• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

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

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

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

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

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / DeSantis Admin Cancels Public Health Official

DeSantis Admin Cancels Public Health Official

by Betty Cracker|  January 20, 202210:42 am| 73 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

FacebookTweetEmail

Maybe the substackers who are fixated on “woke” student council edicts can spare a moment to condemn the state of Florida for silencing a public health official for discussing…public health. During a pandemic.

Dr. Raul Pino, director of the Florida Department of Health’s Orange County organization, was placed on administrative leave for sending an email urging the agency’s employees to improve their vaccination rate. Orlando’s ABC affiliate, WFTV:

(Dr. Pino) wrote that he had an analyst run vaccination data for employees, and that out of the 568 active staff at the department, only 77 had received a COVID-19 booster, 219 had two doses of the vaccine and 34 had only one dose.

“I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated,” Pino wrote. “We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 and we are not even at 50%, pathetic.”

“I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it,” he added.

The good doctor is correct; that is a pathetic vaccination rate, especially among a group of public health agency employees. But note that Pino didn’t threaten to place anyone on leave or fire them over it. The state did that, as confirmed by the NYT:

Jeremy T. Redfern, the press secretary for the Department of Health, confirmed in a statement that Dr. Pino was on administrative leave, and that the department was “conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case.”

The decision to get vaccinated “is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers,” Mr. Redfern wrote.

This isn’t a case of people on campus tragically having to “self-censor” to avoid criticism about their weird theories on race or gender or whatever. Dr. Pino, who fled his native Cuba for more freedom in the United States, has been muzzled by Governor Ron DeSantis and his minions. This is the state suspending a doctor’s career because of speech that reflects the medical consensus but is at odds with the governor’s and crackpot surgeon general’s politically motivated, anti-science demagoguery.

I’ll be over here waiting for the anti-woke chicken littles to defend Dr. Pino. I’ll bring a very large cup of coffee and a few crossword puzzles to pass the time.

Open thread.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Thursday Morning Open Thread: Proud to Be A Biden Democrat
Next Post: Let’s Thank Adam Schiff for Joining Us for the Book Club Zoom Interest in a Weekly Book Club to Read & Discuss Adam Schiff's Book Midnight In Washington?»

Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 10:46 am

    As with anti-political correctness before, anti-cancel culture is a drink from which only conservatives get to take a sip.

  2. 2.

    J.

    January 20, 2022 at 10:58 am

    So less than 50% of the people working in the Department of Public Health actually care about anyone’s health. Wonderful.

    Orwell could not have scripted this story better.

    I feel for Dr. Pino and doctors throughout Florida who are trying to save lives. But it seems that DeathSantis is determined to kill as many people as possible. Does he not realize that most of the people who have died were his supporters?

  3. 3.

    topclimber

    January 20, 2022 at 10:58 am

    Why was so rate so low? Medical folks thinking they can’t lose 2-3 days to vaccine reactions, or fatalists or what?

  4. 4.

    Soprano2

    January 20, 2022 at 11:00 am

    Our city workforce has been stuck on 55.5% fully vaccinated for awhile now. It’s pretty pathetic.

  5. 5.

    Betty

    January 20, 2022 at 11:02 am

    In homage to Cheryl Rofer, let me say the crazy is growing exponentially in Florida. God bless Dr. Pino for trying to do his job. Let’s hope Florida voters send DeSantis packing. Of course the state legislature is pretty awful too.

  6. 6.

    narya

    January 20, 2022 at 11:03 am

    Since it’s an open thread, shout out to Water Girl, A Good Woman, Curt, and the others who were facilitating last night’s convo with Adam Schiff!! Great job, and a really fun encounter. I think we should send BJ Calendars to the staff person who facilitated it–we ARE a full-service blog, after all.

  7. 7.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 20, 2022 at 11:04 am

    @topclimber:

    Floriduh man syndrome, health care division.

  8. 8.

    Benw

    January 20, 2022 at 11:13 am

    Go Dr Pino. That’s a nice, professional “fuck you all’ email.

  9. 9.

    Butter Emails!

    January 20, 2022 at 11:22 am

    @topclimber:

    I’d have to dig deeper, but many people working for the department of health wouldn’t be health care professionals.

  10. 10.

    Ksmiami

    January 20, 2022 at 11:26 am

    Betty- I care about you – move out of there.

  11. 11.

    jonas

    January 20, 2022 at 11:27 am

    “Don’t Look Up” was supposed to be a parody, not a blueprint.

  12. 12.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 20, 2022 at 11:31 am

    About 2,000 US citizens are dying from Covid per day. If that rate maintains to Election Day (it probably won’t), that’s about 540,000 deaths. About 92% of those currently hospitalized with Covid are unvaccinated. So, about 500,000 unvaccinated US citizens will have died by Election Day. I haven’t seen reliable numbers as to what percentage of these people might’ve voted Republican, but it’s probably a majority. So I guess all I can say is: “Faster! Faster!”

  13. 13.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 11:35 am

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    It won’t stay that high unless there’s a new variant.

  14. 14.

    Miss Bianca

    January 20, 2022 at 11:37 am

    @topclimber: I don’t know. Why were eight out of our 16 local clinic workers able to duck getting vaccinated because of “religious exemptions”? It’s because they are marinating in a toxic broth of denial and white exceptionalism, fueled by the right-wing puke funnel

    ETA: At least that’s my best guess. I may have to ask our clinic director at the next Hospital  District Board meeting.

  15. 15.

    Spanky

    January 20, 2022 at 11:41 am

    @Baud: Not “unless”, “until”.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 11:45 am

    @Spanky:

    There are always variants that don’t go anywhere.  There’s no way to predict when new wide spread variants will stop.

  17. 17.

    laura

    January 20, 2022 at 11:58 am

    Has that Florida governor outlawed handwashing after taking a shit yet because that seems like an awfully personal decision too.

    (I presume antivaxxers do not wash their hands after using the toilet.)

  18. 18.

    SFAW

    January 20, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    Every day, I see a new reason why I hate the RWMFs with a passion. Mrs. SFAW used to think I was a little overboard on the RWMF-hatred. Then she started paying more attention to the politics, and joined me in that hatred.

    Which is tough for her, because she works in a hospital, and cannot triage-out the unvaccinated. [Sort of a non-sequitur, but … ]

  19. 19.

    SFAW

    January 20, 2022 at 12:02 pm

    @laura:

    On the plus side, they’re at least still (most of the time) using a toilet. I’m sure there is a goodly number of RWMFs who would have no second thoughts about taking a dump on some Dem’s property. Or the Dem him/herself.

  20. 20.

    citizen dave

    January 20, 2022 at 12:03 pm

    Yesterday I was doing a thought experiment on which state, left or right, is most likely to leave the Union.  When I hit upon Florida, I stopped.  You win.

  21. 21.

    Brachiator

    January 20, 2022 at 12:04 pm

    The decision to get vaccinated “is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers,” Mr. Redfern wrote.

    Fuck that public health nonsense. Florida is going to keep people “free” even if it kills them. The people, that is.

    DeSantis is clearly running to the right of sanity in pursuit of a possible presidential nod.

    Is he popular in the state?

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 20, 2022 at 12:05 pm

    @Baud: with the usual caveats about ‘re-tweets are not endorsements’, Eric Topol has always struck me as one of the more cautious public health advocates, and I don’t think he’d amplify this if he didn’t think it had some merit

    Eric Topol @EricTopol

    @IHME_UW‘s Chris Murray predicting the end of the pandemic is nigh “More than 50% of the world will have been infected with omicron …[by] the end of March, 2022″ “After the omicron wave, COVID-19 will return but the pandemic will not.”

  23. 23.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    ?

    Hard to see how any unvaxxed person in the US escapes getting Omicron.

  24. 24.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 12:08 pm

    There was some discussion here yesterday about how strong a hold Trump still has on the Republican parry. So I was interested to see Marcy Wheeler retweet this:

    New NBC poll, of R voters: Are you more a supporter of Trump or the Republican party?

    Republican Party 56

    Trump  36

    Lowest number for Trump in the history of the poll.

    @Josh Krashaar Jan. 20 2022

    Wheeler predicted that Republicans are really going to turn on Trump as the January 6 Committee findings become public.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @SFAW:

    cannot triage-out the unvaccinated.

     
    I wish the medical community supported prioritization of resources, because I think it would be really popular among the responsible. But without their support, political leaders can’t make it happen.

  26. 26.

    gvg

    January 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    Um, the supposed vaccination rate may be higher than he officially knows. I work for a state of Florida university with lats of medical leadership encouraging vaccination but unable to require it AND for a long time unable to even ask if someone is vaccinated, even if we got the shot from the University because of the stupid laws and rules not to mention the punishments from spite of anyone who works for the state who even states clearly get vaccinated.

    A while ago they decided they could ask employees to voluntarily submit documentation of vaccination, but the employees don’t have to and it wasn’t allowed to influence anything like say not as many tests. After awhile they couldn’t even require the tests. The University President announced he is retiring and I suspect the madness is why. he sent out a video in which he did state he thought vaccination should be required nationwide but he had NO authority to make it required at his University.

    Anyway, I did upload the original vaccination series, but I didn’t bother to tell them I got a booster. We have been told we can’t even ask anyone if they are vaccinated. People volunteer it sometimes.  I don’t understand how the lawyers think this is covered by medical privacy but that was a big part of what we were told BEFORE the republicans staked out this antivax position and its only gotten worse.

    In sum, you can’t count on the numbers being right in this state.

  27. 27.

    Yarrow

    January 20, 2022 at 12:14 pm

    @Baud:  There’s a different version of Omicron – BA.2 – that is increasing in Denmark and a few other places. It seems to be replacing BA.1. There is also evidence from South Africa that people are getting reinfected with Omicron.

  28. 28.

    leeleeFL

    January 20, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    @citizen dave: Not arguing at all, but Texas will be first, then FLORI-DUH!  Just my sense of the shithead factor.  God help us, I am really afeared for this Country!  If I was younger, better educated, and could get my Family on board, I would relocate….. posthaste!

  29. 29.

    sdhays

    January 20, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    @citizen dave: With all the natural disasters that regularly befall Florida, it’s one state in particular which really can’t even fantasize about leaving the union, at least by itself.

    California could possibly do it successfully (for some broad definition of “successful”), and Texass might be able to if it wasn’t run by corrupt morons (so that’s a “never”).

  30. 30.

    The Moar You Know

    January 20, 2022 at 12:17 pm

    I don’t think he’d amplify this if he didn’t think it had some merit

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: it has a lot of merit.  Problem is, so does the counterargument of “this just never goes away now”, the historic examples most applicable being measles and mumps.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    Aren’t the new Covid treatments supposed to be widely available by the summer?

  32. 32.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    I don’t think anyone thinks this goes away completely.  It’s more a question of the impact it has on society and daily life.

  33. 33.

    sdhays

    January 20, 2022 at 12:20 pm

    @Geminid: I have a hard time believing it, but I hope so. I also hope that it really depresses the hard-core Dump lovers so they give up on politics and stay home. That surge in KKK-fascists that Dump created in 2020 worries me.

  34. 34.

    VOR

    January 20, 2022 at 12:21 pm

    @jonas: During TFG’s Reign of Error, I used to say 1984 was a cautionary tale, not a “How To” book.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    January 20, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    @Brachiator: I saw a recent poll that suggested DeSantis’s numbers are tanking. The results say he’d lose the election if held now against either of the two most likely Dem opponents (Crist and Fried). That said, I think most polls are bullshit, and it’s a pollster I’ve never heard of, so it could be hinky. But the same pollster reported strong numbers for DeSantis previously, so who knows?

  36. 36.

    Xentik

    January 20, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    @Baud:  Or to paraphrase a common refrain here: One cannot be cancelled by conservatism, one can only cancel conservatism.

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    January 20, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Chris Murray predicting the end of the pandemic is nigh

    Stuff like this is useless. I hate crystal ball gazing, especially if it comes from scientists or science adjacent people.

    We can wait to see what happens and how it happens. Is he predicting that the virus will magically disappear all at once from everywhere on a certain date?

  38. 38.

    The Moar You Know

    January 20, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    California could possibly do it successfully 

    @sdhays: economically, we’d be WAY better off.  Californians get about 65 cents worth of federal services for every tax dollar paid, the other 35 cents goes largely to the South (the only exception to that being Texas, which does take in enough to pay for what they consume).

    And it is precisely because of that enraging fact that California will never be allowed to leave the Union, as the rest of America would find themselves without operating funds in very short order.

    Worth also taking into consideration that from a military standpoint CA is not defensible; our eastern border is over 750 miles long, riddled with roadways and vast expanses of pretty flat desert, at least in the southern part.

  39. 39.

    Yarrow

    January 20, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  As noted in the replies to that tweet, that same organization predicted the end of the pandemic in January 2021.

    We still expect daily deaths to keep climbing into January, and we are forecasting a peak in the month, and then a decline that should continue essentially all the way into the end of the #COVID19 pandemic in the US. pic.twitter.com/GhDxmEZMfi
    — Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (@IHME_UW) January 6, 2021

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    January 20, 2022 at 12:27 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 
    Count me as deeply skeptical. The evidence from Omicron is that past infection is much less protective than vaccination. The idea that the virus would stop being a concern after everyone had been infected was always stupid, but the evidence argues even more strongly against it than ever.

  41. 41.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 20, 2022 at 12:27 pm

    @sdhays: I’m honestly not trying to play 17 dimensional chess, just looking for silver linings one these cloudy days: A trumpist vs Establishment intra-party war, along the lines of Kemp vs Perdue, may be our best hope for holding and winning seats.

    Though I haven’t heard anything about a primary for Wee Willie’d Marco. He’s been a good little Pekinese.

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    January 20, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    @Geminid: ​
     

    Wheeler predicted that Republicans are really going to turn on Trump as the January 6 Committee findings become public.

    I don’t think it’s the January 6th committee findings that will hurt him. It’s him not dominating the news cycle the way he did before while other Republicans can get attention.

  43. 43.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 20, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    @Brachiator: Is he predicting that the virus will magically disappear all at once from everywhere on a certain date?

    that’s what you take from this?

    “After the omicron wave, COVID-19 will return but the pandemic will not.”

  44. 44.

    Baud

    January 20, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    @Yarrow: Obviously, that was wrong, but it could have been based on the reasonable prediction that people would have wanted to get vaccinated.

    The current prediction seems to be based on the effects of Omicron. WhoTF knows?

  45. 45.

    scav

    January 20, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    Along with hand washing (isn’t all that time spent washing hands after shitting a TYRANNY’S THEFT OF TIME, TIME that BELONG to the HOLY EMPLOYERS!!!!) only an oppression equal to the Draconian Overreach of forbidding driving after a skinful of LIBERTY Juice!? It’s THEIR body and THEIR car, how dare anyone tut tut over their FREEDOM of combining their Pursuits of Happiness? And etc.

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    @sdhays: It’s just one poll, of only relative value. But I always thought that the most significant information polls give is trend. Trump’s popularity among Republicans seems to be dropping, and it’s hard for me to see how he can reverse that trend.

    There are still plenty of Republican politicians flying to Mar-a-Loco to kiss Trump’s scurvy ring, and Trump’s endorsement may still have value in a primary. But these politicians could end up behind the curve in their general elections.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    @Roger Moore: How about both?

    And you are right about Trump’s absence from the news. His absence from the White House is another factor. The office of President tends to magnify it’s holder. Trump’s partisans were admiring a larger than life personage. His detractors saw him as an unbearably powerful foe. Some still do.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    January 20, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    @sdhays:

    I also hope that it really depresses the hard-core Dump lovers so they give up on politics and stay home.

    We can’t depend on this helping us stay clear of Republican autocracy.

    That surge in KKK-fascists that Dump created in 2020 worries me.

    This is one of the reasons why.

    Fox News seems intent on keeping the people angry, even though they have seen how this can veer out of anyone’s control.

    We just have to keep fighting to defeat these fools.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    January 20, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    @The Moar You Know: The top 5 moocher states are: New Mexico, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alaska and Montana, so it’s not accurate to say the excess “goes largely to the South.”

  50. 50.

    Kay

    January 20, 2022 at 12:36 pm

    Interesting take on the value of forcing debate:

    The United States Senate did something rare this week: It held an actual debate.
    Wednesday’s floor proceedings focused on voting rights legislation and the Senate filibuster, and involved nearly every member in the chamber.
    Senators sat in their seats, listening intently to colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Many even engaged directly with each other, offering responses to points made on the floor.
    It was an unusual sight in what’s often called the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” a widely mocked cliche in the modern Senate, even among senators themselves.
    Even though no votes were changed in the end and the legislation failed to pass due to a GOP filibuster, senators enjoyed what seemed like a fleeting moment to deliberate an issue that had, as of Wednesday, yet to receive its due on the floor.

    The 52 Senators were not convinced and the majority still don’t support federal civil rights protections for voting, but at least they were forced to state that because it isn’t, actually, “over”. The country goes on without federal civil rights protections for voting now and no one knows how that will play out.

  51. 51.

    Yarrow

    January 20, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    @Baud: I think it’s hard even for people who are experts in these fields to predict it. Plenty of them have been wrong so far. Global vaccination seems to be what will get us out of the pandemic. Until then the opportunity for new and more vaccine-resistant variants to emerge seems to be the risk. Perhaps Omicron will have conveyed enough immunity to make that less possible but all reports I’m seeing indicate that Omicron immunity doesn’t last very long. So who knows.

  52. 52.

    lee

    January 20, 2022 at 12:39 pm

    As someone who read HermanCainAwards regularly:

    Fuck ‘um

    At this point they have been given all the information they need. If they ignore it, that is the own damn fault.

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    January 20, 2022 at 12:40 pm

    @Geminid:

    Trump’s popularity among Republicans seems to be dropping, and it’s hard for me to see how he can reverse that trend.

    The GOP is keeping Trump’s hopes alive by not clearly denouncing him. And the polls mean nothing, especially this early.

    How many Republicans still believe that the 2020 election was rigged?

    Still I am happy for any sign that Trump is losing favor.

  54. 54.

    Yarrow

    January 20, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    @Geminid:

    Trump’s popularity among Republicans seems to be dropping, and it’s hard for me to see how he can reverse that trend.

    He’s starting to do rallies again. I think I saw one recent on wasn’t very well attended? Not sure. They sure aren’t getting wall to wall coverage like they were when he officially ran for President or became President. But getting himself out there in front of his fans could be a way to increase his support. Or not.

  55. 55.

    sdhays

    January 20, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I just don’t see anyone in the GQP starting a real war on Dump. They had their chance in 2015/2016, and they wet themselves and hid in a pile of manure at the first mean tweet. Now he’s the leader of the cult, even for people who identify more with the cult than the leader himself.

    There will be a debate between “sure, Dump is the second-coming of Jesus Christ, but we don’t need to belabor that fact” faction and the “we must honor him in every word and deed” faction. And I don’t see the first faction having much luck in national elections as long as Dump is alive or “not retired” (if retirement is even possible with someone like Donnie).

  56. 56.

    Kay

    January 20, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    “Let me say that I am glad that we are finally actually having a debate on the Senate floor,” said Warnock… “Imagine that. The Senate — what is that, the most important deliberative body — is actually having a debate.”

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    January 20, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think anything framed as a “prediction” should be avoided or presented very carefully.

  58. 58.

    Hoodie

    January 20, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    @Betty Cracker: People may be underestimating how difficult it will be for the GOP to replace Trump, who came along and rescued them when they were faced with a choice among such  lowlights as Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.    Trump, like him or not, has a certain charisma, probably born from his tabloid-ready lifestyle in the 70’s and 80’s and the mythology coming out of The Apprentice.   As is the case with a lot of charismatic figures, it really appeals to a significant number of people, and totally turns off about an equal number (Obama actually had a similar effect).  DeSantis is just a lumpy guy with a nasal voice, flat effect, and a bad attitude.  He strikes me as the type of guy who gets less popular the more people are exposed to him, a new version of Scott Walker.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    January 20, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    @Geminid:

    The office of President tends to magnify it’s holder.

    And normalize him.  The news media has a very strong bias in favor of presenting politics as normal and reasonable, which helped Trump immensely while he was in office.  No matter how deranged and obviously criminal he was, they didn’t want to come right out and say he was misbehaving.  But they don’t seem to have the same deference for him as ex-president.  I think a huge part of this is that he’s trying to stay active in politics and even run again.  The media usually offers great deference to former presidents, but that’s because they normally semi-retire as elder statesmen who give advice but try to stay above the fray.  Getting back in the trenches makes Trump absolutely fair game.

  60. 60.

    Another Scott

    January 20, 2022 at 12:47 pm

    @Roger Moore: What gets me is that early on some on Twitter were saying that Omicron probably developed in a single person in Africa who was infected with something like Alpha and their body never cleared the virus.  So it mutated for months before finally escaping to infect others.  And flew around the world in huge wave a few weeks.

    There is currently nothing – absolutely nothing – preventing something like that happening again.

    The pandemic isn’t over until it is over (nearly) everywhere.  We cannot let up in fighting the virus.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Roger Moore

    January 20, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @sdhays: 
    The real fight will come when it’s clear Trump isn’t coming back and everyone wants to stake their claim as his true successor. The only way for them to avoid that is for him to obviously and publicly lose in a way that can’t be written off as the other side cheating, so that everyone wants to run away from him to avoid loser stink. I don’t see that happening, so the successorship fights are coming.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 12:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I recall John Cole saying some time after the election that Trump was now a Republican problem. I think that in the short term he was right.

    Longer term, trumpism- the appeal of a fascist strong man- is still a danger. And Trump helped open a Pandora’s box of election subversion that will be hard to to undo.

  63. 63.

    burnspbesq

    January 20, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    @VOR:

    I used to say 1984 was a cautionary tale, not a “How To” book.

    In contrast, it has always been apparent that a certain segment of right-wing America viewed “The Handmaid’s Tale” as an instruction manual.

  64. 64.

    Arm The Homeless

    January 20, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    Floriduh is a fucking joke.

    I called my local rep’s office to ask why their boss was trying to push abortion bans and clearly anti-constitutional speech bills. I advised them if I wanted to live in a regressive redneck shit-hole I would move to Mississippi with it’s lower cost of living; that’s when they hung up on me

  65. 65.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    @Yarrow: Trump pulled in 15,000 people to his Arizona rally. I had two takeaways from the reporting on this event: Trump was repetitive in relitigating the past election, and the attendees were something of a freak show. Trump’s gotta do better if his comeback tour is to regenerate his political career.

    Trump plans another rally January 29, outside of Houston. I wonder if Texas politicians will flock to this rally like Arizona politicians did to the one last Saturday. And if Gregg Abbott decides he has a prior commitment, will Trump berate him?

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 20, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    @Geminid: I’m too much of a realist to think Beto O’Rourke is anything but a very long shot, but I’d be surprised if Abbott is willing to tempt fate like that.

  67. 67.

    Geminid

    January 20, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    @Betty Cracker: New Mexico used to be the second poorest state in the U.S., ahead of only Mississipi. The Second World War changed that when it brought air force bases and the Manhattan Project. New Mexico now has tourism and recreation, some civilian tech growth, and the Southeastern corner of the state benefits from the Permian Basin oil boom. The federal government is still the state’s biggest economic engine, though.

    Outside the growth areas, New Mexico is a very beautul but very poor place. Governor Grisham and the Democratic legislature pushed through a good clean power package in 2019 and that will help some.

  68. 68.

    Betty Cracker

    January 20, 2022 at 1:35 pm

    @Arm The Homeless: LOL! Well done!

    @Geminid: I’ve visited NM — it’s pretty, the food is excellent, and the people I met were nice. But it’s not the place for me. The lack of humidity made me molt like an iguana.

  69. 69.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    January 20, 2022 at 1:47 pm

    This is a perfect example of how completely crazy the Republican Party has become. They are convinced that Covid-19 is so low risk that they can use it to score points – removing the state’s executive branch to issue emergency public health orders, SCOTUS decisions that turn churches into petri dishes, etc..

    This is so amazingly colossally stupid. There’s no guarantee that Covid-19 won’t evolve into far deadlier form. And, there’s absolutely no reason to suspect the next pandemic will be no more deadly than Covid-19.

    Why aren’t we talking about this? I mean, *seriously*? I know political journalists are allergic to any truth that they can’t spin as influencing the horse race, or blaming both sides, but, you know, the first step in learning to tell the truth is to admit you’ve got a problem!

  70. 70.

    James E Powell

    January 20, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    @Geminid:

    How much do those number differ from January 2016?

    There are people who say they are Republican voters and there are people who show up to vote in Republican primaries & caucuses.

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    January 20, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Roger Moore: +1

    There was some story in the news about some unvaccinated guy who got COVID twice and recently died – of Omicron.

    We seem to go through these cycles every few months – “Oh things are getting better, it will be all over soon…!”  It’s Lucy and the football.

    And, while I’m here, the IHME may have good people who know what they’re doing, but (as others have noted) their graphs are garbage.  Error bars don’t actually get smaller 6 months out than they are now.  Think of hurricane “circle of uncertainty” maps – the circles get bigger as time goes on, not smaller.  The IHME graphs showing a peak then a trough with smaller error ranges later on pretend to have more confidence than science allows.  I can’t help but think that too many people didn’t understand the real-world ramifications of people seeing those graphs…

    Grrr…,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    Gravenstone

    January 20, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @citizen dave: Maybe Cuba would annex them.

    /snerk

  73. 73.

    Bill Arnold

    January 20, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    @Kay:

    “Imagine that. The Senate — what is that, the most important deliberative body — is actually having a debate.”

    I hope they hunger at least a bit for more.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - way2blue - SINALEI, SAMOA—RESPITE EDITION—FEBRUARY 2025.  (second of five) 7
Image by way2blue (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • H.E.Wolf on Darkness Has a Hunger That’s Insatiable and Lightness Has a Call That’s Hard To Hear (Jul 13, 2025 @ 2:19pm)
  • Martin on Government-Sanctioned Manslaughter by the Trump Crime Cartel (Jul 13, 2025 @ 2:17pm)
  • WTFGhost on Darkness Has a Hunger That’s Insatiable and Lightness Has a Call That’s Hard To Hear (Jul 13, 2025 @ 2:16pm)
  • Glory b on Sunday Morning Open Thread: Dance Like the Whole Universe Is Watching (Jul 13, 2025 @ 2:16pm)
  • rikyrah on Government-Sanctioned Manslaughter by the Trump Crime Cartel (Jul 13, 2025 @ 2:15pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!