Seldom Balanced – Usually Fair
According to the New York Times, my president changed his mind about his planned dramatic release from Walter Reed Hospital.
He had intended to walk to his limousine, turn to the cameras, then rip open his shirt to show the top of his Superman pajamas.
At the last minute, he abandoned the super-plan.
Continue reading “Gun Play, Kidnap, White Nationalists, Trump Treatment, Spreading the Joy”
From John Scalzi at Whatever:
Yes, fine, all right, you’ll do, Joe – Over Trump
He is, literally, the worst. After four years, I don’t feel I need to break out all the reasons that he is the worst, although to lightly gloss, it’s to do with the corruption, the white supremacy, the self-dealing, the incompetence and the fact that 210,000 Americans (so far!) have died from a viral pandemic that Trump even today, even now, as it infects his own body, wants to pretend is not that big of a deal, and choses to do nothing useful about. The worst! The worst president in living memory for certain.
(Of all time? It’s a fight! James Buchanan actually broke the country so he might be the least competent president, and Andrew Jackson is pretty much the platonic ideal of a genocidal asshole, so he might be the worst human to be president. But Trump comes a close second in both categories! So he might be the worst president of all time simply on points. But even if Buchanan or Jackson (or Andrew Johnson, who was no treat either, or Warren G. Harding, I mean, shit, we really do elect some awful people to the gig) squeak by, again, no one alive has seen a worse president. No one alive has seen one so willfully unprepared for the job, one so disinterested in the job, one so ignorant of its scope, or one so unconcerned how all of that will affect those who have to suffer his administration, staffed as it is with incompetents and grifters because saner and smarter people either would have nothing to do with it, or left when they realized that Trump wanted sycophants, not useful advisors.)
The United States is not a better place for having Trump as president. The world is certainly not a better place.
From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:
The Legislature Has a Constitutional Role, too
Even if the case gets out of Waterman’s St. Croix courtroom, the last Supreme Court victory by the legislature over Evers’ abuse of his executive orders was a 4-3 decision with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joining the liberal minority. The composition of the court has changed with the replacement of conservative Justice Dan Kelly with liberal Justice Jill Karofsky, putting the focus back on Hagedorn.
The only sure way for Evers’ emergency order to be overturned, if Vos truly believes that it is unconstitutional, is for the legislature to act.
Let’s concede that Vos is not in an easy position. The latest Marquette University Law School poll showed 72% support a mask requirement in all public places, over 60% in every region of the state, while just 26% disagree with a mask mandate. On the flip side, a plurality of Republicans, 49% to 47%, oppose the statewide mask mandate.
The GOP is in a trap of their own making. Had the legislature acted in August to repeal Evers’ mask mandate order and then passed their own plan to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, they would be in a better place now. Instead, Evers’ is using the leeway granted by the legislature to effectively kill many of Wisconsin’s bars and restaurants to try to contain the outbreak.
And yes, the governor is playing politics with the pandemic. He could meet with legislative leaders to work out a compromise that would pass the legislature.
From libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara:
I hated school. In high school, I was failing my ninth grade science (among other courses). In a private conference with my science teacher, my mother was told about an upcoming term paper assignment. My mother mentioned that I was very interested in weather. Problem was, weather was not one of the approved subject choices for the paper. But my teacher, Mrs. Haver–to her credit–told my mother to inform me that I could do my paper on weather.
Well, I dove right in, turning out a massive document, on which I received an A+. More interestingly, part of the term paper requirement was to give an oral presentation to the class. It was to be about 5 minutes or so for each student. When my turn came, I happened to be first up on that day. So, I got up there and got started.
From Tommy Christopher:
Stop Saying ‘We All Wish President Trump Well.’ A Lot Of Us Don’t — Without Wishing Him Harm
“We all wish the president well” — or some variation on that sentiment — has been a constant refrain in the media since President Donald Trump announced he’d tested positive for Covid-19, but a lot of people, myself included, just do not.
There’s a separate issue involved here, the question of whether it is the place of journalists to “wish” anything while they’re reporting the news, but given the fraught tines in which we live, I’m inclined to extend grace to the humane impulses of even the most hard-boiled members of the fifth estate. If you want to wish Trump well, have at it.
In fact, former Vice President Joe Biden has had at it, repeatedly and emphatically. This, just days after Trump mocked him at a debate for wearing a mask to prevent the spread of infection — an infection that Trump may very well have been carrying onto that debate stage.
But I’m not mad at Joe. I’m not even mad that he really, really means it — unlike, I suspect, many of the media figures who regurgitate the rote mantra before every report on Trump’s condition, his lying doctor, his superspreader joyride around the hospital, or his Ill Douché balcony photo op upon returning to the scene of a raging outbreak that he abetted.
I’m tempted to praise Joe Biden for his decency and his grace, as so many have. I hesitate because to do so would be to imply that those who feel differently lack those qualities, and they deserve a voice.
From Robert A. Levine at The Moderate Voice:
Don’t let Covid dominate your life. It’s just like the flu. I feel better than I have in twenty years. These comments came from President Trump after he left Walter Reed Hospital, most likely AMA- against medical advice. But since Covid landed on our shores, it has dominated Trump’s life as he tried unsuccessfully to get the disease under control. But when you have no plan or strategy to manage the disease, how can you get it under control. Taking measures that your gut tells you are right, will not do it. A long term strategy is needed. And because of his inability to control Covid and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died, Trump is likely to lose the election next month.
As Trump revealed to Bob Woodward on tape, he knew how devastating the disease was going to be from the onset because it was airborne and there were no treatments. But he did not want to panic the country and did not tell the public what they were up against. And he went after it piece meal. The country did not have early testing capability and still does not have rapid tests available everywhere. Personal protective equipment was lacking for many first responders and initially there was a shortage of ventilators. But for some reason, Trump did not want to invoke the Emergency Authorization Act to get the equipment that the first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital personnel needed.
And Trump has refused from the outset to take the emergency mitigation measures that were recommended by infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists. Even at this stage where he has tested positive for the disease, he has poo-pooed wearing a mask, and social distancing. People thought that after having been infected with Covid 19, Trump would be more understanding and more reasonable about taking mitigation measures. But that never happened.
From The Borowitz Report:
“I’ve read all the relevant literature, and from what I’ve learned a plexiglass shield provides adequate protection from a woman,” he said. “Knowing that this barrier exists between me and a member of the opposite sex, I feel comfortable about moving forward with the debate.”
The Vice-President added that, if he makes it through Wednesday’s debate without being exposed to a woman, he may start bringing a portable plexiglass shield with him on the campaign trail.
From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:
This is not much difference from yesterday’s announcement that the Trump-Virus has made him feel 20 years younger and “Strong. Like bear.” ‑
“Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
All that was missing was the enthusiastic disclaimer, “Talk to your doctor, maybe the Trump-Virus is right for you!”