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You are here: Home / Open Threads / LOL Birx

LOL Birx

by | 131 Comments

This post is in: 

I know Deborah Birx doesn’t deserve another post, but this is so fucking predictable:

“So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics,” Trump tweeted. “In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!”

The President’s tweet seemed to be a response to Birx’s interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, during which the doctor warned that the U.S. was in “a new phase” of the virus.

“I want to be very clear: What we are seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN anchor Dana Bash. “It is extraordinarily widespread.”

Though Birx’s comment was a plain contradiction of Trump’s repeated insistence that most of the country is doing “very well,” she did not actually criticize Trump or the administration during the interview.

If, as anyone with two eyes and a brain could have predicted, Birx will be ignored by Trump as soon as the obvious truth clashes with his fantasmagorical bullshit, he’ll need to replace her.  Paging Dr. Demon Semen to the White House Task Force, STAT!

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  1. 1.

    Josie

    I know this is probably my cynical conspiracy theorist side coming out, but this sure seems like Nancy set up both Birx and Trump with her recent statements. She does know how to push his buttons.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    so…. open thread? reposting from below

    Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1 · 34m
    Breaking via NYT: The Manhattan district attorney’s office has suggested that it has been investigating Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past.

    “What the president’s lawyers are seeking here is delay,” Carey R. Dunne, a lawyer in Mr. Vance’s office, told Judge Marrero. Mr. Dunne said that the longer Mr. Trump fought the case, the greater the chance that the statute of limitations would expire for any potential crimes that might have been committed, effectively granting the president immunity.[…]
    If Mr. Vance succeeds in eventually obtaining Mr. Trump’s records, they are unlikely to become public anytime soon because they will be shielded by grand jury secrecy rules. The records might only emerge later if criminal charges are brought and the records are introduced in a trial.

    how exactly does the statute of limitations work? if he’s indicted, can he still run out the clock? if a grand jury will, as the saying goes, indict a ham sandwich, is Cohen’s testimony about the lying about valuations for taxes and loans not enough?

  5. 5.

    VeniceRiley

    Therapeutics and vaccines would be nice. He should shut his pie hole about those until they’re widely available. No one will care until that happens. Even then, with so many dead and permanently damaged, I predict the response will be “Thanks, now GTFO.”

  7. 7.

    mali muso

    In other (unsurprising) news, Canada is benefiting from our immigration hellscape to snap up the best and brightest.  Article here.

    The number of U.S. residents who advanced through Express Entry, Canada’s flagship skilled immigration program, rose 75% between 2017 and 2019, a much faster rate of growth than for other countries. This growth was entirely due to successful submissions from U.S. noncitizens, which rose at least 128% during this period. In total, from 2017 to 2019, more than 20,000 noncitizen U.S. residents sought and received invitations to apply for permanent residence in Canada through Express Entry. Analysis of this data suggests that skilled foreign-born workers may be leaving the United States for Canada in increasing numbers.

  11. 11.

    bbleh

    “Everything Trump touches dies.”

    I don’t know whether the regular parade of people who continue to believe otherwise is a testament to the power of hope or to the ability of people to delude themselves.

    And let us not forget, Trump is far more symptom than cause.  The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our (reality-TV) stars …

  12. 12.

    mad citizen

    We would be a banana republic if we had a territory that grew bananas (do we?).  Subject to that check, I’ll just call us a muskmelon republic for now.

    Related, although there have been thousands of stupid things coming from the orange piehole, is there anything stupider than “Operation Warp Speed”?  I cringe every time I hear him refer to it.

  15. 15.

    satby

    @VeniceRiley: Trump minions pushing disinformation, especially in Plandemic, has already resulted in a sizable number of people saying they intend to refuse any vaccination. Plus people not normally averse to vaccination who would be sceptical that any vaccine rushed through at this administration’s behest to trust it would be safe.

  16. 16.

    Brachiator

    “So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics,” Trump tweeted.

    I am so tired of Trump and his empty, self-serving bullshit.

    And again, he reveals that he has no interest in trying to contain the virus, but instead fumbles for the hail Mary of a vaccine or the snake oil of pills and other quack remedies.

    He has nothing meaningful to say about Birx or Pelosi.

  18. 18.

    sdhays

    What we are seeing today is different from March and April

    No shit, Sherlock. You’re supposed to be ahead of the curve, not tell us what we already know. It was pretty clear, at least by May, that this was our future. I would almost literally scream every single time I heard/read someone in the media or in an official position warn about a “second wave in the fall” when it was patently obvious that wave #1 wasn’t going to go away, except, maybe, in New York and New England.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @Benw: I heard about this crazy doctor on Lawfare last night.

    She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.

    Seriously, though, if you live alone during this time of COVID, except for sex with demons and witches in your dreams, your options for sex are pretty limited, are they not?

    Let’s not judge. :-)

    edit:  Oh, you mean what she is saying is not true???   Well, then…

  20. 20.

    TriassicSands

    …[Birx] did not actually criticize Trump or the administration during the interview.

    Neither Birx nor Fauci has ever criticized Trump or any of his decisions or crazy ramblings. The difference between Birx and Fauci has been that she has praised Trump inappropriately, while Fauci has just remained silent on the subject of Trump.

    It will be interesting to see if Birx responds to Trump’s “pathetic” by openly praising his great leadership.

  24. 24.

    sdhays

    @satby: I am extremely fortunate in that I can afford to wait to see if the vaccine is a disaster or not, so that’s my plan. I’m very pro-vaccine in general, but I simply don’t have any faith in the federal government’s desire or ability to keep my family safe with any COVID-19 vaccine. The people calling the shots literally don’t care if I live or die, they just want this over so that Dump can somehow be reelected.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    Can Trump even replace Dr. Birx? I figured she was one of the career people he can’t fire, so she’s doomed instead to an immortal half-life as a Dignity Wraith (as Josh Marshall calls the people whose reputations Trump has destroyed).

    I almost feel sorry for her. She’s no dummy, and it must’ve been incredibly tough for a woman to climb the career ladder in DC the way she did, at the time she did it. But while Dr. Fauci managed to walk the fine line between placating a psychotic oaf of a president and protecting the public, Dr. Birx could not.

  26. 26.

    Immanentize

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Statute of limitations is satisfied once a charge is brought. Although the public testimony of Cohen might be enough for an indictment, once an indictment is issued, the grand jury can no longer investigate the crime (through, for example, subpoena power). Catch 22 is one helluva catch.

  27. 27.

    lamh36

    Way off topic, but any BJ folks in the Houston area?I’m coming to town at the end of the month for professional reasons. The place I’m going to be touring is on Rogerdale Rd (zip code 77072 77052). While I’m there they want me to visit some neighborhoods so I need to book a hotel….ASAP! Where should stay?

     

    A friend recommended the Westchase area?

  28. 28.

    mad citizen

    @Falling Diphthong: Yes, we are a banana republic  (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe901):
    US Banana Production
    US banana production is very limited; in 2009, US total banana production reached almost 7,000 mmt, or 0.01% of the total world production, on an estimated 16,000 acres. Hawaii is by far the largest banana producer in the United States, followed by Florida. Banana production in Hawaii has followed a downward trend, from 13,181 mmt in 2000 to 8,090 mmt in 2010. Hawaii produces mainly the conventional Cavendish variety and the Hawaiian apple banana, which are sold in the local markets due to high labor and land costs. The major US banana exporter is Florida, which produces mainly Thai and cooking bananas (Bluggoe type). In addition, US banana producers are seeking opportunities in the organic and specialty segments of the banana market in Florida and the coastal region of Georgia (Schupska 2008).

  29. 29.

    bbleh

    @Betty Cracker: She works for the White House, so if she’s (appointed) WH staff, I’d guess she probably doesn’t have CS protection.  OTOH if she’s “seconded” from another agency, then maybe.

    Also noteworthy, she has the added burden of Evangelical Christianism. I guess we just have to hope she’s expiating some really bad karma, and things will be better next time around.

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    Plus people not normally averse to vaccination who would be sceptical that any vaccine rushed through at this administration’s behest to trust it would be safe.

    @satby: I’ve been vaccinated for everything under the sun and some stuff that I probably didn’t need to be, but my mantra on vaccinations has always been “better safe than sorry”.

    But I won’t touch a COVID vaccine until it’s been greenlighted by a non-American health entity (EU, WHO, etc).  No fucking way.  Trump will have us all shooting up a combo of bleach and gasoline and he’d do it because he thinks people dying is hilarious.

  33. 33.

    PenAndKey

    @mali muso: In other (unsurprising) news, Canada is benefiting from our immigration hellscape to snap up the best and brightest.

    As many here may (or may not) remember I’ve voiced a desire to move to Canada in the past. This border rush has been obvious for anyone looking at the ITA score requirements when planning out their own express entry applications. The score cutoff has gotten high enough that, short of having a job offer or family in Canada, even BSc/BA holding skilled middle class workers aren’t good to get in enough at this point.

    Not that I’ve grumbled to my wife about it or anything, repeatedly…

  35. 35.

    JaySinWA

    @Josie: That actually makes sense, there were limited outcomes to the Pelosi attack. Either Birx got closer to Trump and tie her future to his failure or try to put some distance from Trump with the likelihood she would be cast aside. Her choice means that she will be less of a salve to Trump’s ego.

  36. 36.

    MattF

    @sdhays: I anticipate that Trump will demand that any vaccine must be distributed immediately but not by anyone connected to him so he won’t be responsible for any screwups. And that he gets all the credit for it. And gets a nice share of any profit. And no, I’m not in a positive frame of mind about COVID vaccines, why do you ask?

  38. 38.

    Immanentize

    @Betty Cracker: I remember back at the beginning of all this, Dr. Birx posted? said in an interview? (I remember reading it) that her daughter asked to come treat Birx’s granddaughter who was sick. But Birx said she couldn’t help her out, because she had to serve the country which was then more important than her granddaughter.

    I thought that was some bad selfish reasoning right there. (Why couldn’t she do both? Too important? Too busy?) I wonder if Birx now thinks maybe she should have gone and taken care of the granddaughter for a couple of days.

  39. 39.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @Amir Khalid: Somehow, with some editing, that headline might apply to some of Trump’s staff in January.

    God, how I hate this year.

  40. 40.

    Citizen Alan

    @mali muso: At this point, I am bitter — openly bitter — about the fact that I let my mother guilt trip me out of moving to Canada in 2005. Because I knew the writing was on the wall then. She’s 83 and I think she’s gonna outlive me just to ensure I never get out of the fucking South.

  41. 41.

    Roger Moore

    @mad citizen:

    We would be a banana republic if we had a territory that grew bananas (do we?).

    It is apparently possible to grow bananas in Southern California, though they aren’t a major crop, and they are grown commercially in Hawaii.

  42. 42.

    mad citizen

    @WaterGirl: That it was a Cole post and I thought it was going to tell me that trump had fired her.  Hope when that happens the post is again titled with LOL.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    “I want to be very clear: What we are seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN anchor Dana Bash. “It is extraordinarily widespread.”

    The doctor who’s fucked her professional career and integrity went on to say, “And I cannot tell you how sorry I am for not calling Trump a fucking moron to his Soviet shitpile mobster conman orange face when he suggested sunlight or injecting disinfectant would kill the virus.  Or not calling him a moron for all the other crazy shit he’s said about the virus that could get someone killed.  Please forgive me.”

    Bold mine – words too.

  45. 45.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @WaterGirl:

    Seriously, though, if you live alone during this time of COVID, except for sex with demons and witches in your dreams, your options for sex are pretty limited, are they not?

    Plus some of those succubi are HAWT!

  47. 47.

    bluehill

    Supposedly Yeezy is trying to get on the ballots in Wisconsin and Ohio as well as some other states. That’s some x-dimensional chess right there.

    Kanye West is pushing ahead with his presidential campaign and is now trying to get on the ballot in Wisconsin, a pivotal swing state that was decided by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016.
    The rapper has hired the petitioning firm Let the Voters Decide in a last-minute effort to get the 2,000 valid signatures needed to get on the ballot in Wisconsin by Tuesday at 5 p.m. The firm has deployed 45 people in the state to help make it happen.
    Wisconsin is just the latest state where West is trying to get on the ballot.
    He is also mounting an effort in the swing state of Ohio, as well as in states like Arkansas and West Virginia, in the coming days. The effort comes as over a dozen states have ballot deadlines in the next week, including Vermont and Colorado, where it is not necessary for candidates to petition their way onto the ballot.
    https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/kanye-west-is-still-trying-to-get-on-the-ballot.html?utm_source=tw

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    You want absurd, we’ll give you absurd!

    We haven’t begun to absurd!

    Absurd for everyone!

    To answer your question, yes, yes it is. Too Absurd. That’s not stopping it from being reality nor absurd. But when discussing president 4 yr old spoiled idiotic brat there is no level of absurdity that is too absurd. In fact we couldn’t discuss anything about him without having a fairly high level of absurdity. Like his existence. One of life’s many absurdities is his existence and even more than that, his existence in the limelight.

  52. 52.

    JaySinWA

    @MattF: My guess is that they will find or be found by some snake oil salesman selling a placebo vaccine and throw lots of money and publicity at them. By October, latest.

  56. 56.

    Mary G

    Nancy Messonnier, sister of Rod Rosenstein, was the CDC official who got into trouble for informing us that the ‘Rona was on its way:

    (Wikipedia) In a February 25 press briefing at the White House, Messonnier warned of the impending community spread of the virus in the United States, stating: “Disruption to everyday life might be severe.”[7][8] Following her comments during the February White House press briefing, she did not appear again at the briefing and there was speculation that Messonnier had been “silenced” for her comments stressing the growing urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[9] On February 28, she said that the U.S. “acted incredibly quickly before most other countries. Aggressively controlled our borders and we were able to slow the spread into the United States. …We have been testing aggressively.”[10][11] While Messonnier has no longer appeared in White House briefings, she has continued giving regular CDC briefings, which have been broadcast to the public, and she has made public appearances in All Things Considered on NPR.[12][13] She continues to be a public source of reliable information on the pandemic.

    Looks like she still works for CDC, but couldn’t tell based on the limited Googling I was willing to do. Told the truth, then three days later regurgitated the party line. #ETTD

  57. 57.

    Mike in NC

    Was pretty excited to get a letter in the mail today from Melania, asking for 45 bucks to help Fat Bastard continue his crime spree for four more years. As with all the other Republican junk mail seeking a handout, the return envelope requires the sender to pay for a stamp. Cheap dicks.

  58. 58.

    CaseyL

    @bluehill: It’s hard to imagine anyone who was going to vote to be rid of Trump would vote for West.  The only thing I can think of is that people who would otherwise not vote at all will vote for him.

  59. 59.

    Josie

    @mrmoshpotato: 
    Perhaps “conspiracy” was not the right word for me to use. I just meant that I thought she was trolling both Birx and Trump to drive a wedge in between them. And it looks like it worked beautifully.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    @VeniceRiley:

    Therapeutics and vaccines would be nice. He should shut his pie hole about those until they’re widely available. 

    Might be tough for an orange assclown who has Resting Butthole Mouth.  (Decades of sucking the Kremlin’s asshole is most likely the cause.)

  61. 61.

    Eunicecycle

    @satby: count me as one who would be skeptical of anything the Trump administration says is safe and effective.

  62. 62.

    Mary G

    @Josie: Every time I think about those assholes who thought she was too old and ineffective and should let a younger person be speaker, I laugh.

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    @bluehill: I know we’re not supposed to criticize West because he’s mentally ill, but fuck that tottering pile of garbage. Trump is also mentally ill, and he’s a monstrous asshole too.

  64. 64.

    LuciaMia

    Therapeutics

    Ooh, little Trump has learned a new word. He’s been using it constantly these past few days. See, he’s smaaaarrt!

  65. 65.

    germy

    A week before the election Trump will announce a vaccine is complete.  There’ll be some rumblings here and there in the news that it isn’t “ready” or “safe” but he and his people will insist.

    He’ll say “It’ll be ready in two weeks.”

  67. 67.

    Mallard FIlmore

    @sdhays:

     

    I am extremely fortunate in that I can afford to wait to see if the vaccine is a disaster or not

    I have the same good fortune, and will wait for a vaccine that gets approved in Europe.

  69. 69.

    mali muso

    @PenAndKey: I do recall us having this discussion, because we were also working on applying.  We did end up submitting an application in early 2019 and made the ITA cutoff.  Had our residency paperwork in hand and were scheduled to “land” in April, but then…COVID.  So everything is on hold for now, but CIC has reassured us that our spot is still valid despite the actual papers expiring.  Hope that you can find a pathway soon.  Provincial nomination?

    @Citizen Alan:  Sending you positive wishes.  Maybe consider going back to school for a degree just to score a student visa?  :(

  71. 71.

    Josie

    @lamh36:

    I sent your question to my daughter-in-law and this is what she answered:

    Houston Marriott Westchase is near there. Lots of hotels at a variety of price points on the beltway (W Sam Houston Parkway) there. The International District is just south of there with lots of East and South Asian food options — Kasra Persian Grill is delicious. The Energy Corridor with lots of oil and gas companies is just north of there. She should just google the address and search for nearby hotels; the reviews will help her avoid anything bad. Westchase has a lot of corporate visitors, lots of hotel options.

  73. 73.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @Mike in NC: I like to edit those, ask Jr. if he’s Beavis or Butthead, question why a “billionaire” is asking for money, and send them back, postage due, no return address. No one will read them, but it’s therapy for my shrunken black heart

  74. 74.

    MJS

    @bluehill: Anybody who signs a petition designed to allow a mentally ill man to get on the ballot so that another mentally ill “man” can get re-elected is an absolute fucking moron, as is anyone who votes for the mentally ill man. Fuck anyone who thinks this shit is funny.

  77. 77.

    bystander

    @Betty Cracker: Wasn’t it you who named him “Sh*t Midas”?  Anybody who appears to want to placate or flatter him will find themselves turned into a steaming pile with one wave of his wand.

  80. 80.

    VeniceRiley

    @satby: I’ve volunteered for trials. Failing that, I hope the first to get it includes nonclinical workers in healthcare. I AM in the same building, after all. I probably walk by someone with Covid a couple times a week. I’ve read enough about each vaccine candidate to make my own determination without relying on the word of King Orange. My one issue is I can’t leave for England until there is a treatment for people who are not hospitalized.  All the early treatments seem to target that population, obviously. Save lives and make big bux. I’ve only recently been reading trials for therapeutics for mild to moderate cases.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Immanentize: thanks

    also, somebody needs a binkie

    Medium Buying @MediumBuying· 1h
    The Trump campaign has placed a Fox News-only buy in DC cable zones. 8/3-8/16 flight, $38K total

  90. 90.

    mrmoshpotato

    ?fantasmagorical, is not a word, phantasmagorical should not be misspelt like it’s a turd, it’s means a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined, you see, not a philosophy, phantasmagorical?

    Can that be fixed?

  92. 92.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @mrmoshpotato: Moshie, if you don’t already have “Soviet shitpile mobster conman” on a hotkey, you ought to seriously consider doing so, lest your fingers get jammed up like multiple keys on an old manual typewriter & have to be untangled with WD-40 and a butterknife.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: She lost me at the very first “CEO press conference” when she sat their bobbing her head up and down, nodding in agreement even when Trump said things that were patently absurd.

  98. 98.

    Wapiti

    @Mike in NC: I dunno, maybe asking for a stamp is to reduce shenanigans. I used to take any self addressed envelopes from organizations I disliked and sent them back filled with scrap paper or old card stock. Just to let them pay, plus pay some minion for handling.

  100. 100.

    CaseyL

    @bluehill:  You’re right and I feel like a fool.  I still think in 2016 they took Hillary votes and gave them to Jill Stein; here is a chance to take Biden votes and give them to Kanye.  Shit.

  104. 104.

    VOR

    @JPL: Dr. Birx lost me when she did an interview w/Christian Broadcasting Network in late March, saying:

    “He’s been so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data,” Birx said. “I think his ability to analyze and integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit during these discussions about medical issues.”

    Nope, not buying it. That comment ought to have destroyed any remaining reputation for integrity right then and there.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    @Benw:

    haha that is one crazy ass doctor! I know for a fact that regular dream sex with witches doesn’t cause any problems

    But wait … wasn’t the nutty doctor talking about dream sex with demons? Not witches. Some of my best friends are witches! No demons, tho… not a one.

  106. 106.

    randy khan

    @The Moar You Know:

    But I won’t touch a COVID vaccine until it’s been greenlighted by a non-American health entity (EU, WHO, etc). No fucking way. Trump will have us all shooting up a combo of bleach and gasoline and he’d do it because he thinks people dying is hilarious.

    So far the FDA has played this pretty straight, including its decision to stop allowing emergency use of hydroxychloroquine (although it can’t technically stop doctors from prescribing it, since it’s approved for other things), but I will admit that I would be at least somewhat more comfortable if I knew that another country that doesn’t have an ignorant crazy person in charge had approved the vaccine I was going to get.

    By the way, I would guess that the odds are at least 50-50 that more than one vaccine will be approved. I’m okay with that, and competition would be nice.

  108. 108.

    mali muso

    @WaterGirl: jerry Falwell with his arm around a young woman, both of them with their pants unzipped and their shirts tied above the waist to expose their stomachs. It’s completely bizarre. And gross

  110. 110.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Uncle Cosmo: I thank you for your concern and would like to inform you that “Soviet” is suggested after S-o-v-i-e is typed.  The rest is then suggested with a choice between “conman” and “manbaby.”

    Again, thank you for your concern.  The health of our fingers (especially the middle ones) is important these days.

  111. 111.

    Heywood J.

    Anyone still taking medical advice from “Doctor” Scarf deserves the outcome. A mendacious, shameful excuse for a human being. The most charitable assumption you can make to explain her is that maybe Jared has her grandkids in a basement somewhere. But the bottom line is that she has cost far more lives than she may have saved.

  112. 112.

    Pupjoint

    @lamh36:  Rogerdale Rd runs parallel and .1mile west of Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Pkwy) between Westheimer and Westpark Tollway. In the narrow strip is full of Hotels and Suites:

    Quality Inns-Westchase, Best Western Sites -Westchase, Red Roof Inn-Westchase, Sun Suites-Westchase, Extended Stay America Hotel- Westchase, Town Plaza Suites-Westchase.

    Sorry, no Trump Hotel

  115. 115.

    greenergood

    @mali muso:  Interesting: will try to find link later but no time just now, but the number of educated, skilled people from the UK emigrating to Germany and other EU countries has gone up enormously in the last post-Brexit year, from something like 15,000 to 150,000. So the countries that are acting the dumbest will lose their brightest – NOT a good image…

  117. 117.

    Kim Walker

    @mali muso: Immigrants to Canada face a decade or more of hard times, regardless of education, skills and experience. The ability of immigrants to catch up to the Canadian-born in terms of income and working in their field has been getting progressively worse over time despite much lip-service.

  118. 118.

    greenergood

    I’ve read all the comments on this post – and laughed – and am now reduced to despair. The sarcasm’s needed, the wit is needed to get us through this , but the behaviour of the ‘leaders’ who are supposed to help us through this is horrendous. The media that is supposed to inform us about this incredibly dangerous disease is pathetic. How an entire political-media system would be happy to consign most of the American public to a death-threat is just something difficult to comtemplate – and yet that’s what they are doing. Don’t they realise that if enough Americans die, then there won’t be enough Americans to buy their crap? Are they that short-sighted? (Don’t answer that – we know the answer …) I can’t even make jokes anymore – this is just so awful, and will get worse: evictions, layoffs, the medical aftermaths of COVID-19 illnesses on people with no health insurance. The wealthiest country in the world doesn’t give a shit about most of its citizens -which is terrifying.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @Heywood J.:

    “Doctor” Scarf [is] A mendacious, shameful excuse for a human being. The most charitable assumption you can make to explain her is that maybe Jared has her grandkids in a basement somewhere. But the bottom line is that she has cost far more lives than she may have saved.

    I would contribute $ to put that on a billboard.

  121. 121.

    Mike in Pasadena

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wouldn’t we like to know whether prosecutors have argued that the president’s attorneys, by pressing the immunity from prosecution argument, that the s of l is tolled for the same amount time that the president is immune? Trump’s immunity claim is an equity argument and to be afforded equity,one must also give equity. Of course to claim equity, one must come before the court with clean hands, disqualifying Trump.

    &pnbsp;

  122. 122.

    Just One More Canuck

    @germy: Jerry Jr is like Danny McBride’s character in The Righteous Gemstones:
    “that journey included cocaine, prostitutes, blackmail, multiple attempts at vehicular homicide and, by the end of Sunday’s Season 1 finale, getting shot by his wife — a tough run for any Christian minister. His redemption is still pending”  (from the NYT). It’s almost like he was drawing on a real life example

  123. 123.

    Robert Sneddon

    @greenergood: There’s a lot of EU citizens in the UK who have decided to get out after Brexit and return to their home countries or other welcoming countries in the EU. This includes a large number of healthcare people like nurses and technicians which has hit the NHS hard as it had come to rely on them, just before COVID-19 arrived on our shores.

     

    We’ve had the British press report on individual cases like an old man with lots of medical problems who voted for Brexit because he didn’t like the Polish plumbers and foreign construction workers being around and he wanted them to go back where they came. He couldn’t understand why his carer, a young Romanian woman who helped him out for three hours a day at home was going back too, couldn’t the government make an exception for her so she could stay?

  124. 124.

    PAM Dirac

    @randy khan:

     

    So far the FDA has played this pretty straight, including its decision to stop allowing emergency use of hydroxychloroquine (although it can’t technically stop doctors from prescribing it, since it’s approved for other things),

    The FDA has no power at all to regulate how doctors use approved drugs. They formally can regulate ads/promotional material, but even that power has been reduced to practically nothing. That is why I think even the original Emergency Use Authorization wasn’t bad. I think it only really applied to use of the drugs that were obtained from the fed stockpile, but it specified that the patients had to be hospitalized, had to be informed that this would be a non-approved use, and the physician had to file adverse event reports. This is so much more work for the treating physician, that I would be surprised if more than a handful of requests were made. In other words a typical drumf move; lots of blather and bluster for negligible effect.

  126. 126.

    Galahad Threepwood

    The thread is dead now, but I read somewhere (I think on Lawyers Guns and Money) that Trump’s only semi-redeeming characteristic is how he throws his most abject lickspittles under the bus when things get bad.  Birx has been carrying water for Trump this whole time (remember when she did that interview where she praised his great command of data?), and this is how he repays her.  You can’t win by appeasing him, you just can’t.  There is no way you come out of that with your dignity and reputation intact.

    Anyway.  No tears for Birx, she deserves this for trying to be on Team Trump.

  127. 127.

    Galahad Threepwood

    @Heywood J.:  Absolutely.  I remember seeing stories when she was appointed to the task force saying how they had made a great decision.  Then she came on and tried to appease Trump by flattering him in interviews.   THEN she got the data wrong and helped convince the Trumpers that the virus wouldn’t be that big a deal.  Now she’s coming back and trying to get everyone to take it seriously?  Useless sack of shit.

  128. 128.

    Heywood J.

    @WaterGirl: I’m just about frustrated enough to do something like that. I mean, I actually get Trump, in a sense:  vain, stupid, cynical, greedy and worse, all at a scale that dwarfs most cartoon villains. He’s hopelessly disgusting, but his petty base motives are easy to track.

    But what’s in it for the dirtbags that continue to remain in his orbit? They don’t have the money to fall back after this all collapses and society collectively shuns them (like we already should have).

  130. 130.

    Heywood J.

    @Galahad Threepwood: Amen. I hope we all come together after this, and make sure none of these people — right down to the little Eichmanns that bring him his hourly “Diet” Cokes — can eat at a restaurant again without worrying about the condition of their meal. They can all go straight to hell.

    Incidentally, this includes the hapless, enabling mediots who continue to plaster these monsters on our teevee screens, pretending that they’re normal people who can be reasoned with. Their choice of employment proves that they cannot be presumed as rational actors.

  131. 131.

    PenAndKey

    @mali muso: We did end up submitting an application in early 2019 and made the ITA cutoff.  Had our residency paperwork in hand and were scheduled to “land” in April, but then…COVID.  So everything is on hold for now, but CIC has reassured us that our spot is still valid despite the actual papers expiring.  Hope that you can find a pathway soon.  Provincial nomination?

    I have a few options to pursue and am in an in demand profession (manufacturing manager, 0911) so a provincial nomination isn’t off the table. Our biggest barrier right now is that the closest panel physician for our medical exams is a 3 hour drive from my house and all the language testing centers in the US are currently closed. We can’t even complete our paperwork to apply.

    Plus, my wife is resigned to the idea but still not sold on it. That’s the biggest barrier. But hey, at least we were able to update our passports finally. I’m glad to see you were able to get everything in order and now you’re just waiting for landing approval. Any tips on trouble spots in your application you had issue with?

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