News Apr 10, 2020 at 1:20 pm

Live coronavirus coverage for the week of April 6, focusing on the Seattle region

Comments

2

NYC parks could become 'temporary’ burial sites as coronavirus deaths increase:
https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-new-city-parks-burial-20200406-4vxvowhtk5f45brouqd32s7iau-story.html

5

3

They're getting their talking points/marching orders now for the movement of that goalpost. Don't worry. They'll all be here shortly mimicking the same nonsense.

6

Be like the Queen, not the sniveling Ladies of Slog.

Keep a stiff upper lip.

9

@4 German Sausage: Any chance BoJo can pass it on to Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Brett Kavanugh, and Mitch McConnell? @7's already dying of MAGAvirus.

10

@1 -- That was my first thought as well, but I'm a Yank. To Brits -- especially those of a certain age -- it has a completely different meaning. It was popular when Britain faced its darkest hour, which is why it is referenced in the Kinks song, Mr. Churchill Says.

13

7: Boris Johnson's poor decisions early on cost lives. And it's ridiculous to wag a finger at people taking joy in Boris' suffering because ultimately his entire political career was predicated dehumanizing other people. So yeah, I won't laugh about it but I won't be crying about it either.

15

14: The guy you're defending has very little empathy. I mean. do you have concept of who Boris Johnson is or are you just concern trolling?

Just because someone is famous and has a measure of power doesn't mean they deserve some special empathy.

17

People who build their political careers on opportunistically trashing other people probably deserve a certain amount of shit in their lives.

20

It whips ass that you can give the president money and he will say your drug cures everything then when someone takes it and dies we all laugh.

22

@14 &@18: Scared shitless yet? You should be.You and your fellow MAGA trolls are going down fast. I wouldn't gloat if I were you.
@21: The MAGAvirus really must have hit you hard, too.

23

@22 You seem nice.

24

When this is all over, I hope we will realize that we should thank our low density single-family neighborhoods. Looking at New York, I think we can safely say the Density Brigade in Seattle is toast.

25

Maybe I'm just not easily amused, but I don't see the humor or satisfaction of wishing cartoon viruses, much less Codiv-19, on people.

Knowing or even imagining the horrors of being sick with fever and gasping for breath, I wouldn't even want to joke about this virus being inflicted on anyone, including Donald Trump.

26

https://youtu.be/JcXBtaYMDJc

Boris Johnson deserves to die for leaving the response to 'herd immunity,' and so does Trump for his continued dismissal of hundreds of thousands of deaths he could have prevented by listening to scientific experts. Christ you people are negligent asshats who think justice is only served if a person goes out of their way to shoot someone, but if they enact mass homicide passively you are sort of fine with that. One death is too kind for them.

27

https://mobile.twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1245625551101906944

Stupid daft motherfuckers, yes some people deserve to die or we wouldn't have the death penalty. Just shut the flying fuck up.

28

"Deserves to die"

Nobody with any morality can utter these words. The death penalty doesn't give you an out on that as that is crime and punishment, not hate and bigotry. And I concur that the death penalty is immoral. Gratuitous vengeance is unbecoming to those of us who care about all of humanity and that includes our political adversaries including Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.

Grow up Garb. Rise to the intellect we all thought you had.

29

It’s me! The guy who thinks civility means you get to put kids in cages and take away medicine from poor people as long as you do it without using any salty language. I live on the moon and eat moon rocks. I am a very serious and caring person. I’m here to nuthug the people who really need it like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, the trump trust fund kids and Dick Cheney.

30

Poor Leftists.
Souls rotted out by hatred.
Clinging to a morally bankrupt blatantly erroneous ever failing philosophy.
Angry, bitter, resentful, envyous, stewing in their toxic bile;
unable to see that their evil will never make them happy.

31

@30. Leadera have lives in their hands. When they refuse to take responsibility for endangering others over their own selfish delusions, they get fragged.

32

@28. Why does the second amendment exist?

33

@32: For defense.

34

@33. No, it is to deter tyranny and the superseding if the masses' constitutional rights, including your right to kill people with kindness.

35

Nevertheless Boris Johnson is an immoral oaf. Impregnating his girlfriend outside the covenant of holy matrimony. A great embarrassment to the Queen.

But I hope he recovers.

36

@34: Which is for defense as well. I know what you're trying to do, and it isn't working. Trying to find a constitutional hook to hang your immoral hat on doesn't work.

37

@35. I am emotionally compromised from loss and pain and am in no position to say who lives or dies right now, that is why we rely on third party arbitration in civilian courts and submit to the rule of law over the rule of tyrants. But people who sign up for the highest office in the land, and act as commander in chief under wartime conditions, must be held accountable and removed if they are unable to conform to that level of responsibility. I know destruction is not the right answer, but absent compliance with good intelligence and following the advice of the top brass, these puppets should be removed and if by their own hand so be it.

38

@37: I can concur with that -- with a caveat on your last sentence, and given the most extreme circumstances and a threat to our republic, is essentially the reason for the second amendment to save us from tyranny.

Good job Garb.

39

Boris Johnon is nasty and vile. He's not no a ventilator, though (that's the official story anyway) so he'll probably survive to return and sow his misery on as many people as possible before his time in power is over. After all, Brexit is coming up and that is going to wreak a hell of a lot of havoc on top of the chaos caused by COVID-19.

https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-record-sexist-homophobic-and-racist-comments-bumboys-piccaninnies-2019-6

40

@38. 200,000 people or more will die as a result of Trump's willful negligence, your praise is appreciated in principle but ultimately patronizing posturing if you refuse to hold Trump and the doormat GOP to account and apply the Constitution without prejudice.

41

The president is telling people to use an untested drug from a company he owns part of to cure a disease they may not have but somebody has to Stan for him I guess.

42

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmsoVFCUN3Q

43

@40: I've never said anything to suggest that the Trump administration shouldn't be held accountable. Just because I'm a devout republican you shouldn't assume that. What, you never heard the phrase "Never Trumpers"?

Not that I'm not used to such projection.

44

@43. You are a doormat to the GOP. The GOP is a doormat to Trump (save Romney and a few choice others), therefore, even though you do not like Trump, you enable him vicariously and defend his administration's policies.

45

@44: Go ahead and think what you want. I don't care.

46

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

48

The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot

I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us — if at all — not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death’s dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind’s singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death’s dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer —

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death’s twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

49

@46: How cute.

50

The Republican Party doesn’t exist anymore, ask Slade Gorton. If you still call yourself a republican it just means you think 1 guy should run everything and nobody should question him and you think it’s cool to put kids in jail and treat them worse than Mitchell Rupe. Have a word with yourself.

51

@50: Yes, as John Boehner said before he gave up the house speakership - "it's the Trump party now" - but the Republican ideology still exists. It doesn't just evaporate.

Trump was never a Republican. In fact, he is far more of a D than an R. Gave to dems more often than republicans before running in 2016. He hijacked the party.

52

That’s awesome that the final form of the Republican Party doesn’t have an ideology it’s just a more racist Democrat party and that’s cool with republicans. Well give the people what they want I guess.

53

Yes all those republicans were just so helpless and hapless Trump was able to take over their party without them doing anything about it. Bitch, please.

55

I used to believe that Rainydrip was concern trolling. Now I realize, nope, he actually is that stupid and naive.

56

@54: Just like Joe Biden is the Jesus of the Democratic party. God bless.

58

@56 I love that your response to someone saying the man leading the party you claim to be part of is legally a moron is to say some shit like “The guy leading the other party isn’t perfect” and not “Perhaps this party isn’t for me anymore, I don’t need a party to blindly follow”. Never change, it’s awesome. Kissing my fingers so hard I can feel the blisters form.

59

@57: Correct, you proved my point. So let's stop conflating our Lord and Savior with current politicians.

61

@60: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God, the things that are God’s.

Please make a note of it.

62

Don't fool yourself. Saying you are a Republican but don't like Trump is just being nostalgic. It is no different than saying you are a Progressive Republican, in the Teddy Roosevelt model. Sorry, that Republican Party is gone. It may come back, but I doubt it.

Trump is not on the fringe of the party, as Reagan (and Goldwater) were when nominated. He is a mainstream Republican. He embodies the heart of the party, as expressed in talk radio and Fox News. The opposition from Republicans has come mainly from those concerned about politics, not policy. There is support from Republicans for almost all of his goals -- they just are concerned about his approach. Tax cuts for the wealthy, cuts in social services, anti environmentalism, disbelief in global warming and science in general (including evolution), nationalism (especially racially based nationalism) are all bread and butter issues for Republicans. The only major policy difference is with the idea of a trade war. This is the only divide within the party as a whole, and Trump has come down in favor or protectionists, while those in power (wealthy plutocrats) decry anything that would limit their ability to make money. You see the same sort of thing with immigration. They really don't care about the immigrants in the same way that they don't care about mistreated workers in other countries. But they sure as hell want enough of them to do the work without paying them well.

There is a reason why Trump's support among self described Republicans is so high (often around 90%). He is the obvious evolution of the Republican Party, and that has been happening since Nixon and Reagan.

63

Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;
For their heart devises violence,
And their lips talk of troublemaking.

Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

Wisdom is too lofty for a fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate.

He who plots to do evil
Will be called a [a]schemer.
The devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.

Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, “Surely we did not know this,”
Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?

64

https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PRO.24.NLT - above reference in plainer English.

65

Oh, and if you think Trump is an aberration, consider how Romney fits into this. After all, he was the previous Republican nominee. At first glance, he seems like an old-school, Eisenhower style Republican. After all, in Massachusetts, he actually passed what is essentially ObamaCare. Romney also famously voted to remove Trump, in what was considered an act of courage and honesty. Consider then, what Romney said to a group of Republican contributors:

"All right, there are 47 percent who are with [Obama] who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Consider that statement. This is, by all accounts, and honest assessment made by an honest man. That is really how he feels. He honestly believes that almost half the population wants to be on the dole. Those on AFDC (what most people call "welfare") for example, wouldn't trade their measly check for childcare and the chance at a job.

More importantly, he was saying this because he thought this is what a group of powerful Republicans want to hear.

Are you saying that he was lying? Do you think this group of powerful Republicans is also an aberration -- that they don't represent the heart of the party? Don't fool yourself. This is the modern Republican Party.

Do you know what they call an Eisenhower Republican? A Democrat.

66

Parties do go through eras. I'm certainly am not a democrat, so it's more accurate to identify as a republican. There are only two (poetically realistic) choices after all.

67

*politically realistic

I appreciate your comments Ross.

Yes, Trump is indeed an aberration - especially considering he never really wanted to win in the first place. There's no data to conflate an aberration into a long term political reality.

68

@67. Constantine? Muhammad? Bueller?

70

Today's GOP would have made Tom Smykowski a multi-millionaire.

https://youtu.be/sDEL4Ty950Q

71

How can Trump be an aberration when every one of his opinions that are popular among conservatives were positions articulated or dog-whistled over the last 30 years of the party? Substantively and tonally, Trump is no different than Rush Limbaugh or, a little further to the right, Pat Buchanan in the 1990s. In fact, Trump is very much the political heir of Pat Buchanan. You can't claim someone is an aberration when their own party has said the same things and pursued the same policies for decades. The only thing that differentiates Trump from the non-Buchanan Republicans is his trade policies. Everything else, form hypocritically running deficits and running up debt to cutting regulations and benefits, is pure Republican. Trump is just cruel and shameless enough to take the party where it wants to go.

72

Raindrop is very much in the Ross Douthat mold of political commentator. Someone who agrees with 90 percent of Trump's positions but doesn't like that he's mean and crass. People like Douthat are very useful (useful idiots? or malicious?) to Trump because they create a protective smoke screen around him, giving soft arguments for his policies with the qualification that Trump is a potty-mouthed meany. They're all about making liberals and lefties doubt themselves, shifting blame away from the presidents (mean and decadent progressive and liberals are the cause of every problem) weakening institutions through insinuation, and using whataboutism to discourage people from voting their conscience.

73

Republicans recognize that President Trump is the best president the nation has had since FDR, that he is finally tending to issues that GOP presidents have only paid lip service to for generations.
The depraved Left's desperate deranged pathological hatred of President Trump just confirms how effective he is to Americans.
Americans are profoundly grateful for President Trump.

74

73: Why not volunteer to suck his dick then you sycophantic loser? Seriously, you morons have made this idiot a god king. Are you gonna kill yourself if he loses?

75

Trump appeals to people who fear complex reasoning; freedom is a high responsibility which requires an informed society which disagrees and builds upon that disagreement to be fully informed. This is a daunting responsibility to many who are underinformed and believe there is a simple explanation for everything. Trump simplifies reality into black and white binaries, thereby relieving the anxiety felt by people who either lack the energy or the foundation to consider complex issues, giving them an escape from freedom. And they react to how upset he makes people who clearly present credible evidence for alternative perspectives because it gives them a false sense of empowerment to overcome those who society apparently considers elitists and superior on account of their education, but this ultimately leaves them with the lowest common denominator of standards as they tie their gyri and sulci into impervious gordian knots that that would make Alexander blush.

76

74
Perhaps you are thinking of bill Clinton and his interns?

No, we will be disappointed if President Trump loses but we are big boys and girls; we have lost elections in the past without resorting to curling up in the fetal position in the corner or screaming into the sky or 'resisting' (aka refusing to accept the results of the election) and we will do so again if President Trump loses.

It is a given that our society is in a steady decline; President Trump has slowed the rate of decline but nothing will reverse it until we hit bottom (and shed the depraved moocher Left).

We accept and prepare for that inevitability, come when it may.

In the meantime, the winning just doesn't stop.
Can't wait for the chance to vote for President Trump in November.

btw, has anyone see Joe lately?
We worry that he might wander out into the traffic...

77

While this article may be somewhat dated (11/30/16)
it does provide Great historical relevance:

"Trump to Step Away from Making His Businesses
Bankrupt to Focus on Bankrupting Country"

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report -- President-elect Donald J. Trump will no longer have day-to-day responsibility for driving his businesses into bankruptcy and will instead focus on bankrupting the country, one of his leading surrogates said on Wednesday.

Appearing on Fox News, Kellyanne Conway said that while Trump no doubt could 'plunge both his businesses and the country into bankruptcy at the same time,' he feels that he 'owes it to the American people to put them first.'

Acknowledging that Trump has no government experience, Conway said that his years of bankrupting a variety of companies would prove 'invaluable' as he does the same to the United States.
--Andy Borowitz

More @:
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-to-step-away-from-making-his-businesses-bankrupt-to-focus-on-bankrupting-country

Oh, and trolling trolly Troll
didja get trumpfy's New
(made in China!):

Making America Grieve Again

Hat? They're only $99.99. A steal
if you swipe one from a Fellow Ass-Wipe.

Enjoy!

78

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Freedom

"In the process of becoming freed from authority, we are often left with feelings of hopelessness (he likens this process to the individuation of infants in the normal course of child development) that will not abate until we use our 'freedom to' and develop some form of replacement of the old order. However, a common substitute for exercising "freedom to" or authenticity is to submit to an authoritarian system that replaces the old order with another of different external appearance but identical function for the individual: to eliminate uncertainty by prescribing what to think and how to act. Fromm characterizes this as a dialectic historical process whereby the original situation is the thesis and the emancipation from it the antithesis. The synthesis is only reached when something has replaced the original order and provided humans with a new security. Fromm does not indicate that the new system will necessarily be an improvement. In fact, Fromm indicates this will only break the never-ending cycle of negative freedom that society submits to."

79

Negative freedom (freedom from interference by other people) doesn't seem an issue in the modern era. We are incredibly globalized with social media and collaboration, especially those with jobs that involve a computer. We are certainly polarized in our ideological and demographics, but are constantly seeking reinforcement from our peers.

80

@76: LOLOLOLOLOL Oh honey! We ALL remember the pissy little tantrum baby you were for the ENTIRE Obama administration. Just because you're 404ing these days doesn't mean we didn't see you then, and we see you now.

81

Jim Wright calls modern Republicanism "the staggering arrogance of unqualified fools." Describes the party pretty well.

I've suffered through two Republican administrations during my adult life, and they've both ended up with international tragedy, severe disruption to the safety of our country, and complete economic collapse.

Come back, Barack ... all is forgiven ...

82

@22: Don't you have 7th grade remedial Math homework to catch up on?
@43, @45,@49, @51, @53, @56, @61, @66, @67, @79: Give it up, Rainy, and go have a cocktail.
@74 JMS: The MAGAs are already dying in large masses, and they're scared shitless. They're among the irresponsible idiots who are still flocking to the beaches, packing the churches, engaging in large social gatherings, and looting Wal*Marts against their better judgment. Their blood red states--particularly in the Southern Deeply Divided States--oppose expansion of Medicaid. The South is predicted to become a desolate wasteland, largely due to lack of sufficient healthcare and being a food desert (consisting of fast food restaurants, pizza delivery, and lack of fresh meats and vegetables provided by grocery stores being outsourced by Wal*Marts.
@76: LOL. You really are a sad, scared shitless little MAGAvirus-whipped puppy now, aren't you?
@77 kristofarian : Spot on and SO appropriate for the current nightmare. The real tragedy is that all this was preventable.
@80 Lissa: You nailed it again. Bravo, and keep it up! :)
@81 Lastlight: Agreed and seconded.

83

Let’s call him and his entire party what they really are fucking murderers.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/7/1935332/-John-Roberts-is-a-Murderer?utm_campaign=trending

84

Well my comments from a month ago aged like fine wine. En vino veritas.

"How the fuck are we going to be able to vote in the general if the COVID persists until then? How do you vote in quarantine? Low SES people will be even more disenfranchised, and we cant have people not being able to vote from fear of crowds. Shit, we dont have the infrastructure to deal with this yet, and I dont see the Trump admin doing anything to enhancd voter safety whatsoever. Shit, we need to deal with this issue ASAP

Garb Garblar on March 9, 2020 at 5:54 AM ·

"I am just saying there is an urgency to secure our elections, because self-isolation doesn't quite jive with standing in public libraries and school gyms and shit to wipe your grubby fingers all over voting booths where lots of elderly people congregate. And if online voting and mail in voting is somehow less secure, and given that we have unchecked foreign intervention in our elections, securing the mere ability to vote safely is priority number one if you ask me. Otherwise, all the fervent anti-Trumpers will be unable to show up. And that is due cause for concern."

"Texas and many states are still on the ol DRE scroll and punch voting machines and require voter ID. I am not sure to what extent they have mail-in ballots."

Garb Garblar on March 9, 2020 at 7:14 AM

I hate to root my own horn here, but I hate to be right. Roberts and Kushner can step right up to the chopping block.

85

Great, another thread filled with anger. It’s bad for your body, so calm the hell down and stop abusing each other. This is not a drill. Now. Who has got a joke?

86

@85 - Social distancing does make Twister a lot more challenging to play.

87

Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci, and Deborah Birx walk into a bar...

88

Two masked men just walked into a bank and nobody noticed.

89

The Energized Bunny was arrested.

He was charged with battery.

90

Energizer...my spelling is a joke.

91

Nice bott-covering, quoting the times about profiteering and hydroxychloroquine, A VERY CHEAP GENERIC DRUG. Almost as bad as the Guardian's claim that Gilead's Remdesivir (vey much under patent protection) lacks "a team of dedicated hype", unlike nasty old hydroxychloroquine. Definition of chutzpah.

What's the upside in shilling for the enemies of all humanity?

92

As front-line healthcare workers care for patients with COVID-19, they commit themselves to difficult, draining work and also put themselves at risk of infection. Hundreds throughout the world have died.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927976

93

@85 LavaGirl: How about a song parody?

94

@85 LavaGirl: Jokes? Okay, here goes:
There are four people on board a small hydroplane flying over the state of Florida.
The pilot, a rabbi, a hippy, and Donald Trump.
The weather that day is particularly turbulent; instantly the first of four engines blows.
The pillot says, "Hang on; it's going to be a bumpy ride, but we'll manage."
Trump says, "I'm doing a GREAT job!"
The wind picks up, and the second engine--and finally, the third of four engines goes out, and the little plane starts to nosedive.
The pilot informs the three passengers that there are only three parachutes. The pilot takes one, claiming that he must report the accident, and jumps out.
Donald Trump gloats that his adoring fans need him, believing he is the greatest thing since tax shelters for billionaires, and jumps out.
The rabbis says to the hippy, "Go on, my son. I have lived a blessed life. I will be all right."
The hippy grins at the rabbi and sys,
"All is cool, man--Trump took my backpack!"

95

funny Grizelda, be something he’d do, right?, and others too. Thanks.
Don’t let trump et al take your spirits and moments of joy away. Be proactive in calling reps or writing on WH fb page etc, do what you can.
Life is this. The AIDS plague was another horrific time and then the Govt. did zilch to help. Patients turned away from hospitals. The LGBT+ community worked together, with enlightened others. Years though of young men fading away, everywhere.
Do things which make you feel good.. paint write sculpt make things poetry sing compose play music etc..
as well as feel deeply about the injustice of being subjected to corrupt Leaders and their underlings.

96

@66 -- "Parties do go through eras. I'm certainly am not a democrat, so it's more accurate to identify as a republican. There are only two (poetically realistic) choices after all."

No, you can call yourself an independent. More people call themselves independent than Republicans or Democrats.

"Yes, Trump is indeed an aberration - especially considering he never really wanted to win in the first place. There's no data to conflate an aberration into a long term political reality."

No, he is not an aberration. History will look at this era of the Republican Party as starting with Ronald Reagan. Trump will simply be part of it. As I wrote, Romney is as well. If you saw the "47%" quote, and didn't know who it was from, wouldn't you guess it was from Trump? Or maybe the former Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Or maybe some other member of the Tea Party, like Mike Pence. Or maybe some commentator, on Fox News or Talk Radio, who has been saying this sort of thing through the entire era. That is my point. This is normal. This would have been a shocking thing to say fifty years ago. Eisenhower would have disavowed such talk if it was said by a fellow Republican.

But again, Eisenhower would be a mainstream Democrat these days. If he was a Republican these days, he would be an aberration.

97

I side with Presidential historian Jon Meacham and former CIA director John Brennan in calling Trump an aberration:

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/01/607303543/has-the-partisan-divide-ever-been-this-bad-author-jon-meacham-says-yes

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/john-brennan-trump-is-an-aberration-and-not-in-a-good-way-1246197827546?playlist=associated

98

85

Here's a joke:

Joe Biden is running for President!

100

Paying people more to sit on their asses at home than they earned working a job is just one more asinine fatally stupid way this society has responded to this Non-Crisis.....

101

Political parties don't have ideologies - they have constituencies. Main Street Rotarians and Yeoman Farmers were once an important republican constituencies - this was the party that Raindrop and John Brennen remember. But those constituencies have been obliterated by economic developments over the last 40 years. Now all that left is xenophobes, gun-humpers, god-botherers and crony capitalist grifters: groups for whom Donald Trump is the perfect avatar.

102

Constituents have ideologies that influence their parties, and the reverse is also true. The GOP is older than 40 years. The term aberration fits. In your opinion it doesn't. It really doesn't matter, but most of us typically respect commentary by noted presidential historians.

103

"Boris Johnson has left intensive care. He was in intensive care for three days due to COVID-19 complications."

See, that's the Difference 'twixt US and G.B. -- they have Medicare for all (sorta) and if Doofus Number 1 tells you not to worry, go ahead, get fucking infected, THEY (Brits) don't hafta go Bankrupt to fucking pay for such incredble Stupidity directed directly down, from the very tippyTop.

Oddly, we're just the opposite -- trumpfy says it's Hoaxy, not to worry it's just Dems being Dems, mingle mingle mingle and don't worry, the Stock Market's looking Great again.

Till it Didn't. And so all those gullible (can ya Blame ‘em?) (they’re no more ‘clever’ than our own resident trolling trolly Troll, for Pete’s sake) peeps that followed Derr 'leader,' over the Cliff, as they say, how many have either shit or no Healthcare whatsoever?

What is it, like 25%, typically (In this Backwards-ass shithole country) so what do THEY do when they're too sick to work?

Oh, and all those peeps whose Healthcare is based on their being Employed (better add another 20,000,000 or so more)? What’re THEY ‘sposed to fucking DO? Go straight to the city Dump and looks for a nce pair of Bootstraps? Dutiring a Panfuckingdemic?

Where the Fuck is all that ‘Republican’ PRO-Life shit, now that Life is, truly, On The Line for so god damn many?
On fucking Holiday?

Btw – nice Move, Rs, holding an Election
During the middle of a PAN Fucking Demic.

If the Reptilicans hafta Sacrifice a whole lotta Dems (and a few of their own) in the process, they’ll swear it’s for our own good. And 33% of the Electorate’ll fucking BUY it. Well, the ones that’re left over; who didn’t listen to Hair Furor or just plain got Lucky.

WOWzer.

104

"About one in 10 workers in America lost a job in the past three weeks. If those workers in Washington state were making less than $62,500 a year, they will probably earn more from unemployment insurance."

But -- Will they still
(assuming they did)
have Health insurance?

They extra bit they'll receive (for not working) (OUCH, eh repubs?) pales in comparison to the Whopping Medical Bills they may receive should they happen to pick up a Dose.

Hey, I've got a Great idea
Let's join The Civilized World:
M4A, baby.
Or Bust.

105

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/pandemic-worst-recession-great-depression-imf-200409191924374.html

You down with PPE?

106

@104: kristofarian for the WIN!!

107

104
Should they happen to pick up a dose they will probably have no or mild symptoms.
In fact.most people who pick up a dose never know they did.
As Plagues go the virus is a real softie.
It's really sad that it took so little to destroy this flimsy house off cards Leftist Urban 'Civilization'...

108

It's not politically incorrect to blame China:

"Without China’s deceit and WHO’s solicitude for Beijing, the outbreak might have been more limited, and the world at the very least would have had more time to react to the virus. China committed unforgivable sins of commission, affirmatively lying about the outbreak and punishing doctors and disappearing journalists who told the truth, whereas the WHO committed sins of omission—it lacked independence and courage at a moment of great consequence.

In effect, China and the WHO worked together to expose the rest of the world to the virus, at the same time they downplayed its dangers."

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/08/who-china-trump-coronavirus-176242

109

'Kung Flu'?
FUCK You.

110

That's the reality, the xenophobia or prejudice is in how we react to the reality. Two very different things.

111

Thee Most Dangerous Man in America?

"Noam Chomsky on Trump’s Disastrous Coronavirus Response, Bernie Sanders & What Gives Him Hope"

How did the United States — the richest country in the world — become the worldwide epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, with one person dying of COVID-19 every 47 seconds?

We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, discussing this unprecedented moment in history, and its political implications, as Senator Bernie Sanders announces he is suspending his campaign for the presidency.

Chomsky also describes how frontline medical workers and progressive organizing are giving him hope.

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/10/noam_chomsky_trump_us_coronavirus_response

112

Wondering why trolling trolly Troll is here?
Look no further (than):

"A New Front for Nationalism:
The Global Battle Against a Virus"

"The United States, an unrivaled scientific power, is led by a president who openly scoffs at international cooperation while pursuing a global trade war.

India, which produces staggering amounts of drugs, is ruled by a Hindu nationalist who has ratcheted up confrontation with neighbors.

China, a dominant source of protective gear and medicines, is bent on a mission to restore its former imperial glory.

Now, just as the world requires collaboration to defeat the coronavirus — scientists joining forces across borders to create vaccines, and manufacturers coordinating to deliver critical supplies — national interests are winning out. This time, the contest is over far more than which countries will make iPads or even advanced jets.

This is a battle for supremacy over products that may determine who lives and who dies."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/business/coronavirus-vaccine-nationalism.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

113

"For a while, Trump seemed unsure of what to do as news of the virus became more serious.

He was deeply worried about the economic impact of the virus on his reelection bid.

He then found his footing—on the racist ground where he is most comfortable—now routinely calling the novel coronavirus strain 'the Chinese virus.'

In one of his many online rants, he cast himself like the leader of a cult might do, as the savior of those Americans deeply impacted by the virus, saying, 'For the people that are now out of work because of the important and necessary containment policies, for instance, the shutting down of hotels, bars and restaurants, money will soon be coming to you.'

He then implied that China was to blame, saying, “The onslaught of the Chinese Virus [sic] is not your fault!

Trump is implying that he’s simply engaging in a tit-for-tat exercise (hardly an appropriate approach for a head-of-state) because a Chinese media outlet apparently claimed the U.S. military had created the virus as a biochemical weapon.

But Trump failed to mention that right-wing sources in the U.S. were also promoting similarly conspiratorial claims of Chinese scientists creating the virus in a lab.

There is a clear reason why Trump is invoking racism in the face of an infectious virus that threatens us all: It is so he can deflect the blame for its spread.

After months of denying the seriousness of the coronavirus and failing to take quick and early action on ensuring widespread testing,

Trump is now claiming, 'I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.'"

Yep, trumpfy: Our [HOLY] Saviour."

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-uses-coronavirus-to-spread-racism/

115

@108 raindrop, you're quoting from an opinion piece by the editor of The National Review. Why are you peddling that garbage here?

I'll give you credit for only one thing - you're a masterful troll. At a casual glance, you pass yourself off as genuine, reasonable and thoughtful, but at the end of the day, you’re just another Republican shitbag spreading Republican talking points and propaganda. So go fuck yourself.

116

@110. The xenophobia and prejudice are what are tactically perpetuated by upholding it as the "China virus," as though the people calling it that are thinking critically about the nuance in meaning lmao.

Listen, this information may very well be wrong, but the first SARS outbreak was linked to the very same Wuhan exotic meat market that services an extremely wealthy and privileged segment of Chinese society that pays top dollar for exotic wildlife, for whatever reason. It is a privilege of unchecked and horded wealth being wasted to procure choice parts of endangered species. It is not because of bats or different cultural approaches to eating wildlife, but because containing numerous exotic species in close proximity causes them to serve as vectors and increases the probability of antigen drift. We have equally if not increasing horrible conditions for our food, but the wealthiest global elite feast on these things out of misplaced privilege, no different than Jimmy John types paying to kill an endangered lion or poach a horn from a nearly extinct white rhino. Also Tiger King readily displays this problem in the micro sense; an unfounded obsession with coveting scarcity by the wealthiest leads to our collective destruction. And the Chinese people suffered just as much for the privileges of their elite class, and while they leave an epidemic they now enter a Judge Dredd reality. They will keep deflecting to China in order to get away with implementating the same here.

117

@116: It's all of those things, but you can't surgically snip out the fact that some animals in those wet markets become cuisine delicacies. What do you mean "for whatever reason" - its food! China is an ancient society. Google those pics of the Wuhan markets and then tell me if any health department should allow that. This is about world health - not about privileged vs. unprivileged.

I also find it odd that the mainstream media continues to say "Spanish flu" in reference to the 1918 pandemic (when Spain had absolutely nothing to do with it expect identifying the virus) but yet 'Chinese virus' upsets delicates sensibilities.

It has never been racist to use the point of origin in describing an event or disease, and it shouldn't be now.

118

@117, it shouldn't be, but it is buddy! What I mean is that most Chinese cant afford to eat civets and very exotic impored animals; these are kept to service a very specific clientelle because they sell at prices most Chinese cant afford. And China is an extremely diverse country of billions not just Ham Chinese; using a collectivist term go describe the habits of one selective meat market is unsound and displaces blame. If you are going to incist on specificity and robust and nuanced terminology for eveone ryelse, hold your self to your own standards.

There is no shortage of xenophobia and existential harm and stereotyping against people of asian descent worldwide who had absolutely nothing to do with this mess, yet by using universal quantifiers you ignore that reality and perpetuate it while ignoring our failure to respond to it and perpetuate it indefinitely through your constant ball licking of far right fringe publications. You know exactly what you are doing, passive racism. It's the same mentalities that enabled our country to intern the Japanese. Step it up and quit being a cuck for the Trump wing.

119

Sorry Garb, you're not elevating your position by short circuiting discussion of important issues simply by harping that any discussion of which is xenophobia and stereotyping.


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