Next ad I want to see:

"UPDOG is the gravest threat to our nation. And President Trump does not even know what UPDOG is."

That'll lead to a fun/awkward 90 second beginning to the next cabinet meeting.

Yeah they have certainly hit their target with their ads. I really surprised he hasn't tried some legal tricks to try to get them to stop (not that they would work) cause that's what he does.

"You can't plan for something that hasn't happened yet" - Betsy Devos, when asked what she would do if there is an outbreak of Covid in schools. There is no plan to protect our children.

— Deacon Blues (@DeaconBlues0) July 15, 2020

Beyond the absolute joke of a response this is (the very definition of "plan" is to prepare for something before it happens), it occurs to me that this is exactly the way we've handled this crisis - the feds and many state/local officials refused to do anything until the virus came to them, or the spread got to be too much. There has been very little willingness to take any action until it's too late.

And she is the top education official in the administration, not knowing that the very definition of plan is to prepare for something that could happen, LOL. So much winning.

"It's impossible to swim in water" - Betsy Devos

:D

(menacing music playing)

(Image of virus) "There's a liberal scourge that's more deadly than COVID (echo: "COVID... ovid")"
(Image of, I dunno, a normal day in Seattle) "is more violent than Antifa ("...Antifa... tifa")"
(Image of Mr. Moneybags from Monopoly) "and has more money than George Soros ("Soros... oros")."
(White "UPDOG" on Black screen) " It's UPDOG!"
(Image of a same-sex multiracial couple holding hands, going into an abortion clinic) "Stop them ..."
(Video of atomic bomb explosion) "...before it's too late!"

SI

Militarized Federal Agents from a patchwork of outside agencies have begun policing Portland (in rented minivans vans) without the explicit approval of the mayor, the state, or local municipalities. This is what that looks like in practice: pic.twitter.com/losap4SsgI

— The Sparrow Project (@sparrowmedia) July 15, 2020

Good thing those secret federal soldiers throwing citizens into unmarked vans in the middle of the night didn't instead try to get those citizens to wear masks. Because that would be tyranny.

dola:

Remember that if you grabbed a voter at random, there's about a ~45% chance that he would see that video and say that he going to vote in November for at least four more years of that.

I'm also guessing that many voters don't like rioters,looters and arsonists taking over their city too.

Taking over their city. Yep. Lots of that going on.

Nope. Which is why ~45% of the people will say "go ahead and do whatever you want, government, as long as you tell us it is to protect us from 'rioters, looters, and arsonists.'"

I disagree with those people. You may not.

But I doubt that the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would have been so eager to jump into the back of the van.

dola:

I am hearing that that video is of, at least, questionable provenance.

I'll leave it up to remind myself not to immediately re-post everything I see on social media that confirms my priors.

Sorry, guys.

Well George Washington did lead an army (bigger than any he had in the revolution) to put down the Whiskey Rebellion.

I live about a mile from where that supposedly happened and about 3 blocks away from where the protests start every night for the last two months FWIW. Nobody is taking over the city & anarchy is not setting in.

I won't claim to know enough either way, but lots of questions around that vid, people on reddit were pointing out that the person 'arrested' was never cited or cuffed and was put into a vehicle without a partition, and as a result several people are wanting to call this an undercover extraction performed as an arrest.....of course the obvious problem with that explanation is that there was absolutely no reason for such an extraction in that case. There is also supposedly video of this same vehicle later pulling into a government building, whatever you want to make of that...really the only thing that's consistent is that it was very poorly performed, one way or the other.

Where are you seeing this? The Mayor seemed to confirm it. I know there are a bunch of white supremacist militia groups in that region that like to play Army dressup, but these folks seem to have real gear. If it's staged, props on the effort because that gear isn't cheap.


This country has always had large percentages that supported fascism and authoritarian governments. Despite all the "freedom" rhetoric.

Gotta love the new Conservative sales pitch. (from an Conservative email list I somehow made it on to)

**BREAKING: New Unemployment Numbers Are In**

The Department of Labor reported on Thursday that new unemployment claims fell to 1.3 million last week.

So I guess ONLY 1.3 million unemployment claims in a WEEK is an AMAZING thing to celebrate!

I am so glad that Obama never got to celebrate such a stunning accomplishment. The winning is simply non-stop.

Rather obviously it's absurd to compare the current situation to the Obama presidency. No question his unemployment claims would have been worse during a pandemic than they were without one.

President Trump has claimed he himself can control the unemployment rate. So if you take all the credit when it is good, you have to take the bad when it is bad.

The guy I saw that posted it took his post down, saying that he is hearing conflicting things about the video.

I figured that if it is real, then real news orgs will start coming out with stuff about it soon enough. And if it is fake/staged/etc. then it will just kind of peter out.

I'm not lowering myself to using Trump's level of logic. Others can if they want, but I prefer to see things as close to how they are as possible. In this case, that means giving the president only a limited amount of credit for the economy if it's good, and a limited amount of blame if it's bad, because it's mostly out of their control regardless of who it is.

He wasn't suspended, he deleted his account. Apparently his son has it and he probably felt pretty dumb.

It's just part of the culture wars or whatever. When you can't campaign on anything good, you have to resort to that kind of stuff. Yes it is insanely dumb but that is where we are at as a country.

I dunno - Trump enjoyed piling thing onto the Obama economy and it's not like things were all smiles and roses when he took over in 2009.



The "better" part will be when they sneak in /another/ adjustment for this month about 3 months down the road so it's more accurate but makes the October numbers look less bad by comparison.


SI

As long as the acceptable diatribe currently coming out of the mouth of the man in the Oval Office is accepted as having any value at all, as long as he can still take AND get partisan credit for the things he claims are 100% his doing, then it doesn't really matter.

I was being facetious in that statement above about Obama, but there is a reality in there, that if the tables were turned, and this was in Obama's term, and trumop was running against him, he would be pushing a never ending line of bullshit that his supporters would take hook, line and sinker.

Sure, but approached from that point of view you also have to give Trump credit for the relatively strong growth and low unemployment of most of his first term. I mean, we can't have it both ways. Either he's responsible for what happens in the economy or he isn't, regardless if 'he' is Trump, Obama, or whoever else.

But fortunately you're not going to lower yourself to using Trump's level of logic.

SI

When it first happened, it was reported as Twitter having suspended his account for spreading false information about Covid-19. Either they suspended him and then he deleted his account, or someone jumped the gun and assumed he had been suspended. Either way... good riddance.

GA Gov doubles down on his stupidity and sues Atlanta over its mask requirements.

"To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones," Woolery tweeted before his account disappeared.

What part of the economy is strong besides a stock market propped up by trillions in Fed cash?

I'm not. What I said is a basic, fundamental matter of logical consistency. We both agree that's not something Trump does.


I don't follow the relevance of this, but right now I'd say the economy is generally in the crapper and we're in the early stages of what is likely to be a multi-year depression.

Someone in the GA contingent want to give me the Cliffs Notes version of this? I read the CNN story and it wasn't clear. The Fox News one wasn't any better. Did Bottoms say "asses to you, pal, Atlanta's having masks" and the ATL is going forward with their mask order anyway? Is that why the suit?

SI

Bottoms has been asking Kemp to make masks mandatory in Atlanta. He's refused. So she decided to do it on her own on Wednesday. That, along with other cities having different requirements, prompted Kemp to sign the EO that basically says "we'll go to mandatory masks when I'm damn good and ready". Bottoms refused to pull her emergency order so Kemp is suing on the basis that requiring masks hurts businesses.

Supreme Court Deals Major Blow To Ex-Felons' Right To Vote In Florida : NPR

2 things stick out to me after reading that:

One is how in the hell does it take 6 years to create a system?

Two is how is it that felons can't find out how much they owe? If the state can't say how much the felon owes then the fine should be dropped.

I think #2 is viewed as feature not a bug in the system if you're trying to disenfranchise voters

SI

Looks like it is legit. Feds in unmarked cars with no identification are grabbing people off the street. Can't remember seeing that in this country in a long time.

https://www.opb.org/news/article/fed...nd-protesters/

Washington Post and other outlets have stories up too.

I am certain the Patriot groups and militias will be protesting this as an overreach of the federal government.

The poll tax is back in vogue.

Unidentified officers in military fatigues searched & detained Portland protesters without giving any reason or documentation.

“I was terrified. It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”https://t.co/Eu1JatP7JO

— Sarah Kaplan (@sarahkaplan48) July 17, 2020

This is an interesting ethical conundrum.

I think its pretty clear to me the US should prioritize vaccine/therapeutics distribution for US first and (close second) allies. I would not expect any different from China if they were to find a vaccine/therapeutics first.

The question now is ... within the US, should the vaccine should go to healthcare workers (makes sense) and then POC even before people with underlying conditions, older people etc. I think an argument could be made to vaccinate the younger generation first even.

(Therapeutics, treatment should go to the ones that need it most e.g. already in hospital, ventilators etc.)

Hopefully once a vaccine is found, the ramp up time will be 1-2 months before everyone in the US (or UK or China) gets it and the gap will be short.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sh...?mod=home-page

Are you fucking kidding?

Here is what I saw in Portland yesterday. pic.twitter.com/B0xvTTYvIj

— Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) July 17, 2020

And people thought The Man in the High Castle was just a show.

A non paywall link to an article that discusses this with interviews with people detained.

https://www.opb.org/news/article/fed...nd-protesters/

Secret police?

WTF is this NAZI Germany?

All for graffitti.

November can't get here fast enough. Get all of these AHs out of power and prosecute them.

Unfortunately, this has now given a blueprint to future fascists so I think it's only a matter of time here

SI

It's become a tired trope here and elsewhere for #resist inclined people to really worry about "outrage fatigue" and the like. Because he/they do so many fucking terrible things it's really hard for right-thinking people to focus on any of them. It's just overwhelming.

Let's hope this...unidentifiable "police" depriving citizen rights under no flag at all...doesn't get lost in the shuffle as we all cry foul over beans and related horseshit. I mean, that's reprehensible too, but...

Are you fucking kidding?

What makes you so confident that there will be an election in November?

This week we have seen Trump blatantly ignore rules about promoting goods, withhold Covid data and sent brownshirted secret police to pull people off the streets... He’s got four months to complete his full-dictator fantasy

I read or heard on the news that a vaccine being found is not the time consuming thing but rather the manufacturing and we are talking minimum 6-12 mo this for enough to be made to vaccinate most of adults. It would be longer for the whole population. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...d-vaccine.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/polit...apy/index.html

Hm... I wonder if Ginsberg has plans to stay on until, oh, about January

SI

The good news on that end is that the most promising vaccine candidates have already started mass production. They're betting big-time on them being effective.

I'm a little less sure on how distribution will work. It's easy to see Trump mucking that up somehow.

She should just retire right now and look after her health.

I'm sure McConnell will remain ideologically consistent and wait for the voice of the people to heard in the November elections and respect the results before voting on any replacements.

(Try typing THAT with a straight face)

This gets at one of my great frustrations with Dems. The leadership seems to want and expect the media to drive the news cycle, but that's not what happens. The media will go where the parties lead them. The GOP fully understands this. Dems need to focus on a topic for days or weeks with a coordinated response from numerous members.

Instead, we get angry tweets about the outrage of the day and then the sun sets and they do it all over again on this day's outrage. And, so, Trump's one thousand scandals end up hurting him less than if there was only one.

This interview with political data analyst David Schor is terrific.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020...ory-polls.html

However distribution works out when it happens, there will be winners and losers, recriminations and finger pointing etc. I would like to hear what ethicists have to say (not Trump nor Melinda Gates).

How do I become an ethicist?

It sounds like a lazy and highly pretentious job.

Did your keyboard grow a long wooden nose or spontaneously catch fire when you typed that? :D

SI

FWIW.

Honesetly doesn't seem pretentious to me.

https://learn.org/articles/Medical_E...lary_FAQs.html

The COVID-19 thread (the political version)
 

Here you go. Enjoy.

Because you told me to enjoy it I choose not to.

So this mask thing is absurd. The state of fucking ALABAMA has a mask ordinance, but our idiot governor in Georgia is suing individual cities and counties for their mask ordinances. All the while saying people should wear masks and he thinks they will... Like I get not having a state wide ordinance if you think some rural areas may not need them, but why can't cities like Atlanta which are hitting ICU limits take extra precautions?

Might as well merge 'em, 'cause it's all political.

We hardly agree, but 100% with you on this one.

I was going to point out that it's kindof comical to even call it the Wuhan Coronavirus thread at this point

SI

That in itself can be construed as political, which negated the prime directive of the other thread right off the bat.

Let's build a wall around the virus and make the virus pay for it!

Am I doing this right?

You are right, I'll change it. What do you want to call it?

My sources tell me that the virus doesn't have a valid US birth certificate and actually came from outside the United States.

I'm considering going down to ground zero at the justice center to see how things are popping off tonight. Or I might go to bed at 7.

So I do remember some conversation that the current COVID-19 in the US is more due to mutations of the original COVID-19 in Italy which came into NYC. I'm not sure how accurate that is though - although the virus which came into NYC was from Europe rather than China.

exactly.

People also complained there were already too many Covid threads.

Just look out for unmarked SS vans.

SI

Wrong thread.

This one if for political commentary.

You want to talk epidemiology you have to start a new thread on the topic.

I dunno. Maybe just the "The COVID-19 thread"? The other one already has the name and the no politics label.

SI

The clip of Chris Wallace's interview with Trump where he calls him out on the Biden/defunding the police lie is hilarious. I'm kinda surprised he allowed Wallace to interview him as he is one of the few at Fox News willing to go wherever the facts take him.

The Dr. Fauci Epidemiology thread.

Good idea. But you’re only allowed to discuss the disease, not the credibility of Fauci. That one will have to go in a newly created thread about the merits of wearing a mask.

Done.

So Georgia has been on CNN a bunch today (no surprised, the HQ is in GA), but I really hate my state being a worldwide laughing stock due to our idiot Governor. I hear people are researching recall provisions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...f38_story.html


Who are these 38%?

The ones who think it's a hoax

SI

Oh, he's already said that the Gorsuch Maneuver only counts when it's a Democratic Presidency and a GOP Senate. When the same party controls both, that's different.

The Governor of Florida is reopening gyms because (and I shit you not):


https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...e9e6b665a2106e

He's trying to outdumb Kemp..

It's part "hoax" people, but it's also the "I have to support Trump because Dems are evil even though I'll privately admit this hasn't gone well" people, plus the "media and certain state officials are making it look worse than it really is because the end goal is to vote Trump out" people.

Meanwhile, it's pretty obvious that Trump and his biggest supporters/enablers have been their own worst enemy.

And apparently all of these people post on Facebook.

That's the base

Leave Brian be. He so rarely gets anything right, let me have the one time he managed to hit the stopped clock exception.

I saw a guy post someplace else yesterday that Trump is kicking China's ass. He's also anti-mask and believes Covid is just the flu so I'm sure he's part of the 38% and gives you an idea of what we're working with here.

Guess Trump didn't like hearing those rumors about his now former campaign manager:

Trump campaign conducting internal review of 2020 spending irregularities - Business Insider

Process complaints by the GOP are almost always in bad faith. They want to use process to win. That's it.

Comforting to think that lots of the same folks that can't be bothered to wear a mask are the same folks that will prevent us from ever moving an inch on gun control.

A former HS teacher of mine likes to post on current and past numbers without giving any chance that cases/hospitalizations/deaths will continue to go up. It started months ago with number of total deaths and moved to cases outside of NY and has now moved to average deaths per day over the past 120 days in TX compared to the worst flu season in the past ten years.

I'm not sure if we've covered, this, but in the last two days, Kanye: dropped out, filed a Statement of Organization with the FEC, AND officially got on the Oklahoma ballot. Apparently you can pay your way on that one. His party affiliation is the birthday party. But Oklahoma considers him an independent.

Kanye is going to finish 3rd in Oklahoma.

Companies are selling, and people are buying, mesh masks which are intended to comply with local requirements, but have the special desired, and intended, feature of not actually having any ability to protect you from anything.

Anti-mask protesters' new weapon: wearing masks that offer no COVID-19 protection | wthr.com

The latest racist Karen video out of CA where a guy is confronted while mowing the lawn at an apartment complex to "show me your papers, mariposa" pisses me off so much I want to go there and beat her ass myself. Thanks to Trump, these people are so emboldened to be racist on camera and smile about it that it just makes my blood boil. Just vile ugliness.

A buddy has already shut his gym down twice since the middle of May when he re-opened.

The WH is writing copy for The Lincoln Project again.

Trump adviser tells WaPo that when it comes to the pandemic, the president is “not really working this anymore. He doesn’t want to be distracted by it. He’s not calling and asking about data. He’s not worried about cases.” https://t.co/cMaaFvu1rY

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 18, 2020

Question (In The Office mode): Is the Supreme court out of touch of the realities of todays society? Are they puppets of their parties? Or are they the most intellectual law minds of our times?

With the health of Ginsberg, Im wondering if a switch to a younger court may be able to adapt to the ever changing and quickly changing world.

Doesn't want to be distracted by a pandemic, because he has more important things to do.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Those golf balls won't hit themselves, you know.

Whichever side ends up losing the PredictIt market on whether he officially ran or not will have a legitimate complaint.