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Second rate reporter says what?

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

T R E 4 5 O N

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Come on, man.

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

“But what about the lurkers?”

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Admirable Birds and Arrogant Jerks (Open Thread)

Admirable Birds and Arrogant Jerks (Open Thread)

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Our local one-legged Limpkin visited this morning:

Don’t know what happened to the leg but I suspect a gator (partially) got him.  Which reminds me:

Now for the arrogant jerk. On Friday, I mentioned an event at which the crackpot who is Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, told people they shouldn’t listen to experts about vaccine safety and efficacy and instead trust “their intuition and their sensibilities.” Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out Ladapo is a flaming asshole in addition to being a whack-job.

Ladapo had asked to meet state senators this week ahead of a confirmation vote (he’ll be confirmed; there’s a wingnut supermajority). When he showed up at the office of State Senator Tina Polsky, she asked Ladapo to wear a mask since she’s starting radiation therapy soon and doesn’t want to risk catching COVID. He refused, and she kicked him out of her office. Good for her!

Sen. Tina Polsky, who was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in August, asked state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and his two legislative aides to leave her office after Ladapo refused to comply with her request to put on a mask.

“I told him I had a serious medical condition,” said Polsky, who will begin radiation therapy treatment for cancer next week…

Polsky said there was a brief back-and-forth, and then she finally asked whether there was a reason he couldn’t wear a mask.

“He just smiles and doesn’t answer. He’s very smug,” Polsky recalled. “And I told him several times, `I have this very serious medical condition.’ And he said, ‘That’s OK,’ like it basically has nothing to do with what we are talking about.”

Eventually, Polsky said she asked Ladapo to leave her office, which he agreed to do, she said. But the Senator said before going, Ladapo remarked, “Sometimes I try to reason with unreasonable people for fun.”

Jesus, what a fucking jerk. The state is paying this ill-mannered wanker $500K per year, by the way. And if, dog forbid, DeSantis ever gets elected president, this ass would probably be the U.S. surgeon general. Let’s make sure that never happens, okay?

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  2. 2.

    cope

    Kudos to Limpy the Limpkin but what TF is going on in your river?  That water is moving ten times faster than the Wekiva does.  I’m more used to Florida rivers where you have to find a floating leaf to tell which way is downstream.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Yes on the limpkin, no on the LaDope guy.  (And good for state Senator Polsky for ejecting the second.)

  4. 4.

    Cameron

    SG sounds even worse than what I had already read about him.  Perfect fit for DeSantis, though.  I think we’re going to see our next COVID wave about the middle of December.

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Cameron: Here in NYC our positivity rate is stubbornly staying around 1.7, so I have no idea what to expect for the fall. I guess it’ll depend on how many people get boosters and what ends up happening with schools, which really is anybody’s guess. If you leave out Staten Island and the trumpy parts of Brooklyn and Queens (the ultra-orthodox ‘hoods), though, we’re probably more around 1.25% positivity. 0.84% in my zip code.

  9. 9.

    delk

    My drivers license has been expired for awhile. The Secretary of State was letting expirations slide because of covid. I tried to renew online but I was not eligible because I needed to have a vision test. I was downtown Thursday and finally went to get my new license. Of course they did not check my eyes. My new license will be mailed to me and I should get it whenever DeJoy’s crippled mail service allows.
    Yesterday I got a letter from the Secretary of State. My new license? Nah, it was only one day later. It was a letter saying that since a had a perfect record, they would let me renew my license online!

  10. 10.

    Another Scott

    Predictable, since the GQP lives in mirror-land.  But still infuriating.

    Relatedly, someone should these folks a few pointed questions about what they really believe.

    The Republican Party first met in Ripon, Wisconsin in March 1854 to fight the expansion of slavery.

    In October 2021, the Wisconsin GOP is trying to ban the words "Abolitionist Teaching." https://t.co/lSVHkqYgIj

    — LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) October 23, 2021

    If they want to be some hybrid Know Nothing and Copperhead and Fascist and proto-Southern-Baptist party, then let’s make them own it. Make them deny the actual historical Republican party, etc.

    Hey, a fellow can dream, can’t he??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  13. 13.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    This is batshit crazy! There is nothing controversial or “unreasonable” about wearing a face mask around someone who is immunocompromised, COVID or no COVID! He should fucking understand what neutropenic precautions are as a fucking doctor. He should have his medical license pulled for just this

  16. 16.

    lowtechcyclist

    I’m glad I was nowhere near that room, because that last line of Ladapo’s would have pushed me over the edge.

    Christ, what a smug asshole.

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    There is nothing controversial or “unreasonable” about wearing a face mask around someone who is immunocompromised, COVID or no COVID!

    Truth!  Facemasks were common at my workplace long before COVID because we have a lot of immunocompromised patients.  That someone would ignore something so basic is a sign that their refusal to wear a mask is 100% political and has nothing to do with health or medicine.

  19. 19.

    MattF

    @delk: I went through that whole drill in MD. Had to make a appointment at an MVA office. Plus complications due to MD licenses newly adhering to the ‘True ID’ standard, so I had to bring a pile of documentation. But it actually all worked, even though I zoned out in the waiting area and missed the moment when my number came up.

  20. 20.

    delk

    @WaterGirl: I laughed. It only took 15 minutes at the S of S office. Maybe if it took longer I’d bang my head, lol. Anyway, I needed a new picture. They didn’t update it last time.

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: That’s how Ladapo got on Trump’s and DeSantis’s radar — a mask-skeptic “frontline doctor” conference with Dr. Demon Seed.

  25. 25.

    Cameron

    @germy: I don’t think the post-Thanksgiving wave will stop; it will just accelerate after Christmas.  2022 should really start with a bang here in FL: wingnut SG, arrival of snowbirds and collegeoids, guv who won’t allow any sort of meaningful mitigation strategies.  Let the good times roll.

  26. 26.

    Ruckus

    @delk:

    My DL was up in 2020, in CA when your license is up for renewal and you are over 70 you have to take a full test, everything, driving, vision, written. I was turning 71. They sent me an extension. Then a license. Then a notice that I could get a free Real ID. I was able a month or so ago to go in and get my new picture and real ID DL. So the picture on my old license and the new one they sent me this year, was several years, like at least 10yrs old. I had hair on my head! Now I don’t. Damn this aging crap. It is however slightly better than the alternative.

  27. 27.

    VOR

    @Roger Moore: Chris Hayes called it “Vice Signaling”, or being an asshole in order to demonstrate you are part of the GQP. I long said of TFG, he’s an asshole but he is their asshole. He hates the people they hate. He’s the guy at the end of the bar saying out loud all the things they wish they could say in public. TFG showed them you can be a public jerk, you can be unlikable to the majority of people, and still get >90% approval ratings among Republicans. You no longer have to use dog whistles or pretend you give a crap about people. Wear your MAGA hat, fly your Trump flag, and be open and proud about your anger.

  30. 30.

    Ruckus

    @Roger Moore:

    That’s OK, the only thing that asshole has anything to do with medicine is the diploma. He also seems to have an intestinal problem in that he’s so backed up that the worms in his brain are worse than normal brain worms, not only is he full of shit, so are the worms.

  32. 32.

    Raoul Paste

    I stood in line at an Ohio  Pharmacy with someone who claimed he was a 4th year medical student, and when I asked why he was not wearing a mask, he announced that masks don’t work, and cast aspersions on  Dr. Fauci.    I begged to differ with him.   These people need to be rebuked forcefully- they are doing damage.

  36. 36.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    My wife was 99% sure we were going to receive some sort of student loan forgiveness after the announcement from a few weeks ago.  I’ve been saying I’ll believe it when I see it.  Whelp, the denial letter appeared in our mailbox today.  It is not a happy atmosphere in our house right now.  Those motherfucking crooks!  We’ve been paying for 15+ years.  We still owe over $50,000.  They make me angry every day of my life.  Not giving up, yet.  Just another kick in the nuts.  Why would 2 teachers need an extra $700 a month anyway, right?

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    @VOR:

    I understand and largely agree with what you’re saying, but the whole “he may be an asshole, but he’s our asshole” stuff never works.  Assholes always work only for themselves.  They may align with your interests temporarily, but they’re always looking out for number one.  The moment they think they can do better by screwing you over, they’ll do it.  The amazing thing is that Trump can do this repeatedly to his followers, and people still back him.  They’re just so used to being fucked over they ignore that part.

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:

    I used to be quite short, shortest kid in my HS freshman class. By a bit.

    If you are shorter than your opponent, a fast uppercut to the junk usually does the trick.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @Roger Moore:

    They are also likely quite used to fucking over others that the behavior seems normal to them. Plus they just take it out on someone else. Hence I agree with the concept that they are all assholes.

  50. 50.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Sen Polsky showed remarkable self-restraint. Just reading about this made me want to deck Ladapo.

    @VOR: I keep hoping that TFG’s high approval among Rs is partly due to reasonable people no longer admitting that they’re Rs.

  52. 52.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    A pyramid of assholes.

    Somehow that just seems so wrong. However it was slave labor that built the pyramids in Egypt so the remains of the highest asshole could be saved and ?

    So maybe it’s a pyramid for assholes….

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    It’s not just that the guy is a jerk. It is that he is unprofessional to the point of being unqualified.

    Dr. Joseph Ladapo, told people they shouldn’t listen to experts about vaccine safety and efficacy and instead trust “their intuition and their sensibilities.”

    He is supposed to be an expert. Why is he even in the position if his advice is “don’t trust experts.”

    Has anyone asked what his views on public health might be? It appears that he thinks that everyone should be their own doctor.

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    However it was slave labor that built the pyramids in Egypt so the remains of the highest asshole could be saved and ?

    Probably not true. All available evidence indicates that there were workers, and fairly well treated.

    Note that I agree with your larger point about politics.

  56. 56.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    Hadn’t heard or seen that there might have been workers, properly paid, etc. That would be rather amazing for the time. I’m not saying it’s not possible just that it seems unlikely to me as the history of people of great power and wealth rarely seem to be actual humans but more like rather bad human clones.

  58. 58.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    Why is he even in the position if his advice is “don’t trust experts.”

    Maybe it’s projection. It is possible that even with an ego the size of Montana he knows his actual skill level.

  59. 59.

    laura

    People that refuse to wear a mask are people that don’t wash their hands after they shit including the Harvard educated shite-bag in Florida.

    I was hoping for the loan forgiveness too – 20 years with a 501c3 but Unions are excluded so no relief for me either. Never missed a payment in almost 20 years, still owe the equivalent of a new sedan. But I went back to school and so I’m currently in deferment and the government is picking up the interest for the duration of the deferment.

  60. 60.

    Kalakal

    @Brachiator: As you say he’s an expert (purportedly) so I won’t listen to him.

    The guy is a complete loon, I shudder to think what it’s going to be like around here come January.

    That exchange with the State Senator is shocking, he,s treating basic healthcare precautions as a joke I’m beginning to think that getting an Ivy League education may not depend on intellectual merit

  61. 61.

    Matt

    “He just smiles and doesn’t answer. He’s very smug,” Polsky recalled

    The best fix for this is to punch the smirk right off the fascist’s face.

  65. 65.

    mrmoshpotato

    @delk: Surprising.  Apparently I’m eligible to renew online.  Gonna look into a change of address, etc since my ID is expired.

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus: 

    Hadn’t heard or seen that there might have been workers, properly paid, etc. That would be rather amazing for the time. I’m not saying it’s not possible just that it seems unlikely to me as the history of people of great power and wealth rarely seem to be actual humans but more like rather bad human clones.

    History can be surprisingly complex. The truth about the pyramid builders is old news despite the persistence of the slavery myth.

    From a BBC Science story by Laura Price:

    Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t slaves who built the pyramids. We know this because archaeologists have located the remains of a purpose-built village for the thousands of workers who built the famous Giza pyramids, nearly 4,500 years ago.

    I had the good fortune to work on the site in 2005-2006, and it was incredible to watch as the finds came in. There were ancient name stamps and seals – bureaucratic evidence of how the officials kept track of the huge operation to feed and house the workers. Animal bones found at the village show that the workers were getting the best cuts of meat. More than anything, there were bread jars, hundreds and thousands of them – enough to feed all the workers, who slept in long, purpose-built dormitories. Slaves would never have been treated this well, so we think that these labourers were recruited from farms, perhaps from a region much further down the Nile, near Luxor.

    The labourers would have been enticed by the mix of high-quality food and the opportunity to work on such a prestigious project.

    The ancient Egyptians recognized the importance of treating workers fairly, a lesson that was lost by some later societies.

  67. 67.

    Jon

    Just here to add to the chorus of: even in non-COVID times it’s entirely reasonable to wear masks around immunocompromised folks and others. This stuff is pathological. And seems like an almost supernatural level of evil.

  69. 69.

    sixthdoctor

    Got a Moderna booster yesterday for my J&J in April, and except for arm pain from the shot, no ill effects. Certainly easier than the first shot where for 24 hours I could feel my immune system being reprogrammed, which was pretty cool, actually.

  70. 70.

    surfk9

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: At least you got a letter. My wife applied in February, finally called in August and was told she was denied for not enough qualifying payments. Was also told her application was being audited to see if some of the disqualifying payments actually counted. A friend of hers got his loan forgiven using an ombudsmen they have at the dept of education. I would post a link, but it is on her work computer. She emailed the ombudsman’s office after Biden’s announcement . The office replied that  they had not received guidance as of that date. My wife figures that it will take at least a month before they sort things out based on her experience as a middle manager at a federal agency.

  71. 71.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I got an email from the County Health Dept say I need to  get my booster(had the J&J jab in April), their app gives Costco as a location.  The Costco website says I don’t need a booster, Costco needs to update their website to reflect the current CDC guidence.

  74. 74.

    CaseyL

    I have an appointment for my booster on Tuesday. Decided to stick with Moderna.  So I’ll have a Moderna hat trick (if I understand correctly what a hat trick is).

  75. 75.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @WaterGirl: I had a very bad experience with CVS for my flu shot, they seemed to have a problem with my the voucher I got from HD.  I like Costco, I’ve received my flu shots there in the past(paid for out of pocket).

  76. 76.

    Cameron

    @Steeplejack: Thanks – I didn’t know they had any brewpubs at all; all I knew about was the inn in Lewes.  Used to drink their beers occasionally when I lived in Philly; drink them more frequently down here (Publix carries them).

  78. 78.

    geg6

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes, CVS was quick on the update.  I have an appointment for Moderna booster on Thursday.  Made it yesterday online.  Sticking with Moderna and just hoping I don’t react like I did with my second one in April.  I felt horrible for 24 or so hours.  But I can live with it if it happens again.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Another clip of Legoloss the Limpkin on the trail of the elusive apple snail.

    Thank you, Betty.

  80. 80.

    Geminid

    @Ruckus: It could be that Egyptian peasant farmers were drafted in masses between harvest time and planting to work on big projects. Pay was probably a few wheat cakes and a bowl of lentils each day, plus a jug of beer if the team hit it’s quota.

  82. 82.

    rekoob

    @Cameron: @Steeplejack: Spent last weekend in Lewes. The Dogfish Inn appears to be a nice, small hotel (16 rooms) with agreeable characteristics right on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. I’m giving some serious thought to relocating to that part of Coastal Delaware and I’d welcome some guidance on locations. Not too focused on beachfront property, but access to water/beaches would be nice. Should I pay up for Lewes/Rehoboth/Bethany, or would Georgetown/Dagsboro/Milford make more sense? The Delaware Bay beaches seem to be quite nice.

  83. 83.

    Brachiator

    @Geminid:

    It could be that Egyptian peasant farmers were drafted in masses between harvest time and planting to work on big projects.

    Yep.

    Pay was probably a few wheat cakes and a bowl of lentils each day, plus a jug of beer if the team hit it’s quota.

    Nope. Evidence from the sites indicate that the workers got good cuts of meat, etc.

  84. 84.

    El-Man

    In order to end this pandemic, with people like this who seem to be hell-bent on extending it to make Biden and the Democrats look bad, would it be worth referring to the vaccine as The Trump Vaccine? I know, it’s giving Dishonest Don credit for curing COVID, but isn’t that worth it to save as many lives as possible?

  85. 85.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @geg6: Our local CVSes are pulling a bait-and-switch. After ploughing through several pages of Q&A to get the Moderna booster, they only have the Pfizer.

    Jerks.

  87. 87.

    SFAW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Sen Polsky showed remarkable self-restraint. Just reading about this made me want to deck Ladapo.

    I think it would have been good humor if she had pulled out a gun, shot him, and invoked Stand Your Ground laws. Because she sure as shit had a lot more reason to fear LaDopa than George Zimmerman had to fear Trayvon Martin.

  88. 88.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ruckus: That asshole didn’t give a flying fuck whether he was putting anyone else at risk – he only said “it’s OK” once he understood that her medical issues weren’t going to put him at risk.

  90. 90.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jon:

    Just here to add to the chorus of: even in non-COVID times it’s entirely reasonable to wear masks around immunocompromised folks and others. This stuff is pathological. And seems like an almost supernatural level of evil.

    It was, was, quite literally, a mortal threat in a stand-your-ground state.
    Guy is a tool of Evil. And breathtakingly arrogant, and apparently, from the company he keeps, very gullible.

  91. 91.

    Cameron

    @rekoob: I’ve only been to Rehoboth a couple times for all the years I lived in Philly.  Haven’t been back since I moved to Florida in 2016.  Pictures I’ve seen of the Inn (inside and out) look nice, and I get a lot of event notices and nature photos from its FB page.

  92. 92.

    Geminid

    @Brachiator: That’s interesting. But can the archeologists say whose living quarters these were? A large  class of foremen, middle managers so to speak, might have filled these quarters. The peasants might have stayed in tents and eaten more frugal fare.

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    @Geminid:

    That’s interesting. But can the archeologists say whose living quarters these were? A large  class of foremen, middle managers so to speak, might have filled these quarters. The peasants might have stayed in tents and eaten more frugal fare.

    The dorms are too numerous to suggest a large number of middle managers. But the main thing is that the evidence does not support the popular notion that massive numbers of slaves built the pyramids.

    Also, I don’t think that pyramids are mentioned at all in the Bible, although readings of the Bible have been one of the primary sources of the slave labor thing.

  94. 94.

    SFAW

    @debbie:

    I like what you did there!

    Thanks, but I really liked your plan/desire to kick him in the nuts, and was just trying to keep up.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    @Cameron:

    Oops, I misinterpreted a bit. Since I had originally said Rehoboth Beach, when you said “Dogfish Inn” I thought you meant the Dogfish Head, because the Dogfish Inn in Lewes is just a small motel, as far as I knew. I see that their website sort of opens up into the Dogfish universe, but I don’t know that they have a restaurant or anything like that.

    Okay, I dived into their site:

    While we don’t sell or serve alcohol on the property, there are plenty of places within walking distance to find our off-centered ales and spirits. Nearly all the restaurants in downtown Lewes serve Dogfish Head beers and spirits, and our friends over at R&L Liquors on 2nd Street carry a large variety of our products! You’ll definitely want to make a trip to Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach and our Tasting Room & Kitchen in Milton, where you’ll be able to sample and purchase the widest variety of our off-centered ales and exclusive brews!

    So, yeah, the Dogfish Inn is just a motel. You’ll have to come to Rehoboth Beach to get the restaurant experience. It’s a 15-minute drive from Lewes. (I haven’t been to the tasting room in Milton.)

    Silver lining: the Dogfish Inn is a short walk away from Agave, an amazingly good Mexican restaurant.

    @rekoob:

    The whole area is nice. I’ll grill my brother about this on our road trip Monday. He is a real-estate hound and serial renovator, and he has been going to Rehoboth Beach since the ’90s. He knows the ins and outs a lot better than I do.

    I’m way late getting back to this thread. I’ma drop this here, but I’ll look for you guys tomorrow and link you back to it.

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    Can’t sleep so sitting here and want to thank you for the info.

    I have no idea why I was thinking that they might not have been slaves, maybe world history in college. So I was falling back on the possibility that they were slaves. It is a bit amazing that the ancient Egyptians were better humans than a number of our nations founders who did profit as slave owners.

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