Some lamented that news reports pointed out that Cain was at the Trump Tulsa rally and boasted about not wearing a mask. I guess I would say to that “It is what it is”, under the general precept that a word to the wise is sufficient, but a fool never learns. It isn’t victim-blaming to point out that these would be generally regarded as dumb things to do during a pandemic but for politics, and that isn’t grave-dancing so much as a word to others.
But the point is–Republicans and Democrats alike are mortal and susceptible to this disease–it doesn’t care how you vote, pray or donate your money, it just looks for a way to weasel into your body and mess you up. Nagging liberals aren’t trying to steal anyone’s FREEEEDOOMSMS, we would prefer people not get sick and spread it around.
The idea that the contagious disease is contagious appears to have been missed by the Trump Administration, though, because they had a plan, but….
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary, some Michigan voters reported they hadn’t yet received their absentee ballots. I’ve read that per Michigan law, ballots received after Tuesday can’t be counted.
Election officials advised voters to drop off their ballots in person at election offices or dropboxes, rather than risk delayed delivery by mail. This is good advice, BUT not every state has drop boxes in place.
So here’s our take-away: the second you receive your ballot, vote and mail it in that very same day. If you are worried about USPS delays and the Hair Füror’s eff’ery (and frankly, you should be), then use a drop box if your state has them.
In Santa Clara County California, we did not have drop boxes, BUT I could drop off my ballot at a drop-box drive through at the Country Building.
Check with your county TODAY to find out what their plan is and what options are available.
Donald Trump to Jonathan Swan: John Lewis will be remembered for skipping Trump’s inauguration
From Tommy Christopher:
“It’s a level of narcissism, I mean it’s just all about him,” Chalian said, and went on to add that “it is just astounding still to watch, as much as we understand that Donald Trump is all about Donald Trump, that very moment as he’s laying in the state up in the capital, to make it all about him and he didn’t come to my inauguration, it is exactly what we know Donald Trump to be.”
Camerota agreed, but added “it’s also just the politics of retribution, which we see all the time. I’m not going to go there, he didn’t come to my inauguration.”
Chalian pointed out that even “sitting in the blue room of the White House, this is the president of the United States of America, and it is just personal grievance, it’s not about the country at all.”
“What a baby. I have to say, what a baby. What an incredible baby,” Berman said. “And it’s not just narcissism, it’s petulance. The way he kept on saying ‘Oh, you know, he didn’t come to my inauguration,’ and then to have the gall to say ‘I have done more for Black Americans than anybody else.’”
“You know who has done more for Black Americans than Donald Trump?” Berman asked. “John Lewis.”
I think there is an important distinction between human rights and individual rights. “Human rights” is a collectivist term, and can be used to describe “rights” of groups at the expense of individuals. But there are no group rights independent of the rights of individuals. Individuals may grant a group the power to represent one of each member’s individual’s rights, on a limited, contractual, mutually agreed basis. But the idea that groups have rights independent of individual rights negates individual rights, and thus the whole purpose and justification of the U.S. Constitution.
As we have seen repeatedly, genetic fallacy — better known as “shooting the messenger” — is a very common propaganda technique; if you want to deflect attention away from the message, just cast aspersions on the person delivering it, and many people will divert their focus to that instead. (One reason this works so well is that people are generally more interested in hearing about other people than ideas.) For right-wingers, this often means attacking entertainment celebrities — who tend to be not only highly visible to the public eye, but overwhelmingly liberal or progressive. And this has given rise to the very, very common right-wing whipping boy of the “Hollywood Elite”.
This derogatory label has been applied quite frequently to just about anyone of even slightly progressive tendencies who is even remotely connected to the entertainment industry. It’s been especially amusing, for example, to see Al Franken and Michael Moore branded as “Hollywood Elites” when they were living and working thousands of miles away from Tinseltown — and their work was thematically and stylistically just as removed. But wait, we can top that: just recently, some right-wing website ran a story about “Hollywood Elites” that sported a cover photo of President Obama.
The word elitism bears a connotation of snobbery. But anyone who thinks Hollywood celebrities are snobby probably has spent no time around them. Well, I have.
So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!
First of all, Trump’s sniveling whinery about Pelosi is ramped up to at least eleven. What he describes as “horrible” was actually pretty tame. Pelosi was asked if she had confidence in Dr.Birx. To which she calmly replied“I don’t have confidence in anyone who stands there while the President says ‘swallow Lysol and it’s going to cure your virus.’” No rational person could argue with that.
Secondly, Trump indicates that his anger is rooted in criticism of Dr. Birx being “too positive on the very good job we are doing” on combating the TrumpVirus. But that’s precisely why she has lost the confidence of Pelosi and every other knowledgeable person. Only the most heartless and uncaring cretins could celebrate 157,000 dead Americans and nearly five million sickened as a “positive” outcome.
Finally, Trump got to the point by making the accusation that Birx “took the bait & hit us.” He then called her “pathetic.” And what was so pathetic about Birx’s remarks? She simply said that “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It’s into the rural as equal urban areas.”
The president’s party isn’t close to agreement on a new stimulus deal. That’s not good for anyone.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has sent the Senate home for the weekend. That means, even as dismal economic news keeps mounting, there won’t be a last-minute deal to keep expanded unemployment insurance intact. It’s been hard all along to figure out what the Republican plan might be, and it’s getting harder.
To be sure, quite a few Republicans — maybe 20 in the Senate, according to reports, and many more in the House — seem to be comfortable with no deal at all. They appear to think that additional spending will hurt, not help, the economy, whether it’s aid to state and local governments (which the party is almost unified against) or additional benefits for the millions out of work. At least one Republican, Representative Roger Williams of Texas, apparently believes stimulus is irrelevant because, “with low interest, low taxes and cash in the system, the economy’s pretty good.” How that squares with the worst quarter since records began, along with signs that a tentative recovery has stalled, is a mystery. Others seem to understand that the virus-induced recession is real, but just don’t think the government can do much about it. In particular, they’re convinced that the reason for mass unemployment is expanded benefits, not the virus and a lengthening list of failed businesses.
That leaves McConnell, and the White House, in an extremely difficult bargaining position, made worse by their decision to wait until the last minute.
Quotations from BLM leaders are entirely appropriate and do constitute evidence. However, I believe that Dave is looking for support for the following:
“But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division…The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering. It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda… Thuggish people…espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism.”
What you provided does not support your claim that they only want to foster hate and division. What you provided does not support your claim that this is not about black lives mattering. (Here you are, assigning evil motives to people you’ve never met with concerns you largely dismiss. And Dave was not alone in doing this on your blog; some of your fellow conservatives did the same.) What you provided does not support your claim that their agenda is godless, though it might conflict with your particular vision of divinity.
Of course, it would be silly to think that self-professed Marxists among leadership are not trying to convince others to join them or to otherwise push their agenda. But the movement and organization are not known as “Marxism Matters” and most people don’t perceive their goals as primarily anti-capitalist. This means that, despite what some among the leadership desire, many supporters would be content to simply see changes in the ways black people are treated and justice for those who were wrongfully harmed by law enforcement.
As for violence, most of us agree that it has its place, such as in self-defense or noble revolution. Republicans never forget to remind us of this when we discuss gun rights. So the moral concern here isn’t whether or not there’s support for violence, but instead whether or not that violence is justified. We are not talking about just a group of “thugs” who are arbitrarily violent. We are talking about people who believe that they have been targets of unjustified violence themselves for too long, who may believe that peaceful protests and “dialogues” have been largely ineffective in correcting this problem. If you could prove to them that they are wrong, you might find their support for violence fade away. But if they’re right, they just might have a case.
Given how quick Republicans are to declare anything from seatbelt laws to taxes to mask mandates for public health “tyranny,” I’m not sure that they’re the ones to listen to about persecution and justifiable violence…
