Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Consistently wrong since 2002

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

The willow is too close to the house.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Monday Morning Open Thread: Joy Will Find A Way

Monday Morning Open Thread: Joy Will Find A Way

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169Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In that spirit: Duplantis and Lavillenie scale the heights in Ultimate Garden Clash

    It was not exactly an Olympic final in front of 80,000 screaming spectators, or even an ordinary track and field event, but for fans starved of live sport, watching three of the world’s best athletes square off live in their backyards on Sunday proved to be a surprisingly enticing prospect.

    The challenge, billed by World Athletics as the Ultimate Garden Clash, had the London 2012 Olympic pole vault gold medallist, Renaud Lavillenie, face the world-record holder, Mondo Duplantis, and the reigning world champion, Sam Kendricks, to see who could produce the most clearances over five metres within a 30-minute period.

    Physical-distancing measures meant Lavillenie was vaulting at his Clermont-Ferrand home in France, cheered on by his young daughter on a nearby swing. Duplantis, meanwhile, had to swerve past a palm leaf on the runway at his family home in Louisiana.

    Results at the link.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A silver lining in the pandemic cloud:

    More than 300,000 in the UK may have quit smoking during the coronavirus crisis as evidence mounts that the habit makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19, a survey suggests.

    A further 550,000 have tried to quit, while 2.4 million have cut down, according to the joint study by YouGov and the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

    In the US on the other hand…

  9. 9.

    Baud

    Andrea Mitchell on Today show just said “both sides” wanted Biden to open up his Senate files.

    But she only mentioned the NYT as calling for it.

    I think even Savannah Guthrie understood that it was bullshit, if I read her face correctly.

  10. 10.

    debbie

    Doubt DeWine’s rating will stay up there that much longer. He’s begun caving to the people with the loudest, angriest voices.

  12. 12.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: “Open up the files” is such lazy journalism.  Not the whining, but rather the idea that everything should just be handed to them. From 2016 we see that if it is handed to them by enemies of the state, they don’t care as long as they get it dumped on them without having to do any real work.

  14. 14.

    waynel140

    Thank you for that video. Best thing I’ll watch all day, since I don’t think this is the day Trump quits.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: @Immanentize: “When trump releases all his tax returns going back to the ’70s and relieves all signers from any and all non-disclosure agreements. Until then, fuck off.”

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    When people compare Tara Reade to Christine Blasey Ford, I want to say, “Oh, yes, poor Brett Kavanaugh. Isn’t it terrible that because of Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was found to be unfit to take a seat on the U. S. Supreme Court and is now living in obscurity, having hung his shingle in a little town in southern Missouri?”

  18. 18.

    JMG

    @Immanentize: Joe Biden was in the Senate for 36 years. There’s a mountain of public documents on his career. Many of those he worked with in at least the latter stages of those years, when he was a senior Senator, are still alive, including Republican Senators. You want dirt, Andrea? Start digging.

  22. 22.

    debbie

    @gene108:

    I couldn’t believe it when I heard OK backed down from requiring masks in restaurants after the owners were physically threatened. I’m not sure we can stuff this genie back in its bottle.

  25. 25.

    raven

    The greatest athletes in the world today are not the Olympic champions or the stars of professional sports, but the “marathon monks” of Japan’s sacred Mount Hiei. Over a seven-year training period, these “running buddhas” figuratively circle the globe on foot. During one incredible 100-day stretch, they cover 52.5 miles daily—twice the length of an Olympic marathon. And the prize they seek to capture is the greatest thing a human being can achieve: enlightenment in the here and now.

    This book is about these amazing men, the magic mountain on which they train, and the philosophy of Tendai Buddhism, which inspires them in their quest for the supreme. The reader will learn about the monks’ death-defying fasts, their vegetarian training diet, their handmade straw running shoes, and feats of endurance such as their ceremonial leap into a waterfall. Illustrated with superb photographs, the book also contains the first full-length study in English of Mount Hiei and Tendai Buddhism.

  26. 26.

    Just One More Canuck

    @OzarkHillbilly: up here in the socialist, assault weapons-free hell that is Canada, we have something called Crave TV which includes a couples of HBO channels. HBO has a ton of great documentaries  -this weekend there was one on the college basketball pay scandal(Sean Miller, arizona’s coach , may be the slimiest person in all sports) as well as a good one on Kareem.-It also has the new film about The Band, which was great

  27. 27.

    satby

    @gene108: @Baud: @debbie: South Bend is in St. Joseph county in IN and the county put out a face mask order for all after the Indiana governor basically made everything open as of today. Let’s see how long they’re able to maintain it. People were not particularly compliant with masks or distancing on Saturday and my neighbors are back to having visitors from outside the house over. All the isolating most of us did for the last 6 weeks will have been wasted in another two weeks.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @satby:

    I was listening to the BBC last night and they were talking about 1918, when people also rushed back to “normal” too quickly, causing a second wave of the flu which was even worse than the first. Déja vu all over again. ?

  30. 30.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    As usual with her, it’s a howling piss-blizzard of performative stupidity. She needed to retire before she ever started.

  33. 33.

    Chyron HR

    @Baud:

    Andrea Mitchell on Today show just said “both sides” wanted Biden to open up his Senate files.

    Sure, the Republicans and the Berniebrats, the only sides that matter.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @JPL:

    Nope. According to an argument on a friend’s FB feed, it began during the Obama administration. Fauci paid millions for scientists to create the virus.  ?

  37. 37.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If she had done it while carrying a Nazi flag and an AR-14, and if she were a white dude, her actions would have been constitutionally protected.

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    That’s 10 kg over my best.

    I guess I’m a little surprised. I always pictured you as thinner than that.

  40. 40.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @debbie:

    People who believe crap like that shouldn’t be allowed to sign contracts of any until a responsible adult has looked them over. Also they should be inspected each morning to be sure their pants aren’t on backwards.

  42. 42.

    SFAW

    OT: I just started reading Race of Aces, a book about competition between World War II American fighter pilots. In the Prologue, the author talked about “General Scanlon, the REMF running this place” (i.e., the base where one of the characters was weathering a Japanese bombing run). The term “REMF” was not explained, but I chuckled because I remember raven and Omnes explaining the term, lo these many years ago. So, thanks, guys!

  43. 43.

    SFAW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Also they should be inspected each morning to be sure their pants aren’t on backwards.

    You are a charitable soul. I figure that, left to their own devices, they’d wear their pants on what passes for their head.

  44. 44.

    BobS

    I suspect the reason several Republican governors have approvals in the 80’s is that Democrats in their states are more willing to give credit where credit is due (than are petulant Republicans in states like Michigan).

  45. 45.

    hueyplong

    Trump saying 1917 over and over instead of 1918 is irritating.

    Trump saying the influenza ended WWI is something that requires some push-back.

    If Biden’s Senate records were on the Trump side of the “we ought to see this” record, they’d rank somewhere around #218 (or #1917 if we’re being cute).

  46. 46.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Speaking of joy finding a way, has this twitter thread been shared here yet? I read it this morning and it made me happy. A little girl writes lots of letters and decorates the envelopes. She decided to write the letter carrier to thank him. And then things happened.

     

    Emerson, my 11 year old, is on a bit of a wild ride with the @USPS and our local mail carrier, Doug. And, I think there’s a deeper message to it all.First, the backstory…— Hugh Weber (@hughweber) May 2, 2020

  47. 47.

    Soprano2

    It’s funny, no one ever mentions Missouri. We’re “re-opening” today, too, although our local authorities put a lot more restrictions on it than the governor did. It seems to me the governor basically said “Stay 6 ft apart or wear masks if you can’t, I trust you”, and then said “everything can open up if it wants to”. At least my city put rules in place. We didn’t open up our pub because under the restrictions we could only have 12 customers at a time, and no entertainment. It sounds like we’re closed until the end of May at least, which while it makes me sad is also a good thing. I finally ordered 3 cloth masks this weekend, but when I looked at the filters on Amazon I decided all those sellers looked hinky, so I guess I’ll be using cut-up coffee filters for awhile. I also saw two houses in my neighborhood having what looked like parties this weekend, which is not a good sign for what’s coming. People here are pretty complacent; because we closed up relatively early, we kept the number of cases low for the area (as far as we know of course, there isn’t enough testing here either). Lucky for us, our local government officials are not complacent!

  48. 48.

    PST

    The Julliard Bolero is fantastic. I’m going to go watch it on the big TV with the good sound. One thing I loved is catching a few familiar faces that I realize I haven’t seen in awhile. Laura Linney and Bebe Neuwirth are splendid.

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    The media drumbeat about Biden’s University of Delaware papers isn’t going to go away because 95% of the Beltway press exists to generate clicks about “clouds” and bullshit rumors instead of doing the hard work of reporting. I think that’s a given, so the only question that remains is what’s the best way for the Biden team to handle it with minimal damage?

    During the ill-advised (IMO) Morning Joe appearance, Biden repeatedly explained that the UD papers wouldn’t contain personnel records and also why the papers are sealed until he leaves public life. Brzezinski seemed to accept the premise that the papers contain confidential material that shouldn’t be released to the public but asked why someone couldn’t do a “name search” (on paper in boxes!) on Reade and release anything that was found pertaining to this one case.

    There are at least two potential problems with Brzezinski’s proposal: 1) the composition of the search party — it would be impossible to find people/programs disinterested enough to satisfy everyone with a stake in the outcome, and 2) the question of whether the shitty, dysfunctional elements of the Beltway press would really be satisfied with a search that was limited to the Reade matter.

    Biden’s campaign team may be counting on Reade’s story imploding on its own as more facts come to the surface about Reade herself. That’s probably a safer bet than trying to comply with suggestions about a document search with a built-in goal post extender…

  59. 59.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    I wonder what would happen if Biden said “Look, this is just another thinly-veiled attempt by the Trump supporters to create another ‘but her e-mails’ or ‘Obama birth certificate’ or ‘Benghazii!!!’ moment: something meant to create a bogus ‘issue’ that they can milk for six months — and which will ultimately be proved that ‘there’s no “there” there’ — while distracting from the seriously damaging things Donald Trump has done, and will do, to this nation. We saw it in 2016, when the MSM followed the ‘e-mails’ shiny object, instead of following the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia, not to mention his tax returns which he still has not provided. And they didn’t even bother to try to determine whether a man who has bankrupted almost every one of his businesses was worth anything close to what he kept claiming he was. Frankly, I think Mitt Romney is worth more. “

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    Need tree ID. We passed through Willimantic, CT on Saturday while driving around, exploring and social-distancing. Along the river is a restored old mill complex. Was abandoned in the 1980’s and restored (somewhat) in the 90’s. Large parts are still vacant, but the exterior is very nice. Several trees in the parking lost, pretty clearly planted as part of the restoration. Pure white flowers, sweetly fragrant. I’m thinking some sort of apple or crabapple, but I’d have to suspect non-fruiting, since a developer wouldn’t want a parking lot littered with decaying crabapples. Dear wife loved the fragrance. Any clues, garden people?

  64. 64.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Betty Cracker: I think the Reade thing is dying as a result of her multiple revisions and walk-backs. While some of our corrupt and lazy press are trying to revive the story, the Berniebrats that I track on facebook who were flogging it for weeks have gone silent on the matter. I think (hope) the air has gone out of that balloon.

    The instantly-debunked O’Donnell story didn’t help their case either. Multiple bogus accusations start to look like…a pattern.

  65. 65.

    JPL

    @SFAW: Yesterday Perez said it’s emails all over again when asked.   They need to keep repeating that.

    If I were Biden, I say you are welcome to search out my past comments on your own.   They have google for that.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW: @Betty Cracker: All such queries should be answered with a simple, “How much is trump paying you?”

    When they answer with great indignation, “Nothing!” reply, “You mean you are doing this for free? You really are an idiot.”

  67. 67.

    Baud

    IMHO Biden should focus on the issues that voters actually care about.

    I also think the political damage that would occur if he caved on his records (based on current information) would be worse than if he holds firm.  But it’s also important that we vocally support Biden’s decision against specious accusations from the transparency police.

  69. 69.

    Jeffro

    @Delk: Wasn’t that awesome?  Monday mornings rarely bring such big smiles to my face!  Thanks AL!

  71. 71.

    Baud

    @JPL:

    Just wait until she appears on stage with Lisa Bloom at the Republican National Convention.

    Fixed.

  72. 72.

    Barbara

    @O. Felix Culpa: I would add that journalism is still a male dominated enterprise and many men who practice it are especially squeamish at the idea that they might be transmitting embellished or inaccurate allegations of inappropriate touching of any kind. At some point they are going to become extremely skeptical.  Unlike “emails,” which, among other things, involves technical issues they barely understand.

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: What do these people think they’re doing?  Helping advance the cause of truth here?  Or just trying to keep Biden from running away with it?  You know, ‘keep it kinda close’ so the dirty hippies/damn soshulists don’t overrun the Village?

    I swear…

    Does Mitchell even HAVE a question for the president* about his family’s multi-generational tax fraud?  Or about the twenty-plus women who’ve alleged sexual assault against him?  Or even what he and Putin discussed in Helsinki?  ANY of it?  Somehow, I think not.  And yet, we must “open up the files”/”point me to the oogy stuff, even if it doesn’t exist” for Biden.  Jay-sus.

  74. 74.

    Jeffro

    @SFAW: ExACTly.  “This is what’s wrong with the American media, and Don the Con knows it, and uses it to his advantage.” x 1000.

  75. 75.

    susanna

    Anne Laurie,  thank you for all the interesting, varied subjects and information you put out.

    As a lurker, these are appreciated, just as they are for the regular commenters.

    Be aware that you deserve all the expressed and unspoken praise of BJ readers.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    even if it doesn’t exist

    I can’t imagine any more damning evidence of a cover-up than the absence of evidence confirming the crime.

  79. 79.

    raven

    U.S. universities are reeling from the chaos resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, and one dean’s far-sighted business move might help save his school a lot of money.

    In 2017, the Gies College of Business and the Grainger College of Engineering jointly took out a three-year contract with Lloyd’s of London to insure against a large drop in revenue from Chinese students resulting from specific events such as a trade war, a global pandemic, and visa restrictions.

    The business school’s dean, Jeff Brown, created the policy with two other university professors, Tim Johnson and Morton Lane. Brown declined to discuss details of the policy when reached by

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I don’t know, but I went to that factory on my honeymoon. (We’re weird.)

    Do the frogs on the bridge still have masks on?

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    Somehow this just brings the scope of the loss into clarity. Ten years of your life. The difference between seeing your children grown, meeting your grandchildren or great grandchildren. The lives you touch in 10 years. The journey of your spiritual and emotional growth. Ended. https://t.co/NcnxpoLBiW— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 2, 2020

  83. 83.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    I can’t imagine any more damning evidence of a cover-up than the absence of evidence confirming the crime.

    FINALLY!! A beacon of Republican sanity appears.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    This was fun. You read it & get the sense the Trump team can’t figure out a plausible path to victoryAlso, if those 17 states are the 17 w the closest 2016 margins, it’s 10 states Trump won, incl Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, & Texas. This is very good news https://t.co/pVhvgynCwh— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) May 3, 2020

  85. 85.

    Betty Cracker

    @O. Felix Culpa: Good point. I had a similar thought about the effect of the quickly debunked O’Donnell thing. Because it’s largely click-driven, the Beltway press might be forced to move on, who knows?

    One thing about 2016 PTSD, for me, at least, is the expectation that everything — no matter how dumb, false or irrelevant — is capable of being blown up into “but her emails.” The real lesson of 2016 is about the bad faith of certain actors in the press, and that should never be forgotten.

    But the disastrous consequences of that bad faith were helped along by a confluence of events that isn’t all that easy to replicate as they involved foreign actors and self-important twits in our own government.

    We should always prepare for and push back against the worst, obviously, but also recognize that the people who want to put their thumbs on the scale aren’t all-powerful. For my own mental health, I try to keep that in mind.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am about to read that thread, but I first I got really excited by the tweet that was just below that.

  87. 87.

    JPL

    Andy Slavett, former Health Care Adviser was on CNN and he made an important point.. about public health care and the economy.   He said the two depend on each other but we should view what’s going on differently.    It’s whether we can muster the discipline to  protect ourselves.   Maybe CNN will have the clip up because he was good.

    Those on facebook arguing against social distancing and masks lack the discipline to protect themselves.  It has nothing to do with patriotism.

  88. 88.

    rikyrah

    ????

    He asked a woman to please put on a mask before coming in. She spit in his face, then came back later with her dad and shot him. "They said a man shot the 43-year-old security guard in the head near the doorway of the store before running off." https://t.co/709owiksrK— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) May 3, 2020

  90. 90.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Betty Cracker:

    One thing about 2016 PTSD, for me, at least, is the expectation that everything — no matter how dumb, false or irrelevant — is capable of being blown up into “but her emails.” The real lesson of 2016 is about the bad faith of certain actors in the press, and that should never be forgotten.

    I hear ya. I went into near-panic when the Reade story started gaining traction. It was like watching 2016 unfold all over again as it went from obscure dirtbag lefty sites and worked its way into the mainstream press. Looked coordinated, shall we say.

    I hope that enough people have learned from the horrors of the past. People really need to get smarter about these disinformation campaigns and our gullible/venal press.

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    If you need a little hope and inspiration:After their own removal, the Choctaw learned about how the potato famine. They sent money to the Irish. Now that coronavirus is hitting Native communities, the Irish are giving back, nearly 200 yrs later. https://t.co/ypKv8brHaD— Rebecca Nagle (@rebeccanagle) May 4, 2020

  92. 92.

    WereBear

    @Baud:

    Andrea Mitchell on Today show just said “both sides” wanted Biden to open up his Senate files.

     
    A recent Professional Left podcast dated “both sides” back to 2006 with the Iraq War debacle. Blame had to be laid, but not at the door of Republicans! So, the invention of “both sides” are to blame.

  93. 93.

    pinacacci

     

    Sorry about the all caps but I really was yelling.  and the long rant but I’ve been holding it in.

    things that I said a month ago “ARE YOU FUCKING SUICIDAL I AM MINIMIZING CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
    BECAUSE I REFUSE TO BRING THE VIRUS BACK TO YOU,
    A 76 YEAR OLD WOMAN WITH LUNG CANCER COPD AND A HEART CONDITION.
    I WILL NOT GO TO BURGER BUCKETS TO GET YOU A TAKEOUT JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK THEY NEED TO STAY IN BUSINESS BECAUSE
    “ECONOMY”
    AND IT’S A BUSINESS YOU’VE NEVER PATRONIZED
    I WILL NOT GO TO BUY MULCH BECAUSE YOU THINK IT’S A GREAT TIME TO WORK ON THE YARD
    THAT YOU HAD NO INTEREST IN BEFORE THIS
    I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU REFUSE TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.

    things that are now being presented as thoughts she’s had all along
    (overheard her on the phone telling someone “I’m not suicidal.”)

    after coronavirus fight number 3

    she hands detailed shopping list over on the designated day. She’d recently tried Instacart when I refused to go to the store
    on a day other than the one I’d said I would go. Although it was the next day after the Instacart delivery.

    Now she talks about need for a vaccine and that we are in it for the long run. She asked for a mask for mother’s day. We still have appointments with her docs.

    She’s only halfway poisoned by Fox, watches Tucker, but watches CNN and BBC for ‘balance.’ Has Ayn Rand books on the shelf as ‘keepers’.

    But she’s not blind or stupid.
    And she doesn’t do Facebook.
    Reality has an effect.

    and that is covid-19 life with my mother

  94. 94.

    JPL

    @rikyrah: In Oklahoma one mayor relaxed rules about face masks because of threats of violence.

    If trump led by example that would help, but he won’t cuz of freedoms.

  95. 95.

    Elizabelle

    Andrea Mitchell. Gag. Cannot stand her.

    Since I don’t watch her, I am just going to imagine her concerned “both sides” face and yackety sax emanating from her mouth. Clown show with that one.

  96. 96.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL: In Flint, MI, someone shot and killed a security guard at a Family Dollar because the guard asked him to put on a mask before entering the store. And just like that, 8 children in Flint don’t have a father.

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: That’s a good tweet. Looks like Trump is going all-in on the “blame China” approach, but the facts are not on his side.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SiubhanDuinne: Alledgedly. Very believable but “early reports” and all that. I’ll wait for the DA’s press conference later today.

  100. 100.

    oatler.

    Guess who:

    “Concast” should open up a long overdue Florida Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough. I know him and Crazy Mika well, used them beautifully in the last Election, dumped them nicely, and will state on the record that he is “nuts”. Besides, bad ratings! #OPENJOECOLDCASE

  102. 102.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @rikyrah: Nice to hear, better to hear than the alternative, but I won’t believe it until Wednesday, Nov 4. Trump winning in 2016 was the impossible 1% scenario.

  106. 106.

    WereBear

    @rikyrah: Dear god, they have completely lost it.

    That’s how threatened they feel by the craziness of their leaders, but they are taking it out on the innocent!

  108. 108.

    Elizabelle

    If that story about the security guard shot proves true, we could raise some money for his family.

    Keep us apprised.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    @pinacacci:

    this is why I believe those Senior poll numbers   about Biden.

    ThesE  Seniors know that they aren’t seeing their kids or grandkids.

    And, they know why.

     

    So, even despite the bullshyt of Fox, they know what’s happening in their actual lives, and THAT punctures the Fox bubble like nothing else.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    And guessing there might be a security camera outside the Family Dollar, that captured the shooter’s arrival or departure, if not the shooting?

  113. 113.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @rikyrah: “See Trump as more of an outsider who can help economy”

    How many years does he have to be in the Oval Office before his followers realize he’s part of the government (in theory)? Or is this their dim realization that whatever it is he’s doing, it’s not governing?

  115. 115.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @debbie:

    That happened in Stillwater OK home of Oklahoma State U.

    Tulsa has a very competent, intelligent mayor who seems to be doing everything right

  118. 118.

    raven

    @SFAW: The great Curtis “Bombs Away” Le May was often lauded for being in the first plane on the bombing missions. Turns our Jerry usually waited until the first planes passed to open up.

  119. 119.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    That’s a good tweet. Looks like Trump is going all-in on the “blame China” approach, but the facts are not on his side.

    Trump only knows bullshit mode, and he is doubling down on it with respect to the virus. The sad thing is that Pompeo and others of his staff are following along and insisting that this must be the case.  This is not only stupid, but potentially dangerous. These are not just harmless accusations, and no one can predict what may happen in international relations if Trump continues to push this without a shred of justification.

    And domestically, this accusation is going to increase the number of hate incidents aimed at Asian Americans, because stupid people will look for real people to hurt.

    Trump is also doubling down with the stupid by insisting that a virus will be found by the end of the year, because his “smart brain, smarter than the scientists,” tell him so.

    Predictably, Trump loyalists are praising this bullshit as an example of the president leading the country by being optimistic.

  120. 120.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Some stats from the real world:

    Check out the graph of “Daily New Cases”. Unlike other countries, we didn’t hit a peak and then start coming down again. Instead we’ve got this weird wave thing going. Not a “second wave” as in the 1918 flu. It’s a weekly wave, hitting a peak about every Friday, holding steady at about 30000 new cases a day.

    I assume it has something to do with people not isolating, and maybe with churchgoing on Sundays? But I’m not sure what’s going on.

    I’ve seen people post this graph but haven’t seen any discussion of that cyclic behavior, though I’m sure there must be statisticians on it.

  121. 121.

    JPL

    @Ladyraxterinok:  The mayor back downed because of bullies, but truthfully probably saved lives.   Actually that’s not even true because more people will die of the virus.   What a trade off.

  123. 123.

    jonas

    @Baud: Prediction: MSM spends about 10x the effort and airtime slagging Biden over his Senate records than they did Trump over his tax returns.

  125. 125.

    zhena gogolia

    @JPL:

    I agree with this tweet in response. I’m looking almost exclusively at never-Trumpers these days. They keep their eyes on the prize.

    Thank you to The Lincoln Project for another devastating anti-Trump ad! Candidly, these Never Trump conservatives are more unrelenting and merciless than most of the Democratic super PACs are.It's brutal because everything discussed in the ad is fact.We need more of this. pic.twitter.com/2h1lR2R8zc— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) May 4, 2020

  127. 127.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    Two Arizona sheriffs say they won’t enforce governor’s stay-at-home order: “300 deaths is not a significant enough number”

    Jesus H Christ! This idiot is guaranteeing that the number will go higher.

    Meanwhile, too many average citizens in California are trying to undo all the efforts taken to constrain the virus.

    Some business owners in South Orange County say enough is enough and reopened despite California’s Stay-at-Home order.

    The owner of Nomads Canteen in San Clemente said he reached out to city and county officials to let them know he was going to reopen and that no one stopped him.

    Nomads was full to capacity not long after the doors opened Sunday.

    Worse, customers, like the owner, are grasping onto nonsense and fantasy to justify their actions.

    “I miss the interaction and being out,” Lark Sampson, a customer said.

    Rich Barry, another customer, added, “It feels extraordinary to be in a restaurant because it’s been six weeks.”

    Inside the restaurant, Gourey said he’s telling people to practice social distancing, but he says he believes he and his staff are young and healthy enough to survive COVID-19 if they contract the virus.

    “Six weeks it plenty of time, that’s what I believe,” Gourey said. “On a sunny day like this, no one is at risk.”

    There is also a lie floating around on the Internet that Trump’s bloviating about the light killing the virus in humans has some scientific veracity.

    Unfortunately, I understand that some people might be tired of being in lockdown. And nice warm summer days will be too much temptation for some folks.

    The governors are looking at the best ways to open things up.  But if too many people insist on behaving irresponsibly, the results will not be good for anyone.

  130. 130.

    eric

    @zhena gogolia: they can get away with brutal because the are republicans.  if dems did that the press would call it “unfair” and partially true.”

  132. 132.

    Miss Bianca

    @SFAW: Hey, I’d hire you for my speechwriter!

    Sigh…in the midst of corresponding with an old friend about another old friend who just died of COVID-19, she lamented the fact that Democrats fucked up again by voting for Biden over Bernie.

    My response could have been, “I think Bernie will be more useful in the Senate.” Which has the virtue of being actually true. What I said instead?: “Democrats voting for an actual Democrat, with an actual record of getting things done, over a leap-year Democrat (thank you, Schroedinger’s Cat, for that immortal phrase!) who thinks shouting progressive slogans = getting progressive things done? We’ll have to agree to disagree on that being a bad thing.”

    Which is still a tad more diplomatic than what I’ve said to others.

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: Of course the Never-Trumpers are angry and bitter.  He forced them to see the Republican Party as it is now, not as they pretended it was.  The more honest of them will recognize that he is merely a mirror that reflects the rot at the heart of that Party.  The less honest will pretend that he was an aberration and go back to the Party once he is gone.  The rest of us saw it coming, so we can’t feel betrayed by it.

  136. 136.

    Brachiator

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I see China is demanding proof for Pompeo’s claims.

    Totally reasonable, and I cannot see China doing anything rash, despite any Trump provocation.  Still, this reactions to unproven assertions can spin out of control.

    I have not had a chance to read the story yet, but I see a headline about unnamed US officials “believing” that China deliberately downplayed the severity of the virus so that they could hoard supplies.

    These lies may be meant to inspire the base, and to try to boost Trump’s election chances, but the larger problem for everyone is that Trump’s reckless disregard for the truth can have all kinds of nasty unintended consequences.

  137. 137.

    Immanentize

    @satby: I was going to go with dogwood too, but my white one is just leafing out near Boston.  I haven’t seen any — white or pink — in bloom yet around here.  The Lindens are further along than the dogwoods (I have one in my swale that the city put in).  I sure would like to know what shape the leaves were, then we could pinpoint it fast.

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    Yup they lack the discipline necessary to protect themselves.

    And they totally discount the threat they may pose to others.

    And the worst is starting to emerge from a small, but possibly increasing group of people.

    Slowly, but surely, a foolish, unfounded and utterly selfish belief is starting to spread among some of these people that the virus only kills the old, the weak, and the nonwhite, and that these groups can be easily sacrificed for the benefit of younger white people.

  141. 141.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Omnes Omnibus: Of course the Never-Trumpers are angry and bitter. He forced them to see the Republican Party as it is now, not as they pretended it was. The more honest of them will recognize that he is merely a mirror that reflects the rot at the heart of that Party. The(y) less honest will pretend that he was an aberration and go back to the Party once he is gone. The rest of us saw it coming, so we can’t feel betrayed by it.

     Fixed.

  143. 143.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    I read that trump’s trade policy changes allowed 3m to ship millions of ppe’s to China in January.

    In true Orwellian style, Trump and his media enablers are downplaying or denying that Trump ever praised China early on, and that he shipped PPE to try to help them.

    Also, this is a window into Trump’s weird efforts to have Young Jared declare that federal supplies were for the government, not for the states.

    Trump only understands things from a limited, ignorant perspective. He’s got supplies, and he can control them.  His lie projects this lizard brain perspective onto the Chinese.

    Early on, there was no shortage, and hoarding was not really an issue. And with strong leadership and international co-operation, PPE and other supplies could be easily produced and shipped where necessary.

    All of this nonsense is just Trump finger pointing and attempting to deflect attention from his own inadequacies.

  146. 146.

    Benw

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: my guess since the US isn’t testing at anywhere near the level we need to catch all cases, is the cycle is not driven by the number of new infections, but by the labs’ capacity to report the test results: ramping up through the week, falling off over the weekend. The US is clearly missing tests for large numbers of infected people

  148. 148.

    SFAW

    @Miss Bianca:

    Hey, I’d hire you for my speechwriter!

    .

    Which is still a tad more diplomatic than what I’ve said to others.

    OK, but please realize that many of my speeches would be variations of “Fuck you, you pretend billionaire. And stop with your fucking lying all the time.” OK, that’s not actually a speech. But you get the idea re: the level of decorum that I’d maintain.

  150. 150.

    leeleeFL

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I imagine he did anyway!  He is both infuriated and terrorized by strong women who can find NFTG in their wee gardens!  I cry every time I think where we would be if Hillary was POTUS.  Even assuming how much rat-fucking the Senate and Supreme Court would have piled on her.

    FML!

  152. 152.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Immanentize: The leaves were more elongated, came to a distinct point, and had some scalloping along the edges, but not a real pronounced sawtooth. As I said, blooms really seemed to be in the apple family, but I’ve not often seen pure white flowers.

    And full bloom, May 3, central Connecticut.

  153. 153.

    Miss Bianca

    @SFAW: See, you and I think alike. Which is why I would be a terrible politician, who would always need a speechwriter, (who I guess won’t be you, after all) so I don’t start every public encounter a la Ash in Army of Darkness: “Now listen up, you primitive screwheads…”

  154. 154.

    leeleeFL

    @OzarkHillbilly: I quit a 35 year smoking habit at Christmas in 2012, when I was the sickest I could remember ever being as an adult.

    Never looked back, never missed it.  I thank The Universe for that gift all the time.  Never more than now!

  156. 156.

    leeleeFL

    @debbie: I have been preaching about this to everyone.   My Parents were both alive during that Pandemic. (Born 1914 and 1919.)  They always talked about how awful it was, even though Dad lived in rural NJ and Mom was born in the middle of it (Bronx and Manhattan)

    Collective, historical memory teaches us that they are just daring  this thing to kill many us off.

    I saw a photo of tRump walking on the WH lawn today and wished for bad things.  I am going to Hell, but I do not care

  157. 157.

    dww44

    @Elizabelle: Re Ms. Mitchell, she has indeed become gag-worthy.  One forgets who her father is. It seems the man she married has influenced far more than the one who begat her.

  158. 158.

    dww44

    Has Cole weighed in on that high approval ranking for his state’s governor?  I’d love to know why Justice ranks so high.

  163. 163.

    Gin & Tonic

    @tam1MI: Thanks, but no. I have a very large magnolia right in front of my house, so I am familiar with that.

  166. 166.

    No One You Know

    @SFAW: Yes. Exactly this. When we start methodically deconstructing, we force the liars to work harder and hinder the endless repetition. As their memes evolve, our questions get shorter and sharper.

  169. 169.

    SFAW

    @Miss Bianca:

    See, you and I think alike.

    Good for me, maybe not-so-good for you.

    Which is why I would be a terrible politician, who would always need a speechwriter, (who I guess won’t be you, after all) so I don’t start every public encounter a la Ash in Army of Darkness: “Now listen up, you primitive screwheads…”

    Not sure I see a problem with that, except that I’d probably use “fucking morons” instead of “primitive screwheads.”

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