Comments

1

"You can just roll up, walk in, and get poked."

One Hundred Days.
well done, Mr. President

2

Joe Manchin still hasn't come to the realization that the republican party are fascists. Or he has and he's one of them.

3

We are going to come to a point very soon where the burden of protecting people from Covid needs to shift from the government to the individual. If you are able to be vaccinated without an appt at any time and choose not too that is on you. We need to remove restrictions and let those of us who got vaccinated have our life back.

If the residents of DC need representation so badly they can become part of Maryland or Virginia. DC statehood is nothing more than a power play.

4

‘The spread is 57.1% [women vaxxed] to 42.2% [of the men].’

repubs are such Rugged Individualists
they’re more than Manly enough to Beat
a silly little stupid virus gonna make quite a
few Sad but maybe alotta women happy -ier

we should prolly start minting trumpf
metals of Freedom cum Darwinian Awards.
awesome on the Mantle & alongside the Urn.
the Original Real Steel and now Only $199.99.*

Jimi BLUe? he
wouldda LOVED it

Awesome hack of that roadside
sign: Fix The Road Fuck

*per month
to Infinity &
Beyond

5

There's also the suggestion about shrinking the District of Columbia to its core (mall, WH, Capitol, monuments) and divining up the rest between the Maryland and Virginia.

More people will have representation and we won't have to change the flag or have a constitutional amendment.

6

3, 5 The problem with that plan is that nobody wants it. Not DC, MD, or VA.

Why does Wyoming (pop 582K) warrant statehood and DC (pop 712K) doesn’t?

7

@6: The seat of federal government was never meant to be a state. The lack of statehood for the capital is enshrined in the Constitution.

https://time.com/4296175/washington-dc-statehood-history/

Let's keep it that way. The way James Madison intended.

8

@6 there is a reason DC is not a state. What is being talked about is shrinking the overall not eliminating it altogether. If DC skewed conservative do you honestly think this would be an issue?

Cant answer for Wyoming however you rethink many of the states. It is what it is and that has no bearing on the DC issue.

9

Rich isn't kidding, all you vaccine hesitant men out there. Get your jabs already!
I am among the majority of Washington women over 50 who did, and am glad to have it done.
What are you afraid of, menstrual cramps? Growing boobs? Unwanted pregnancy? Listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC, guys, and stop getting sucked in by FOX TeeVee, RWNJs, and Twitter misinformation.

@1 kristofarian: +1 Hear, hear! Isn't it NICE to have a real President and Vice President of the United States again, after four abysmal years of Trumpian Dark Ages?

@2 Urgutha Forka: I've reached that conclusion, too. Someone should tell Joe Manchin that bipartisanship is DEAD.

11

the Democratic half of the Senate
represents 42,000,000 more people
than the Republican half. is it really any
Wonder they seek LESS Competition? they're
"republicans" by name only & heretofore it's Endemic.

yep, auntie Gee it
WAS Nice to say
'Mr. President'
and Mean it.

about Time eh?

12

There are more women than men who are over 65, or are childcare providers or are in healthcare jobs. Those categories were prioritized for vaccines. Therefore, it's not surprising that more women than men were eligible for and got vaccines up until about 3 weeks ago. That number should even out now that all are eligible.

13

DC will never be a state. Better off admitting Puerto Rico and/or Guam. If you live in DC and want a congressman or senator, move five miles in any direction.

14

@6 That's not really true. In a poll taken of DC residents, giving the district back to Maryland (half of the district was given back to Virginia in 1840, it's now Arlington), polled 2nd of the 3 choices. If the choice of a separate DC statehood is being taken off the list by Manchin (and possibly by the Supreme Court), there is no doubt that the people of DC would strongly prefer to be part of Maryland and have a vote than to maintain the status quo.
Rich, DC is no longer a majority-black city. A large percentage of the African American citizens moved out to the suburbs, esp. Prince George's County in Maryland....so the idea of DC not wanting to become part of Maryland might in itself be a display of racism by the non-African-American majority in DC.
If they REALLY wanted to make a viable state, it would be better to make the entire DC metropolitan area into a state (~13 counties in Maryland and Virginia, plus DC) - that would make a state with industry (Amazon!), farms, room to grow, a stronger tax base, and greatly simplify politics there, not having to negotiate with Maryland and Virginia over maintaining highways and the Metro. But that choice has not a smidgeon's chance of passing....unless it convinced Senate Republicans that they might be able to make Virginia into a red state again to balance the blue state of greater DC.

15

Two years ago the Seattle Times reported that men were biking to work in higher numbers than women. Were there any kudos to men for carbon-neutral behavior? No, predictably it was claimed that women were somehow being singled out and prevented from participating in bicycle transportation.

In the case of COVID vaccination rates, the shoe is on the other foot. Are the usual pundits remaining logically consistent by claiming that the lagging group is behind because of some supposed disadvantage? Nope, now this dynamic is suddenly said to be due to a supposed moral inferiority among men.

You can't have it both ways.

17

'poorly done'
IS the Art
btw jkk
perhaps
Pollack's
back & now liv-
ing on our Streets.

18

@8,

"If DC skewed conservative do you honestly think this would be an issue?"

Of course it would. You really think Republicans would willingly sacrifice their own right to representative governance because.... Why exactly? Please provide some sort of rational justification for that idiotic argument. Of course they'd rally against it and I'd sure as fuck hope they would, as they'd be utter fucking morons not to do so.

Ugh.

19

@15: Read my comment @9 again. I was referring to people--women as well as men---who are vaccine hesitant. They're eligible, but..........for whatever the reason (i.e.: religious beliefs, too much FOX TeeVee & Twitter misinformation, they're needle shy, fearing negative reactions to the vaccine, they claim their Aunt Freida got rabies exposure after her first jab, etc.) and no matter what President Joe Biden (I love the SOUND of that!!) or Dr. Anthony Fauci says, or what the national CDC reports show, they still stubbornly refuse to get a vaccine.
There are people who defiantly congregate in large unmasked groups, who actually WANT to spread COVID-19 like wildfire on purpose, stupidly claiming it is their "right". Consequentially, over 600,000 U.S. citizens are now DEAD, and the numbers are still growing largely due to the willful inactions of the former Trump Administration.
The Biden / Harris Administration is working diligently to ensure that all U.S. citizens are properly vaccinated, and our country is once again back on its feet.
"Nope, now this dynamic is suddenly said to be due to a supposed moral inferiority among men" ? We really CAN'T beat the global pandemic with such misinformed people remaining unmasked and carelessly disregarding state and federal health guidelines! Are you in mortal fear of losing your Viagra coverage by getting jabbed? Getting vaccinated will not leave you emasculated. It will instead help build up your immune system so that you are no loner susceptible to COVID-19.

20

Everyone needs to get vaccinated. Enough with assholes refusing. No one has the right to refuse to get vaccinated in a worldwide pandemic. No one. Get fucking vaccinated or get the fuck out of society so the rest of us can get on with our lives. The ONLY way the endless cycle of opening, closing, re-opening, re-closing, of life and businesses will end is when everyone has been vaccinated. And even then all of the children will not be vaccinated. Seriously, when will the stupid be forced to do what needs to be done to exist within a society instead of constantly being allowed to demand their fucking freedumb?

Two vaccinated adults decided to fly to Hawaii for a vacation with their 10 year old kid the other day. Their kid is dead now. He got COVID-19 and died.

I am sick to fucking death of everyone bitching and moaning and crying and whining about restrictions and at the same time bitching and moaning and crying and whining about vaccinations.

I called my dentist to make an appointment. You know what I was told? Some of the people in the office have CHOSEN not to get vaccinated. Seriously. So now, just like gun violence, we're supposed to go out into the world every day and just hope that the people around us are not homicidal assholes who believe they have a right to kill other people.

Some states are considering "incentivizing" people to get vaccinated. How about we "incentivize" people who refuse to get vaccinated by putting their asses all in prison (COVID prisons in every state)!!! That way the rest of us can get on with it and they can sit firmly on their unvaccinated asses and get each other sick (and kill each other) while enjoying their motherfucking freedumb.

21

@15: Are you afraid that getting a COVID vaccine will suddenly reveal something else you're lacking, like a spine?
Like all the idiots in red states pushing to overturn Roe vs Wade and cut safe and legal access to women's healthcare, cancer screenings, and pelvic exams?
Yep--you can bet your tighty whities the shoe's on the other foot, horndawg. Man up and deal with it.

22

@8,

Actually... Nevemind. I get what you're saying now and you're right in that it wouldn't matter if DC skewed conservative, because the balance of power is already so heavily and undemocratically skewed in their favor that it'd not make a difference legislatively.

What a profoundly ignorant lens for viewing this issue with regard to any sort of intellectual, ideological, philosophical or just basic and decent humanitarian perspective.

Are you John Bailo?

23

Indonesia's government has made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for anyone who's eligible and warned of punishments for those who refuse, as authorities move to curb Southeast Asia’s largest coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The big picture: Sanctions include fines and social assistance program delays. Local authorities will decide on penalties. The government is providing the vaccines for free. Over 1.2 million Indonesians have tested positive for the virus, per Johns Hopkins.

https://www.axios.com/covid-19-indonesia-vaccine-refusal-punishments-88661b1c-60b8-4bb7-b44c-70e5aac28bfc.html

24

The Health Ministry is reportedly planning to clamp down on Israelis who refuse to vaccinate against the coronavirus and impose severe sanctions on businesses that accept unvaccinated customers and on individuals who forge a document that says they have been vaccinated.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-plans-to-punish-businesses-that-serve-unvaccinated-customers-report/

25

Vaccine Refusal Will Come at a Cost—For All of Us

People who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine will have higher health-care costs. The rest of us will foot the bill.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/04/vaccine-refusal-hesitancy-economic-costs/618528/

26

@20 xina: Agreed and seconded,. The defiantly unmasked, unvaxxed MAGA tools who are blindsided by Trumpism, QAnon, Patriot Players, Proud Boys and NRA gun nuts should all be shipped off by garbage scow to a remote island to fend for themselves, never to be seen nor heard of again--where they can all have the right to die, fahtin' fer their free Dumbs.

27

States have authority to fine or jail people who refuse coronavirus vaccine, attorney says
Legal precedent dates back to 1905

The legal precedent dates back to 1905. In a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the court ruled Massachusetts had the authority to fine people who refused vaccinations for smallpox.

“Courts have found that when medical necessity requires it, the public health outweighs the individual rights and liberties at stake."

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/states-have-authority-to-fine-or-jail-people-who-refuse-coronavirus-vaccine-attorney-says

28

@11 kristofarian: It is definitely about time we returned to having adults again, finally --not incompetent racist, misogynist DOLTS--in the White House. Amen. I think poor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still experiencing shock trauma from the previous four years of Trumpian Dark Ages. What a shame that Trumpty Dumpty was in the White House AT ALL. I can't help but think where we would be had there been no Russian interference with the 2016 election.

Now for our Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson to yell, "Checkmate!" and get Trumpty Dumpty and its crime syndicate rightfully fitted into orange jumpsuits, shave off that hideous rug and mail it off "To Vlady with Love"...

29

@22 what are you talking about? DC statehood is 100% political. Please expand on how you think denying statehood is some sort of humanitarian issue. Melodramatic much?

30

Guilt Trips And Withholding Grandkids: How People Convinced Loved Ones To Get A Vaccine

“I told him he wouldn’t be invited to our wedding, which we had rescheduled three times,” said one person. “He’s the groom.”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/how-convince-family-friends-get-covid-vaccine?ref=bfnsplash&utm_term=4ldqpho

31

Vax rate tldr: Women care, are smarter and vaccinated.

32

@19&21: Where in my comment did I indicate that I was responding to your earlier comment? I did not and was not. I was simply commenting on the fallacy of what sociologists refer to as the Ultimate Attribution Error as seen in the cases of Rich Smith and of the Seattle Times. Get over yourself. Not everything is about you.

Also: When did I say that I didn't think it's important for everyone to get vaccinated or that I wasn't planning on doing so? I said no such thing. FYI, I have already gotten both COVID vaccinations and feel fortunate to have done so. Yes, I agree; it's important for everyone to get vaccinated asap. Your interminable much-ado-about-nothing was entirely a matter of projection on your part. Sheesh.

"The ultimate attribution error is a group-level attribution error that offers an explanation for how one person views different causes of negative and positive behavior in ingroup and outgroup members....Ultimate attribution error is the tendency to internally attribute negative outgroup and positive ingroup behaviour and to externally attribute positive outgroup and negative ingroup behaviour."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_attribution_error

33

@7 If we go by what James Madison wanted only white male landowners would be able to vote. So I’m not sure he’s the best reference on suffrage issues.

@8 Of course it’s political. It’s about slightly rebalancing the gross imbalance noted by 11. If DC was 70% Republican, do you really believe the R side wouldn’t have made it a state in 2005 or 2017 to increase their power in the Senate? You’re adorable.

34

@33: "If DC was 70% Republican, do you really believe the R side wouldn’t have made it a state in 2005 or 2017 to increase their power in the Senate?"

No, Republicans have an elevated reverence for the constitution compared to the democrats.

35

Joe Liebermanchin

36

@33 the senate was designed to be unbalanced on purpose. That’s the whole point. Look up tyrany of the majority. Maybe Repubs would try the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot and I’d be just as wrong. But they aren’t and you don’t hear them pushing to divide wa state which would almost assuredly create 2 new repub senators.

37

@34 Tell that to Justice Garland.

@35 snerk You clearly haven’t heard of the State of Liberty. Because that’s an attempt by Republicans to subdivide WA for exactly that reason.

38

“elevated reverence “, as shown by Jan.6? If it was a liquor store and a cop died they would all be doing time by now

39

What happened to the talk of Puerto Rico becoming a state? Much more applicable and realistic than DC.

41

According to the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, clause 17, the seat of the federal government was to occupy a plot of land no more than 10 miles square. The city of Washington D.C. is nearly seven times larger than that. So, the simplest solution is to separate the 10 square miles that contains the White House, Capitol and Supreme Court buildings, and federal offices (the section bounded by K St. NW and Massachusetts Ave. NW down to the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers would do nicely) from the rest of the city.

And for the record, I'm not opposed in principal to the idea of the rest of D.C. being absorbed into another state or states - at least the residents outside the district would get some federal representation, because right now they don't have ANY.

42

@33,

Honestly, I can't even really figure why we're discussing the specific motivations of those advocating for these measures. It's speculative and probably some mix of political, altruistic and any number of other factors. What's far more relevant is the underlying issue driving THOSE motivations, which is hundreds of thousands of hardworking, tax paying American citizens being denied democratic representation in their government. That's an objective injustice regardless of the political persuasions of those impacted.

43

@34,
"Republicans have an elevated reverence for the constitution compared to the democrats."

There aren't enough eyerolls or facepalms in the universe to react to that line.

44

@41 The "10 miles square" refers to a square with 10 mile sides (so 100 square miles), which was the original size of DC prior to the retrocession to Virginia. It basically means that DC can not be made larger than its original size, but it sets no minimum size. The current proposal would create a small "Capital" out of the White House, the US Capitol, the Supreme Court Building, and the Mall. The rest of what is now DC would become a new state.

For those arguing that the remainder be annexed by surrounding states instead of becoming a new state, do you have a principled reason for this beyond being frustrated that some Democrats are politically motivated? Generally to become a state, a territory declares to the Federal government that they would like to be admitted as a state, and then Congress votes to admit them. If the small "Capital" section of DC is cleaved off, the remaining area is in essence a territory and the people of DC have made it clear they would like to be admitted as a state. Why should they uniquely be compelled to be annexed by a preexisting state instead?

45

@41,

Agree that annexation by Virginia and/or Maryland would be fine. I'd prefer a 51st state to help offset some of the existing imbalance within the Senate, but those people deserve representation first and foremost. I also kinda don't mind randrip's proposal to keep separate the non-residential area comprised by the Capitol, mall and various monuments. Sort of their own little Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone! (and before anyone jumps on me, I'm well aware that the mall and those monuments aren't technically on the hill itself.)

46

Sorry, posted before reading @44.

In answer to "Why should they uniquely be compelled to be annexed by a preexisting state instead," I think it's just that it's the proposal with the most realistic chance of passing through our asinine legislature. Not that it has any sort of realistic chance at passage either mind you, but I'm pretty sure we'll admit a group of civilians who've colonized a portion of the moon as 51 before we do DC.

47

Why are there two Dakotas instead of just one?

Because 132 years ago, Republicans wanted two more senate seats and there was nobody to stop them. Of course its just politics - politics is about power. Principles are there only to snow the rubes and provide a basis for hypocrisy.

And then here's raindrop with a Oiuja board telling us what James freaking Madison wants. Hey Raindrop, tell James Madison to mind his own business. One of the most grotesque farces in American political discourse is the pretense that the Constitution derived from abstract contemplation rather than grubby compromise.

48

@44 1) Half of DC was originally given by Virginia, and has been given back to Virginia, not used to form a state of Arlington. The half that has been cut out of Maryland should therefore, by precedent, be given back to Maryland (except as you note, the small area needed for the core of the federal government).
2) If you've ever lived in a city whose metropolitan area straddles state borders, you know it's an administrative shitshow. Look at the problems NYC has had trying to get a new train tunnel built across the Hudson River to NJ. Missouri and Kansas routinely offer tax cuts and money to companies who are all too willing to jump back and forth across the border but still be part of Kansas City, to the point that the school system lost certification. A huge problem for DC has been the difficulties in getting the subway expanded when that requires negotiations between DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Similar problems occur with minimum wages, pollution rules, school systems, everything. Tons of extra pollution and traffic result from people living in lower-tax districts outside of DC, but driving into DC to work. Giving the land back to Maryland would reduce a good part of this waste, and give the people the right to vote that they should have had all along.
3) It's not clear where DC will get its money once it's a state. Right now, the federal government pays for much of DC's operations. When that ceases, it is not clear that the city will have the tax base to keep everything (e.g. buses, subway) going, since the wealthier suburbs are in different states. It will be safer for the city to be part of a larger state that can supply funds for things like state highways (in fact, this is the reason why some in Maryland don't want DC; they fear it will fail financially and suck funds away from the state).

49

@32 seadawg: Not everything is about you, either. We're all truly in this together, like it or not. I'm glad you've gotten your vaccines. I have, too (Pfizers), but still as a courtesy mask up when in public.
To me, your initial comment @15 ("Two years ago the Seattle Times reported that more men were biking to work than women. Were there kudos to men for their carbon-neutral behavior?......You can't have it both ways.") read like it was ragging against Rich's statistic of more women agreeing to get COVID jabs than men.
My main point of concern is in agreement with xina. The willfully misinformed and woefully ignorant who refuse to be vaccinated are proving to be a major threat to the health and economic recovery of our country, must be isolated under quarantine, and kept from spreading the pandemic any further (see xina's comment @27 and her provided link).

50

@34: SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHhhhhhhh...be vewy vewy quiet.....and stop snorting Elmer's!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAHHH....

@43 Urgutha Forka (re @34): Methinks Elmer's been snorting more than just glue lately.
His latest babbling tirade suggests that he's fallen, can't get up, and should seek
serious medical attention.

51

@34 Yeah, I like you, but that's a bit over the top.

52

@47: Abstract contemplation and those days of drunken wrangling in a hot, putrid, and sweltering 18th-century Philadelphia reaching grubby compromise are not mutually exclusive.

No Oiuja board needed, the word Madisonian exists and that's essentially what I was referring to.

53

@51: Admittedly so.

54

@48 1) While that is true of the Alexandria retrocession, most of the land that states have ceded to the Federal Government has gone on to form new states. Many of the original 13 colonies had land claims extending too the Mississippi River which they ceded, so the general precedent is for ceded land to become new states, with retrocession being far less common.

2) & 3) Both are reasonable arguments to make to the people of DC, but seem outside of what the Federal Government should be considering. As you point out, other metro areas have to deal with being on state boundaries and there are plenty of states which struggling with funding (WA included), but those are problems the citizens of DC seem to be wiling to take-on. Maybe retrocession would be better for DC (and maybe being part of CO would be better for WY), but when we have a territory of Americans asking to become a state, I don't see why these are principled reasons to treat them any differently than other bids for statehood.

@47 You may be right, but I think we need to let the people of DC come to that conclusion. So long as they are asking for statehood, I think it is right to support their pursuit. If, as you suggest, statehood continues to be politically infeasible they may instead choose to pursue retrocession, but I don't think it should be forced on them.

56

@7 "The seat of federal government was never meant to be a state. The lack of statehood for the capital is enshrined in the Constitution."

That's your argument? Seriously? Holy shit, read the fucking constitution again, dipwad. Article 2, Section 2:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Yeah, they really had everything figured out back then. A fucking flawless document. Good lordy, whatever we do, let's not piss off old James Madison.

57

Exempting anyone from the travel ban is a very very very very bad idea.

Unless you impose a mandatory 14-day quarantine on them before they return.

And require they be up to date on vaccine shots.

58

@56: You obviously didn't click on the link in @7. The correct reference is Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, not A2/S2.

@55: I couldn't find a source to support that distinction. Nevertheless, the Senate implicitly performs that function to the delight of Senate Republicans or Democrats when the other party has a majority in the House of Representatives.

61

@59: I picked up on Madison reference from the linked Time article and made a jest with it. Good Lord. Sure, what isn't different from when it was back then? That's why one of the compelling remedies is to shrink the district.

But this issue will probably fizzle out after the 2022 midterms and those unfortunate DC inhabitants will have to wait till another split Senate for their cause to resurface in the headlines.

64

@47 Fact check - True - And don't forget Montana and Idaho added another 4 Republicans the same year!
Even more important is how obvious it is that Republicans and Democrats are exactly the same now as they were in 1890.
It's more easily understood when you recognize that the very same ideals promoted by the 52nd United States Congressional Democratic Senators from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Ohio and Virginia are alive and well within the Democratic Party today!

65

@63: OK, but a 'for example' list doesn't preclude adding other examples.

66

@62 -- including 'republican': a supporter of government by elected [they HATE Free & Fair elections] representatives of the people rather than government by a king [trumpf] or queen [Ivanta].

68

the Insurrections
are calling the Shots

oh what to Do
with all the Terrorists?

hand it Over?

69

NYT: From the Past, a Chilling Warning
About the Extremists of the Present

Almost four decades after officials dismantled the Order, a violent far-right group, experts see echoes in the far right of today.

What initially seemed to F.B.I. agents like distant, disparate crimes turned out to be the opening salvos in a war against the federal government by members of a violent extremist group called the Order, who sought to establish a whites-only homeland out West.

Their crime spree played out in 1984. Fast forward to 2021. Federal agents and prosecutors who dismantled the Order see troubling echoes of its threat to democracy in the Capitol riot and the growing extremist activity across the country.

“When you see the country as politically and philosophically divided as it is today, that makes it more likely that somebody could take advantage of these times to bring about another revolutionary concept like the Order,” said Wayne F. Manis, the main F.B.I. agent on the case. “We stopped the Order. We did not stop the ideology.”
--Neil MacFarquhar, May 1, 2021

more at
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/us/the-order-proud-boys-oath-keepers-far-right.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

70

@67: It says very clearly it is an example. Here's another one:

The beauty of the filibuster in protecting the minority. Unless a party has an overwhelming majority of 60 votes, everything can be rammed through with just 50 votes and the VP to break the tie. Which is good or bad depending which party you're in.

In addition, the term is not exclusive to pertain to civil rights, it's about protecting the rights of the minority party.

72

I'm not mad. It's a wiki, don't forget, and I could add that example.

Here's another take:

https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/preventing-the-tyranny-the-majority

74

The term is inherently malleable.

75

spk'g of the inherently malleable

truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities [trumpfy WON!] [hooray] can make you commit Atrocities. If your mind does not Resist a demand to believe what is Impossible, or even Highly Improbable, like some Fake 'prez''s nonsensical unhinged utterings, eg, then you will Not resist a demand to do wrong to that sense of Justice in your ear and pretty soon you'll never again hear the Actual Truth from that ear.

76

@68: Are they really? If that were the case Donald would still be in the oval.

78

@76 -- oh it Is the case
fully Half the 'republican'
partay are working their Tails
off to see him re-Installed ASAP

didja think they just
sorta melted away?

79

@77: ok
@78: ok - the insurrectionists lost the battle but are still fighting their war.

79

@20 That's kind of a shitty hot-take. It IS their bodies and their choice. I firmly believe that everyone should get "vaxxed" but I tend to lean more to @3's point of view. Being hysterical and totalitarian isn't going to change any opinions. I say give it a couple more weeks where everyone who wants to get poked (giggedy) has a chance to, then open everything up and let it play out. We are not ever really going to get to the 75-80% threshold for heard immunity anyway. We're all basically taking part in an historic beta test. Try to have some compassion for people who are skeptical, and hone your reason and arguments accordingly.

80

That's a refreshing real-world disposition on it, @AdNauseam. Hope xina responds.

I have two male middle-aged friends who I love dearly, both are liberal/progressive and don't fit the anti-vaxxer stereotype except they give me the poppycock that they're always healthy. One mentioned a worry about 'heavy metals'. Sigh.

I decided not to nag as they get already. I'm vaccinated.

83

@81
whoa blip
that needs
to go Viral

84

@82

We've been working on vaccines for this type of virus for decades.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/01/21/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-nearly-20-years-making/3873247001/

86

“It’s completely insane that we are constantly asked to coddle these people to everyone else’s detriment.” --@blip

babies cry and we respond
to their Best Interests
and some kinda Dig it
never grow out of it

they’re the perfect
Victims: In-Flictems

lock ‘em Up in the
nervous hospitals
till they come to?
oh &
“Free rent”? make ‘em
WORK for their keep
[I’ve learned Tonnes
from ‘republicans’]!

bet they come ‘round right Quick
or (seriously) thin out the Herd

87

"To allow these conditions to persist, where people must risk death anytime they leave the house by no choice of their own, is a far greater threat to personal freedom than being mandated to take a safe drug that protects you from infection."

@blip
eloquently
sounds like something
Justice Sotomeyer might say
on a Very Good Day. well done

88

Unfortunately @blip, it's also insane to think we can change the stubbornness of the human condition and expect total altruism.

89

@81 blip as well as @20 xina FOR THE WIN!!!

@83 kristofarian: Agreed and seconded.

No further questions, Your Honor.

90

@auntie Gee

BINGO
xina, too!

91

the madness continues
nyt:

How a Miami School Became
a Beacon for Anti-Vaxxers

Centner Academy barred teachers newly vaccinated against the coronavirus from being near students. Some parents threatened to withdraw their children. Others clamored to enroll.

MIAMI — A fifth-grade math and science teacher peddled a bogus conspiracy theory on Wednesday to students at Centner Academy, a private school in Miami, warning them that they should not hug parents who had been vaccinated against the coronavirus for more than five seconds because they might be exposed to harmful vaccine shedding.

“Hola Mami,” one student wrote in an email to her parents from school, saying that the teacher was “telling us to stay away from you guys.”

Nearly a week before, the school had threatened teachers’ employment if they got a coronavirus vaccine before the end of the school year.
--Patricia Mazzei, May 2, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/us/miami-centner-academy-coronavirus-vaccine.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

92

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDDoo1zkn0M

93

@88 - I am not naive enough to hope for altruism. That is exactly why we need rules about things like vaccination. I am a little dismayed that so many idiots are refusing because of spurious theories and Trumpist conspiracy nonsense, however. Doesn't really say anything good about the intelligence of a big chunk of the country. Being a moron and endangering others is much worse than simply not being altruistic.

If people want to stay in the house and not threaten the rest of us, fine. But if they want to be out in society exposing others to what they may be carrying, vaccines should be required.

96

@79 you are full of shit and you know it.

IJacobson v. Massachusetts

At question was whether the “right to refuse vaccination” was among those protected personal liberties.

The Supreme Court rejected Jacobson’s argument and dealt the anti-vaccination movement a stinging loss. Writing for the majority, Justice John Marshall Harlan acknowledged the fundamental importance of personal freedom, but also recognized that “the rights of the individual in respect of his liberty may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint, to be enforced by reasonable regulations, as the safety of the general public may demand."

There is no right to spread a highly communicable disease that kills people. Period. Any and all arguments saying otherwise are false.

See also how willfully giving people HIV is a crime (and to do that you have to exchange bodily fluids with someone, not just breathe near them).

97

The primacy of democratic representation should go without saying and should have been fixed decades ago, regardless of what is enshrined in the constitution. In addition to DC, there are 5 other colonies in which the residents are American citizens by birth and yet lack representation. PR and Guam have been mentioned, but there's also American Samoa, Norther Marianas Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Yes, changing the flag will be annoying (unless you're a flag manufacturer), but that's not good enough either. But just for kicks, here's one way to keep it at 50 stars:

Hawaii + Guam, American Samoa, and Norther Marianas = U.S. state of Pacifica.
North + South Dakota = state of Dakota
Washington + Oregon = state of Cascadia
State of Puerto Rico
Washington & Douglass Commonwealth (DC)

99

hey the Counter deally
read '99' but there's
only ninety-eight.

100

hell let's
make it
a Hun.


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