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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

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

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Second rate reporter says what?

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

The willow is too close to the house.

The lights are all blinking red.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Biden Economic Impact of Covid

Open Thread: Biden Economic Impact of Covid

by TaMara|  December 2, 20204:04 pm| 96 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politicans, President Biden

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I’ve been offline most of the afternoon, so waaay late to this, but I think it’s a good one. Rewind to the beginning to hear Biden’s remarks.

Open thread

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Previous Post: « The Ongoing Pandemic: Some (More) Longer Reads
Next Post: Wednesday NDAA Open Thread: Losers Get No Respect, Donnie »

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    December 2, 2020 at 4:08 pm

    "It's the Trump vaccine" pic.twitter.com/MTFff7sQfk— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 2, 2020

  2. 2.

    Steeplejack

    December 2, 2020 at 4:12 pm

    @germy:

    Ah yes the great breakthroughs in immunological science:
    Polio vaccine
    Smallpox vaccine
    Measles vaccine
    Trump vaccine
    https://t.co/r53lt9hJcZ

    — Zeddy (@Zeddary) December 2, 2020

  3. 3.

    cain

    December 2, 2020 at 4:15 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Yes, we could use a vaccine to cure us of “Trump”. Luckily that just happened. It’s called Joe and Kamala.

  4. 4.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 2, 2020 at 4:15 pm

    It’s the Trump Disease.  It’s the American vaccine for the Trump Disease.

     

    It’s so great that we’ll have adults in the White House again on January 20th.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    December 2, 2020 at 4:15 pm

    @germy: Geraldo must be feeling very proud of himself for floating that suggestion a week or two ago.

  6. 6.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:16 pm

    @germy:

    Boy, I sure wish there was a Trump vaccine.  Sadly, the prion disease seems to be immune to any and all treatment.

    I saw people in another thread talking about Lin Wood today.  And I really had no idea who he was.  And lo and behold, I open up TPM and this is what I see:

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/pro-coup-trumpist-lawyer-lin-wood-seems-to-be-legit-bonkers

  7. 7.

    Mary G

    December 2, 2020 at 4:17 pm

    ? ?

    It was smol accident. I sorry.- Major ? pic.twitter.com/tvuNbUbTF5— Champ And Major Biden (@TheFirstDogs) December 1, 2020

  8. 8.

    Leto

    December 2, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    @dmsilev: we need him to go back to searching for vaults, and what’s in them.

  9. 9.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    So, my BIL’s oldest brother died of COVID yesterday.  He contracted it a few weeks ago and has been hospitalized in MI, where he lives.  They put him on a ventilator a week or so ago and he never came out of it.  So sad, but totally predictable.  He was a Trumper, though not of the Q variety.  Just of the stubborn asshole variety.  Poor BIL has lost two brothers in 7 months (the first was non-COVID related, but another stubborn right winger who thought he didn’t need to listen to his doctors about his diabetes).  I will never understand these wingnuts.  Happily, BIL seems to have escaped contracting the prion disease from them.  But I’m very, very sad for my BIL.

  10. 10.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:23 pm

    @Mary G:

    That made my day!

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 2, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    @Leto: With no cameras and no ‘net connection.  Also, too, close the vault after he goes in.

  12. 12.

    LuciaMia

    December 2, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    @geg6: I’m really sorry, greg

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 2, 2020 at 4:25 pm

    @geg6: Please pass my condolences on to the family.  What a tragic waste, all because Donald is too stupid to understand anything about contagious disease.

  14. 14.

    Steeplejack

    December 2, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    @geg6:

    Condolences to your BIL and his family.

  15. 15.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    @LuciaMia:

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I will tell him.  Thanks so much.  Just too much horror this year, in every way.  I know 2021 will only be slightly better because of the time it will take for the vaccines to do their jobs, but I’d take slightly better any day.

  16. 16.

    Leto

    December 2, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: pretty sure we can start a Go-Grift-Me to make it happen.

  17. 17.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 2, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    @geg6: “Legit Bonkers” LOL

    Also (too) – Bonkers intro

  18. 18.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Thanks, I’ll pass it along.  He is aware of Balloon Juice, so it won’t be some long, crazy explanation I have to give about all my “online friends.”

  19. 19.

    J R in WV

    December 2, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    @Mary G:

    I dunno if that’s really the Biden folks, but whoever it is, it’s hilarious.

    “It was smol accident. I sorry!”

    . .           .            ;~)

  20. 20.

    Leto

    December 2, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    @geg6: I’m so sorry,  geg6.

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    December 2, 2020 at 4:32 pm

    @geg6: 
    Sorry for you BIL.

  22. 22.

    J R in WV

    December 2, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    @geg6:

    So sorry to hear of your family’s loss. Even worse that had he worn a mask more, and been more careful, it may not have happened.

    Sad~!!~

    You take care out there working with the public students!!!

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    December 2, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    There was a tweet yesterday that said..

    ‘ How come nobody is coming out saying..

    2021 is gonna be my year!’

     

    Folks were like..

    Mannnnn…we’re just trying to make it through these next 30 days ALIVE.

    Thinking about 2021 is too much to contemplate right now.

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    @geg6:   I am so sorry.

    May your BIL’s loss save some other lives.  As in, may some of his friends and associates may wise up before they’re on ventilators themselves.

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    I put up on an excerpt on previous thread.  Blood red Campbell County in SW Virginia wants to declare itself a “First Amendment Sanctuary” county.”

    No tyrant, like our Democratic governor (once an Army physician) is going to tell these God-fearing patriots to wear masks!

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 2, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    @geg6: This is so sad. The daily statistics are horrifying, but I think it’s hard to grasp the impact until it comes down to hurting or killing people we know. Condolences to your BIL and the whole family.

  27. 27.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 2, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    @Elizabelle: I read the whole thing in the last thread, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

  28. 28.

    Mike in NC

    December 2, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    The Washington Post put up an article speculating on whether Princess Ivanka will try her hand at politics after January. The comments thus far are about 6000 variations on “Die in a fire, bitch!”

  29. 29.

    Martin

    December 2, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    @Elizabelle: Reminds me of the town in New Hampshire that was  taken over by libertarians and then shortly thereafter by bears.

    Grappling with what to do about the bears, the Graftonites also wrestled with the arguments of certain libertarians who questioned whether they should do anything at all—especially since several of the town residents had taken to feeding the bears, more or less just because they could. One woman, who prudently chose to remain anonymous save for the sobriquet “Doughnut Lady,” revealed to Hongoltz-Hetling that she had taken to welcoming bears on her property for regular feasts of grain topped with sugared doughnuts. If those same bears showed up on someone else’s lawn expecting similar treatment, that wasn’t herproblem. The bears, for their part, were left to navigate the mixed messages sent by humans who alternately threw firecrackers and pastries at them. Such are the paradoxes of Freedom. Some people just “don’t get the responsibility side of being libertarians,” Rosalie Babiarz tells Hongoltz-Hetling, which is certainly one way of framing the problem.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    December 2, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    @Elizabelle

    Just as freedom of speech is not a shield for shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater, freedom of assembly does not include doing so to set fire to the theater.

    //

  31. 31.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Students are all gone until end of January.  And I’m only going into the office one day a week until then, then back to two days a week.  I feel safer at work than I do at Walmart.

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    December 2, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    I had written earlier about how 90% of our office had been out due to contact with COVID.

    I was feeling better because the three initial people were doing better.

    One was good enough to come back to work.

    One got out of the hospital. He’s a walking testimony that you can catch COVID again. He was in the hospital, but, from what it sounds, he’s going to be one of those with long-time lasting effects.

    The last was said to be doing better and waiting for the results of his second test so that he can come back to work.

    So, why do I hear this afternoon that someone else had gotten it from one of the first three. The only person who caught it from someone else. Everyone else had tested negative. And, she’s in ICU. I’m just…..

     

    Edited to add: did another push for laptops this morning. Was shot down again. Will continue to make the case.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    December 2, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    @Mike in NC:

     

    Politics, where?

  34. 34.

    scribbler

    December 2, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    @Elizabelle:  They should have to sign a waiver that they refuse all medical/hospital aid should they (gasp!) come down with Covid.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Our English house guest just left to fly home, interestingly, to the country that just rapid-approving the Pfizer vaccine and so her mum could get her jab as soon as next week. She’s a psychiatric nurse who will also be administering it. Told Emily, “Say, since you know somebody, maybe you can, you know….” using my best NJ mob accent.

    The county infection numbers here are ghastly high, nearly 2x last summer’s peak. They sync perfectly with Halloween and I’m leery of the two weeks following Thanksgiving, which are just now populating the graph. Hoping we don’t see Fauci’s “peak of the peak” happen here.

  36. 36.

    geg6

    December 2, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    Thanks all.  I will pass on all your condolences to my BIL.  It will help him to know that there are people out there thinking about him and his family.  It’s been a rough year for him, poor guy.

  37. 37.

    raven

    December 2, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    @rikyrah: Tijuana.

  38. 38.

    Martin

    December 2, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The ‘rugged individualist’ is pretty deeply entrenched in US culture, and the GOP having been brainwashed that any government is ‘big government’ (well, anything outside of the military and ICE) have gone all in on it. Every single one of them convinced that they are solely equipped to take on the zombie apocalypse.

    I’m in favor of relocating these idiots to northern Alaska where gun ownership is nearly mandatory, and where they can test out their theories. I’d worry about the environmental impact, but they’d certainly all die and corpses are an important component in the circle of life.

  39. 39.

    bluehill

    December 2, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Unfortunately, there’s no cure for stupid.

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    December 2, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    @Martin: Since, as we all know, the right to arm bears is sacred, I assume the problem eventually took care of itself.

  41. 41.

    cain

    December 2, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Do they still have that candy ‘Bonkers’? That was some yum stuff.

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 2, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @rikyrah: I imagine she thinks it’s like that “cute” lemonade stand story from her memoir. Daddy will send the servants, all those grubby people from the rallies.

    Who’s the spoiled girl from Willy Wonka? Veruca Salt?

  43. 43.

    Martin

    December 2, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    @geg6: Sorry to hear that. I learned this morning of another colleague to pass due to covid. That’s the 5th I know of. I wonder how many I don’t know of yet. All work in higher ed around the country.

    Stay safe.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    @Martin:   Would take the pressure off seals, which are better creatures.

    Let the polar bears hunt the patriots (successfully, please).  I’d watch a pay per view of that.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    December 2, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    @dmsilev: Yeah, the town has mostly collapsed under its own ineptitude. Not sure how many people are left for the bears to eat.

  46. 46.

    Amir Khalid

    December 2, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    Trump is live on YouTube right now talking all kinds of crazy about the election. It’s billed as an address to the nation, but I don’t see coverage of it anywhere else.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    December 2, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    @rikyrah

    No place outside a ten mile radius from a Bloomingdale’s.

    //

  48. 48.

    Martin

    December 2, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    @NotMax: You think Ivanka stoops down to Bloomies?

  49. 49.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 2, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    @NotMax:

    freedom of assembly does not include doing so to set fire to the theater.

    Gee, you’re no fun at all.

  50. 50.

    Ramalama

    December 2, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    Thought B Juicers would appreciate a diversion.

    Today is William Wegman’s birthday.

    Not sure why I have his birthday on my calendar – I’m normally not organized like that at all. But I do! His Weimaraners are put into ridiculous poses and costumes and the result is something so enjoyable. I attended a show of his in Boston in maybe the 1990s – and I loved everything about it. He even made some videos of himself, sans les chiens, that are also really deadpan perfect.

    Fun things to read in case anyone needs a palette cleanser:

    Playing hockey on his rooftop in Manhattan (might be behind a paywall in WSJ)

    Pretty pictures in Architectural Digest.

  51. 51.

    TaMara (HFG)

    December 2, 2020 at 5:12 pm

    @Mary G: It does seem to be their official account. Which is completely adorable.

  52. 52.

    Ramalama

    December 2, 2020 at 5:12 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    “I’ve got to make sure that YouTube comes down to tape this.

    — Michael Scott, The Office

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @Ramalama:   Happy birthday, William Wegman.  Love those dogs.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    December 2, 2020 at 5:14 pm

    @Martin

    Any haute in a storm.

    :)

  55. 55.

    MomSense

    December 2, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I’m so sorry and I’m furious.  You are trying to do the right thing and you should be supported and commended for it.  It feels like employers are just going with this deadly flow instead of trying to protect their employees.
    I was talking to my son about it because he had a confrontation with the owner/director of his firm because senior people were not wearing masks and were holding meetings without requiring masks.  He knew the support staff were upset so he said something.  It worked in his case but he said he used up all his social and political capital to do it and feels like he is sort of on the outside now.
    We shouldn’t be treated like complainers or trouble makers when lives are on the line.  It seems like the whole understanding of the common good and our obligations to each other have eroded beyond repair.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 2, 2020 at 5:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Veruca Salt was a decent band.  And my memory from when I was nine or so is the actress who played Ms Salt was rather cute.

  57. 57.

    MomSense

    December 2, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    @geg6:

    I’m really sorry.  Sending my condolences to your family.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    @Ramalama: @Elizabelle:

    William Wegman Weimaraners=fabulous furry friends.

    HBDTY good sir.

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    @TaMara (HFG):   And their self-description, per their twitter account:

    We’re The First Good Bois. We’re moving to the White House soon. Our hoomans have decided to get a cat, so they’re not all that perfect anymore.

  60. 60.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    December 2, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    The Washington Post put up an article speculating on whether Princess Ivanka will try her hand at politics after January. The comments thus far are about 6000 variations on “Die in a fire, bitch!”

    Have any of the maggots thought about the optics of trying to go into politics if their biggest life accomplishment is being pardoned by Daddy for unspecified criming?

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    December 2, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    @geg6:  So very sorry for your BIL’s loss. So hard for everyone, especially during the holiday season.

  62. 62.

    Elizabelle

    December 2, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    @Martin:   Thank you.  Gonna read that article tonight.  And root for the bears.

  63. 63.

    Yarrow

    December 2, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    @Mike in NC:  None of the traitor tots have anything near Daddy’s charisma. Sure, he’s awful but he knows how to read the room and give his people what they want to hear. He’s a fantastic con man. The kids have none of that. They’ll go nowhere.

  64. 64.

    zzyzx

    December 2, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    @Elizabelle: there are enough shots of them in the feed that I think it’s real.

    I retweeted the post and they replied in character. It’s weird to see actual competence.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    @Sm*t Cl*de:

    Ambassador to USP Florence, CO Supermax.

  66. 66.

    Yarrow

    December 2, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    @MomSense:  That sort of thing is so infuriating. One of the things I so appreciate about Biden is that he models good behavior as far as Covid precautions are concerned. He wears a mask unless speaking at a microphone. Everyone else does too. They are social distanced. When the leaders model good behavior the people down the ladder are more likely to do it too.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    December 2, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    @Yarow

    She may have a future as third assistant emergency back-up hostess on the Home Shopping Network’s graveyard shift.

    //

  68. 68.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    @Yarrow:

    But Don Jr. yelled at us real good during the RNC and even uttered the magic phrase, “radical Islamic terrorism” which gives him superpowers. Also Kimberly on coke.

  69. 69.

    The Thin Black Duke

    December 2, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    @Yarrow: I see a reality TV show in their future. Unfortunately.

  70. 70.

    Frans

    December 2, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Absolutely horrifying. And he has so many weeks to get worse. And he will.

  71. 71.

    Yarrow

    December 2, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    @NotMax:  She’s going to roll in her money from the Chinese patents until the lawsuits make that more difficult.

    @trollhattan: Can you imagine the oppo on Don Jr.? File’s gotta be a five feet thick.

    @The Thin Black Duke: Maybe. Mark Burnett may have something in mind. They’re all so dull, though. I don’t know if they’ve got the fans that Daddy. does.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Heh, yup. Dude’s not smart enough to cover his tracks, I suspect. Nevertheless, of all the Trump spawn he’s the one who gives off the most “I deserve to be elected” vibe. Ivanka wants to be rich and worshiped more than she wants to be in office and I suspect now knows the difference. Now Jared is another story.

  73. 73.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 2, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    @trollhattan: Didn’t somebody here (or elsewhere, I dunno) point out that the last POTUS to lose a second term went on to watch his son be inaugurated 8 years later? I’d bet real folding money that Don Jr is acutely aware of that factoid.

  74. 74.

    germy

    December 2, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    You were by my side when I took my oath of office nearly 14 years ago. I’m so excited to be by yours today as you’re sworn in as our next Arizona Senator. pic.twitter.com/lGYcAXJFa4

    — Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) December 2, 2020

  75. 75.

    Dan B

    December 2, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    @geg6: Sorry about your BIL’s loss.  Among other emotions is he feeling regret like, What if I had done or said XYZ?  I’ve had that for 25 years about people I lost to AIDS.  I seems to be connected to seeing people die young and horribly.

    I hope he finds some measure of peace.

  76. 76.

    Yarrow

    December 2, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @trollhattan:  Agree that Jr.’s got that swag. But he’s also lazy and not that bright and doesn’t have his dad’s con man touch. He’d never get the devoted following his dad has.

  77. 77.

    Dan B

    December 2, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @germy: Lots of onions and dust in here all of a sudden.  Mark Kelly lifting Gabby’s spirit and desire for empathetic public service.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    Just learned our asshole Trump-loving gun-permit broadcasting county sheriff, the one who refuses to enforce the curfew mandate, has COVID.

    Thoughts & prayers.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Donny Jr. has the personality of  a 5# tub of lard. I doubt any of the spawn has “The One” tattooed on them. Here’s hoping, anyway.

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    December 2, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @Martin:

    The ‘rugged individualist’ is pretty deeply entrenched in US culture

    The myth of it, anyway.

    I’ve recently been reading about homesteaders who came out West. No one would have made it five yards from their former homes without scouts, the Army and all kinds of support infrastructure.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @germy:

    Oh man, what a journey for those two.

  82. 82.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And smallpox!

  83. 83.

    germy

    December 2, 2020 at 6:00 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I love them.  I was so glad when he won.

  84. 84.

    germy

    December 2, 2020 at 6:01 pm

    Trump putting the "most important speech he's ever made" directly on Facebook sure reveals how important he sees their role in destroying democracy.

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) December 2, 2020

  85. 85.

    Leto

    December 2, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    @Brachiator:  The first couple of chapters of Rick Perlstein’s book, “Before the Storm” (about Goldwater), talks about the same thing. All of the help the federal government provided to everyone out there including, perhaps most importantly, water rights and access to water. They love to talk about just how rugged they are, how it was all their own grit and fortitude, but as with most myths, it’s a lie.

  86. 86.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 2, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    @trollhattan: Tots and Pears.

  87. 87.

    germy

    December 2, 2020 at 6:09 pm

    This has to be the weirdest car commercial I’ve ever seen.  And they’re all pretty strange.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUtE3QlTpKI

  88. 88.

    The Moar You Know

    December 2, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    It feels like employers are just going with this deadly flow instead of trying to protect their employees.

    @MomSense: Owners of my company are hardcore Trumpers and high risk.  And I’ll say this for them; if you decide to show up and “stand on your rights” and not wear a mask, you’re fired.  If you show up sick, you are fired.  And they’ve made it very clear that is the case in both our East Coast offices as well.

    And we’re doing the preliminary discussions but we’ve already cleared it with our California HR lawyers and are waiting for the East Coast; when a vaccine is available, if you choose, for whatever reason, not to get vaccinated, you will be fired.  And if you have a medical exemption, we cannot accommodate that and we can back that up 100% in court (I can’t get into why without talking about what it is we do, which I won’t go any further than “military”) and you will no longer have a job.

    Our CEO is an asshole and Trumper, but she’s also a former nurse.  She’s not willing to fuck around with this.  And she’s old enough that if she got this, she would die.  Which is helpful

    We are an exception and for that, I am truly grateful.   My wife is a schoolteacher and the new board wants to end distance learning and send her back in five days a week.  She’s got three years to retirement.  So she’s going to be taking a full leave of absence.  It is appalling that they’re even being asked to do that, given that six months from now we’ll have a vaccine.  What exactly is the rush?

  89. 89.

    debbie

    December 2, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    @rikyrah: 

    A lot of companies have had surprising (to them) success with switching to remote working. You might find something in the WSJ or similar about this and pass it along to the stubborn cahoots in your organization.

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    December 2, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    @Leto: I’ve delayed reading the others in the Perlstein…tetrology? to start with “Before the Storm” and am not sorry to be investing the time. Joe McCarthy? Check. Daddy Koch? Present. John Birch Society? Right there. Brent Fucking Bozell? Had no idea he wormed his way so deeply into The Movement.

    So far it’s an education. How little I once knew–I thought the crazy stuff just dropped from the sky.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    December 2, 2020 at 6:18 pm

    @geg6:

    So sorry for your poor BiL’s losses. Even asshole siblings leave their marks on us.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 2, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    @Yarrow:  Agree that Jr.’s got that swag. But he’s also lazy and not that bright and doesn’t have his dad’s con man touch.

    also, unlike the elder generation/s, Fredo’s status as a trust fund baby is too well known for him to pass himself off as a “self-made man”, a fictional part trump plays even better than Rodney Dangerfield, if the audience is limited to people who found Caddyshack too highbrow and complicated (and I am not dissing Caddyshack, like most of my cohort, I can quote it extensively, even though I probably haven’t watched it in twenty years)

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    December 2, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Just learned our asshole Trump-loving gun-permit broadcasting county sheriff, the one who refuses to enforce the curfew mandate, has COVID.

    Thoughts & prayers.

    Oh yeah, I got some thoughts for him.

  94. 94.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 2, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Hopefully he dies painfully.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    December 2, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @MomSense: 
    I have decided to continue to prepare for the worst case scenario. Going to continue to get the work scanned. Getting it all done.
    I look at the trends. I don’t think that our Governor will have a choice. He is going to have to shut us down. We will probably be scrambling to get the laptops for staff, but the work will be ready for them

  96. 96.

    Barbara

    December 2, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    @geg6: That really is sad and I am sorry.

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