Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

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

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

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

White supremacy is terrorism.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

You are here: Home / Politics / GOP Death Cult / Saturday Evening Open Thread: *Everything* Is Interconnected…

Saturday Evening Open Thread: *Everything* Is Interconnected…

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Seriously, though: Good news, if true.

ETA:

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    A DC Police press conference that I heard on Friday said that they expected 700 people. It sound like even that number was a gross, gross over-estimate.

    Yay!

    Someone on Twitter made the point that this is yet another indication that TFG incited the 1/6 attack. Though far fewer people attended that than they pretended to expect, it was still much larger than today. And he didn’t tell people to come today…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  3. 3.

    Mike in NC

    If I never read anything written the odious Ari Fleischer for the rest of his life, I’d he happy.

  6. 6.

    Ladyracterinok

    Hi! My tablet has been broken for a long time. In addition I fell at the end of April and went to the ER. It turns out I had a minuscule fracture of the lower back. Other problems were later discovered and I was sent to a rehab facility. After a hundred days of therapy I am now in an assisted living apartment.
    I’ve missed the internet and especially reading the comments.
    I was glad to see that so many I remember are still here. Getting old—I’m nearly 82—makes a person especially sensitive about such things.
    Glad to be back and able to read the essays and comments at balloon juice!!!

  11. 11.

    Jeffro

    Jan 6th: after trumpov rails for months about a stolen election: tens of thousands of his rabid followers show up, sack the Capitol, beat on police all day long.

    Sept 18th: after he realizes it’s gonna be a dud, trumpov tells his followers “it’s a trap, stay away”: tens of his rabid followers show up…but tens of thousands of his rabid followers stay away.

    In both cases, we have an outgoing/former president directing many dangerous people who will do/not do whatever he asks.  He’s not asking them to vote, register, organize, boycott, make calls, write letters, or any of that.  It’s “attack” or “don’t attack…for now…to avoid FBI scrutiny”.

    Could there be anyone or anything more anti-American?  Anything more dangerous?

  19. 19.

    Ladyracterinok

    It was busted a few months before I fell.!!!!

    But I did have TV in rehab and have it in assisted living (cable service supplied by the facility but I have to use my own TV)!!!

    Without a tablet I could not read the internet so it’s great to be able to read and comment.

    In rehab and this first month in assisted living I’ve had little time to think about or mourn my inability to follow the internet.

    Super glad to be back!!!

  21. 21.

    Uncle Omar

    I’m sure that this has come up and been thoroughly chewed, but I just saw that professional Loon Laura Loomer has the Covid and is PO’ed that docs won’t prescribe invermectin and wants her dozens of fans to pray for her.  Were it not unseemly and if I believed in the “power of prayer” and if there were such a place I would pray for a soft landing spot in Hell for her, right next to Joe Rogan.

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    @Ladyracterinok:  Well, it is certainly not very important! But it has been one of the funnier things to come out of the pandemic, in my opinion. (This pandemic really has not been as hilarious as I need it to be.) Here’s an explainer.

  30. 30.

    Danielx

    @Uncle Omar:

    I think it was Clarence Darrow who said (roughly speaking) that he had never actually wished anybody dead, but had read many obituaries with great pleasure. I’m sort of the same way when I read about wingnut antivax radio commentators and the like dying of COVID. Sorry for their families and all, but the strongest feeling I can summon is “sucks to be you”.

  31. 31.

    JoyceH

    Okay, the SpaceX capsule has splashed down and the pickup boat will be there in about 30 minutes. There are four people on board which makes the odds close to certain that at least one has already jumped up to remove carryons from the overhead bins.

  39. 39.

    Suzanne

    Lord, I am now musing on what it would be like to be disconnected from the internet for a few months and to come back and see all of the memes out of context.

  40. 40.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Another Scott: could’ve plugged soooo many names into that byline space. Several million, actually

    @Suzanne: I don’t even know if I’d remember how to procrastinate without the internet anymore

  48. 48.

    Catherine D.

    Open thread? Apple TV+ is streaming a live recording of Come from Away. One of my favorite musicals that I never thought I’d get to see. Stick with it to the end for the musicians’ Screech Out and the photos of the real people.

  49. 49.

    Suzanne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I have been having a hard time reading books since the pandemic started. Too much doomscrolling and I am working on regaining enough focus to read more than an article or blog post. Having a toddler isn’t helping. I still read a lot, but more a bunch of short, disparate things. The sense of constant crisis/elevation that the pandemic brought has been one of the hardest things for me to cope with.

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    @Ladyracterinok: We’ll, there’s debate about why she did it. I mean, she is a celebrity and therefore likely fairly inclined toward getting attention. She did this in the night of the Met Gala, which she has attended in years past, but this year, they had a vaccine requirement and so she didn’t attend. Maybe other celebrities getting attention bothered her. But I guess her husband has some legal trouble (pled guilty to failing to register as a sex offender) and some people surmise that this is a way to distract from that.

    I find it hilarious that she essentially outed the dude for cheating on his fiancée, getting a STI, and then tried to blame the vaccine.

  55. 55.

    Jay C

    @Uncle Omar:

    I’m thinking Hell for Laura Loomer will actually be right at the Gates

    of Paradise.  Handcuffed to the non-moving door while everyone else goes right in past her…..

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Suzanne: I’ve had the same thing with reading since the 2016 campaign. I have to make a decision to sit down and read on paper. Listening to audiobooks while walking is a good new habit I’ve developed, but it’s not the same I really want to get back to paper books.

    I just finished Dan Jones’ Crusaders and I’m trying to pick my next distraction from current events. But right now I’m reading and posting on a political blog with a half cleaned kitchen ten feet away from me, and stairs tragically un-vacuumed

  57. 57.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @Omnes Omnibus: Decidedly meh. I’m lonely. Depression’s been a problem. I haven’t gotten any writing done in a couple of years. Trying to find some way to get myself jump started.

    On the other hand, it’s two weeks until I get to go to  ahockey game for the first time in 19 months.

  59. 59.

    Suzanne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, I definitely relate. I also am in the middle of the initial design phase on the largest project of my career (won’t be open until 2028) and it is incredibly complex. When I am in this stage of design on a project, I often get very wrapped up in it and have a hard time detaching. Neglect self-care, work too much, mind racing, etc etc etc. I’m trying to be better.

  61. 61.

    Richard

    @Suzanne:

    Haha! I am happy our friend survived. Sometimes people do survive and get out of rehab.

    If she would like, our community could make sure she has tablet and internet. Tablets are easy for us older people to use.

  62. 62.

    jl

    I still miss the costumes. Used to be the wingnut protesters had better costumes than the police riot squads. Sadly, no more. Where are the Conan the Viking Ninja Turtle Space Cadets?

  70. 70.

    laura

    @Ladyracterinok: Welcome back and congratulations on your recent scuffle and victory over “the things that come with time” and three cheers for living in a supportive housing situation. I hope to see your nym and comments on the regular.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    O/T,  but I can’t help the immense schadenfreude I felt upon reading this:

    Every adult diagnosed with COVID-19 in Idaho is on a universal do not resuscitate order. Every adult. Don’t try to live with the virus.Get vaccinated if you can. Wear a respirator or well fitted mask, good seal, and ventilate your workspaces/schools. https://t.co/44cpfpJjxk— Dr Noor Bari (@NjbBari3) September 18, 2021

  78. 78.

    senyordave

    I somehow managed to not know who Laura Loomer is until yesterday.  I checked her out on twitter and honestly thought t might be a parody account.  Here is an actual tweet from this creature (Nov 17, 2017):

    In NYC today looking for a public bathroom that doesn’t have a Muslim in it or anywhere in the immediate vicinity. This is anti Semitism.

    This person ran for Congress?

  79. 79.

    debbie

    Goddamn Twitter. I come across a rare, non-COVID post:

    I don’t like to come to this site to brag, but I am currently four for four in winning power struggles with a three-year-old today. ??
    — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) September 18, 2021

    along with some great replies:

    You may be getting set up with a false sense of security my friend. I’ve seen this play out frequently. Good luck. Keep your powder dry.
    — Yeah_that_Guy (@StevenT03360539) September 18, 2021

    and

    That’s so adorable. He thinks he won. He isn’t talking about all the bribing, sweet talking, crying and pleading he had to do to get those 4 wins. Trust me, I’ve got a 3 year old granddaughter who no longer calls herself Pretty Princess cause she’s too beautiful
    — Petty Betty (@Sasssyspanky) September 18, 2021

    Then this jerk comes along:

    You don’t “win power struggles” with toddlers in the same way you don’t defeat dogs at chess; their brains don’t work that way. Redirect. Remember you’re the adult.

    I get that you’re joking, but this kind of power-dynamic parenting is toxic.
    — (((Michael ‘@jack & @biz love Nazi $’ Cozens))) (@michaelcozens) September 18, 2021

    Looking forward to the imminent well-deserved abuse. ?

  83. 83.

    zhena gogolia

    @Suzanne: Me too. The only way I get through books (other than the ones I get paid to read) is by reading out loud to my husband while he cooks dinner. We just finished two winners — North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr.

  87. 87.

    JPL

    @Baud: You say poor cousin, but by now he has an agent and is arranging tv appearances.   If you don’t take advantage of I’m Nicki’s cousin now, when will you?

  92. 92.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Mary G: It’s moments like these, that make me remember our common humanity.  I can’t manage to maintain the “fuck ’em”, and instead find myself thinking “jesus wept.”

  93. 93.

    debbie

    @Ken:

    Colbert showed a clip of a news conference held by Trinidadian officials who said there were no reports of swollen testicles anywhere in Trinidad. He was masked, but it was still obvious he was unamused.

  94. 94.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: Poor schmuck has probably talked about nothing besides this one poor mystery dude’s balls for almost a week. And, as we all know, a joke is never funnier than when fully explained.

  95. 95.

    different-church-lady

    I’m drunk.

    I’m tired.

    My soul hurts.

    I don’t want your hugs, but I’m not so churlish as to reject them.

    Seriously, frequently I wonder what the fuck is so wrong with people that basic human decency is beyond their grasp. IT’S NOT HARD. Rejecting it takes SO MUCH MORE ENERGY.

  96. 96.

    JMG

    I am currently rereading “History of the French Foreign Legion,” by Douglas Porch. Last read it about 20 years ago, found it on the bookshelves, and began again. I only read like 10 pages or so a night in bed before turning the lights out. It’s my true sleep aid. Used the “Trouble Is My Business” short story collection by Raymond Chandler before this one.

  97. 97.

    Suzanne

    Speaking of the toddler obliterating my focus, I do not really watch TV very much, maybe one or two shows per year. But last week, Mr. Suzanne and I tried to start watching “Only Murders in the Building”. The kid just cannot bear to have us watch anything, and she climbs on one or both of us constantly. We just tried for the third time, probably for a grand total of two hours. We have now made it just over of 23 minutes into the first episode.

  98. 98.

    CaseyL

    @Suzanne: My concentration span is shot, too.  If I read an ebook, I stop after each chapter to open another tab to check on what’s going on.  If I’m reading a real book, I close it every chapter to get online to check on what’s going on.

    There’s too much news nowadays.  I remember a halcyon time when I could go for days or even weeks without knowing, or needing to know, what fresh hells were upon us.

  100. 100.

    Chetan Murthy

    @CaseyL: Yesterday the power went out around here for 1-2hr.  I got thru an entire Scalzi novel by the time it came back on.  Here’s to intermittent power outages!

  102. 102.

    Suzanne

    @CaseyL: I feel like this is a reasonable mental state to be in during a crisis, but this damn pandemic is just going on and on and it’s not healthy to live like this for an extended period. I have been doing hot yoga and that helps. If only because I have to leave the house and I keep my phone in a locker. The sweating is just disgusting, though. Lord.

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    @JMG: DOOD. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to start reading “Discipline and Punish” by Foucault. I didn’t realize that it kicks off with an incredibly descriptive (gory and horrifying) recounting of an execution. I couldn’t sleep afterward. That was a bad idea.

  108. 108.

    Nelle

    Back in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s,  i spent summers on an island off the north coast of Alaska (an island in summer when the ocean thawed along the coast).  No TV, occasional radio, though mostly in Inupiat.  Mail once a week, if the plane could land (lots of fog in the summer).  No phone.  We  found out about what was going on weeks later.  I remember it with fondness.

  111. 111.

    dmsilev

    Like a lot of places, LA is coping with a bunch of whiners in the cop and firefighter unions who don’t want to get vaccinated. In addition to mandating vaccines (which said whiners are currently suing over) the LAPD is also hitting them where it hurts, in the wallet:

    LAPD officers need COVID vaccine or negative coronavirus test to work overtime at big events

    Los Angeles police officers will be barred from working overtime at major events or off-duty security at venues like Dodgers Stadium or Staples Center unless they get vaccinated against the coronavirus or, if a venue allows it, secure a negative test, LAPD leaders announced Friday.

    (narrator: most of the venues don’t allow it)

    One LAPD supervisor, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the measure, framed the new restrictions on overtime eligibility as a way to hit vaccine opponents in their wallet.

    “You are going to see an increase in vaccinations starting now. It is all about overtime money for many of the officers,” the supervisor told The Times.

    In a memorandum to officers, Cmdr. T. Scott Harrelson said that those who cannot provide proof of vaccination, nor a negative test within 48 hours, would not be permitted to work or entitled to payment for overtime.

    Officers were also warned that the LAPD would not be providing coronavirus tests “for the sole purpose of working overtime shifts.”

    “The employee will be responsible for obtaining a Covid test on their own for this purpose,” the memo noted.

    So, if the cops want any of that sweet stadium-security overtime cash, they either have to suck it up and get their shots or shell out their own time and money getting tested every three days.

  112. 112.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Suzanne: the first half-3/4 of the book is great, though.  When he gets more and more into a universal theory of penology, it breaks down (for me) but the early start of that theory is pretty thrilling stuff.  It’s really affected the way I see modern bureaucracy, corporate organization & architecture.

    I used to joke to my colleague at [big-ass Internet company] that we worked in the Panopticon.

  113. 113.

    Benw

    @raven: seriously. Can I whine about the Tech-Clemson game? I wanted Tech to punch it in so bad I stopped caring if they won. Also, cool onside kick!

  114. 114.

    different-church-lady

    @debbie: No, Satre punishes you but in the end I felt it was worth it. I’ve yet to reach anything like that state with Proust.

  116. 116.

    different-church-lady

    WHO THE FUCK DOESN’T WANT TO GET VACCINATED? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR BRAINS????????

  117. 117.

    raven

    @Benw: Well I really couldn’t try to figure out which of the family of networks they were on but the Hokies suffered a similar fate against the Eers and the Illini lost on the last play of the game! Go Dawgs!

  119. 119.

    RandomMonster

    You know what I’d like to remind Ari fucking Fleischer? I marched in a protest in SF of the buildup to the Iraq invasion that numbered in the tens of thousands, and it received less coverage than the insurrectile dysfunction that we saw today in DC.

  120. 120.

    Josie

    @JMG: ​
    I have long maintained that a good government textbook is better than a sleeping pill for producing gentle slumber.

     ETA: Come to think of it, a “good government textbook” is sort of a contradiction in terms.

  121. 121.

    Suzanne

    @Chetan Murthy: I read parts of it in undergrad and loved it, and I was reminded of it recently on a podcast, so I wanted to read the entire thing. But hot damn.

    ETA: I will attempt it again when I am in a better headspace to deal with that level of gore.

  125. 125.

    CaseyL

    @different-church-lady: Yes.  Shortened attention spans. I don’t want my brain to get rewired that way, but it would take a big act of will (or getting marooned on a desert isle) to stop.

    I’m hoping the trip to Maine helps; I’ll have my phone (really can’t not have one, these days) but am trying to talk myself out of taking my laptop along, too.  Whatever I can’t do on my phone is best off not being done.

    (I may hit a bookstore, and indulge myself that way.  Haven’t bought a pile of real, live books in quite a while!)

  126. 126.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Suzanne:

    I read parts of it in undergrad

    Fascinating.  I was introduced to it by a French Military History grad student friend, who specifically pointed me at that introduction, as a description of the brutality of early eras.  So by the time I got around to reading it, I knew that first bit *cold*: no surprises, and the thing I found so great about the book, was the history of penology, and his first bits of an attempt at an overarching theory of penology/bureaucracy.

    Esp. his characterization of how in tandem went the trends of: (1) the mollification (making more gentle) of punishments, and (2) the making more certain of punishments, by the mechanism of inevitable bureacracy.  That was …. a really penetrating observation, to me.  That you can’t have the one without the other.

  127. 127.

    different-church-lady

    @CaseyL: Myself, my personal experience is that at first I feel anxiety about being disconnected, but by day three I have lost it entirely and no longer have any desire for it in the least.

  128. 128.

    Suzanne

    @CaseyL: Speaking of trips, that’s part of why I’ve been struggling to read. I used to do so much reading on planes, and I haven’t been on a plane since March 2020.

  133. 133.

    different-church-lady

    I should qualify: the only Proust I’ve read to this point is the Moncrieff translation. I’ve long wondered if  the Enright view might unveil the true transcendence. (Just not enough to actually pursue the matter, mind…)

  135. 135.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Mike in NC: 

    If I never read anything written the odious Ari Fleischer for the rest of his life, I’d he happy.

    Why anyone pays the least attention to him is beyond me. It wasn’t even like he had a policy position* in the Bush Administration. His sole job was to lie for them.

    *And most of them were destructive idiots, so it’s not like they should be listened to either.

  137. 137.

    CaseyL

    @JanieM:  Oh my godzzzz…Big Chicken Barn looks like exactly the sort of place I can spend hours and hours in, and possibly spend the next mortgage payment at.  (And I Want. That. Couch!!)   I may pass them on my way to Bar Harbor and just… get no further ?

    Thank you!  I was wondering what to do if the weather was too sucky for much outdoor activity (weather forecast: rainy and chilly, the whole time I’m there.  It’ll be just like I never left home!).  Now I know.

  138. 138.

    JanieM

    @CaseyL: I never trust the weather forecasts this far ahead. In fact, they change so often that it’s almost like, if it says it’s going to rain two weeks from now, I think: oh good, the weather will be great.

    But then again, it *is* New England.

  140. 140.

    CaseyL

    @different-church-lady:  I’ve had similar experiences, and think that’s about how long it takes for withdrawal and detox?

    @JanieM: Here the weathercasters are usually a few days too early.  It’s amusing when they forecast huge snowfalls, and nothing happens when they said it would, so people put their shovels, snowshoes, battery-powered lanterns, and whatever other emergency gear back into the garage or basement they dragged it out from… and two days later we get two feet of snow.

    Like the Big Rain & Wind Storm we were supposed to get Thursday evening.  It finally showed up today.

  141. 141.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Suzanne: I wonder if because you spent time in Arizona and miss it, hot yoga is your release. I know I couldn’t bear it!

    I used to go to a small, air conditioned spinning class and exited like a wash rag. I get the sweating part. So good, so gross.

  143. 143.

    CaseyL

    @Suzanne: Road tripping does that for me, because I don’t turn on the radio, but focus on driving.  Also hiking: phone stays in backpack.  And spending time in places like the bookstore JanieM mentioned.

    But, yeah, I’ve spent the last 18 months pretty much at home.  Definitely need a break; I feel like I’ve turned into a barnacle.

  144. 144.

    susanna

    @Ladyracterinok: I’m not far behind you, agewise, and I agree about reading familiar people and the importance of familiar contact, in all forms.  Keep your priorities on yourself and becoming healthy.

  145. 145.

    J R in WV

    @Ladyracterinok: ​
     

    Welcome back!! So glad you’re free again !!

    That article was helpful. Did she do it just for publicity?!?!

    There’s a lot of opinion that she did it to distract from her husband from being arrested for failure to register as a sexual offender, IRCC. Pretty funny if you ask me.

  146. 146.

    Suzanne

    @Sure Lurkalot: When I was in AZ, I refused to ever do hot yoga. Walking across a parking lot was torture enough. But it really does loosen everything up, and I can bear the heat for short periods. I have had some shoulder and wrist pain since having Spawn the Youngest, and the yoga helps a lot.

    The sweat is so copious that I slide around on my mat. Gross.

  147. 147.

    zhena gogolia

    @frosty: Someone in the comments mentions the “Oh, gawd, here we go” expression on his face in the first seconds. I had never noticed that before.

  151. 151.

    Matt McIrvin

    @CaseyL: A good ebook is currently one of the few things that can keep me from doomscrolling. But it has to be wild science fiction or fantasy, nothing about the interior struggles of ordinary people that’s going to lead to searing introspection about my life and psyche–that just seems to be really difficult for me right now.

  155. 155.

    Suzanne

    @Matt McIrvin:

    the interior struggles of ordinary people that’s going to lead to searing introspection about my life and psyche 

    Oh absolutely. Fuck that shit. I have no room for any of that right now. Escapist trash is the order of the day.

  159. 159.

    dopey-o

    @Ladyracterinok:Hi! My tablet has been broken for a long time……  After a hundred days of therapy I am now in an assisted living apartment.
    I’ve missed the internet and especially reading the comments.

    Have you had the cognitive impairment test? I’ll bet your IQ has gone up and your stress hormones have declined!

  160. 160.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Kevin M. Kruse. @KevinMKruse 1h
    Seriously thought this was. @DougJBalloon ’s New York Times Pitchbot at first.

    New York Times Opinion @nytopinion· 5h
    As terrible as it is that one in 500 Americans have died of Covid, it’s still much easier to have gone through the pandemic without having a close friend or family member die of it than it would be if the toll were one in 50, says @DouthatNYT. https://nyti.ms/3kjU6tR

  164. 164.

    Kelly

    First big rainstorm of the fall is here in Oregon’s western Cascade foothills. It’s a welcome moment. The air is fresh, dust is settled and the forest fires should settle down. A couple inches of rain won’t put them out but they should be easier to manage.

    As is traditional with the first big storm of the fall the power is out. Should be fixed in a few hours.

  167. 167.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Reminds me of the Monty Python sketch about the intelligence of penguins:

    “Now we’ve taken this theory one stage further. If we increase the size of the penguin until it is the same height as the man and then compare the relative brain sizes, we now find that the penguin’s brain is still smaller. But, and this is the point, it is larger than it was.”

  168. 168.

    Kelly

    @cain: Mrs Kelly is practicing guitar by candlelight. Thru the miracle of cell network technology and batteries I’m still wandering the internet.

  169. 169.

    Another Scott

    Interesting thread on how a good math teacher handles cheating.

    I'm sitting at the local Jimothy Johnathan's waiting for my sandwich, so: HOW SOMEONE WHO IS FUNDAMENTALLY OPPOSED TO COP SHIT HANDLES """CHEATING""", an thread with inevitable interruptions (1/n)

    — Dr Spencer Bagley ☀️?️‍? (@sbagley) September 18, 2021

    (via CherylRofer)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  170. 170.

    Suzanne

    @Gravenstone: If we had known at the beginning of this pandemic that we would be approaching 700K dead — more than the population of an American state — the freakout would have been absolutely unreal. And Ross D thinks it’s not so bad?! Lord, being a mediocre white man is one hell of a drug.

  172. 172.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Suzanne: People did the calculations. At the time, it seemed like herd immunity might occur at about 70% of the US population infected, and some argued a vaccine would be several years away at the soonest, so there was nothing for it but to try to slow it down while it burned through us. But 70% of the US population is something like 200 million people, so if COVID is ~1% fatal, that’s a couple million dead. And some were talking about the possibility that if it ripped through us too fast, downstream effects on society and the medical system might mean millions more dead.

    700,000 is not too far off from that. The real number could be closer to a million. If there were no vaccines, we might be well past a million dead and heading for two million right now. The hell of it is that once the vaccines were widely available to every adult, almost none of the subsequent deaths have been necessary. They’re preventable through almost absurdly simple means.

  173. 173.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Suzanne: I have been rereading a lot of R.J. Blain/Susan Copperfield’s paranormal romances to help me cope. Fortunately she’s a prolific author and she writes series…

    (personally, I think of it as escapist literature and remind myself that the only people who don’t like escape are jailers—I think that was Tolkien or some other fantasy or SF author who wrote/said that)

  176. 176.

    frosty

    @Another Scott: ​
     Did you see Maria Butina is running for Duma in Putin’s party? The opposition is accusing her of being an American plant. This, after we jailed her for being a Russian plant. Occasionally the news is kinda fun to read.

  177. 177.

    Peale

    @Matt McIrvin: yep. 2.4 million dead from COVID to get herd immunity without a vaccine or better treatment over 5 years was the optimistic calculation.  The vaccine has knocked 18 months off that timeframe and hopefully 50% of the fatalities. But we’ve got a ways to go.

  179. 179.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Peale: were it not for Delta, we could have had it beaten already in the Northeast. We were down to near zero COVID in MA by the end of June. People focus on breakthrough infections but I think the main thing was just that Delta is so contagious that it will spread ferociously among the unvaccinated even if there are fewer of them.

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