Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

This fight is for everything.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Bark louder, little dog.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I was promised a recession.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Good Point

Good Point

by | 170 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Senator Murphy makes a great point here:

It was just an especially dumb power trip. I expect we’ll see more of those in the coming days as everything begins to unravel for the Shitgibbon.

Reader Interactions

170Comments

  1. 1.

    waspuppet

    I am also furious with the six- and seven-figure “liberal” media who are dutifully reporting that Hair Furor has “decided not to” quarantine New York.

    In other news, I have “decided not to” date Halle Berry.

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    I’ll give the senator bonus points for being from an adjacent state.

    I think it’s time to literally, not figuratively, put Trump on Media Timeout. Let the fucker Twitter away. Do. Not. Cover.

  3. 3.

    p.a.

    Let’s hope by early summer polls every rethug regrets their acquit vote.

    If I’m reading right RI gov just shut down garden centers (among other businesses) unless they also supply farms?

  6. 6.

    Shalimar

    Hard for us to imagine anything stupider.  But I have faith in Trump’s ability to exceed any horror I coud dream of.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    @Shalimar:

    We’re not supposed to understand psychopaths. That’s a good thing, not a shortcoming.

    I once thought he was merely a sociopath. Those were innocent times.

  8. 8.

    Shalimar

    @trollhattan: Adjacent state to what?  Connecticut was one of the 3 states in the prospective quarantine.  They’re way down the list of most virus cases so far, so I have no clue why Trump included them and not, say, Pennsylvania.

  9. 9.

    MattF

    Trump wants to wield the Magic Penis of Leadership, however there’s nothing actually between his legs but a wet spot.

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    I just wish to state that I don’t believe any other governor would end an inspirational speech with “We’re going to kick coronavirus ass!”

    Except the governor of New York. That’s very New York.

  11. 11.

    JPL

    Earlier I thought I heard his news conference was moved up…  my mistake but now this

    Because the “Ratings” of my News Conferences etc. are so high, “Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers” according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY. “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.” said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.!

  12. 12.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    It’s really hard to imagine anything stupider than threatening a quarantine for 30 million people, letting it hang out there for 7 hours in order to produce panic and flight out of the hot zone, and then pull it back.

    It has the exact opposite effect of a quarantine.

    Trump wanted to act tough and look like he was doing something. Of course, he had no real authority to enforce a quarantine on states, so he finally backpedaled. Stupid doesn’t even begin to describe this

  13. 13.

    JPL

    Imagine if Hillary talked about her approval rating before the hearings on Benghazi    jfc

  14. 14.

    WereBear

    @Shalimar:

    Connecticut was one of the 3 states in the prospective quarantine.  They’re way down the list of most virus cases so far, so I have no clue why Trump included them and not, say, Pennsylvania.

     
    NY, NJ, and CT are working in concert for lockdowns.

  15. 15.

    RedDirtGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: I have an American friend living in Goa. They are just now opening the border for food deliveries. She says the community is well organized, but the government is not.

  16. 16.

    germy

    It will always be weird to me that we ignore the fact that the President of the United States paints his face orange every day. Like most people talk about what he's saying and I just think every conversation should start with, "Wait, wait, you know he's fucking orange, right?"
    — The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) March 29, 2020

  17. 17.

    hells littlest angel

    It’s really hard to imagine anything stupider …

     

    Thanks to Trump, we don’t have to imagine it; we just have to wait a day or two.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    It will always be weird to me that we ignore the fact that the President of the United States paints his face orange every day. Like most people talk about what he’s saying and I just think every conversation should start with, “Wait, wait, you know he’s fucking orange, right?”
    — The Rude Pundit

    It’s no longer metaphorical to compare Trump to an unstable 17th century European monarch.

  19. 19.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @JPL:

    “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.” said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.!

    I suppose it would be too much to ask for a source from Trump?

  22. 22.

    RedDirtGirl

    Hi Jackals,

    I’ve been staying off the internet as much as possible for the past week, and miss little about it, except my visits here. Life in Brooklyn is surreal. Still so many people in the park at all times…running, biking, playing with their kids, walking dogs. Aside from people trying to keep some personal space between them and others, it doesn’t seem that different. I have a dog house guest for the time being, which is a life-saver. Hoping you are all doing as well as possible.

  23. 23.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @germy:

    All you’d get back from his sycophants in response is, “lol orange man bad! You libs just hate Trump and will never give him credit for anything”

  25. 25.

    hells littlest angel

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I suppose it would be too much to ask for a source from Trump?

     

    His answer would be, “You know who it is. Everybody knows. And that’s a nasty question.”

    It’s depressing how predictable his responses are.

  27. 27.

    MisterForkbeard

    @JPL: I can’t understand how anyone would think this idiot is acceptable in NORMAL times, let alone during a crisis. He’s an amoral moron, and he brags about it.

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    What are his ratings going to look like in the summer and early fall when funeral services are (maybe) allowed? Thousands of funeral services.

  31. 31.

    dmsilev

    @Shalimar:

    They’re way down the list of most virus cases so far, so I have no clue why Trump included them and not, say, Pennsylvania.

    Pennsylvania is a state that Trump needs in order to win reelection.

  32. 32.

    bbleh

    It was just an especially dumb power trip.

    It was also a culture-war shout-out.  Librul, urban-infested, immigrant-loving cosmopolitan elite New York is eeeevil, and Mr. Trump is makin’ sure none of that gets out into God-fearing Real America.

  34. 34.

    James E Powell

    @waspuppet:

    In other news, I have “decided not to” date Halle Berry.

    Glad to hear that. My chances just went up that little tiny bit.

  35. 35.

    Suzanne

    as everything begins to unravel for the Shitgibbon

    Does anyone actually think that this is going to happen? His job performance does not matter in the slightest. He really could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue infect the entire populace with a deadly disease without any consequences.

  38. 38.

    raven

    Well shit, I have huge 7 month beard but now I read if I’m going to wear this N95 I need to shave it off!

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    @raven:

    When I took HAZWOPER training you needed a clean face for the various mask-fittings on days 4 and 5. It becomes critical beginning at Level C. “Who is this guy?” was a common response standing in front of the mirror that day.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    @Suzanne: 

    RE: as everything begins to unravel for the Shitgibbon

    Does anyone actually think that this is going to happen? His job performance does not matter in the slightest. He really could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue infect the entire populace with a deadly disease without any consequences.

    There was a great joke somewhere about how Trump couldn’t shoot anyone on Fifth Avenue because the streets were empty. The actual punchline was better than my faulty attempt to remember the line.

    Anyway, I agree that predictions of Trump’s total unraveling are often premature.

    However, I think that there is a significant amount of fraying here.

    Trump is having problems dealing with an ongoing catastrophe. And his supporters and sycophants are having a harder time rationalizing and sugar-coating his decisions.

    Worse, his tendency to ignore or override good advice is having quick real time negative consequences.

  50. 50.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    I didn’t think it was a power trip so much as someone unprepared having to answer questions.  He says whatever works at that moment.  Look at all these options he knows about and is carefully considering!  He’s so powerful and making so many important decisions and boy is he on top of this!

    He’s a bullshitter in over his head, so he’s bullshitting more.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @Suzanne: Yes, I do believe there will be consequences. Not what he deserves, which is a fucking rope, but politically, hell yes, there will be consequences.

    I know sometimes it seems Trump is exempt from political gravity, but I think at least 70% of that was the economy, which is now a smoking crater. And there’s the matter of the spectacularly bungled response to a virus that is on course to kill tens of thousands of Americans.

  55. 55.

    Kelly

    I don’t understand how n95 mask expires. I suppose everything has an expiration date. It seems to me rather than static central stockpiles the feds should finance stockpiles at each hospital. Pay each hospital to warehouse consumable supplies. Exactly how much to stockpile could vary depending on baseline consumption rates so stuff is used up before it expires while keeping a cushion for disasters. A nationwide inventory could be used to shift supplies to regional disasters like hurricanes. With current online systems and transport networks we could have a very resilient dispersed stockpile.

  58. 58.

    Just Chuck

    @Kelly: Depending on storage conditions, I suppose the fibers could degrade.  More likely the manufacturer just wants its customers to buy more masks.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    @Just Chuck:

    I’m imagining the elastic bands might be a key failure point. It’s also possible the fabric/paper/whatever it is could be unstable depending on how cheaply its made. e.g., cheap paper versus archival (acid-free) paper.

  61. 61.

    PsiFighter37

    @chris: I don’t even know why anyone would watch. I refuse to watch anything that clown has to say live unless it is on CNBC at work and I have no choice. Otherwise, I will not willingly listen to that idiot speak, unless it’s a clip on Colbert, Trevor Noah, etc.

  63. 63.

    Kent

    @Shalimar: @trollhattan: Adjacent state to what? Connecticut was one of the 3 states in the prospective quarantine. They’re way down the list of most virus cases so far, so I have no clue why Trump included them and not, say, Pennsylvania.

    Electoral college. PA is a swing state, CT, NJ, and NY are not. Yes, he is that venal.

  64. 64.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Brachiator:

    Anyway, I agree that predictions of Trump’s total unraveling are often premature. 

    Tell us, oh wise one, of the times when Dump was raveled. :)

  66. 66.

    Kent

    @trollhattan:

    @Just Chuck:

    I’m imagining the elastic bands might be a key failure point. It’s also possible the fabric/paper/whatever it is could be unstable depending on how cheaply its made. e.g., cheap paper versus archival (acid-free) paper.

    Yes, theoretically.  It’s also a way for manufacturers to force institutions to throw out old stuff and buy more new stuff.

  67. 67.

    Aleta

    He says extra-outrageous or controversial things when he needs to bait headlines away from news that’s true and extra-damning of him.  And to dampen coverage of opposing candidates.  It works.  My biased pattern recognition noticed it in 2016;  for ex.,  each time he said the worst things about women.   (We thought:  “how stupid of him” and “this will tank him.”  It was not so stupid, since he managed to change the coverage of other very negative stories.)

    Lately with the virus I notice the same.  Especially when he also dangles “I’m going to make a decision … stay tuned.”  It still seems to work.

    —-

    And come on, was he really going to tell people in NY, NJ and parts of Ct that they can’t come cluster around the tables at his $130 easter buffet brunch in DC?  ?

  68. 68.

    Suzanne

    In related news, one of my former clients closed a large local hospital at the end of last year. The facility was in really bad shape. Like, really bad. Like, patients caught infections because they couldn’t install HEPA filtration (even in the burn unit) because the HVAC was so old, and the building envelope was so compromised that we found mold and rot deep into the interior from years of water penetration.  Just a terrible environment, and I know that it resulted in worse outcomes. Closed because it was unprofitable and of course repairing the existing facility would cost much, much more than the building is worth.

    Anyway, apparently the Corps of Engineers surveyed it (and another facility in town) as potential temporary hospitals to use during this crisis. That terrifies me.

  70. 70.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kent: The fool should know, based on the 2018 results, that he ain’t gonna get lucky twice. Especially since Biden is basically a native son. I think Trump is lucky if he manages not to lose PA by double digits.

  72. 72.

    Barney

    Trump even had a direct example from this month:

    Leaked coronavirus plan to quarantine 16m sparks chaos in Italy

    But he is too stupid to remember what happened 3 weeks ago on the subject that is meant to be his top priority (of course, his real top priority is getting re-elected and staying out of jail).

    I half-suspect there’s a tweet out there with him criticising the Italian government for spreading fear.

  74. 74.

    Suzanne

    @Betty Cracker: So obviously New York is the focus right now. But this shit is going to eat rural areas alive. They do not have hospital bed capacity. They do not have doctors and nurses. They have more pre-existing conditions and risk factors. If rural people think that they are fucked over now, just wait.

    If they don’t see that Trump is leaving them to this, then there is nothing I can do.

  76. 76.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Shalimar: one assumes he included Connecticut or parts of it because we have tons of people who live in NY state but work in CT and vice versa  One of the first hospital health care workers in CT to test positive actually lives in Westchester county NY. He s an idiot and he is going to get people killed. My niece is an RN in Mississippi, their governor is as much of an idiot as Trump. My brother is a Respiratory therapist in Virginia. He has Crohns.  So it’s either stop taking his meds or work with a surpressed immune system…he will not let his patients down so I know he will keep working. ?

  78. 78.

    Aleta

    He’ll get even more dysfunctional and irrational as his stress increases (along with  the publicized horror at the exposed monster).  I learned this the hard way.

  79. 79.

    joel hanes

    @Suzanne:

    Does anyone actually think that this is going to happen?

    Yes.  Things are already unraveling.

    Poll responses reflect Trump voter defiance, but Republican partisan identification is gradually shrinking, and the suburbs keep going more blue, and soon people will have been out of work for a long time, with no end in sight.

    And Trump just publicly boasted about fucking over Michigan, a state he needs.   He has no restraint, he thinks dominance games “make him smart”, the pressure keeps growing, and so far there’s hardly any attack ads running.   Trump creates the material for two excellent attack ads almost every week.

    He’s going to decompensate really badly sometime in April when the death toll becomes impossible to evade.

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    @mrmoshpotato:

    A curious thing about “raveled” and “unraveled”: like “flammable” and “inflammable”, they actually have the same meaning.

  82. 82.

    joel hanes

    @raven:

    One N95 doesn’t get you far, because the outside becomes contaminated if you’re around sick people, and the whole thing becomes contaminated if you’re sick yourself.

    Healthcare workers toss them and get a new one several times a day, when they are sufficient supply.

  83. 83.

    joel hanes

    @WaterGirl:

    Depends on the color of the beard, the state of the jowls, and the number of chins, or lack thereof.

    For a grey beard and a clean neckline, you are correct.

  84. 84.

    germy

    “Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast.”

    Bill S.

  85. 85.

    joel hanes

    @germy:

    O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
    Frightful, sheer, no-man fathomed. Hold them cheap
    May who ne’er hung there. Nor does long our small
    Durance deal with that steep or deep. Here! Creep,
    Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind: all
    Life death does end and each day dies with sleep.
    — Gerard Manley Hopkins (from No Worst, There Is None)

  86. 86.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Kent: The manufacturers make medical things like N95 masks to a very tight specification regarding suitable materials. If they mess with the specification they can’t sell them as “certified” and hospitals and medical practices won’t buy uncertified stuff like that, no more than they would buy dispensary drugs from uncertified suppliers.

     

    The manufacturers could probably come up with mask designs using better materials that would last longer in storage but they’d cost three times as much. The world will probably burn through fifty billion of these masks over the next six months and nobody would have that many in store ever. Instead there’s a lot of production lines around the world coming on stream that can make a million masks a week and that will, eventually, meet the demand. Sucks right now though.

  87. 87.

    Heywood J.

    Please Dear Leader, send us more sad trombones. Seriously, what a pathetic bastard he is. I have a bottle of Tullamore Dew set aside for a certain magical day in the future.

  88. 88.

    Heywood J.

    @bbleh:

    A hundred bucks (and my undying support) to the first candidate to make an ad pointing out that by the time this is all said and done, Trump will very likely be responsible for more dead New Yorkers than Al Qaeda.

  91. 91.

    joel hanes

    @Kelly:

    how n95 mask expires

    As I understand it, the elastic loses its stretch, and so cannot hold the mask tightly as intended.

    Also, things don’t instantly go altogether bad when the expiration date comes.   For many items, the date is almost arbitrary — most medications (not all) retain most of their potency long after the expiration date has passed.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    @mrmoshpotato:

    RE: Anyway, I agree that predictions of Trump’s total unraveling are often premature.

    Tell us, oh wise one, of the times when Dump was raveled. :)

    Trump has always been unhinged. The question is whether his nonsense has lasting political consequences in terms of the Republican base renouncing him.  So far, this has not happened.

    And so far, no matter what, the GOP Congressional leadership back Trump’s play, and will not even offer a mild rebuke to his actions.

  93. 93.

    Kent

    @Robert Sneddon:

    @Kent: The manufacturers make medical things like N95 masks to a very tight specification regarding suitable materials. If they mess with the specification they can’t sell them as “certified” and hospitals and medical practices won’t buy uncertified stuff like that, no more than they would buy dispensary drugs from uncertified suppliers.

     

    The manufacturers could probably come up with mask designs using better materials that would last longer in storage but they’d cost three times as much. The world will probably burn through fifty billion of these masks over the next six months and nobody would have that many in store ever. Instead there’s a lot of production lines around the world coming on stream that can make a million masks a week and that will, eventually, meet the demand. Sucks right now though.

    I’m not disagreeing with you at all.  Simply pointing out that manufacturers have zero incentive to extend the expiration date on these sorts of things and every incentive to keep them relatively short.    If a mask might last 15 years in storage under ordinary conditions, 3M has no incentive to go through the process to have it extended that long and every incentive to keep the certified live cycle on these items short.

    It would be interesting to know how much “fudge factor” that have built in.

  94. 94.

    chris

    @PsiFighter37: I agree and I can no longer watch him for more than a couple minutes but I think it does need to be seen and there needs to be a record. But ratings? No.

    I hope that people are seeing it and vowing to vote him out in November. Calling on your congress critter to impeach would be a bonus.

    Get the net! As Mr. Pierce likes to say.

  96. 96.

    joel hanes

    @Robert Sneddon:

    there’s a lot of production lines around the world coming on stream that can make a million masks a week and that will, eventually, meet the demand.

    Unfortunately, as of the last thing I read (a couple days ago), the FDA approval process for a new source of masks takes like two months.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    A curious thing about “raveled” and “unraveled”: like “flammable” and “inflammable”, they actually have the same meaning.

    I did not know that.  Very interesting. Thank you for this.

    The word “unraveling” is used in one of my favorite songs.

    I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
    Looking for the key to set me free
    Oh the jealousy
    The greed is the unraveling it’s the unraveling
    And it undoes all the joy that could be

    And this song reminds me that in this time of sheltering in place, “I wanna have fun, I wanna shine like the sun” again very soon.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: I don’t know the second fellow you named, but I am not talking about a Sebastian Cabot well-trimmed facial hair, I am mostly talking about longer beards.

    But I was just offering my opinion, so there’s not right or wrong.

  104. 104.

    Betty Cracker

    @Suzanne: It’s maddening, I agree, but nothing has actually happened to people in rural areas yet, or else it’s just starting. In my rural county, the confirmed number of cases hasn’t hit 20 yet, but that’s because the entire state is absurdly behind on testing.

    People around here are already tense and anxious about the economic situation. When they, their family members and friends start getting sick and rural hospitals begin to collapse, as they almost certainly will, those people are going to be angry as hell — some of them, at least.

    The hardcore Trump cultists will probably remain that, but maybe the generic Republicans might quietly decide the Trump experiment is a failure, even if they never admit it. I just don’t believe Trump is invincible no matter how badly he fucks up and destroys lives.

  105. 105.

    joel hanes

     

    Some good news

    Powell’s Books in Portland had announced a couple days ago that they were forced to lay off all 480 employees, and would probably be forced out of business.

    But people love Powell’s:
    Publishers Weekly   @PublishersWkly

    Powell’s Books rehires over 100 employees after surge of online orders | @KGWNews http://pw-ne.ws/fa477

    If you’re among the people who want Powell’s to continue to exist in the world to come, and if you have the money, this would be an excellent time to buy a Powell’s gift card online, for yourself or for a friend.    Or buy a book (though shipment will probably be not so prompt as it once would have been)

  107. 107.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Suzanne: I can see this burning through Appalachia like a wild fire. North and South. My mother’s people are from the dirt poor parts of Vermont and Maine. Too much Trump voting and too many opioid addictions.  At least they have not-idiot governors although VT is repub. Kentucky has a Dem gov and it shows in the difference in response to this from say, Tennessee.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    @

    I don’t know the second fellow you named

    Hie thee the view The Man Who Came to Dinner post haste.

  110. 110.

    Incitatus for Senate

    The elastic is the failure point, it gets brittle over time and loses its stretch. Ive used N95s for industry for 30 years, every now and then you end up with a box that has sat on the back of a shelf for too long, and the elastic snaps. The filter material itself doesn’t seem to degrade over the years.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    @JPL

    That would be the “failing,” “fake news” NYT.

    The whiplash is strong in this one.

    // & ;)

  114. 114.

    Kelly

    We’ll almost certainly want universal mask use in public for a while after the lockdown is lifted. I’ve had a beard since 1976. I’m considering a neck gaiter as a mask solution. Minimal edges for air to leak thru. There are studies of cotton fabric surgical mask that show cotton fabric is effective for a few hours. That would be enough to go grocery shopping.

    My wife is curious about my chin ;-)

  116. 116.

    Miss Bianca

    @joel hanes: I have been thinking about going online and ordering a precious few shekels’ worth of books from Powells, particularly since the libraries have closed down, and man I *depend* on my libraries being open!

    What should I order, I wonder? Someone was mentioned Dorothy Dunnett (? was that her name?) and I keep thinking I should try her out, since I love historical fiction.

    Any suggestions? : )

  117. 117.

    cain

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The police are acting like goondas – (that’s goons for the rest of y’all) beating people in the streets caught outside – some to the point of death or sent to the hospital. Ridiculous.

  118. 118.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss
    He’s even made time to give a thought to luckless refugees in this unprecedented global catastrophe.

    Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 46m
    I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom. It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada. Now they have left Canada for the U.S. however, the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!

    this is where his mind is, I wonder if Fox did a story on the middled-aged runaway-retirees.

    Also, will old Betty see that they are “great friends” and snort gin and tonic through her nose?

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kelly: I don’t think I own anything that would serve as a mask, and I don’t think any good ones will be for sale anytime soon. Is there any point in going Jesse James and just tying a bandana around my lower face? I figure I could get a few from Amazon and keep them clean

  121. 121.

    NotMax

    @Miss Bianca

    If you have a fondness for history, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose is unputdownable.

  122. 122.

    cain

    @Jackie:

    Wait till after Joe (or Sanders, whatever) get elected and Republicans gaslight all of Trump’s failures onto the new president – on day one. Yeah.. that’s gonna be a thing. Fucking hate these people.

  123. 123.

    cain

    @dmsilev:

    One thing that’s gonna be interesting – we know that Trump is going to favor all the red states giving them all the PPE as priority over everyone else. But these red states are in deeeep shit, so deep that there is no way that Trump is going to be able to supply these states with PPEs because they have literally encouraged spreading the disease.

    It’s going to be a public relations nightmare because there is no way he will be able to gaslight the failure, he’ll have to throw those red state governors under the bus. It’s going to turn into a complete tempest that’s going to end in a lot of death. :(

  124. 124.

    joel hanes

    @Miss Bianca:

    Order the first Lymond book by, yes, Dorothy Dunnett.

    It is dense prose, and the protagonist seems curiously unlikeable at first.   Give it 125 pages of effort.  You will be amply rewarded.

    When I came to the end of the first book, I immediately bought the rest of the Lymond series and the entire Nicolo series.   I like Nicolo better myself, but it takes longer to see what’s in front of you in that series.

    ETA: suggest hardback — these are definitely books that repay re-reading.

  128. 128.

    joel hanes

    @NotMax:

    In that vein, non-fiction

    _Ordeal_By_Hunger_ , George R. Stewart,  Donner party

    _Beyond_The_Hundredth_Meridian_, Stegner

    Fiction:

    _Angle_Of_Repose_, Stegner

    _My_Antonia_ , Cather

  130. 130.

    raven

    @Kelly: Well fuck it. They tell you it doesn’t do any good to wear one if you are not sick, then they tell you “oh, it won’t hurt tower one when you are out”. Then the tell you they expire or wear out. And they tell you, “oh, six feet really isn’t enough and you shouldn’t associate with anyone outside of your family”. Everybody got’s a rap.

  131. 131.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I haven’t seen any broderist tut-tutting about Pelosi saying trump’s incompetence is killing people, but I’m sure it’s out there, with more to come.

    Brian Schatz @brianschatz  1h

    You, genius pundit: “well that’s trump. He’s just the consummate showman.”
    Me, Senator: “but people are literally going to die because of the incompetent response”

    You, genius pundit “Washington at its worst! Democrats and Republicans are fighting each other about COVID19.”

    Brian Williams has been trotting out the Broder playbook in the last week or, so lots of talk about “political bickering” and “politicizing”

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    @NotMax: That sounds cool, and since I just finished Washington’s Spies, I think I may actually try to lay my hands on a biography of Benedict Arnold, of all people!

  138. 138.

    joel hanes

    @raven:

    The problem with the N95 is that you only have one.

    Improvise a folded cloth mask out of a bandana or a dishtowel, then wash immediately after every use.

  141. 141.

    Miss Bianca

    @raven: I’d love to hear “When the Spell is Broken”, myself.

     

    ETA: Oh, “Now Be Thankful”! I *love* this one! Ah, this is going to be good!

  143. 143.

    joel hanes

    @raven:

    Time and UV both play merry hell with virus integrity.  Maybe lay your mask face up outdoors, and let it stand in the sun for a day or two after each use?  If you have sun.   Soap and water on the band.

    I am not an expert, and I will now stop playing one on the net.

  146. 146.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Oh, shazzbot. Brain churned out another:

    Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie.

    For sweeping historical fiction, Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd comes to mind.

  149. 149.

    Robert Sneddon

    @raven: A healthcare setting is where the person wearing the mask is swimming in coronavirus droplets from confirmed infected patients they’re working on. They need a fresh mask every change of patient to prevent cross-infection and another fresh mask every couple of hours because the one they’re wearing is drenched in virus particles and needs to be burned ASAP. That’s why they’ll go through a dozen masks a shift.

     

    Joe Public going to the store or police officers etc. are exposed to virtually no virus, one mask will do them all day typically and it doesn’t absolutely have to be rated N95. Such a mask may even work for a few days, if allowed to rest — put it in a sealed jar and leave it for 72 hours, almost all coronavirus on the mask will die. You can wipe down the elastic with soap and water and let it dry. It won’t last for months but if it’s the only mask you’ve got it’s better than nothing.

  151. 151.

    James E Powell

    @Miss Bianca:

    I’ve enjoyed the historical fiction by Gillian Bradshaw. She’s done other eras, but I’ve only read her novel of the Eastern Roman Empire and Roman Britain.  A search at Powell’s reveals that my favorite, Beacon at Alexandria, is out of stock,.

  152. 152.

    Bill Arnold

    @joel hanes:

    I am not an expert, and I will now stop playing one on the net.

    I am not an expert, but reading and understanding a bunch of key papers on a subject is a good start. If you have expertise aspirations, here’s a curated (“Jeremy Howard”) list on google docs, with some relevant quotes for each paper:
    Papers about effectiveness of basic masks
    It’s a pretty good start. I have one or two not on that list but it had a bunch I hadn’t looked at.

    People have suggested (for going on necessary errands) a few masks, and leaving them in a warm dry place preferably in the sun and not reusing for a week. That’s at least consistent with the tests that have been done on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on various surfaces.

  153. 153.

    Just Chuck

    @cain: Huh, I wonder if that’s the origin of the term “goon”, like how “thugee” turned into “thug”.

  154. 154.

    Just Chuck

    @cain: I just hope the new pres pushes back and says “Bullshit, that was Trump.”  Preferably in those exact words.

  155. 155.

    Miss Bianca

    @James E Powell: Just read that one, I liked it. I liked her take on the Bisclaveret legend as well, tho’ the name of that one escapes me at the moment..,maybe it was The Wolf Hunt?

    Oh, and is there a sequel to Hawk of May, so you know? I really liked that one, too!

  157. 157.

    leeleeFL

    @trollhattan: I had the advantage of a Dad who recounted horror stories about Donald and his Daddy, so I assumed psychopathy always.

    It is not the comfort that you might expect.

  160. 160.

    James E Powell

    @joel hanes:

    I’m pretty sure I have that one around here somewhere. One of my lifetime interests began in high school when I came across Costain’s four volumes on the Plantagenets. I’ve stayed interested and try to read whatever I see, fiction or non-fiction. I’ve never grown completely tired of them.

    I’ve got 20 bankers boxes of books in storage and I’m positive that book is in there somewhere. I keep saying that I’m going to go through them and bring the unread ones home. Maybe it’s one of those things I should do during The Great Isolation.

     

    Separate Question: Has a consensus name for this mishegas emerged? I don’t like shelter in place, lockdown, quarantine, or any of the phrases I’ve heard so far, but I’m a contrary person rarely in step with the masses.

  162. 162.

    James E Powell

    @Baud:

    Schatz doesn’t get enough love.

    It’s because he’s smart and he’s from a state that Cokie Roberts & the Village regard as too foreign, too exotic. If he wants the press/media to care what he says, he’s just going to have to say stupider things. (Stupider or more stupid? I can never decide.)

  163. 163.

    leeleeFL

    @Suzanne: Another Dad story that you reminded me of.  He interviewed for a job at a Nuclear power Plant.  Turned it down when he took the tour.  Told us if ever it went online, we would have to move.  It never did.

    Dad was Zelig.  He saw stuff

  164. 164.

    Miss Bianca

    @joel hanes: Oh, I was just thinking how much I would like to go back and read Kenneth Roberts’s Arundel, since I’m now apparently on a Revolutionary War kick and I remember loving that one in high school, and what to my wondering eye should appear on my bookshelf but his Rabble in Arms, which is the sequel!

    I think I know what I’m going to be hunkering down with this afternoon!

  166. 166.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    There’s a line from Shakespeare about “sleep that knits up the ravel’d sleeve of care”.

    Yes! Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2. Great imagery

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    @joel hanes:

     

    I read that, but I fucking hate Custer, so I’ve never recommended it to anyone.

    Clue, Custer dies in the end !!! So don’t hesitate to recommend it.

  170. 170.

    Procopius

    @joel hanes:

    And Trump just publicly boasted about fucking over Michigan, a state he needs.

    I think his people have told him he’s not going to get Michigan this time, as shown by the fact they got rid of a typical sleazy Republican governor and elected a Democrat (woman, too). He’s shown blacks what they have to lose under his rule, and Detroit is 83% black.

Comments are closed.