Tag Archives: coronavirus

Snarky Snippets Is Baaaaack …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

A few things are on my radar this afternoon … several actually, but three that are jumping up and down screaming, “Pick me!  Pick ME!”  And so, the choice has been made for me, it would seem.

Who could’a seen it coming?

This in this morning’s The Guardian …

Despite Donald Trump’s claims that the spread of coronavirus is dropping around the US, new infection hotspots are cropping up across Republican heartlands, including in Texas and Alabama. Many of the new hotspots are in states where governors refused to instruct residents to stay at home, or are following Trump’s advice to relax lockdown restrictions.

These figures could be seen as the realisation of a warning from Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the president’s long-suffering right-hand man on coronavirus, on Tuesday.

In his latest contradiction of the president, Fauci warned the virus would not go away on its own, and that reopening the country too quickly could result in a surge in “little spikes that might turn into outbreaks”.

I wonder how those gun-totin’ fools who stormed statehouses brandishing their big guns and displaying their Nazi insignia feel now that they’ve gotten their way?  I wonder how many more have to die because of fools like them?

Will justice prevail?

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments from Trump’s lawyers concerning the release of his tax and other financial records, as subpoenaed by Congress.  Trump’s lawyers contend that he should not be so constrained by Congress and cannot be prosecuted while in office.  However, at least four on the Supreme Court feel differently …

  • “There is a long, long history of Congress seeking records and getting them” from occupants of the Oval Office. – Justice Sonia Sotomayor
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Steven Breyer brought up requests for documents during the Watergate and Whitewater scandals, which occurred under Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton and were decided unanimously against the president concerned.
  • Elena Kagan told Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow a “fundamental precept of our constitutional order is that the president is not above the law”.

The case in a nutshell:

Every president since Nixon, who was elected in 1968, had released tax information. But there is no legal compunction to do so.

Democrats in Congress are attempting to establish whether Trump is breaking ethics laws and constitutional safeguards against profiting from the presidency.

The New York prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr wants to find out if hush money payments to women who claimed affairs with Trump involved illegal business practices.

Trump is asking the justices to put an end to subpoenas for tax, bank and other financial records which seek information from Deutsche Bank, Capital One and the Mazars USA accounting firm.

Trump’s lawyers, supported by the justice department, contend that he should not be so constrained by Congress and cannot be prosecuted while in office.

Opponents of the president say he is simply not above the law.

Appellate courts in Washington and New York have ruled that the documents should be turned over. Those courts brushed aside the president’s broad arguments, focusing on the fact that the subpoenas were addressed to third parties asking for records of Trump’s business and financial dealings as a private citizen, not as president.

Chief Justice John Roberts asked Trump lawyer Patrick Strawbridge: “Do you concede any power in the House to subpoena personal papers of the president?”

The Trump attorney said it was “difficult to imagine” a situation in which that would be justified.

However, in 1974 the justices acted unanimously in requiring Nixon to turn over White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. And in 1997, another unanimous decision allowed a sexual harassment lawsuit to proceed against Clinton.

What makes Trump different than Nixon or Clinton?  What is it that makes Attorney General Barr proclaim him to be ‘above the law’ in all things?  Trump is only a flawed human, just as were Nixon and Clinton.  He has already been proven to be more corrupt than even Nixon.  Per the U.S. Constitution, Congress is tasked with the oversight of the Executive Branch of government.  So why … why should he be given carte blanche to hide his possible misdeeds, to keep his dirty secrets from the people of this nation?  If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t be hiding behind Bill Barr’s very wide coat, now would he?

I hope that Chief Justice Roberts finds that he still has a conscience when it comes time for a vote on this case.  There is far more at stake here than whether Trump is allowed to keep his dirty little secrets, for this case will set a precedent for all future presidents.  A ruling is expected within a matter of weeks.

Not so fast, Billy Barr …

Remember last week when the Department of Justice under William Barr announced that it would be dropping the charges against Michael Flynn?  Most non-trumpies were incensed, as was I.

Bill Barr auditioned for the role of Attorney General by writing a lengthy memo arguing in favor of a fringe legal theory that a President could not obstruct justice, no matter what he did. From the very beginning, Barr has made it clear that he would be Trump’s man in the Department of Justice, and that his loyalty would always be to the President — not the rule of law, not the people of this nation.

But this time Barr may have to answer to a higher authority … the federal courts.  Judge Emmet Sullivan has put the Justice Department’s decision on hold – opening the door for legal experts and other outside parties to oppose the administration’s motion to exonerate Flynn of lying to the FBI.

Critics, including Barack Obama and hundreds of former FBI and justice department officials, have questioned whether William Barr was orchestrating favors for Trump. Flynn, guilty of far greater crimes, pleaded guilty to the single charge of lying to the FBI as part of a plea deal arranged in exchange for testimony to Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russia’s interference on behalf of Trump in 2016.  Conspiracy theorists will tell you that Flynn did nothing wrong, that he was set up, but the hard evidence says differently and in fact, had he not agreed to the plea deal, he would have been charged with far more crimes, possibly up to and including treason.

It is interesting to note that within the Justice Department, only Barr argued in favour of dropping the charges against Flynn.  None of the line prosecutors supervising the case signed the motion and one withdrew from the case.  That, to me, speaks volumes.

When Flynn was forced from the White House, Vice-President Mike Pence said he was disappointed the national security adviser had misled him about his talks with the Russian ambassador. Donald Trump called the deception unacceptable.

Now Pence says he would welcome Flynn back to the administration, calling him a “patriot”, as Trump pronounces him exonerated.  Ask yourself … ‘Why?’  There’s a reason, and I suspect it pertains to the role Flynn could play as a liaison between Trump and Russia in the upcoming election.  Just an educated guess on my part, of course.

I cannot begin to guess at this point how this will end, but it’s good to know the judge isn’t taking his responsibility to truth and justice lightly.  This one will keep me on the edge of my seat!

Trump Has A Plan — We Should Be Afraid!

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Trump apparently has a ‘plan’, a four-step plan, to open the U.S. for business again. His intent has nothing to do with the well being of the people of this nation, but is a thinly-disguised attempt to restore the economy and thus his approval rating prior to the November 3rd election.  The esteemed Robert Reich tells us why his plan is an abomination, why it will be lethal to the people of this country …

Donald Trump’s four-step plan to reopen the US economy – and why it will be lethal

Robert Reich-4Robert Reich

The president and his allies are hiding the facts and pretending ‘freedom’ conquers all. As a result, more Americans will die

Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back.

But much of the economy remains closed because of the pandemic. The number of infections and deaths continue to climb.

So what is Trump’s re-election strategy? Reopen the economy anyway, despite the risks.

Step 1 – Remove income support, so people have no choice but to return to work.

Trump’s labor department has decided that furloughed employees “must accept” an employer’s offer to return to work and therefore forfeit unemployment benefits, regardless of Covid-19.

Trump’s ally, Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, says employees cannot refuse to return to work for fear of contracting the disease. “That’s a voluntary quit,” making someone ineligible for benefits.

GOP officials in Oklahoma are even threatening to withhold the $600 a week of extra unemployment benefits Congress has provided workers, if an employer wants to hire them. Safety is irrelevant.

“If the employer will contact us … we will cut off their benefits,” says Teresa Thomas Keller of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

Forcing people to choose between getting Covid-19 or losing their livelihood is inhumane. It is also nonsensical. Public health still depends on as many workers as possible staying home. That’s a big reason why Congress provided the extra benefits.

Step 2 – Hide the facts.

No one knows how many Americans are infected because the Trump administration continues to drag its heels on testing. To date only 6.5m tests have been completed in a population of more than 200 million adults.

Florida, one of the first states to reopen, has stopped releasing medical examiners’ statistics on the number of Covid-19 victims because the figures are higher than the state’s official count.

But it’s impossible to fight the virus without adequate data. Dr Anthony Fauci, the administration’s leading infectious disease expert, warns that reopening poses “a really significant risk” without more testing.

Not surprisingly, the White House has blocked Fauci from testifying before the House.

Step 3 – Pretend it’s about “freedom”.

Weeks ago, Trump called on citizens to “LIBERATE” states like Michigan, whose Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, imposed strict stay-at-home rules.

Michigan has the third-highest number of Covid-19 deaths in America, although it is 10th in population. When on Thursday Whitmer extended the rules to 28 May, gun-toting protesters rushed the state house chanting: “Lock her up!”

Rather than condemn their behavior, Trump suggested Whitmer “make a deal” with them.

“The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire,” he tweeted. “These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely!”

Meanwhile, the attorney general, William Barr, has directed the justice department to take legal action against any state or local authorities imposing lockdown measures that “could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens”.

Making this about “freedom” is absurd. Freedom is meaningless for people who have no choice but to accept a job that risks their health.

Step 4 – Shield businesses against lawsuits for spreading the infection.

Trump is pushing to give businesses that reopen a “liability shield” against legal action by workers or customers who get infected by the virus.

This week, he announced he would use the Defense Production Act to force meat-processing plants to remain open, despite high rates of Covid-19 infections and deaths among meatpackers.

“We’re going to sign an executive order today, I believe, and that’ll solve any liability problems,” Trump said.

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, insists that proposed legislation giving state and local governments funding they desperately need must include legal immunity for corporations that cause workers or consumers to become infected.

“We have a red line on liability,” McConnell said. “It won’t pass the Senate without it.”

But how can the economy safely reopen if companies don’t have an incentive to keep people safe? Promises to provide protective gear and other safeguards are worthless absent the threat of damages if workers or customers become infected.

The truth – The biggest obstacle to reopening the economy is the pandemic itself.

Any rush to reopen without adequate testing and tracing – far more than now under way – will cause a resurgence of the disease and another and longer economic crisis.

Maybe Trump is betting that any resurgence will occur after the election, when the economy appears to be on the road to recovery.

The first responsibility of a president is to keep the public safe. But Donald Trump couldn’t care less. He was slow to respond to the threat, then he lied about it, then made it hard for states – especially those with Democratic governors – to get the equipment they need.

Now he’s trying to force the economy to reopen in order to boost his electoral chances this November, and he’s selling out Americans’ health to seal the deal. This is beyond contemptible.

Text dividers

Isn’t it a damn shame that the person charged with seeing to the well-being of the nation actually poses the gravest danger to the people of that nation?  Think about it.

“You should get behind the president” – and do what?

Posted on by under Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

We keep hearing Trump’s minions saying that we should ‘get behind’ Trump, and I’ve offered a few times to do just that … get behind him with a baseball bat in hand! Joking aside though, Keith asks the question … get behind him and … what???

musingsofanoldfart

A common refrain by Trump supporters to any criticism regarding his handling of COVID-19 is “you need to get behind the president.” OK, and do what specifically?

Should I correct his misinformation, some of which is “actively harmful to Americans” according to John Oliver?

Should I say it was OK to ignore the warnings of the pandemic risk in January and February when we could have done some planning such as needs assessment and alert various parties to better understand roles?

Should I support his and his sycophants’ efforts to heighten just criticism of China and the WHO to the point of disproportionate blame for COVID-19 to mask just blame toward his failures?

Should we say it is OK to push for the public outcry of supporters without accountability to get governors to act more rashly in reopening the economy?

Should we tolerate his abuse of powers toward inspectors general…

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Snarky Snippets — Where’s The Logic?

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I have two or three pieces started … good topics, I think … but too much detritus is crossing my radar for me to find my focus, so … sigh … you know what that means, right?  Yep, it’s time for snarky snippets.  Once I share the angst with you guys, then perhaps I can clear my mind and focus.  It’s worth a shot, anyway.

Is he really trying to kill us all?

When I read yesterday … or was it the day before? … that Trump ordered meat-processing plants to remain open and continue operating, declaring them critical infrastructure, I shook my head.  This is puzzling, for … he is perfectly fine with farmers trashing their entire harvest, plowing their crops back into the ground, throwing billions of gallons of milk away, fruit left rotting on the trees (because he has deported the migrant workers), and yet he orders meat-processing plants to remain open.  Where’s the logic???  Fruits, vegetables, milk, dairy products, etc. are a far more important part of the human diet than meat!  In fact, most people in the U.S., perhaps in all western nations, consume far much more meat than is healthy.

So, what to make of the fact that Trump is happy enough to have healthy foods destroyed, but is determined to shove more meat down our throats?  The only conclusion I can draw is that he wants us all dead, or at least in such a diminished state that we cannot do much.  This theory is supported, also, by his determination to have all businesses up and running again long before it is safe to do so.  He has been warned that to open businesses to the public just now will … not ‘might’, but ‘will’ … result in a resurgence of the coronavirus and that the second wave might be even more lethal than the first.

Trump also said he would also shield meatpacking companies from legal liability from worker claims of not being adequately protected … a gross violation of the law, and one that is going to lead to so many lawsuits that I’m beginning to wish I were a lawyer!

At least 22 plants processing meat from pork to chicken have closed at some point after clusters of employees tested positive for coronavirus.  You remember that old saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink”?  I think that will apply here.  You can order a plant to remain open, perhaps, but you cannot force employees to return to work.  It is my sincere hope that the employees present a United Front and take up the mantra of Vietnam War protestors in the 1960s, “Hell no, we won’t go!”

Oh, what could possibly go wrong?

I’ve written numerous times about Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who I consider to be one of the most awful human beings in the country, a man whose campaign ad shows him pointing a rifle at his daughter’s boyfriend!  However, here he is again, back on my radar, and this time I’m … floored at the stupidity.

Kemp announced in his most recent executive order that — provided they meet all other requirements — those holding instructional permits can qualify for their driver’s licenses without the “comprehensive on-the-road driving test.”

That means teens can get their license when they turn 16 without getting in a car with a test administrator.  That means that in the State of Georgia, by this time next year, there will be tens of thousands of teenagers driving cars who have never proven that they were capable of driving the car.  My recommendation is that every person who is involved in a crash with any of these illegitimate drivers must sue Governor Kemp for millions of dollars … it seems that money is the only language these jackasses understand, for human life surely carries no weight with them!  Where’s the logic???

shaking_head_in_disgust_anim_md_wm

And speaking of the insanity that reigns supreme in the United States today …

On Thursday, New York became the second state to be sued by … wait for it … the National Rifle Association (NRA).  Why?  Because New York decided that gun shops, contrary to what Trump & Co determined, were not essential services and were therefore closed down during the shutdown of non-essential businesses in an effort to protect its citizens.

The NRA is, of course, claiming that shuttering of the gun shops along with schools, restaurants, retail stores, etc., is an infringement on the 2nd Amendment.  They have also found other imaginative ways of turning the coronavirus pandemic to their own advantage … or at least trying to.  On their website, you will find articles titled “COVID-19: Threat to Second Amendment”  and “Pandemic Exposes Dangers of So-Called “Universal” Background Checks”   Seriously???

Let’s talk about this for just a minute.  A gun is manufactured with only one purpose:  to kill.  Hunting rifles and shotguns are used to kill animals, all other guns are used to kill humans.  There is no other purpose … guns do not make pretty decorative planters, nor are they useful for peeling potatoes.  They kill.  That’s all.  So, think about this for a moment … in the midst of a pandemic that is killing thousands per day every day in this country, the NRA believes it is essential that people in this country have unlimited access to buy a gun to … kill.  Isn’t the damn pandemic doing enough killing???  And … libraries are closed, bookstores are closed, music stores are closed … the things that bring us pleasure and enhance our lives are closed, but gun stores must remain open.gun-salesIn other states, where gun shops have remained open, gun sales have soared.  SOARED!  3.7 million background checks were performed in March.  The previous record was 3.3 million in December 2015.  The highest number of guns sold in this country in a single month was this past March, when businesses were first shuttered and the death toll from the coronavirus skyrocketed.  WHAT THE HELL???  Did the gun nuts think they were going to shoot the virus???  Do they think it will break into their homes in the middle of the night and steal the good silver? gun-toonI have never understood and will never understand the gun culture in the United States, but this one just blows my mind … there is absolutely zero logic behind it.  Surely the courts will have the good sense to throw the cases out, or at the very least rule against the NRA.  If not … then I have no more hope for the sane people of this nation.

Do The Right Thing!!!!

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Trump's Staff Picks

It is interesting to make note of a memo issued on April 17th by a top Republican strategist advising GOP candidates on how to address the coronavirus crisis, or rather how to work around Trump’s inept bungling of the entire scenario since January.  The memo includes advice to Republican candidates in the 2020 election on everything from how to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese government to how to deal with accusations of racism. It stresses three main lines of assault: That China caused the virus “by covering it up,” that Democrats are “soft on China,” and that Republicans will “push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading this pandemic.”

The short version, a primer for GOP candidates, reads …

  • China caused this pandemic by covering it up, lying, and hoarding the world’s supply of medical equipment.
    • China is an adversary that has stolen millions of American jobs, sent fentanyl to the United States, and they send religious minorities to concentration camps.
  • My opponent is soft on China, fails to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party, and can’t betrusted to take them on.
  • I will stand up to China, bring our manufacturing jobs back home, and push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading this pandemic.

It’s a script, basically, for candidates who might be asked about the coronavirus, or Trump’s unconscionable response, for how they can divert attention and obfuscate, finding a way to blame … who else? … Democrats for everything.  Funny, isn’t it, how the strategists can spin almost anything?  But it is in the long version that the most interesting part, a single sentence, occurs:

“Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China.” 

So, while the memo … all 57 pages of it … basically contains a roadmap for navigating around Trump’s faux pas, just one sentence caused the you-know-what to hit the fan!

On Monday, Trump political adviser Justin Clark told NRSC executive director Kevin McLaughlin that any Republican candidate who followed the memo’s advice shouldn’t expect the active support of the reelection campaign and risked losing the support of Republican voters.  Hmmmm … seems to me that the GOP is a bit dictatorial.  Perhaps this explains why, when Republican senators had the chance to convict the madman in the Oval Office of the high crimes and misdemeanors of which he had already been proven guilty, and remove him from office, they reneged on their duty to the people of this nation.  Perhaps they had been threatened.

Clark issued the following statement:

“Candidates will listen to the bad advice in this memo at their own peril. President Trump enjoys unprecedented support among Republican voters and everyone on the ballot in November will want to tap into that enthusiasm. The president’s campaign, the RNC, and the NRSC are firmly on the same page here.”

Fast forward to yesterday, when Trump’s approval rating had dropped from 45.8% in late March to 42.6% and still likely to drop further.  Not to mention that Trump is now trailing Biden, who has had 110% less media coverage than Trump, in many states.  So, “da ‘man’” went off his rocker, as he is wont to do when the consequences of his own actions come home to roost.  Usually, he takes it out on the staff nearest at hand, or the media, or democrats, or Obama.  This time, though, he took it out on his ignoble campaign manager Brad Parscale.

ParscaleNow, mind you I have no love of Mr. Parscale, for he both looks and acts like a Nazi.  However, fair is fair and he did not deserve the reaming he got from his boss yesterday.  There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Trump’s declining approval rating and drop in the polls is a direct result of his own actions and ineptitude.  It is a cumulative effect of him saying there would be only 15 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., “nothing to worry about, folks”, up to and including his suggestion that he knew more than all the experts and he thought that injecting humans with disinfectant would cure the virus.  It is the fact that he has shown himself incompetent and uncaring that has driven his numbers down, not anything Mr. Parscale did or did not do.

Reportedly, he told Parscale that he “would not” lose to Biden, insisted the data was wrong and blamed Parscale for the fact that he is down in the polls.  But, the utter idiocy doesn’t stop there.  He also made a threat to sue Mr. Parscale for the salary he has earned working for Trump!  Oh, wouldn’t you just love to see him try that?  It is no different than the owner of any business telling an employee, after three years, that he is now displeased with her service and wants her salary back for the past three years!  Fat chance, Bucko!

Parscale, it is said, replied, “I love you, too”, and the call ended.

We can laugh all we want, but there is a bigger point here … a couple of them, but I’ll stick with one for the purpose of brevity.  Donald Trump is not sane.  He is not fit for office, never was.  In the middle of the worst crisis this nation has seen since World War II, he is not concerned for the lives of the people of this nation but is only concerned about his election campaign.  He does not think logically but lashes out at anyone in the line of fire when angered.  He expects fealty from all who surround him, though he has done absolutely nothing to deserve loyalty.  His own ego matters more than your life or mine.

There are sixteen people in this country who, collectively, could save this nation from the evil that resides in the White House.  They are:

Vice President Mike Pence

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue

Attorney General William Barr

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

Secretary of Education Elisabeth Prince DeVos

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Andrew Wheeler

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt

Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia

Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought

Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Jovita Carranza

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao

Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows

These are the people who comprise Trump’s hand-picked cabinet.  Most are highly un-qualified for their position, and I’ve always believed this was done with purpose, perhaps to follow Steve Bannon’s desire to “dismantle the administrative state”.  However, these people are in the unique position of seeing on a day-to-day basis the utter lunacy of the ‘man’ in charge of the nation’s well-being, and having the ability to remove him, to render him unfit to serve.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution states that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro tempore. Then the vice president would immediately become “acting president,” and take over all the president’s powers.

If Pence and eight of the fifteen cabinet members saw their loyalty as being to the nation and its people instead of the madman named Trump, this nation could be Trump-free within a matter of hours.  Will they?  No, they will not.  Why?  Because their fortunes and futures are so closely linked with Trump’s, and because the GOP has resolved to threaten, browbeat and bully any who speak against Trump, that they are cowards … they are scared to death to speak against him, scared to death to do the right thing for the people of this country.  I plan to write to each and every one of the people on that list, including Mike Pence, and let them know that their responsibility is to We the People, not a hateful, corrupt, sorry excuse for a president.  Will it do any good?  Doubtful, but … there are times when a person simply has to speak up.  This is one of those times.

Still More Snarky Snippets …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

These days so much is wrong in this country-that-I-once-called-home that it’s hard to confine my snark to simple snark without taking it into a full-fledged rant, but I shall try …

AG Barr wants you … to die!

The not-so-honourable U.S. District Attorney Bill Barr is threatening to sue states that are trying to protect their citizens.  Yep, you heard me right.  Said Barr in his two-page letter to the 93 U.S. Attorneys …

“Many policies that would be unthinkable in regular times have become commonplace in recent weeks, and we do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public. But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis.”

WHOA … Back it up there, Billy Boy!!!  Then just how in the Sam Hell is it that Donald Trump, that ‘man’ you said was above the law, was able to suspend the U.S. Constitution to give himself additional powers that would have our Founding Fathers clutching their heads as they rolled around in their graves???  So, our state government doesn’t have the right to keep us safe, but Trump has the right to incite riots, to siphon funds earmarked for other causes to his abominable ‘wall’, and he stands in front of television cameras broadcasting to at least 50-60 people and says he has “total authority”?

My recommendation for Mr. Barr is that he pick up a copy of the U.S. Constitution and actually sit on his fat ass and actually read the thing … all 8,000 words!

As much as I am a fighter, as much as I chafe at being ‘told’ or ‘ordered’ to do something … yes, a stubborn wench I am … I still have a bit of common sense that says if Trump/Barr have their way, every bloomin’ one of us will end up with the coronavirus by the end of June.  Some will survive, some won’t.  Laura Ingraham made the statement a few days ago that death is just part of life.  In other words – oh well … as long as she and other shallow-minded people can go back to shopping and getting drunk in bars, what are a few million lives?

Barr-toadie

Look at that grin … I think he enjoys being a toadie!!!

No doubt this directive came from the fool in the Oval Office, as he is chomping at the bit to get everything “opened back up”, thinking that the economy will just pick right back up where it left off in early March and he can toot his horn and win the election in November.  Ain’t gonna happen.  It will be years before the economy fully rebounds … hopefully long after Donald Trump is naught but a little urn of ashes sitting on Melania’s dresser.

Time to put ol’ Mitch out to pasture …

As I noted yesterday, Trump is playing a game of “pick-and-choose” over which states should receive federal aid, the criteria being whether they play nice with Trump, praise him and agree with him in all things, or at least pretend to.  But the idea actually started last week with none other than the cruel Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell.  McConnell suggested that the states should just go bankrupt if they run out of money after paying billions in unemployment claims, and more billions to treat coronavirus victims.  Well, McConnell’s idea didn’t go over so well with most anybody, including his own fellow republicans in both the House and Senate.

The governor of Mitchie’s own state, Kentucky, even stood up to him … that takes some guts and Governor Beshear deserves a round of applause!  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put it in context …

“Don’t say state and local. Say what the state and local governments fund: police, fire, teachers, hospital workers. Funds small business but also fund police, fire, school teachers, and hospital workers. How can you exclude them when you’re talking about priorities?”

Priorities, indeed!  Funny, isn’t it, that McConnell is all too willing to fund a worthless wall on the southern border costing hundreds of billions of dollars, but he’s not willing to help struggling states keep their public schools open or police, fire and hospital workers on the job.  Methinks ol’ Mitchie has outlived his usefulness in Congress, for he has forgotten that PEOPLE are the priority, seems to have forgotten that the government exists for the PEOPLE!  I do sincerely hope that Kentuckians have the good sense to put Mitch McConnell out to pasture this November … it is long past time!

Return to ‘business as usual’?  I think not

I saw this brief snippet in the New York Times this morning:

China’s Factories Are Back. Its Consumers Aren’t.

The manufacturing giant is once again turning out steel and cellphones. But job losses and pay cuts have left its people reluctant to spend — a problem the U.S. and Europe may soon face, too.

I have said the same a few times in recent weeks.  You can open a business, produce a product, but in these times of uncertainty, the wise and sensible among us aren’t going to rush out and buy, buy, buy.  This is one of a few reasons that Trump’s plan to get everything opened up and running full steam isn’t going to work.  First, one doesn’t just snap their fingers and all of a sudden restaurants have plenty of food, factories have all their raw materials and workers in place, ready to fire up those assembly lines.  It doesn’t work that way.  But even once the factories are rolling out new gadgets and the restaurants have turned their sign to “Open”, the customers will return slowly … very slowly.

open-signPeople have been out of work, living on unemployment which is, at the most, about 66% of average income.  People are still frightened of catching the coronavirus which, as medical experts are telling us, will be a valid concern at least throughout the summer.  And people have seen from the past two month’s experience that … anything can happen.  The sensible will start beefing up their savings rather than spending money on non-essentials such as dining out, new clothes, new appliances.

Nope, folks, there will be no quick return to ‘business as usual’, no matter how much Donald Trump, William Barr, and the foolish gun-totin’ protestors would like it to be so.  All they are doing is putting more lives in danger.

I haven’t done a cartoon post for quite a while, nor am I likely to anytime soon, for frankly even the great talent of the political cartoonists cannot make me find anything humorous about life today, but here’s one that I at least grinned at …

pol-toon

Did You Get Money You Don’t Need From the Feds? Here Are Some Ideas of Where to Donate It.

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Blogging friend Brendan from my old stomping ground of New York City, has written a post with some ideas for those who have received stimulus checks from our bankrupt government that they do not need. Please, people, if you don’t need your $1,200, give it to someone who does! Thank you, Brendan … great work! 👍👍

Blind Injustice

Those of you who have been following the weekly updates on how I’m doing, and how my city (New York City) is doing with the coronavirus, will know that I am in a pretty stable situation professionally. As a result, I didn’t need the federal government to give me $1,200…yet I was given it anyway since many of us are receiving somewhere between $1,200 and $4,700.

If you are a person struggling to make ends meet, you need not feel guilty about using the money to help yourself financially. In fact, you’re the kind of person who was envisioned as benefiting the most from receiving the money.

However, if you are like me in that you don’t need the money, I strongly recommend that you give away the money in ways that help those less fortunate (because there are so many people less fortunate than you, in that case). However…

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The ‘Once Just’ Nation …

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Humour, Political commentary, Social commentary

In the once just nation in between two big ponds, there lived a ruler of very little brain.  His name was Donald Trump.  By the calendar of the human species, it was on the day 23 April 2020 that the witless wonder made his second foray into the practice of medicine, much to the fear and chagrin of the people of his land.

The first time he decided that he was a qualified man of healing, a great pandemic had spread across his land.  For much time, he pretended that it was nothing, that nobody would die, but then after many thousands of his people died, and when the natives threatened to rise up against their ruler, he recanted and told them that “only he” had the cure, a drug called hydroxychloroquine.  And the people of his kingdom, used to following blindly his orders, clamored for it.

Trouble was, the drug he touted killed even more people than it helped, for what was known to scientists, but apparently not to King Trump, was that it caused serious heart damage, and about 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11% of those getting routine care alone.  But still the people believed King Donald, for they were not shown the test results, and the man, Rick Bright, who tried to tell King Trump that hydroxychloroquine would not kill the dreaded coronavirus, but would kill otherwise healthy people, was fired and banished from the kingdom, for, King Trump could abide no opinion contrary to his own. He was, after all, a very stable genius (who belonged in the stable with the other asses).

The second time King Trump played doctor (though he had done so many, many times before with unsuspecting young ladies, but that is a story for another day), was still yet in the time of the horrible pandemic.

King Trump had heard that a combination of ultraviolet light and disinfectants could kill the dreaded coronavirus on surfaces, such as wiping countertops down with bleach or other disinfectants intended to kill germs.  And thus it happened that King Donald got a brilliant idea!  If light + disinfectants could kill the virus on surfaces, why not IN the human body???

“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute.  And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.  So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way.”

And the scientists cringed, and the Earth stood still for just a moment as it tried not to shudder, and the forces of the Universe let out a collective groan.  But some real doctors of conscience stepped forward once King Donnie left the stable, to caution the people …

“Please don’t drink bleach or isopropyl alcohol to remove #COVID19 from your saliva!”

“Please don’t do this. Respectfully, all toxicologists.”

But the warnings fell on deaf ears of some, and that was how the once just nation ended.