Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

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

I was promised a recession.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

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

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Death Cultists Are Beyond Convincing

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Death Cultists Are Beyond Convincing

by | 127 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Well, *I* survived, so what’s the big deal?…

… [A]t least 74 people who served in Congress last year or are currently serving have gotten COVID-19, including 24 Democrats and 50 Republicans. In recent weeks, infections have begun to subside; there has been no news of a positive COVID test among members since January. But the impacts of the virus are expected to linger in Congress, which has seen one member and one member-elect perish from the disease.

Even among members who have contracted the virus, the aftereffects differed, the takeaways didn’t always break down neatly along party lines, and the lessons they looked to impart varied greatly.

Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider received his first COVID vaccine on Jan. 4. Two days later, the attack on the Capitol prevented him from social distancing. When he got home that Friday, he went straight to his basement to protect his wife from infection. At first, he seemed fine. A rapid COVID test came back negative. But as he prepared to return to D.C., he tested positive…

“The most important lesson for me from this pandemic looking to future challenges is we’ve got to find a way to reach across the aisle, reach across state boundaries, and unite as one country to tackle the challenges in front of us,” he said.

Schneider’s outlook is shared widely by Democrats, whether they’ve contracted the virus or not: Trust health authorities and take the recommended precautions. As the virus has become politicized, however, Republicans’ perspectives have grown complicated.

Asked if the GOP was on the same page about achieving unity, Schneider said too many Republicans were putting party ahead of country. But many Republicans, who say the pandemic has also encouraged them to pursue unity, argue it’s the other way around.

“It’s people trying to play politics with the disease that frustrate me,” said Republican Rep. Rodney Davis. He criticized some Democrats for blaming their own illnesses on maskless Republicans who sheltered with them during the attack on the Capitol, noting that none of those Republicans had tested positive around that time.

Davis, a proponent of masks and social distancing, endured his own bout of COVID last summer. Like Schneider, he faced uncertainty about approaching symptoms and worries about infecting his wife. But surviving the disease also eliminated the fear of the unknown. His wife never tested positive, nor did staffers who drove with him before his diagnosis. The experience strengthened his belief in simple precautions, he said. Additionally, it highlighted the drawbacks of seeing health experts’ advice change as they learned more about the virus. While Davis was in quarantine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted its recommendations, advising patients to isolate for 10 days after a diagnosis rather than 14.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, another COVID survivor, has his own criticisms of CDC guidance. He said he believes public-health experts are well-intentioned but don’t always give the public the full picture. He recommends that Americans read studies for themselves, as he does…

Rep. Nancy Mace… experienced months of chronic fatigue.

“A lot of times my judgment of that previously was like, ‘Is that really real?’ Right? But then to have COVID and then to have debilitating chronic fatigue, it was a horrible experience,” Mace said. “I thought to myself, my God, if I have this for a lifetime, I don’t know what I would do. … It was mentally exhausting. It was emotional, because you’re just not yourself.”…

Republicans who got the virus mostly said their experience gives them a balanced perspective as the pandemic seems to be nearing an end. Rep. Austin Scott said he’s “absolutely” been more careful after getting the virus. Scott was hospitalized with a 103-degree fever the day after Thanksgiving. Five days later, he said, the hospital was full, and he was sent home with blood thinners, oral steroids, antibiotics, and an oxygen machine, which he ended up using for two weeks. He was on and off medications through Christmas. He said it was the sickest he’s ever been.

Still, Scott said he’s eager for Congress to resume more in-person business…

Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    Relatedly, McCarthy asks Pelosi about easing Capitol covid restrictions

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asking her to detail her plans “to reopen the People’s House,” citing new guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that ease some covid restrictions for vaccinated Americans.

    McCarthy suggests that Pelosi begin lifting the protocols put in place nearly a year ago in the House because about 75 percent of the chamber’s members are vaccinated.

    That recommendation doesn’t take into account the many other people who work in the Capitol, including congressional aides, janitors, law enforcement personnel and reporters, who may not yet be vaccinated. It also overstates the new CDC guidelines. The CDC said a vaccinated person could be inside maskless with an unvaccinated person in a single household but did not suggest that hundreds of vaccinated people could gather with dozens of unvaccinated ones.

  2. 2.

    MisterForkbeard

    @dmsilev: “Dear Kevin:

    Learn to read. The CDC guidelines do not talk about mixed workplaces like this, and you are conveniently ignoring all the unvaccinated workers who support our efforts here on the Hill.

    Grow a brain and/or a heart.

    Love,
    Madame Speaker Pelosi”

  4. 4.

    Frank Wilhoit

    Look at this a different way.  Republicans are serious about enforcing the Party whip.  Democrats are not.

    Now let me make one further suggestion, which I cannot prove, but which I believe is borne out by experience.  Voters reward effectiveness, even in causes of which they do not approve.

  5. 5.

    Damien

    You know, I’ll strongly disagree with Republicans who downplay the virus and say that having COVID is no big deal.  I will also relentlessly mock any non-medical expert trying to “read the studies for themselves,” because even between disciplines there’s sometimes such a gap derived from not being a part of the other’s milieu.

    That said, if you have had COVID, might be a long-hauler and want to discuss the relative wisdom of restrictions and the value of prevention, then sure.  I’ll listen to your experience.

  6. 6.

    Ruckus

    Fucking rethuglicans.

    As long as they personally are Ok, don’t do a damn thing for anyone else. No concept for any one else, a complete don’t give a fuck for every other human on the planet.

  7. 7.

    bucachon

    They Vote no, but they take the dough.

    can we encourage those republicans who opposed the relief bill to send their checks back with a note saying thanks but I’d not need this right now?

    ted Cruz? Where is your check? You don’t need the money! Send it back!

  9. 9.

    Cacti

    70% of Americans wanted a relief bill.

    100% of Republicans told them to fuck off and die.

    Dems need to hang this around the neck of every Republican in 2022.  Take all the credit for any ensuing recovery, because the Republicans opposed it completely.

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    @debbie: “Hey Kevin,

    Your Nazi trash supporters wanted to murder me and my colleagues.  Stop your whining.”

    Madame Speaker Pelosi

     

    ETA The 60-year-old baby who whined about jail not being fair is still hilarious.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    @bucachon:

    ted Cruz? Where is your check? You don’t need the money! Send it back!

    Im pretty sure that even putting aside the money that his Goldman Sachs VP wife makes, Ted’s Senatorial salary alone is enough to push them above the cap for getting any relief checks.

    Maybe there’s a special codicil in the bill supplying money to save Snowflake the poodle.

  21. 21.

    Dan B

    @dmsilev: McCarthy believes: Staff = 0, do not exist, don’t count.

    Viewing ‘servants’ as fellow humans interferes with the meaning of life.  Meaning = money, business, power, control.  It is the same as the definition of Freedom, apparently.

  22. 22.

    debbie

    This is a hell of an achievement. It isn’t the end. They will need another, probably. In terms of policy it is a lot, sure, but the politics to get this done with relative ease is a hell of a thing. Biden and Pelosi in particular.
    — Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) March 10, 2021

  23. 23.

    patrick II

    Rep. Rodney Davis. He criticized some Democrats for blaming their own illnesses on maskless Republicans who sheltered with them during the attack on the Capitol, noting that none of those Republicans had tested positive around that time.

    As if I trusted them to come forward if they had tested positive.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    This fucking asshole (see the attached graphic).

    I hope everyone remembers when they’re enjoying this account (often referred to as the John Barron Account), you wouldn’t be getting these beautiful “tweets” if it weren’t for me! I hope everyone remembers! pic.twitter.com/SQorxWZ9Zo
    — John Barron (@barronjohn1946) March 10, 2021

  26. 26.

    Dan B

    @patrick II: Right up there with “Wide stance” GQP’ers.

    Trustworthy interferes with Freedumb!  My morality happens when it doesn’t mess with my Freedums!

  28. 28.

    JPL

    Marjorie Taylor Greene just referred to Rep David Cicilline as Rep Mussolini..    because of course she did. 

    I so wish that the local republicans didn’t encourage MTG to change districts, because McBath would embarrass her, if that’s possible.

  29. 29.

    Geminid

    @patrick II: Rodney Davis is standing on shaky ground. Illinois is expected to lose a seat in the upcoming reapportionment, and the Democrats in control in Springfield will try to make sure that it’s a Republican who loses the game of musical chairs. Davis may have to fight another Republican Congressman for reelection.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @debbie: I made a quick scan of Geraldo’s wiki page to see if there were any connection to Ohio. If there is, I missed it, unless he drove through on his way to Chicago to open Al Capone’s empty safe. Another tweet told me he now lives in Florida.

  32. 32.

    Jay

    English is weird.

    There is one silent K in knot.

    There are two silent K’s in knuckle,

    Three silent K’s in Republican,

    Four silent K’s in knickknack.

    Weird, right?

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @JPL: Greene might have switched to the GA 14th on her own anyway. It’s a very red district, and once the incumbent retired it was low hanging fruit for a self-financing nut like Greene. Even though she was a rich carpetbagging gym rat and her primary runoff opponent was a native, a veteran, and a medical doctor, Greene beat him by 10 points.

  36. 36.

    lgerard

    @dmsilev:

    My favorite is still the shaman guy insisting that he could only stay at a jail that provides organic food.

    The judge bought that argument and granted him organic food

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @debbie: you think? I’d think Democrats would love to run against him, a carpet-bagger with video history of Jerry Springer (Ohio!) like video clips. But then, who the hell knows what Republicans will vote for…

  39. 39.

    Jay

    We now have our second case of a Covid outbreak in an Elder Carehome, This time, 88% of the Staff and Patients were fully vaccinated.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    NYT

    Biden Plans Messaging Blitz to Sell Economic Aid Plan

    Drawing on a lesson from early in the Obama administration, the White House wants to tell voters how the legislation will help them and keep Republicans from defining it on their terms.

  45. 45.

    Karen

    Please don’t shoot me but I thought the bill was passed and and on Biden’s desk, according to headlines. So it didn’t pass?

  46. 46.

    cain

    @debbie:

    I believe he winters there. According to Wikipedia, he’s living in Shaker Heights. More surprisingly, he’s 77 years old.

    When Trump shirks off this mortal coil, I’m sure we can get Geraldo to find his crypt and see if he’s stashed any money. I mean rooting through old gangster’s crypt is what he does best, amirite?

  47. 47.

    mrmoshpotato

    @debbie: And maybe over 500 thousand people wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for the Kremlin’s orange shitstain!

  49. 49.

    cain

    @Karen:

    Please don’t shoot me but I thought the bill was passed and and on Biden’s desk, according to headlines. So it didn’t pass?

    It passed and will head to Biden’s desk on Friday.

  51. 51.

    Jeffro

    @jeffreyw: it is SO fucking irritating!  They just go right on lying, completely shameless, pretending that they didn’t just oppose every last bit of this aid.

    trumpov sure taught them well: no need to hold back, just lie lie lie.

    And their voters will never know the difference, because they just lap up whatever they’re told on Fox or OANN.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    Democrats are getting an early start on their tax-increase agenda.

     

    They’ve tucked a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations into their coronavirus relief package that together are worth $60 billion.

     

    One takes away deductions for publicly traded companies that pay top employees more than $1 million. Another provision cracks down on how multinational corporations do their taxes. A third targets how owners of unincorporated businesses account for their losses.

  57. 57.

    The Moar You Know

    We now have our second case of a Covid outbreak in an Elder Carehome, This time, 88% of the Staff and Patients were fully vaccinated.

    @Jay:  One of the things not brought up a lot, because it might have changed who got prioritized for getting the vaccine, is that the 95% effectiveness rate goes down in over-65 recipients to about 80-something percent and may decline further with increasing age.   That being said, this outbreak will be different; far fewer will get extremely ill, and likely none of the vaccinated will die.

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    @debbie:

    @cain: and here’s Geraldo (and Herschel Walker, apparently, down in GA) making my case for higher entry requirements for office.  I used to want this for presidential candidates; now I want it for all of them – Reps, Senators, and Prez.

  61. 61.

    lamh36

    Evening BJ.

    Been a while, but I wanted to share something with you all.

    So I have a former coworker in DFW, wo has now lost her son (2wks ago), her husband (1 wk ago) and her daughter (last night) all due to COVID complications.  3 members of the same family gone in 3 weeks.

    It’s a devastating loss for someone who I know was so close to her kids even as adults and her family were so close.  To lose your youngest children and your husband in less than a month.  To literally have to bury a family member one every week for 3 weeks!  I just can fathom it

    This former coworker of mine was featured on the news out in DFW yesterday.

    She was the only one in her family who was fully vaccinated. She swears by it saving her from getting infected. Especially since she was surrounded by family members with COVID and so far, knock on wood, she has not had it.

    If you click on the link, you’ll see the entire family did have at least 1 pre-existing condtion (obesity) but the fact that her youngest children got COVID and died from it while so far, she still ok, I think may say alot about the efficacy of the vaccine.

    So if I have one bit of advice, especially here in Texas were today the mask mandate is ifted, it’s to please be safe and protect yourself by wearing a mask until more people are vaccinated.

    Anyway, here’s a link to her story from the news:

    <blockquote>One of the kindest, dearest person I knew when I lived in DFW. She talked about her children all the time. Mr Royce was a good guy and Natalia and Royce Jr were good hearted people. RIP to them all and sending love to the Crawford family????

    Forney woman loses husband, two children to COVID-19

    </blockquote>

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @JPL: Once Karen Handel decided to try to win that seat back, I expect republicans did try to steer Greene to the 14th. Handel was one of them, and they probably liked her chances against McBath, especially without a tough primary. Greene probably did not need much persuasion, though.

    I just hope Georgia Democrats can keep Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bordeaux in Congress. Georgia Republicans will surely try to gerrymander one or both out of office when they  redistrict later this year.

  63. 63.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @Baud: 

    Bo Biden knows blitzing

    Joe Biden Was Once a Solid Football Player and Led His Team To an Improbable Undefeated Season

    by Luke Norris on November 3, 2020

  70. 70.

    JPL

    @Geminid: I hope it backfires.    I stepped back from local politics so am now out of the loop, but I think that some local state seats could turn blue next time.  Hope springs eternal

  71. 71.

    sab

    @Karen: I think it went like this: the House passed one version, the Senate passed another, then they had a joint conference to reconcile them into one version, and that went back to the House for final approval.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    This qualifies as a Good Thing.

    The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is finished its environmental impact review of a wind farm in federal waters off Massachusetts.

    According to AP, the company that wants to install the turbines, Vineyard Wind, had withdrawn its application last summer for fear Trump would reject it. President Biden, however, encouraged it once he took office and it seems approval has been fast-tracked.
    [snip]
    The 84 huge offshore wind turbines will generate 800 megawatts, almost the nameplate power produced by a small nuclear plant, and will provide electricity to 400,000 households in southern Massachusetts. The state has 2.6 million households, so that is about a sixth of them.

    The $3 billion wind farm will be America’s first commercial scale offshore wind installation.…
    [snip]
    The wind farm will be 12 nautical miles off the coast, so it will not spoil anyone’s view, and the turbines are being spaced far enough apart so that fishing ships can navigate between them. The wind farm is not sited in an area of scallop fishing, a major local industry. Source

  75. 75.

    Jay

    @The Moar You Know:

    Dr. Bonnie Hendry pointed that out.

    However, being vaccinated (right now), doesn’t mean that you can’t get Covid, doesn’t mean that you can’t spread Covid,

    It just means that you are significantly less likely to get severe Covid, be hospitalized, or die.

    A large number of asymptotic Covid people, who never “suffered” from Covid, are now “Long Haulers”,

    And even though we are miles behind the US on vaccination progress, we are already seeing VacIdiots up here, who believe that they are immune and immortal and don’t have to in any way shape or form, maintain the Public Health guidelines.

  77. 77.

    Kropacetic

    @sab:I think it went like this: the House passed one version, the Senate passed another, then they had a joint conference to reconcile them into one version, and that went back to the House for final approval.

    No conference.  Both houses would have had to vote again on that.  The house approved the Senate bill.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @lamh36:

    ❤️❤️❤️ and {{{{{}}}}}

    Wear a mask,

    No Indoors,

    6 feet minimum,

    Wash your hands you dirty, filthy animals.

    Until this is over, even if you are vaccinated.

  83. 83.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jay: I think the evidence is starting to say that you’re also less likely to spread covid if you’ve had the vaccine.

    Which makes sense on a surface level – if you’re not coughing and actively spewing viral agents everywhere but just breathing normally you’re going to be a lot less infectious just by itself.

    Really want to see these studies complete before we risk anything, though.

  84. 84.

    Jay

    @MisterForkbeard:

    it’s tricky. A lot of the “superspreaders” were asymptomatic.

    No coughing, no sneezing, no running nighttime nose.

    It’s an “elegant” virus in many ways.

    There is so much more that we need to study and learn.

    Having vaccines, so fast is both a miracle, the hard work, innovation and brilliance of so many people,

    But this pandemic ain’t over yet.

  87. 87.

    Suzanne

    I am having a hard time. I got a job offer that is really good, doing exactly what I want to do, working remotely, good money. But I kind of don’t want to leave my current place, because I just got a good performance review and I’ve only been there a year and I like my colleagues and I just cannot bear any more change. And I am sad because I really just want to say FUCK IT and move back to Arizona.

  89. 89.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    Was watching Colbert last night and he covered this. He made a “joke” about how “little girls can also bomb Syria now when they grow up”.

  90. 90.

    FelonyGovt

    @Suzanne: Do you have some time to decide whether to accept the new offer? I hope you get some clarity on your best option soon.

  91. 91.

    HRA

    @NotMax: Glad to see you here. The morning news was about the floods in Hawaii and I asked about you. JR fromWV was kind enough to reply you were onlast night. No real need to send me a reply.  Its most normal not to do it.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Oh, that poor woman. What an inconceivable loss. And for you, too, to know how your friend must be grieving. I’m so sorry.

  93. 93.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: I’m sympathetic to not wanting any more change. Two moves and two new jobs in such a short time is a lot of stress.

    What about the fam? Where would they rather be? That might drive the decision.

    Also, a great job offer while you’re in a job you like? Very nice! But nerve-wracking as you describe.

  94. 94.

    Jay

    @Suzanne:

    it’s a tough choice. If you make it past the algorithms that many companies are subcontracting to “qualify” resumes,

    a lot of HR persons have a dim view of “job jumping”.

    Added to that, most of us spend more waking time with coworkers, ( even in a Zoom world) than with friends or family, so having good working relationships is critical.

    I would never move to Arizona, but I am sure that you will make the best choice for you.

  96. 96.

    Suzanne

    @FelonyGovt: I told them that I would need to take the weekend to think about it.

    Job jumping is more common in the profession I’m in (project-based professions have a lot of it). I’m more hesitant because I just am comfortable and I don’t really feel an appetite for more change ATM,

  97. 97.

    Suzanne

    @frosty: Dude. The job market has just exploded in the last month. I had one recruiter reach out to me THREE TIMES on various platforms BEFORE LUNCHTIME TODAY. And that’s saying nothing of the other recruiters circling.

  103. 103.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: I never had anything like that happen to me. Never! Months of sending out resumes with no interviews.

    But that’s what happens when you get your BS in Nixon’s recession and your MS in Planning just in time for Reagan to destroy the profession and nosedive the economy.

    Both times I took anything (the only thing) I could get.

    It worked out OK by the time I was 40 though.

  104. 104.

    Jay

    @zhena gogolia:

    while being completely insensitive to President Biden’s actual message,

    it was “dark” humour along the lines of,

    Join the Army,

    Travel to foreign and exotic lands,

    Meet interesting and unique people,

    And kill them.

    I get why he went there, but he shouldn’t have.

    It was cheap.

  106. 106.

    Dan B

    @debbie: My mother and brother and I visited Cleveland when I was in Junior High.  We took the train (transit?).  I remember gardeners trimming the edges of the lawns with scissors ✂️.   Looked very posh and anal retentitive.

    I could imagine Geraldo there in his tennis whites and Bentley.*

     

    *Those two are both outfits, right?

  107. 107.

    frosty

    @Jay: I loved your “silent K” joke but of course being a jackal I have advice.
    Stop at the 3Ks and the Republicans. Rule of Three: people expect 3 things, not 4.
    Also, the 4th stepped on your really good (and unexpected) punchline.

  108. 108.

    Suzanne

    @frosty: I graduated into recessions twice. I remember how hard that was. My specialty now is pretty rare, though, so I haven’t had any trouble since I decided to specialize.

    Also, as bad as job jumping looks…. it helps. Getting that portfolio of large project experience and getting to work for certain kinds of firms makes you very attractive. I have maybe jumped a bit, but I also have every interviewer say something like, “You’ve only been practicing for ten years? You’ve got a lot of experience.”

  109. 109.

    Dan B

    @Baud: This bill has many reasons for bubbly, silly hats, and noisemakers!

    I look forward to a modified filibuster- talking, on topic, no breaks.  And simple majorities for votes on human and voting rights!  Deliver Democrats!!!

  110. 110.

    J R in WV

    @lgerard:

    @dmsilev:

    My favorite is still the shaman guy insisting that he could only stay at a jail that provides organic food.

    The judge bought that argument and granted him organic food

    Organic oatmeal, 3 squares a day, right? Right!

    Or organic whole grain bread, with a glass of water… With jam if he’s been a good prisoner. His choice.

  111. 111.

    Bill Arnold

    @MisterForkbeard: ​

    I think the evidence is starting to say that you’re also less likely to spread covid if you’ve had the vaccine.

    Evidence is pretty thin ATM (but non-zero), that the vaccines block outgoing transmission (are “sterilizing”). The CDC companion document (science brief) is interesting because it makes clear that there was a balancing done in the guidelines between the goods of increased human contact and the current uncertainties about how much vaccines block transmission. Like they say, investigation is ongoing.
    Science Brief: Background Rationale and Evidence for Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People (Mar. 8, 2021)
    From the Key Points:

    A growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. However, further investigation is ongoing.

  112. 112.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: Nice! I’m glad the specialty is working out.

    I ended up retiring from my last employer after 20 years as a consulting PM. Each new project was something a little different so it stayed interesting. And every few years the regulations would change and we’d all have to learn something new.

    Even so, they pissed me off periodically so that I sent resumes out 4 times.

  113. 113.

    Dan B

    @lamh36: I can’t bring myself to read the story.  It reminds me of AIDS when most Americans were ignoring the dead and dying.  I’ve still got something like PTSD and unresolved grief.  Stirues like this family’s need to be spread far and wide.  This is the only way many people understand the risks and the reality.

    The AUDS quilt, the Vietnam Memorial, Arlington cemetery, and others like it are necessary.  Biden / Harris candlelight ceremony was important.  I wish it happened every month or every week with a reading of names.  We need symbolism and repeated stories.  Our local paper had the story if one woman who has lost 15 friends and relatives.  She’s black, as are most of our immediate neighbors.  I wish they got more stories like this because they seem casual about precautions.  And they’re wonderful neighbors like Darren who brought over a battery charger for us without any complaint.  And Dwan and Keisha who have a toddler who Dwan is the best father to.  He took little Cain Paul for a walk in the sun today and there is no better image of love to be found.

  114. 114.

    J R in WV

    @sab: ​
     

    I think it went like this: the House passed one version, the Senate passed another, then they had a joint conference to reconcile them into one version, and that went back to the House for final approval.

    I think they didn’t do the joint conference to reconcile the versions. Instead, the House just passed the Senate version which now goes to President Biden for signature.

    I could be wrong, but I think the conference would have added weeks to the process, when Unemployment Insurance was about to expire for millions of workers. So they went with the shorter procedure, to approve the Senate version and call it done.

  115. 115.

    laura

    @lamh36: Please accept my condolences – the enormity of your dear friend’s lost is staggering. I wish her Grace and Peace and comfort in the light of such a loving family.

  116. 116.

    Dan B

    @Bill Arnold: There’s also a drug for depression and OCD that seems to eliminate the hyperimmune response that destroys organs.  It’s 60 cents a dose with negligible side effects.  Testing is underway thanks to Gates (?).  It can be prescribed by a physician ‘off reg’ since it’s already FDA approved

    Fluvoxamine – covered on 60 Minutes last Sunday.

  118. 118.

    Jay

    @frosty:

    stepping on a punch line is an actual technique.

    there is a “flow” , you go past the punchline, continue on, and the audience goes, wait, what was that?

    It’s as much as a technique as going right when the audience expects left, more so when they don’t know, (deadpan), it’s a joke.

    Eg. I found a place where people love each other regardless of race, creed, sexual identity, gender, gender identity, body image,

    People just love each other,………..

     

     

     

    it’s called PornHub.

  122. 122.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    I still have PTSD from the AIDs era, and I am a straight guy.

    Worked in SF when the crisis started to blow up,

    Knew a bunch of Club People when I moved back to Vancouver.

    Dr. Peter and his husband were friends, through them I met Sin,  through Sin, I met SWIMBO.

  123. 123.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    Rep. Nancy Mace… experienced months of chronic fatigue.
    “A lot of times my judgment of that previously was like, ‘Is that really real?’ Right? But then to have COVID and then to have debilitating chronic fatigue, it was a horrible experience,” Mace said. “I thought to myself, my God, if I have this for a lifetime, I don’t know what I would do. … It was mentally exhausting. It was emotional, because you’re just not yourself.”…

    And *that* is why Republicans are horrible people about this pandemic. It can cause chronic fatigue; it can damage the lungs, or heart (which can also cause chronic fatigue), or other organs.
    Folks, I wouldn’t wish chronic fatigue on *ANYONE*.
    Imagine this: you’re feeling every failure in your life, including those in grade school, and it feels like mini-vultures trying to take a taste of your brain before you’re dead. You have to fight to keep from mumbling or talking nonsense (too tired to censor yourself, and icky feelings bring icky thoughts which become words); and YOU CAN’T STOP IT. Your brain is too tired to distract itself, and shove those ugly, petty thoughts back into the latrine pit where they belong. Someone comes by to cheer you up, but all they are is a burden, and you might be stressing out major league, because you don’t want to come across as too strange, and what’s more, YOU ARE TOO TIRED TO FEEL GOOD.
    Seriously. Fatigue can shut down sex, appreciation of beauty, reading ability… there are times I’m too tired to watch Star Trek (any series), and no disrespect, but you know the basic plotline as you begin, right? Captain and/or crew will find a huge challenge, with complications that might make it seem insurmountable, but by acting ethically and decently, their big fat brains, coupled with their wonderful technology, will save the day. There are times I’m too tired to follow that plot, even when I’ve seen the episode multiple times! (Fatigue also can impair memory – both recall, and forming memories.)
    I’ve lived a massive portion of my life on grenade watch. If someone threw a frag grenade, I should throw myself on it. Why? Because if I’m close enough to throw myself on it, I’m in the kill zone. I really don’t have much to lose. And it would *suck* if it killed someone who had a reason to live (as opposed to plenty of reasons not to die). The joke is, you don’t want to let a grenade go to waste, so you’re watching for one (and sometimes cursing the lack of grenade throwers).
    (Obviously, the calculation changes if no one else is near the grenade, and I have hard cover to get behind.)
    THAT is what fatigue can mean. And I suppose the Republicans should count themselves lucky that people stuck with covid-chronic fatigue will probably be too flippin’ tired to do much damage.​
    ​
    ​

  124. 124.

    jonas

    One part of me is like “Dems need to fucking be screaming from the mountain tops about supporting this bill and the benefits its going to bring to millions of people. Own it. Proudly. From Sunday morning talk shows to local radio show interviews.

    The other part of me is like “Fuck it. Nothing matters.” No matter how well this is sold, promoted, praised, whatever, the only thing that matters to anyone beyond those immediately impacted, and especially Republicans, is “how does this hurt people I don’t like?” Unless something fucks over the poor or minorities somehow, it won’t swing a single goddamn vote. Which is why not a single GOP rep or Senator voted for it. They know. That have absolutely nothing to fear in their home states/districts. It’s a hell of a racket they’ve got going.

  125. 125.

    Dan B

    @Jay: There are probably as many straight people, or more, who were traumatized by AIDS and the GOP / Reagan (non-) response.  I went home with a very handsome cis guy who had a degree in Russian Literature.  A couple weeks later he was diagnosed, dead in six months.  My best friend from high school got stinkin drunk and tried to tell me something but was super paranoid he’d be heard.  I was angry he was such a drunken jerk I didn’t take or return his call a couple weeks later.  A couple months later I learned he called from the hospital and wanted to see me.  He died unable to speak, from pneumocystis.  I cry, or get very depressed, everything I think about him.  I would have gladly made a life with him.

    I think of all the people who are losing the people they loved.  There is a need for potent, meaning-filled, and powerful rituals and storytelling for people who have essentially vanished into thin air.  Covid-19 is doing it again because the sorry excuse that calls itself conservatism has bought the drug of fear and victim hood that the Murdochs monetized.

    Powerful stories and public rituals are the means to bring the horror that Murdoch-Think  has brought.

    Thank you for telling your story of losing friends.  I didn’t know them but knew people who did,  wonderful people.

    Hugs to you.

  126. 126.

    BigJimSlade

    I get the feeling that the Republican members of Congress who have suffered from Covid don’t care about relief because, hey, they didn’t get laid off.

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