;)
The Commentariat -- November 16, 2020
Late Morning Update:
Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: ">The White House's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, on Monday promised president-elect Joe Biden an orderly transfer of power, a departure from other Trump administration officials who have shunned any perception that ... Donald Trump lost the election. 'If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner -- and obviously things look that way now -- we'll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council,' O'Brien said in a virtual interview at the Global Security Forum.... O'Brien couched his statements, as Trump's campaign is still pursuing legal challenges to the election results, and he said the transition would commence 'if the current lawsuits don't work out for the president.... If there is a new administration, they deserve some time to come in and implement their policies,' O'Brien said.... [MEANWHILE,] 'The Radical Left Democrats, working with their partner, the Fake News Media, are trying to STEAL this Election,' Trump tweeted [Monday morning]. 'We won't let them!'"
Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Georgia's Republican secretary of state posted several fact checks on his official Facebook page Sunday correcting misinformation about the election promoted by ... Donald Trump and his campaign. Brad Raffensperger, for example, shared an Associated Press story that fact-checked Trump’s false claim that Georgia election officials were unable to verify signatures on absentee ballots because of a legal settlement.... Raffensperger also wrote that his office strengthened the absentee ballot process for the first time since 2005, and, in another post, said one of the first things he did as secretary of state was to ban ballot harvesting after the Legislature passed his proposal in 2019. 'Truth matters. Integrity matters,' he wrote."
Death in De Nile. Kathryn Krawczyk of the Week: "After a Twitter thread of her experiences started circulating, [South Dakota nurse Jodi] Doering appeared on CNN's New Day on Monday to describe how South Dakota hospitals are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients -- and yet some of them don't believe the virus they have is real.... Some COVID-19 patients spend their last moments refusing to call family and friends because they're convinced they're going to be fine, Doering said. 'Their last dying words are, "This can't be happening. It's not real,'" Doering recalled. In some cases, patients even insist they have the flu or lung cancer to avoid acknowledging the coronavirus." ~~~
~~~ Marina Watts of Newsweek: "'The ones that stick out are those who still don't believe the virus is real. The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is Going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm,' [Jodi Doering] wrote. 'They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that "stuff" because they don't have COVID because it's not real. Yes. This really happens.'" Mrs. McC: These stories harken back to a comment contributor Jeanne wrote in Sunday's thread. Anyway, thanks, Trump!
Elizabeth Cohen of CNN: "The Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus, according to early data released Monday by the company, making it the second vaccine in the United States to have a stunningly high success rate. 'These are obviously very exciting results,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor. 'It's just as good as it gets -- 94.5% is truly outstanding.' Moderna heard its results on a call Sunday afternoon with members of the Data Safety and Monitoring Board, an independent panel analyzing Moderna's clinical trial data."
The Washington Post's live election updates Monday are here. They are free to non-subscribers. President-elect Joe "Biden plans to forge ahead Monday with his transition to the presidency, delivering remarks from Delaware on the economic recovery, his latest in a series of speeches on key issues confronting the country. According to his transition team, both Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), the vice president-elect, will receive a briefing on the economy, in Wilmington, in advance of a scheduled afternoon address. ~~~
~~~ [POUTUS.] "Trump continued to refuse to accept defeat, tweeting in all caps shortly before midnight on Sunday, 'I WON THE ELECTION.' He repeated his baseless claim on Monday morning, tweeting, 'I won the election,' amid a spate of other tweets airing grievances about the process. Twitter responded by a slapping a warning on the Sunday tweet, reading, 'Official sources called this election differently,' with a link to multiple news accounts of Biden winning the presidency.... Trump, meanwhile, has no public events on Monday." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Which one of these is more like a president? The one practicing to be president or the one who, theoretically, has held the job for almost four years?
Fall of the House of Javanka. Frank Bruni of the New York Times: "Just five short years ago Jared and Ivanka were dinner-party royalty here in Manhattan.... They had money, they had youth, they had celebrity. They were thin. I'm told that their manners were impeccable, so you'd never know that his father was an actual felon and her father a de facto one.... [But now.] Jared and Ivanka are about to be held accountable.... They are the Faustian poster couple of the Trump presidency, the king and queen of the principle-torching prom at which so many danced alongside them, although in less exquisitely tailored attire.... Down there, near the border: migrant children in cages. Over here, near the Potomac: Javanka in their gilded tableaux.... They have made their bed. Lucky for them, the sheets have a serious thread count."
~~~~~~~~~~
The Real Presidencies, Past & Future
... Vaccines don't save lives: vaccinations save lives. -- Ron Klain, Sunday ~~~
~~~ Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar & Will Weissert of the AP: "Joe Biden's scientific advisers will meet with vaccine makers in coming days as the presidential transition remains stalled because of ... Donald Trump's refusal to acknowledge that he lost the election.... 'We're going to start those consultations this week,' said Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, citing Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies.... Klain said Biden's experts also need a detailed understanding of distribution plans being finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon. In some ways, that's the more critical issue, he said. 'We need to be talking to them as quickly as possible,' Klain said. 'It's great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don't save lives: vaccinations save lives. And that means you've got to get that vaccine into people's arms all over this country. It's a giant logistical project.'"
Arlette Saenz of CNN: "As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in January, nearly half of the transition team laying the groundwork for his administration is made up of people of color, and women are in the majority. Forty-six percent of the transition staff are people of color, according to new diversity data of the transition team provided to CNN, and 41% of the senior staff are people of color. The majority of transition staff -- 52% -- are women, and 53% of the senior staff are women.... The transition team's diversity also extends to its advisory board -- where 43% are people of color and 52% are women. Nine of the 13 members of Biden's Covid-19 advisory board are people of color and five of the members are women, according to the data."
Andrew Van Dam & Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The parts of America that have seen strong job, population and economic growth in the past four years voted for Joe Biden, economic researchers found. In contrast, President Trump garnered his highest vote shares in counties that had some of the most sluggish job, population and economic growth during his term. Trump fared well among voters who said the economy was their top concern.... To be sure..., education and race most strongly explained voting patterns, but they were followed closely by a county's economic performance. The economy often decides elections, but the surprise in this case was that good economic performance didn't appear to favor the incumbent."
~~~ The transcript of Scott Pelley's interview of President Obama is here.
The Farce
** Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump's refusal to concede the election has entered a more dangerous phase as he stokes resistance and unrest among his supporters and spreads falsehoods aimed at undermining the integrity of the American voting system. More than a week after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declared the winner, Mr. Trump continues to block his successor's transition, withholding intelligence briefings, critical information about the coronavirus pandemic and access to the vast machinery of government that Mr. Biden will soon oversee. Some former top advisers to Mr. Trump have said that his refusal to cooperate is reckless and unwise. John F. Kelly, Mr. Trump's former chief of staff, called it 'crazy' on Friday. John R. Bolton, the president's former national security adviser..., said the refusal 'harms the country.' The president's attempt to cling to power played out against a backdrop of protests by Trump supporters and opponents late Saturday, with sporadic clashes near the White House. The police arrested 21 people as one protester was stabbed and four officers were injured. Rather than seek to calm tensions, Mr. Trump lashed out. 'ANTIFA SCUM ran for the hills,' he posted on Twitter on Saturday as he urged the police to move in aggressively. 'DC Police, get going -- do your job and don't hold back!!!'"
Donald Trump's Twitter feed doesn't make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that. -- Ron Klain on NBC's "Meet the Press" ~~~
~~~ The Most Pathetic Loser. David Cohen of the Politico: "... Donald Trump has yet to concede the presidential election, but on Sunday he briefly came close to acknowledging that he lost in a tweet. 'He won because the Election was Rigged,' Trump tweeted. 'NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn't even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!' But an hour or so later, Trump made it clear he was not conceding, tweeting 'RIGGED ELECTION. WE WILL WIN!' and following it up with 'He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!' In the 12 days since the election, Trump has consistently claimed victory, while baselessly asserting that Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats had cheated to make it appear that he won. Trump and his legal team have lost numerous court cases trying to prove their theories due to a lack of evidence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "While Trump's flurry of litigation over the election has made little headway, the president insisted Sunday that more lawsuits are about to be unveiled and he suggested they'd be more spectacular than those already before judges. 'Our big cases showing the unconstitutionality of the 2020 Election, & the outrage of things that were done to change the outcome, will soon be filed!' the president wrote on Twitter."
Eleanor Mueller of Politico: "Public health officials, members of Joe Biden's transition team, and elected Democrats and Republicans urged ... Donald Trump on Sunday to begin the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden, warning that continuing to waylay the process amid a spiking pandemic could endanger American lives. 'Of course it would be better' if public health officials could begin working with Biden's transition team right now, Dr. Anthony Fauci ... said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'That is obvious.'... [Ron Klain, Biden's chief of staff, said on NBC,] 'Joe Biden's going to become president of the United States in the midst of an ongoing crisis.... That has to be a seamless transition.'... Asked on ABC';s 'This Week' whether the Biden transition team should be allowed contact with health officials, the Trump administration's coronavirus testing czar, Brett Giroir, replied: 'This is an issue of public health and saving American lives. There&'s nothing more important than that.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
** The Trump Conspiracy. Jim Rutenberg & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "... in the fact-twisting narrative of Mr. Trump, his political allies and his supporters, the Detroit counting center was a crime scene where Democrats stole an election, a miscarriage demanding that outrage be channeled through the courts, presidential Twitter posts and cable news stemwinders. And that was the plan envisioned by the pro-Trump forces all along. Like similar episodes in Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the scene in Detroit was the culmination of a yearslong strategy by Mr. Trump to use the power of the executive branch, an army of lawyers, the echo chamber of conservative news media and the obedience of fellow Republicans to try out his most audacious exercise in bending reality: to turn losing into winning. Obscured by the postelection noise over the president's efforts to falsely portray the election system as 'rigged' against him has been how much Mr. Trump and his allies did ahead of time to promote a baseless conspiracy devised to appeal to his most passionate supporters, providing him with the opportunity to make his historically anomalous bid to cling to power in the face of defeat.... A presidency that began with a lie -- that President Barack Obama was not a citizen -- is now ending with one, too." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is ending as it began: with a lie about crowd size. On Saturday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted two overhead photos of President Trump supporters who had gathered for a pro-Trump march in Washington, writing, 'AMAZING! More than one MILLION marchers for President @realDonaldTrump descend on the swamp in support.' McEnany was off by many orders of magnitude -- the crowd of thousands was a notable show of force, perhaps, but a far cry from the million marchers she claimed.... Nearly four years ago, [another Trump press secretary,] Sean Spicer stepped behind the briefing room lectern on his first full day on the job and, at the president's urging, told falsehoods about the size of Trump's inauguration crowds.... Trump began his political career with the mendacious claim of birtherism ... as part of an effort to delegitimize his predecessor. And he is ending his political career amid false allegations that President-elect Joe Biden won the election only because it was somehow rigged or stolen -- part of an effort to delegitimize his successor." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Undergirding Trump's political career -- and missing from these analyses -- is one true thing: virulent racism. Birtherism is obviously racist, but so are Trump's claims of a "stolen" election. The "thieves," not surprisingly, are concentrated in large urban centers -- Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta -- which have large populations of Black voters. Trump isn't alone, of course. There's a reason Trump's Republican enablers across the country have tried, often successfully, to suppress the votes of Black & Hispanic Americans. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott limited the number of ballot drop boxes to one per county: the largest counties are home to huge numbers of Black & Hispanic voters. Trump believes only white people are legitimate Americans who have a right to participate in government. A non-white person cannot be president; non-whites can't even vote. The thousands of people who showed up for the Million MAGA March get that, too. They know exactly who "stole" the election.
Jon Swaine & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The federal government's chief information security officer [Carlos Sandoval] is participating in an effort backed by supporters of President Trump to hunt for evidence of voter fraud in the battleground states where President-elect Joe Biden secured his election victory.... Sandoval is one of several Trump appointees in the federal government -- some in senior roles -- who are harnessing their expertise for the project, according to the group's leader.... Officials with [Trump's] Voter Integrity Fund said the political appointees participating in the project are doing it in their personal time.... A spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, where Sandoval works, said Friday that Sandoval was on leave, but she did not respond when asked whether he was continuing to receive his government salary."
Pennsylvania. Jon Swaine & Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "President Trump's campaign on Sunday scrapped a major part of its federal lawsuit challenging the election results in Pennsylvania. Trump's attorneys filed a revised version of the lawsuit, removing allegations that election officials violated the Trump campaign's constitutional rights by limiting the ability of their observers to watch votes being counted. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani ... have said repeatedly that more than 600,000 votes in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh should be invalidated because of this issue. Trump's pared-down lawsuit now focuses on allegations that Republicans were illegally disadvantaged because some Democratic-leaning counties allowed voters to fix errors on their mail ballots. Counties have said this affected only a small number of votes.Cliff Levine, an attorney representing the Democratic Party in the case, said on Sunday evening that Trump's move meant his lawsuit could not possibly change the result." The Politico story, by Josh Gerstein, is here; it's also linked above. ~~~
~~~ "A Non-zero Number of People." Mrs. McCrabbie: Mind you, Trump's lawyers didn't drop this portion of the suit because their evidence was shaky. They dropped it because their allegation was patently false. When federal Judge Paul Diamond last week "pressed the Trump campaign lawyer if there were observers in the room from the campaign, the lawyer, Jerome Marcus, said, 'There's a non-zero number of people in the room.'" Marcus apparently could not bring himself to give the correct answer, which was "yes." "After the judge confirmed the parties would have the same number of observers in the room, he dismissed the Trump campaign's request because it was moot."
Georgia. AP: "... Donald Trump has wrongly claimed that Georgia election officials are unable to verify signatures on absentee ballot envelopes because of a legal settlement known as a consent decree.... Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said that not only is it entirely possible to match signatures, but that the state requires it."
Michigan. Best Headline: "Republican Convicted of Election Fraud Helps Lead Trump Rally Baselessly Claiming Election Fraud." Susan Demas of Michigan Advance: "Another pro-President Trump rally was held at the Michigan Capitol on Saturday.... One of the speakers is blogger and GOP activist Brandon Hall, who says he's running for Michigan Republican Party chair. That position is currently held by former state Rep. Laura Cox (R-Livonia), who Trump announced at a pre-election rally in Grand Rapids would 'be fired' if he lost the state, which he did.... In 2013, Hall was charged with 10 counts of election law forgery, which is a felony. In December 2016, Hall was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 18 months probation for election fraud, the Grand Haven Tribune, FOX-17 and MLive reported."
Georgia Senate Runoffs. Donald Judd, et al., of CNN: "Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue has declined an invitation to debate Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff ahead of the January runoff election for his seat.... The Atlanta Press Club ... is hosting two separate debates for both Senate runoffs. Ossoff's campaign told CNN they have accepted the Press Club's invitation.... Ossoff [said] during a Sunday rally in the Atlanta suburbs [that] ... a debate 'the bare minimum' voters should expect from candidates.... The senior senator from Georgia drew fire after withdrawing from a debate just before Election Day, following a debate that saw Ossoff label Perdue a 'crook' and Perdue accuse Ossoff of profiting off China.... [Perdue] has thrown himself behind ... Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud, joining fellow Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in calling on Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign. But in interviews, Perdue has acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden's victory, warning that retaining the two Georgia Senate seats headed for a runoff would serve as 'the last line of defense against this liberal socialist agenda the Democrats will perpetrate.'"
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates Monday are here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "Officials in the United States have reported more than 11 million total cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, as the country's outbreaks lead to agonizing new levels of hospitalizations.... The country logged more than 159,100 new cases on Saturday, the third highest total of the pandemic, raising the new seven-day average to more than 145,000, with upward trends in 48 states and an 80 percent increase in new cases from the average two weeks ago.... Deaths nationwide remain at lower levels than in spring's peak, but they are rising rapidly and approaching 250,000. More than 1,200 new deaths were reported on Saturday, pushing the seven-day average to more than 1,120 a day, a 38 percent increase from the average two weeks ago.... The pandemic continues to take a disproportionate toll on Americans of color, who have been hospitalized at rates roughly four times higher than non-Hispanic whites since the start of the epidemic." ~~~
~~~ John Bowden of the Hill: "The U.S. passed 11 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday as the country saw a surge of roughly a million new cases in the past week, according to figures tabulated by Johns Hopkins University."
Michigan. Craig Mauger of the Detroit News: "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced wide-ranging new restrictions limiting gatherings at high schools, colleges and restaurants Sunday night to combat what she described as the 'worst moment' yet in the COVID-19 pandemic. The new policies will temporarily halt in-person instruction at high schools and colleges, indoor dine-in service at restaurants and bars, and high school athletics as well as close some businesses, including movie theaters, bowling alleys and casinos." ~~~
~~~ Paul LeBlanc & Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas criticized Michigan's new Covid-19 restrictions in a tweet shortly after they were announced Sunday evening.... 'The only way this stops is if people rise up,' Atlas said. 'You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp'.... Responding to Atlas' tweet Sunday evening, [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, 'We know that the White House likes to single us out here in Michigan, me out in particular. I'm not going to be bullied into not following reputable scientists and medical professionals.' Instead, Whitmer said, she consults 'people that actually have studied and are well respected worldwide on these issues, not the -- not the individual that is doing the President's bidding on this one.'" Mrs. McC: An excellent slapdown, but I'd like to physically slap down Atlas. He is killing people, inciting violence & fomenting revolution. And he's damned arrogant about it.
New York. Bill Mahoney of Politico: "Gov. Andrew Cuomo is promising to 'mobilize an army' to ensure that Black and brown New Yorkers have equal access to any coronavirus vaccines, and threatened a lawsuit against the Trump administration if its distribution plan isn't overhauled to make that possible. 'The Trump administration is designing the distribution plan, and their plan basically has private health care companies administer the vaccines,' Cuomo said in a speech delivered during services in Manhattan's Riverside Church on Sunday morning.... 'The president talks about CVS and Walgreens and national chains. Sure. But they are mainly located in rich communities, not in poor communities. My friends, we cannot compound the racial injustice that Covid has already created. And let me be clear -- the Black and brown communities that were first on the list of who died cannot be last on the list of who receives the vaccines, period.'"
Washington State. Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee D) announced Sunday new restrictions to mitigate surging COVID-19 cases, as he warned the state is 'in a more dangerous position than we were in March, when our first stay-at-home order was issued.'... The state has seen 'consistent increasing daily case counts, with over 2,000 cases a day over the weekend and average cases in the state doubling over the past two weeks,' per a statement from the governor's office."
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Reader Comments (16)
Biden Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, (imagine, a chief of staff who is not an inert asshole, a patsy, or a traitor) indicates that if the nation is to get a handle on the Trump Virus pandemic, there must be a “seamless transition”. In normal times, I would agree absolutely. But in this situation I have to take issue with this idea. It’s impossible to go seamlessly from criminal and sociopathic ineptitude to professional and humanistic competence.
Just sayin’.
Regarding this whole “I sort of concede” “No! I don’t concede. Never did! Not once!” thing, one is tempted to read something into this mess, like an autostereogram, those pictures that look like visual noise, but if viewed long enough, and in the right way, reveal a 3D image. Or like those pictures of a bird that might be a goat, a beautiful young woman or an ugly old crone. Once you see the “hidden image”, it’s difficult to unsee it.
It’s tempting, in a similar way, to find the hidden-in-plain-sight real substance of this whole non-concession megillah. But, as we’ve seen too many times while following the bellowing baby’s temper tantrum yammering, finding or ascribing a deeper meaning to Fatty’s fatuous philippics can be migraine inducing and often gigantic waste of one’s life time. Trump simply doesn’t possess the capacity for overly complex long cons. He’s more the street hustler cups and ball scammer. A “Pay close attention to my right hand!” while my left hand lifts your wallet sort of crook.
But there are those around him (Bannon, Miller, Hannity, et al) whispering into the orange ear, devious plots and evil plans.
In this regard, as with the autostereograms, occasionally the picture can go from visual mess to clear image. There is, of course the primary layer: he’s just a pissed off infant screeching for his baba. But he’s also capable of something slightly deeper: the bringing of chaos. His yapping about a stolen election nicely salts the earth for Biden, giving the howler monkeys something to focus their rage upon and providing his ball lickers in Congress a way to stay in his, and the droolers’, good graces (if one can stomach referring to any of this muck and mire as either good or possessing of grace).
But the thing that still galls me, even after all this time, is how the Trumpbots interpret him not doing his job (by destroying the government and burning down democracy) as being great at his job, by “owning the libs”, something they would choose over feeding a starving child (especially a black or brown one).
I guess they see only the beautiful young woman. It’s impossible for them to see the ugly old crone.
For the rest of us, all that matters is that we have a fat evil prick lashing out and destroying everything he touches.
January 20th will get here eventually, but the illusion that this asshole is anything but a self-serving malicious menace will hover over us like the stink from a garbage dump.
scott atlas, no Dr. for him, is killing people. His response to Michigan's protective measures is unfathomable.
Glenn Kirschner highlighted tweets by a South Dakota nurse who writes of brainwashed trumpbots in her care, screaming at her that they don't have Covid, why is she wearing PPE, Biden will ruin the country. They scream until they get intubated.
https://twitter.com/JodiDoering/status/1327771329555292162
NiskyGuy,
Good ol’ Atlas. Wasn’t Atlas the guy from Greek mythology who dropped the world and broke it?
Seriously. The Trump cononavirus “advisor” advises people to get sick and die. Exactly what you’d expect from a Trump appointee (“Trump appointee” being a euphemism for dangerously unqualified hack).
Isn’t this a little like the fire chief handing out matches and cans of gasoline to 12 year olds and telling them to rebel against authority in their town?
Atlas is a treasonous jackal. There should be laws against the poisonous lies continually hosing from the lips of repugs. I mean real laws with real consequcnces. He IS fomenting violence and telling the stupid followers to storm the castle or something... I mentioned my daughter's hearing yesterday of how incredible it is to be dying of COVID while screaming about what a hoax it is and how Biden will ruin the country, as if it weren't pretty far along that track, courtesy of the Current Squatter and his henchpeople. Must be the same tweets mentioned by Nisky Guy. This is how hopeless it will be to run a country peopled by so many lunatics. I don't know much about mental health issues, but it doesn't sound fixable to me. That may be because people like me are so tired of these idiots that I no longer care about the waste of brains that could be saved.
Meanwhile, Fatstuff is still marinating in grievance and people on the blue side are trying to figure out how to cure these people, who are a mess politically, economically and educationally.
There is never any rest for anyone...
Watching Obama last night on 60 Minutes was delightful. Here is a man––at least in my eyes– who is worth jumping fences for three times over. I've seen a hell of a lot of presidents come and go––he beats them all in an overall assessment. And that laugh––takes you to the moon and back.
TRUMP OR NO TRUMP, RELIGIOUS AUTHORITARIANISM IS HERE TO STAY:
Katherine Stewart whose books include "The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism," has written a column for the NYT today that is worth reading. I fear this "power" equally as dangerous as threats from hostile enemy forces.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/opinion/trump-religion-authoritarianism.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
P.S. A new advertisement for wines at your local liquor store:
TRUMP WINES
––MADE FROM SOUR GRAPES
Have just a little problem with the logic of the herd immunity bushwah Atlas pushes.
Does that mean he's against all vaccines? Was he ever himself vaccinated for anything? Would he prefer a world with smallpox, measles, polio again running rampant?
I know that for the Hoover Institution it's all about keeping the economy humming so the ever upward redistribution of wealth and resources can continue unimpeded, but I wonder what effect mass deaths and the fears they prompt have on any economy. Covid doesn't seem an economic tonic. (Or does the doctor have stock in a funeral home chain or a string of crematoria?)
I also harbor the sneaking suspicion there's a distinct racial component to the death march Atlas recommends.
Sans vaccines, the populations Covid hits the hardest have brown or black skins, who also happen to be those who vote the wrong way.
Given that grisly assumption, maybe I do see some logic in his rantings.
The Trump acolytes of FREEEEEEDOM have completely neglected the other side of the liberty coin: responsibility. Trump disavows any notion of responsibility for his own treasonous and criminal actions, so why not the MAGA droolers?
Wearing a mask can be an annoyance, sure. But so is catching and passing on a deadly virus. This whole invented farce is beyond stupid. Way aren’t the droolers screaming about laws concerning seatbelts? Of ordinances that disallow smoking on a plane or in a restaurant? What about the incredible annoyance of having to procure a license to drive a car, or laws about having to insure and register their vehicles.?
Compared to all that mishegas, masks are nothing.
And what about seatbelts? Sure, plenty of people still don’t wear them, but if they get into an accident, they’re the ones who will fly through the windshield. But what if refusing to wear a seatbelt endangered everyone you passed on the road? I’m guessing you’d get more than a ticket for that sort of thing, or a friendly reminder from Officer Murphy. Likely it would be arrest and a trip to see the nice judge down at the courthouse. And this is the true gen as Hemingway liked to call it. (True intelligence, the real deal,)
But that’s exactly what we’re talking about here. With freedom comes responsibility.
But not for Trump supporters. Requirements to wear a mask are cause for threats and riots.
And more Covid.
Seems to me the only people committing voter fraud are MOOM and Melanie themselves. According to the FL voter registration, they are required to list their legal residence on the application. By registering using Marred-Lardo as it, (which it can't be per the covenants agreed to when the zoning change-in-use went from a private residence to his club,) didn't they sign and submit a false application, a 3rd degree felony punishable by $5K and/or 5 yrs?
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/935374786/national-security-adviser-says-it-looks-like-biden-has-won-the-election
Just what we want in a National Security Advisor:
Slow on the uptake. Real slow.
I'm of the opinion that the International Criminal Court should set up a satellite site in the US. Let me count the ways and the number of Trump appointees, advisors, grifters as well as Trump himself have violated "Crimes Against Humanity". The satellite ICC could be busy for a very long time. The corruption and inhumanity will be a stain on the US for decades. There is no legitimate claim to either exceptionalism (unless grifting is a requirement) or higher moral ground.
@Ken Winkes: Wonder if Trump will fire O'Brien. Trump is seemingly threatening Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) with primary challenges because DeWine said Sunday that Biden had won the election.
Meanwhile, O'Brien can't do much of anything till Emily Murphy, the Trump enabler running GSA, "ascertains" that Biden is the "apparent" winner. Even then, Trump & that twerp running White House personnel have forbidden White House staff (and that includes top appointees at agencies) from cooperating with the incoming Biden aides.
This is in-sane!
Bea,
I'm thinking that the stout denials of Covid patients facing imminent death suggest that cognitive dissonance is a far more deadly disease than is Covid or any other plague that afflicts humans.
Wonder if other animals are infected with it too?
Naw, they're probably smarter, certainly more sane.
Ken: I know. How is it possible that someone facing death, staring it in the face, is still worried about politics?? It is ALL insanity. And I don't know much about O'Brian, but what do you suppose he is waiting for? I'm thinking perhaps a divine thing, like tablets handed to Moses, or maybe an angel comes down in a beam of light and tells him that it is time, that the election is over, the eviction must begin... These people are certainly odd, or crazy...it's gone beyond eccentricity, seemingly.
With regard to the dying people stating that it's a hoax-- I have recently noticed that the local obits are putting very few lines in about people expiring from Covid. Back in the spring there were lots. Maybe there are directives from HQ to never admit to it... And that is entirely on the Squatter.
Jeanne,
Jennifer Rubin has an interesting column on the mental state of the general run of Republicans and suggests keeping it crazy has become a growth industry.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/16/republican-party-is-much-worse-off-than-we-thought
One commenter responded to her statement that that industry offers
"group therapy, in which the leaders and their media consorts orchestrate rage, resentment and paranoia," by saying,
"I'm glad you didn't lead any of my therapy groups!"
I tried to help him/her better understand Rubin's by replying:
"I believe the "therapy" to which Ms. Rubin refers is not designed to promote mental health, but to make those who don't feel good about their lives feel better about feeling the way they do by excusing their shortcomings.
It promotes racism, resentment and envy more generally, and concurs with and encourages those who would deny fact, telling them they are right to be ignorant. It tells them there's no reason to change because they're are OK the way they are.
And if that doesn't do the trick, if they still feel lousy about their lives, the perverse Right Wing "therapists" provide an ever-expanding list of enemies they can blame."