to the ambivalence (or is it ambiguity?) of truth. Now we are in the middle of a pandemic Trump cannot handle.. racial demonstrations Trump cannot handle.. and a political national disunity Trump cannot handle. If you still worship Trump for that ridiculous “Look at all the good he’s done.”.. yes… look indeed at all, if any, good he has done.
@Doug
Basing your political alliances upon a caricature of someone you hate is just about as foolish as anything I know of.
Just as Trump is having issues with the Coronavirus pandemic, you could say Abraham Lincoln could not handle the American Civil War. Yet just as Lincoln’s problem arose from Americans who refused his legitimate right to be president, Trump is contending against Americans who are undermining his presidency by both legal and especially illegal means.
Trump is doing just fine undermining his own presidency. As for the “illegal”… tired of reading all the hum-drum of politically inspired accusations so if true, bring them to court and let a court decide. So far just a bunch of nonsense. I am sure any charges will go to some court somewhere… get tangled in the court bureaucracy.. and end up with SCOTUS.. maybe… long after Trump is gone. Let’s see if any of it even makes it to a court. If someone gets convicted and it’s upheld.. so be it. But until then it’s just political hogwash.
And yes… Trump is at the center of everything. And he’s heading to the Cape yet again.. on a 50/50 weather chance he will see a rocket launch.. and this is important why? Let me guess… he’s trying to relish his fine work pushing NASA to worry less about going to Mars and go to the Moon instead. Yep.. fine job. Maybe he can get a quick round of golf in before heading back… and lie yet again about Obama having spent more time on the links than he has.
Ugh… he’s a real mental case.
But look at all the good he’s doing.
@Doug
We had an impeachment trial. We have had IG reports. We have FISA judges filing formal complaints. WE have had plenty of documents released that were classified to cover up malfeasance. We have had charges against a three-star dropped after it became obvious he pleaded guilty to protect his son from rogue prosecutors.
Will some people be tried and jailed? Hope so.
I forgot to pass this on.. given you’re suggesting I base it all on my anger for Trump…apparently I am not the only one.
https://johnpavlovitz.com/2020/05/30/youre-damn-right-im-angry/
I’m sure you know of this guy and likely don’t like him one bit… but he pretty much summarizes my feelings… and being an American, watching my country sinking into an abyss because of Trump.. well… I’m patriotic.. and I don’t need to abuse the flag by hugging it or wearing it to assign to it my politics… and I don’t need to prance around carrying a gun to intimidate people.
@Doug
That guy has the same problem you have only worse. He thinks his OPINION and a fact are the same thing. If we cannot use facts to logically justify our opinions, we have no business forcing anyone to abide by our opinions, but that is what tyrants do.
Look at your OPINIONS about Trump.
I’ve given you 3.5 years of my “evidence” of Trump being what I said he would be.. and is. You just prefer other “evidence” to the contrary to fit your “feel good” about the guy. In the end neither of us wins anything. The country loses.
@Doug
My most frequent complaint on your posts and comments is that you do not use facts to logically justify your opinions.
So you keep reminding me. To which I reply.. if you seeks facts, look around.
@Doug
I have. I have even looked on CNN.
Gotta have your glasses on and hearing aid in place first.
@Doug
I am not arguing with you about Trump anymore.
A fair mix of white folks and black folks it seems.
I’ve noticed that too. Antifa folks are usually white, and they like to destroy things.
Think there’s any Conservatives in this bunch?
No. I don’t see conservatives looting and raiding stores/buildings.
But they’re probably in the cleanup crews after the looters have destroyed things.
Example:
@Liz
The sad thing is that the businesses that were burned out probably won’t recover. The banks won’t have much interest in investing in that area for awhile. Yet there is no way of knowing how many of the demonstrators that came to loot and burn came from outside the area.
Basing your political alliances upon a caricature of someone you hate is just about as foolish as anything I know of.
So true.
But it seems to give Doug comfort.
Rather than refuting any points or coming up with actual metrics for success, just disparage the opposition as blind worshippers and dismiss all measurable, factual data wishes are important, not actual goals. If Trump accomplishes something, just say it was too late. If he’s right and you’re wrong, ignore that and change the subject. If the folks you support did something unbelievably reprehensible like framing a veteran, performing an illegal sureillance and attempting a coup…just shrug and say “hey what does it matter now? See…CNN is pointing to a new shiny object!”