Quote of the Day -- Conservatives and Coronavirus Edition

"Mask refusers appeal to liberty. But even staunch libertarians know that checking the spread of disease is a legitimate government function. The hostility to masks isn't libertarian. It's nihilistic. Nihilism has come to characterize a significant part of today's 'conservatism.'" --Bill Kristol @BillKristol

Four Years Ago Now: 2 Notes

 I posted these two things 4 years ago now on social media. First, a quote.

"America died on Nov. 8, 2016, not with a bang or a whimper, but at its own hand via electoral suicide. We the people chose a man who has shredded our values, our morals, our compassion, our tolerance, our decency, our sense of common purpose, our very identity — all the things that, however tenuously, made a nation out of a country." 

--Neal Gabler

And he was correct, of course. So very correct as we learned in these last 4 years. He was every horrible thing we all warned the nation of. And more.

And then there was this also from four years ago.

And it was all true. Hate, fear, racism, misogyny, homophobia, prejudice, self-interest---all those won four years ago now.

Fortunately, whoever wrote this was also correct on that last part. Americans, decent Americans, all got together and poured out to register to vote and then vote, too, to rid our nation of this man, this scourge on the nation.

We did it. We did, in fact, get together and correct this mistake!! Great job, America.

Now, #Throwthebumout

Meanwhile, these uglinesses are going on now, not a complete surprise, given how self-serving and greedy Republicans repeatedly show themselves to be, nation be damned.

'Naked Political Ploy': Outrage—and a Top DOJ Official Resigns—After Barr Memo Aims to Bolster Baseless Trump Fraud Allegations

GOP In Disarray: GA Senators Demand That Election Chief Resigns To Placate Trump

Stay strong, America. Stay the course. Don't let them win.

A Republican on Donald J Trump

Republican Steve Schmidt, who ran then Senator John McCain's 2008 campaign for the presidency, was recently interviewed and in response to a very general question regarding the Trump Presidency, he spoke for two  minutes and gave the most insightful and brutally honest response of what this GOP, Republican Party  Donald J Trump Presidency has done to our great nation.

“Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And, I don't say that hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And, he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day where Barack Obama left office. And, there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation, of weakness.

When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don't use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We've never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities.

It's just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never was. A successful businessman. Well, he's the President of the United States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again. And he's brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale.

And, let's be clear. This isn't happening in every country around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you're the most likely to die from this disease. We're the ones with the most shattered economy. And we are, because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk."

Vote, folks. Vote and vote blue.

#BlueWave2020

86 45

BYEDON

What Passes for Logic in America Today

 Leave it to Tom Tomorrow.

(Click on picture for easier reading)

God help us all.

86 45

BYEDON

Psychology Today Asks an Excellent Question

 I saw this headline of this article from the magazine Psychology Today and was taken aback.

Are Americans Just Stupid?

As I said, I was taken aback. My first response was a bit of shock. But then I got to thinking about it, which is what the author intended, without doubt.

Seriously. Think about it.

Think about what we've been through with this President.  Think about what he's taken us through. And our system, our systems, our political and electoral systems allowed it.

First, a bit from the article:

Be honest. As an observer of American society, the thought may have crossed your mind at one time or another – at least for a fleeting moment or two – that the nation's dysfunctional state of affairs is the result of widespread stupidity. The people, too often misinformed and poorly educated, are getting exactly the democracy they deserve.

Perhaps that thought arose last week as you watched the cringe-worthy presidential debate, which pundits have called "a disgrace" and "an embarrassment for the ages." Our public discourse has been in decline for so long that it was bound to come to this, right? Effective self-government requires an intelligent and engaged public, and it seems the American electorate falls woefully short. With large segments of the population brazenly rejecting facts and science – whether the issue is climate change, evolution, the coronavirus, or the latest conspiracy theory – it's no surprise that social and political dysfunction are rampant.

Seen this way, it’s tempting to chalk up the clown car of American democracy to the collective intellectual deficit of its population. In truth, however, there is little evidence to support the notion that the American people are stupid. Objective measurements of intelligence can be controversial, raising questions of true objectivity and cultural bias, but it is difficult to find any that suggest Americans are lacking in IQ compared to those in other countries.

The conclusion I come to is not so much that we're dumb or stupid but that money, big money is pushing and has been pushing our government and for far too long. It's what got us to this point with this terribly--stupid?--man in our White House. Instead of doing what's best for America, what's best for the people and nation, they give money in the form of campaign contributions--our legalized bribery--to their/our government representatives and lo and behold, they get what they want for themselves and for their companies and corporations. It's people last, if at all.

Where I think potential stupidity comes in, to me, is in our for-profit healthcare system in our nation. Consider the following 3 simple, fast facts about our American health care system:

--Most expensive health care system in the world, far and away

--Only nation where citizens go bankrupt for health care costs

--Number one reason or source for bankruptcy in the nation is bankruptcy at 40% of all bankruptcies

With all of this, way too many of us defend and support the system. It's insane. It makes no sense whatever.

I can't imagine what else you can call this support but stemming from pride.

Or stupidity.

Then there's our ignorant money paid out for defense spending.

And this Republican Party President's continued support. 

Wow.

We Mustn't Normalize This President or his Administration

Journalist and political analyst Juan Williams makes what I think is an extremely good, even important point in his piece today at The Hill.

Juan Williams: We must not become numb to Trump's abnormality

A bit from the article:

Normal?

How about a summer in which Americans are not allowed to travel to Canada or Europe? Seriously. That’s due to President Trump’s failure to halt the high rate of coronavirus infections in the United States.

That’s not normal.

Is it normal for an American president to stand in the White House Rose Garden and begin ranting? Trump said if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins this year’s election, Biden will do away with the suburbs and windows.

Yes, he really said that.

There is so much that is not normal at the Trump White House that Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, recently spent an entire segment reading off a stunning list of scandalous acts now accepted as normal in the Trump era.

Is it normal, she asked, that Trump “put his son’s wedding planner in charge of federal housing in the northeastern United States ... fired one inspector general who was investigating the secretary of State ... advertised his wife’s jewelry line on the White House website?"

Any of the Trump scandals, Maddow said, would have amounted to “the biggest scandal to ever afflict any other presidency — but by virtue of the sheer number of scandals that surround [Trump] like flies around a pigpen ... [they] have just become part of what we expect, right?”

"...Trump’s Cabinet features 'a former coal lobbyist as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a former lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon Technologies as defense secretary, a lobbyist for the auto industry at the helm of the Energy Department and a former oil and gas lobbyist as interior secretary.'”

Donald Trump isn't draining the swamp. Far from it. This man his administration ARE the swamp. And they're going to get richer doing it. Meanwhile, they're stripping pollution and EPA laws, dirtying the air water and soil.

What's allowing for all this is that the Republican Party Senate is "running screen" for him, for Trump so he can, to date, do virtually anything and everything he might wish.

So no, we cannot, we must not become numb to any of Donald Trump's actions or words, any of it any more than we should get used to a killing national and international pandemic.

Final note: another thing that's particularly exceptional and welcome about this piece from Mr. Williams is that he is employed by Fox.

That's gotta' hurt the Dotard in Chief.  

All the more.

Coincidentally, The New York Times ran a somewhat similarly themed article yesterday in the paper.

Where Is the Outrage?

Additionally, it was announced earlier this morning that none other than lifelong Republican and former Presidential candidate in that party, John Kasich is going to speak next month at the Democratic National Convention in favor of Joe Biden for President.

Report: Kasich to speak at Democratic convention on behalf of Biden

Huge.

Finally, check out these two reports. First this on Republicans and their recent haul.

Senate GOP posts $35M quarter haul as candidates, Trump struggle

Then this on the Democrats.

Democrats raise more than $700 million in three months through ActBlue

Democrats blow past GOP incumbents in Q2 fundraising

On to November!

How We Got Donald Trump, President

What got us Donald Trump.

Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republicans.

Where We Are, America, With this Pandemic

The latest New York Times Magazine's cover story today got me, more than anything, from the description of it.

Why We’re Losing the Battle With Covid-19

And that description.

The escalating crisis in Texas shows how the chronic underfunding of public health has put America on track for the worst coronavirus response in the developed world.

The most cases and the most deaths from this pandemic than any other nation in the world.

We're number one.

And now this.



Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republicans.

Quotes of the Day -- On Dangerous Denial of Science

"Nothing disturbs me more than the glorification of stupidity."

"Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves."

"One trend that bothers me is the glorification of stupidity, that the media is reassuring people it's alright not to know anything. That to me is far more dangerous than a little pornography on the Internet."

All from Carl Sagan.

It's as though he's still alive and speaking of this President and his supporters.

Thanks, Republicans.

TR45SON

I honestly do think and believe and feel this President Trump has now committed treason, yes, absolutely. But it's treason by ignorance and recklessness and even stupidity, not by design.  It's unbelievable this is where we are.

Thanks, Republicans.

Missouri Senator Blunt Keeps Missouri in the Wrong and in the Past, the Racist Past

Sadly, frustratingly, we are advised today Missouri's Senator Roy Blunt plants his feet deeply in our state's and nation's racist past.

GOP senator blocks bill to remove 

Confederate statues from Capitol

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Thursday blocked the Senate from passing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent, which allows legislation to pass without a vote but also enables any one senator to block it.

The measure would remove statues of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the Capitol.

Booker called keeping statues of Confederate figures in the Capitol a "painful, insulting, difficult injury."

"The continued presence of these statues in the halls is an affront to African Americans and the ideals of our nation," he added.

Schumer added that passing a bill to remove the statues would be one step toward confronting the "poison of racism."

"Candidly, I don't think it would be too imposing to ask our states not to send statues of people who actively fought against this country. You know, there is a reason that Connecticut doesn't send a statue of Benedict Arnold," Schumer said.

But Blunt objected, noting that Congress had an agreement with states and that he wanted time to consider giving the issue a hearing in the Rules Committee, which he chairs.

"I'd like to ... get the opinion of people who are taking similar statues out of the building. I'd also like to find out what other states have in mind as their part of this agreement," Blunt said.

Excuse me, Senator, excuse us...   You want to get the opinion of people who are taking down similar statues??

Hello??  They're taking them down! They think they're wrong! They think they honor racists! What do you need to know?

Thanks for taking and keeping us backward, Senator. Thanks for not doing the right thing. Thanks for complicating things. We know you like and want "small government."

Right.   Got it.

A Solution to a Great Deal of America's Problems

Professor Robert Reich said it well and truly the other day when he asked if maybe we didn't incarcerate so many people, so many black Americans especially, in particular and instead, put that money into their schools and neighborhoods and lives. What a concept.

1--We imprison more of our citizens than any other nation, including China which dwarfs us

U.S. incarcerates more than any other nation

2--We incarcerate more black Americans, as a total percentage of our people, far more than white Americans and for the same offenses as whites.

Black Americans incarcerated 

five times more than white

We're "exceptional" all right.

Imagine putting all that money into these people's lives, their homes, their neighborhoods, their schools, even into their health care instead of putting them into prisons and incarceration.

Again, what a concept.

And the heck of it?

It would, first, strengthen the nation and second, improve our economy. But then same thing with cutting the obscene defense budget and plowing that money into our infrastructure.

Tell me all about that "American Exceptionalism."

Great Question

What happened to progress?

Entertainment Overnight: Why People Support Donald Trump

SNL got it at least partly right.


Think there's no truth to it?  By sheer, total, absolute coincidence, this article appeared today, this morning on MSN's news line.

Man wears KKK hood while grocery shopping 

in San Diego

God help us all.

Trump 2020

Reasons to Vote Blue This Fall?

Reasons to vote blue, Democrat, for Joe Biden this November.  As though it's not already obvious enough.

Vote Blue.

Blue Wave.

Precisely How Poor, How Bad This Republican Party President's "Leadership" Is

This is what it's come down to.  This is how bad, how poor the excuses for leadership from this White House, from this President has gotten.

The TV networks break away from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES because he goes counter to his own, our own health experts.

TV networks cut away from the White House coronavirus briefing as Trump contradicted his health experts

• CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News cut away from President Trump's lengthy coronavirus briefing on Monday night.
• During the briefing, Trump chafed at the idea of continuing the widespread order for people to stay home, saying it was harming the economy. His top infectious-diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had said social-distancing measures would need to be in place for "several weeks."
• CBS told Insider that it "plans to continue covering briefings whenever possible" but may cut away for other programming. MSNBC told Insider that it "cut away because the information no longer appeared to be valuable to the important ongoing discussion around public health."
• Critics of the president have called for networks to stop airing the briefings. "All of us should stop broadcasting it, honestly," MSNBC's Rachel Maddow said on Friday. "It's going to cost lives."
• On Tuesday, Seattle's NPR station, KUOW, also announced it would not broadcast the briefings live "due to a pattern of false or misleading information."

Thanks, Republicans!

Meanwhile, I just ran across this.

President Trump is as popular as he's ever been right now

It's not saying a great deal because he's never enjoyed traditional support most Presidents get and we are in a national emergency so I get that his supporters are behind him but still.

Additionally, more reason for concern.

60% of Americans approve of Trump's coronavirus response: poll

I don't know what's more frightening--the coronavirus pandemic or Trump's handling of it. Neither are predictable and both could kill.

And then there was this cold, incredibly callous ignorance from, yes, another Republican only yesterday.

Texas' lieutenant governor suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy

And keep in mind, this is from a man who is 69 years old.

So again, thanks, Republicans! Many thanks.

Additional links:

Trump claims if stopping coronavirus 'were up to the doctors' the world would be shut down 'for a couple of years'

Trump Shakes Everyone’s Hands at Coronavirus Press Conference—Ignoring CDC Guidelines

Trump slams NBC’s Peter Alexander in coronavirus press conference

Fantastic, Evaluative, Maybe Even Important Read On Where We Are Presently

I ran across this article today, this morning, online and found it very good and seemingly complete for where we are now, where we've been since maybe the Great Depression up to today and on our nation, overall. I think people might find it helpful.

Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US - 

and its president

It's a pretty all-encompassing, sweeping read so I'll only post a very little bit of it here--what I found to possibly be most important.

"Consequently, America's claim to global pre-eminence looks less convincing by the day. While in previous crises, the world's most powerful superpower might have mobilised a global response, nobody expects that of the United States anymore. The neo-isolationism of three years of America Firstism has created a geopolitical form of social distancing, and this crisis has reminded us of the oceanic divide that has opened up even with Washington's closest allies. Take the European travel ban, which Trump announced during his Oval Office address to the nation without warning the countries affected. The European Union complained, in an unusually robust public statement, the decision was 'taken unilaterally and without consultation.'"

Can't recommend it enough.

Be well out there, everyone.

The Novel Coronavirus Pandemic In This President's Own Words

The coronavirus in Donald Trump's own words.

January 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”

February 2: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”

February 24: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”

February 25: “CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”

February 25: “I think that's a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”

February 26: “The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”

February 26: “We're going very substantially down, not up.”

February 27: “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”

February 28: “We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical.”

March 2: “You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?”

March 2: “A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they’re happening very rapidly.”

March 4: “If we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work — some of them go to work, but they get better.”

March 5: “I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work.”

March 5: “The United States… has, as of now, only 129 cases… and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”

March 6: “I think we’re doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down.”

March 6: “Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful…. the tests are all perfect like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good.”

March 6: “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it… Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president.”

March 6: “I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.”

March 8: “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.”

March 9: “This blindsided the world.”

March 13:  "I don't take responsibility at all."

Thanks, Republiccans!

Quote of the Day -- Prescient Version