Trump has suddenly demanded that the relief bill have its individual payouts increased from $600 to $2000, threatening a veto otherwise. The original bill had a veto proof majority, but Pelosi welcomed the move, and Democrats are going to unanimously support a bill with the $2000 payments instead of $600. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-bill.html
I have no idea what inspired Trump to do this--this is exactly the sort of thing the Democrats have been calling for and the GOP has opposed--but if Democrats revoke enough support for the current bill so that a Trump veto would kill it, Republican lawmakers might just consent to increasing the amount.
But that relies on multiple different factors to come together, and at the end of the day it seems like it would be a dealbreaker for McConnell. There's always the chance that Trump flip flops on it and withdraws the threat. Hopefully it can go through but I'm guessing Trump will either change his mind or the GOP will just kill a bill with $2000 payments.
I mean, Pelosi has already called his bluff and said the House Dems will pass a bill in the coming days with $2000.00 payments. It'll be interesting to see how this ends up being their fault anyway if it doesn't happen. Frankly, I think it's just BS posturing by Trump (again, he could have leaned on Republican Senators at ANY time in the last few months and didn't), or he thinks if he gives people alot of money they'll be inclined to let him stay in office despite soundly losing an election.
For $10,000 I'd change MY vote...
I wouldn't throw away American democracy for less than a month's pay (which is what he is suggesting). Plenty of people probably would. It's also REAL easy for Trump to make statements. Not so easy to actually lobby or threaten Republican Senators to back it. Which he could have at any time. LBJ sure as shit did so. In fact, he would purposefully humiliate lawmakers by talking to them while on the toilet.
Trump also talked a big game during the first COVID relief bill in the summer, claiming to want a payroll tax holiday included. He never got it and didn't veto the bill then.
The lack of follow-up to that tax holiday never materialing after the way the media fawned over it that weekend it was announced was pathetic. And, apparently, everyone just didn't notice the money never showed up in their checks?? Unreal.
We know Trump's modus operandi by now. Flood the zone with chaos and bullshit and see if he can squeeze through the cracks created. This and the pardons are part of that.
Yep, Trump is basically all hat and no cattle. On pretty much every issue, and we should all be cognizant of this by now. Sometimes this has actually been good, such as his posturing regarding Iran and North Korea. Or even his feckless attempts to overturn the election. But he really is a blowhard and just because he's saying he wants $2k checks (and btw he also said he wanted cuts in other aid in the relief package) doesnt mean he's going to do anything substantively.
Yep, Trump is basically all hat and no cattle. On pretty much every issue, and we should all be cognizant of this by now. Sometimes this has actually been good, such as his posturing regarding Iran and North Korea. Or even his feckless attempts to overturn the election. But he really is a blowhard and just because he's saying he wants $2k checks (and btw he also said he wanted cuts in other aid in the relief package) doesnt mean he's going to do anything substantively.
Like building a wall and making Mexico pay for it? Let’s not forget he would abolish Obamacare within a month of taking office. Seems the only accomplishments he made were ridiculous tax cuts for the rich. Yay! The country is so much better under his guidance. He is a snake oil salesman, nothing more. Okay yeah, he is a very good snake oil salesman. He has no truth, every part of his history screams that. What he said is just a move and means less than nothing.
He has now issued additional pardons to Manafort, Stone, and Jared's father who CHRIS CHRISTIE convicted of tax evasion. There hasn't been this level of corruption at the highest levels of government since Tammany Hall or Teapot Dome. There isn't any indication any of these people DESERVE a pardon in any way. It's literally a bunch of actual murderers and people who lied to law enforcement to shield him from legal jeopardy. This stuff makes Nixon seem like a paragon of virtue.
Looks like the EU and the U.K. are about to announce a trade deal which will be worse than EU membership for the U.K. in every way that matters, but will be trumpeted by the Conservative government as a great success. Watch this space for economic hardship and the breakup of the U.K.
So Vote for the Democrats for the Senate in Georgia if you want a functional government that does stuff for people and not only for corporations. Don't get me wrong, a government at the whims of Joe Mancin will be pretty bad as far as corporate handouts but still much better off than one controlled by Mitch McConnell as we've seen. Just look at how bad things have become with Republicans in charge of the White House and the Senate.
So Vote for the Democrats for the Senate in Georgia if you want a functional government that does stuff for people and not only for corporations. Don't get me wrong, a government at the whims of Joe Mancin will be pretty bad as far as corporate handouts but still much better off than one controlled by Mitch McConnell as we've seen. Just look at how bad things have become with Republicans in charge of the White House and the Senate.
And yet, it's still being framed by Republicans as the fault of Democrats because of the foreign aide in the omnibus bill that the Trump Administration itself approved and asked for. The Democrats passed a bill MONTHS ago that McConnell wouldn't touch for $1200.00. They asked for unanimous consent to approve what the Republican's god emperor just suggested 48 hours ago, which is $2000.00 . And yet, somehow, someway, in right-wing land, it's still Nancy Pelosi who is the roadblock to people getting that money. Just total absurdity.
I voted for one Republican. He was a good guy running for Wayne County Treasurer. Lost by a landslide though. Does that mean I voted for that?
FWIW, I think he's probably referring to federal office. I can only speak for myself, but I'll concede there are still a few decent Republicans scattered throughout the country. The governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, comes to mind. Even Mitt Romney seems tolerable. I don't agree with these guys on a lot of ideological grounds, but they're not corrupt, anti-democratic, etc.
But it's very very hard to find any decent ones among those in federal offices.
Just have all 450,000 of them write Trump about how they love him, would have voted for him (if they weren't incarcerated), think he got screwed out of a 2nd term by fraudulent votes and support his efforts to overturn the election and they're as good as pardoned...
I mean, if a Democratic President was as corrupt as Trump what he could do would be to pardon every single person in Florida (or Ohio or whatever) with enough time to register to vote.
Looking at BOP there's somewhere about 7000 in federal prison in Florida. Why not pardon them all? Screw it. Justice means nothing anymore. There is no justice, it's all a joke - a game.
Democrats wouldn't do that. But anyway, Trump's not using the pardon in that way to win elections, he's using the Pardon to be corrupt.
Trump pardoned literally everyone who lied for him or obstructed justice in the Mueller investigation. Notably the only two people he hasn't pardoned are Rick Gates and Michael Cohen both who didn't lie for him.
Trump has pardoned, on multiple occasions, murderous war criminals. Not only the people that massacred people in Iraq but a murderous Navy Seal who other Seals testified against.
Trump pardoned the father of his son in law because why not be a corrupt jerk, MAGA.
Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio who oversaw the torture of people in Arizona and neglected to investigate child sex abuse cases. There's more corrupt pardons but that's just the ones I recall off the top of my head.
Not only has he debased the pardon power, he gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh for a lifetime of lying and to Miriam Addelson because her husband donates millions to the GOP. What a corrupt joke.
What's Biden going to do if he actually takes office and isn't overthrown by a Republican coup after all? Biden's going to do nothing and reach out a hand to these same scumbags in Congress that support Trump and who are saying he's an illegitimate because ______________ (conspiracy / no reason).
Anyway, nothing matters anymore. America has become a big mess, more than it was before.
You can break the law, obstruct justice, do whatever you want, embezzle, be as corrupt as you want to be, break whatever laws you want. If you are a Republican or covering up for criminal acts of a Republican don't worry a future Republican will pardon you.
I mean, if a Democratic President was as corrupt as Trump what he could do would be to pardon every single person in Florida (or Ohio or whatever) with enough time to register to vote.
Looking at BOP there's somewhere about 7000 in federal prison in Florida. Why not pardon them all? Screw it. Justice means nothing anymore. There is no justice, it's all a joke - a game.
Democrats wouldn't do that. But anyway, Trump's not using the pardon in that way to win elections, he's using the Pardon to be corrupt.
Trump pardoned literally everyone who lied for him or obstructed justice in the Mueller investigation. Notably the only two people he hasn't pardoned are Rick Gates and Michael Cohen both who didn't lie for him.
Trump has pardoned, on multiple occasions, murderous war criminals. Not only the people that massacred people in Iraq but a murderous Navy Seal who other Seals testified against.
Trump pardoned the father of his son in law because why not be a corrupt jerk, MAGA.
Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio who oversaw the torture of people in Arizona and neglected to investigate child sex abuse cases. There's more corrupt pardons but that's just the ones I recall off the top of my head.
Not only has he debased the pardon power, he gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh for a lifetime of lying and to Miriam Addelson because her husband donates millions to the GOP. What a corrupt joke.
What's Biden going to do if he actually takes office and isn't overthrown by a Republican coup after all? Biden's going to do nothing and reach out a hand to these same scumbags in Congress that support Trump and who are saying he's an illegitimate because ______________ (conspiracy / no reason).
Anyway, nothing matters anymore. America has become a big mess, more than it was before.
You can break the law, obstruct justice, do whatever you want, embezzle, be as corrupt as you want to be, break whatever laws you want. If you are a Republican or covering up for criminal acts of a Republican don't worry a future Republican will pardon you.
Merry Christmas.
Stay under the radar and you'll be fine. That's my plan. In reality, the federal government doesn't have much control over us as individuals...
When people visit other people outside their bubble it spreads coronavirus.
The reason the hospitals are slammed now is because nearly 10 million people flew over Thanksgiving (and many more hit the road in their cars).
Like 6 million flew last week.
The US is screwed. This shouldn't have to be a politicial issue but it is and that's a reason our national response has been abysmal.
It isn't just a political issue. It's a living your life issue. It was never going to be better than this no matter who was in charge. Even the countries that handled the pandemic better in the beginning are woefully inadequate now. Barring fining and/or incarcerating people (which was never going to happen in this country) human nature is bound to take over. Sorry, but it's the truth...
Many countries are handling this much better than the US and the U.K. It is a myth that leadership doesn’t matter, the virus is being well controlled in parts of Asia and this crisis is really showing you get what you vote for. The response of the U.K., an island, has been particularly dismal when the advantages it had are factored in. The countries that have prioritised the health of the populace are seeing better economic outcomes than those that refuse to take steps to save more lives and thought in mainly financial terms. Funnily enough the countries that are suffering the most are those led by male populists whose bull**** doesn’t work on the virus.
I don’t understand the mentality that says any economic cost is worth say Brexit but it is not worth it to save the elderly and the vulnerable. The I’ve got to live my life argument is really wearing thin - how long has this been going on in the grand scheme of things? The vaccine is on the way. I think I’ll manage to not visit HMV or go to a live concert in the short term, thanks, if that may contribute to saving many lives. And the virus is evolving where it is being left to run riot...
Many countries are handling this much better than the US and the U.K. It is a myth that leadership doesn’t matter, the virus is being well controlled in parts of Asia and this crisis is really showing you get what you vote for. The response of the U.K., an island, has been particularly dismal when the advantages it had are factored in. The countries that have prioritised the health of the populace are seeing better economic outcomes than those that refuse to take steps to save more lives and thought in mainly financial terms. Funnily enough the countries that are suffering the most are those led by male populists whose bull**** doesn’t work on the virus.
I don’t understand the mentality that says any economic cost is worth say Brexit but it is not worth it to save the elderly and the vulnerable. The I’ve got to live my life argument is really wearing thin - how long has this been going on in the grand scheme of things? The vaccine is on the way. I think I’ll manage to not visit HMV or go to a live concert in the short term, thanks, if that may contribute to saving many lives. And the virus is evolving where it is being left to run riot...
I'm sorry but I know an 88 year old man who, although he does wear a mask, refuses to stay secluded. His logic? Says he's not sacrificing a year of his life because he has no idea how many he has left. I was going to argue with him about it, but then I thought maybe he has a point.
This is not an 'I'm right and everybody else is wrong' thing. It's not the zombie apocalypse. Covid-19 is roughly twice as lethal as the flu (probably less than that once all the numbers come in). Wait until the numbers are in on suicide rates and other mortality due to seclusion, depression, fear of going to the doctor and loss of work. The virus itself is only part of the story.
The virus itself is only part of the story. Another part is ICU beds being filled up by people with that sentiment of "just wanting to live their life". Then people that have medical conditions that normally aren't life threatening that need to use those beds can't get in the hospital. The average stay of a covid patient in an ICU bed is pretty long from two weeks to even longer (there are even some people spending hundreds of days in the hospital with covid).
Another part is deaths are not the only risk of Covid-19. Some people lose limbs. Some suffer what appear to be permanent effects months later after their recovery.
The virus itself is only part of the story. Another part is ICU beds being filled up by people with that sentiment of "just wanting to live their life". Then people that have medical conditions that normally aren't life threatening that need to use those beds can't get in the hospital. The average stay of a covid patient in an ICU bed is pretty long from two weeks to even longer (there are even some people spending hundreds of days in the hospital with covid).
Another part is deaths are not the only risk of Covid-19. Some people lose limbs. Some suffer what appear to be permanent effects months later after their recovery.
So if somebody deosn't follow the rules what would you do with them?
So if somebody deosn't follow the rules what would you do with them?
Depends on the rules that they're breaking, IMO. For a situation like the one that is being discussed, I'd say it would be similar to an infraction, or at most a misdemeanor, but certainly not a felony. The solution? Just give him a ticket, as if it was a traffic infraction.
I realize that my opinion on this issue won't make me very popular, but let's be realistic here. What are you supposed to do with cases like these, are you going to advocate for the use of excessive force against folks that refuse to remain secluded and wear a mask? That's bullshit. We're not going to solve this problem by resorting to either police brutality or the threat of incarceration. You might have a case if you advocate for hefty fines instead of measly tickets, but that borders on coercion if you ask me.
Reminds me of people complaining about school administrators failing to enforce mask mandates, saying they couldn't force people to wear them; they simply couldn't do it. Schools who had enforced rigid dress codes for decades suddenly became unable to control what people wore--not because they physically couldn't send a student home if they didn't wear a mask, but because they didn't want to enforce it. They didn't think the virus should be fought to begin with, or they were afraid of getting pushback for trying to protect their students from a pandemic that Republican politicians didn't want to admit was killing children.
Both speeding and going maskless are easily detectable public activities that put other people's lives at risk. So how the hell do we enforce speed limits?
Answer that obvious question and you have your answer for how we can enforce everything from mask mandates to vaccines. It's not whether the government can do it; it's whether the government wants to.
Reminds me of people complaining about school administrators failing to enforce mask mandates, saying they couldn't force people to wear them; they simply couldn't do it. Schools who had enforced rigid dress codes for decades suddenly became unable to control what people wore--not because they physically couldn't send a student home if they didn't wear a mask, but because they didn't want to enforce it. They didn't think the virus should be fought to begin with, or they were afraid of getting pushback for trying to protect their students from a pandemic that Republican politicians didn't want to admit was killing children.
Both speeding and going maskless are easily detectable public activities that put other people's lives at risk. So how the hell do we enforce speed limits?
Answer that obvious question and you have your answer for how we can enforce everything from mask mandates to vaccines. It's not whether the government can do it; it's whether the government wants to.
There aren't enough law enforcement officers to even remotely enforce a mask mandate. Not only that, the law enforcement forces around here aren't interested in enforcing it. In Michigan there has been a $1000 fine for not wearing a mask, mandated by Governor Whitmer. I haven't heard of one ticket being issued. When a cop was in the parking lot watching the parent/coaches meeting of my daughter's basketball team and the coach mentioned mask wearing and the fine, the cop rolled his eyes and literally told us it would never happen. This fairy tale land where everybody does what they're told is just not reality...
This fairy tale land where everybody does what they're told is just not reality...
That's why the real solution here is education. People should be able to make rational decisions, and they can't do that if they're misinformed. It would have been crucial if every news outlet informed the general public about the scientific knowledge that we have of the virus, the elementary safety precautions that should be followed, the outline or plan for the next 12 months, and the current state of vaccine production. Additionally, they should have also gone out of their way to ease people's minds and basically give everyone some semblance of hope. Instead, what has predominated is the spreading of misinformation, fearmongering, and political capitalization of an atrocious situation.
Many countries are handling this much better than the US and the U.K. It is a myth that leadership doesn’t matter, the virus is being well controlled in parts of Asia and this crisis is really showing you get what you vote for. The response of the U.K., an island, has been particularly dismal when the advantages it had are factored in. The countries that have prioritised the health of the populace are seeing better economic outcomes than those that refuse to take steps to save more lives and thought in mainly financial terms. Funnily enough the countries that are suffering the most are those led by male populists whose bull**** doesn’t work on the virus.
I don’t understand the mentality that says any economic cost is worth say Brexit but it is not worth it to save the elderly and the vulnerable. The I’ve got to live my life argument is really wearing thin - how long has this been going on in the grand scheme of things? The vaccine is on the way. I think I’ll manage to not visit HMV or go to a live concert in the short term, thanks, if that may contribute to saving many lives. And the virus is evolving where it is being left to run riot...
I'm sorry but I know an 88 year old man who, although he does wear a mask, refuses to stay secluded. His logic? Says he's not sacrificing a year of his life because he has no idea how many he has left. I was going to argue with him about it, but then I thought maybe he has a point.
This is not an 'I'm right and everybody else is wrong' thing. It's not the zombie apocalypse. Covid-19 is roughly twice as lethal as the flu (probably less than that once all the numbers come in). Wait until the numbers are in on suicide rates and other mortality due to seclusion, depression, fear of going to the doctor and loss of work. The virus itself is only part of the story.
Sorry, can’t see that the mortality rate of the flu is half the rate of COVID-19. On average around 40,000 people die of the flu every year, what are we at now with COVID-19, 330,000+. People are dying every day of COVID at the rate of the Gettysburg battle. If a politician started a war where 3,000 Americans died every day they would not be impeached, they would be dangling from a rope outside the White House. Yes, we have to look at the whole picture and oh no! We can’t ask people to make sacrifices! It was handled wrong, the data is all there. Just the fact that someone as smart as you is arguing that you can’t expect people to continue a lockdown is proof of that. In the history of this country we have never been more connected to the outside world from our own home than we are now. It is tough and people are suffering, I promise you though if a foreign enemy was attacking our country and killing people at a rate of 3,000 or more per day, no one would be complaining of making sacrifices. I have tremendous respect for you but that argument is weak. Try harder.
There are absolutely enough officers to enforce a mask mandate. We have enough officers to enforce public nudity laws; we have enough officers to keep people from smoking pot in broad daylight; we have enough officers to police any highly visible public activity. You can see people not wearing masks; you can point right at it. A police officer is perfectly capable of seeing a person without a mask, walking over to them, and giving them a ticket. What you describe is a police service choosing not to do its job.
It's a failure of will; not a logistical impossibility. The police in your hometown are choosing not to enforce the law because they apparently don't feel like it.
The police can tear gas protesters and gun down random people but they can't issue a ticket for not wearing a mask? No, that behavior does not show gaps in the executive's power. It shows the executive's order of priorities.
Give me a badge and a notepad and my tiny pink-haired transgender ass can enforce the law your police service is too lazy to act on.
Why do we pay for police officers who don't enforce laws? If an officer isn't doing his job, fire him and recruit somebody who will.
If I'm being completely honest, I can't think of an easier law to enforce that what people wear on their faces in broad daylight. If law enforcement is too weak, stupid, powerless, lazy, and/or negligent to enforce a law that simple, they should be laid off and replaced with people who actually work.
Many countries are handling this much better than the US and the U.K. It is a myth that leadership doesn’t matter, the virus is being well controlled in parts of Asia and this crisis is really showing you get what you vote for. The response of the U.K., an island, has been particularly dismal when the advantages it had are factored in. The countries that have prioritised the health of the populace are seeing better economic outcomes than those that refuse to take steps to save more lives and thought in mainly financial terms. Funnily enough the countries that are suffering the most are those led by male populists whose bull**** doesn’t work on the virus.
I don’t understand the mentality that says any economic cost is worth say Brexit but it is not worth it to save the elderly and the vulnerable. The I’ve got to live my life argument is really wearing thin - how long has this been going on in the grand scheme of things? The vaccine is on the way. I think I’ll manage to not visit HMV or go to a live concert in the short term, thanks, if that may contribute to saving many lives. And the virus is evolving where it is being left to run riot...
I'm sorry but I know an 88 year old man who, although he does wear a mask, refuses to stay secluded. His logic? Says he's not sacrificing a year of his life because he has no idea how many he has left. I was going to argue with him about it, but then I thought maybe he has a point.
This is not an 'I'm right and everybody else is wrong' thing. It's not the zombie apocalypse. Covid-19 is roughly twice as lethal as the flu (probably less than that once all the numbers come in). Wait until the numbers are in on suicide rates and other mortality due to seclusion, depression, fear of going to the doctor and loss of work. The virus itself is only part of the story.
Sorry, can’t see that the mortality rate of the flu is half the rate of COVID-19. On average around 40,000 people die of the flu every year, what are we at now with COVID-19, 330,000+. People are dying every day of COVID at the rate of the Gettysburg battle. If a politician started a war where 3,000 Americans died every day they would not be impeached, they would be dangling from a rope outside the White House. Yes, we have to look at the whole picture and oh no! We can’t ask people to make sacrifices! It was handled wrong, the data is all there. Just the fact that someone as smart as you is arguing that you can’t expect people to continue a lockdown is proof of that. In the history of this country we have never been more connected to the outside world from our own home than we are now. It is tough and people are suffering, I promise you though if a foreign enemy was attacking our country and killing people at a rate of 3,000 or more per day, no one would be complaining of making sacrifices. I have tremendous respect for you but that argument is weak. Try harder.
More people have contracted Covid than normally contract the flu. That's why more people have died. The mortality 'rate' is what I was talking about. It's not really 'my' argument anyway. It's what I hear from the right-wing members of my family.
Look, I wish people in this country were capable of logical thinking and following advice from the government (or ignoring bad advice from government) but clearly we're not there. From my perspective, religion clouds the judgment of folks on the right, and naivety about human nature clouds the judgment of people on the left.
Reminds me of people complaining about school administrators failing to enforce mask mandates, saying they couldn't force people to wear them; they simply couldn't do it. Schools who had enforced rigid dress codes for decades suddenly became unable to control what people wore--not because they physically couldn't send a student home if they didn't wear a mask, but because they didn't want to enforce it. They didn't think the virus should be fought to begin with, or they were afraid of getting pushback for trying to protect their students from a pandemic that Republican politicians didn't want to admit was killing children.
Both speeding and going maskless are easily detectable public activities that put other people's lives at risk. So how the hell do we enforce speed limits?
Answer that obvious question and you have your answer for how we can enforce everything from mask mandates to vaccines. It's not whether the government can do it; it's whether the government wants to.
School administrators stopped the girls in my high school class from wearing white undershirts where their bras were visible. This was almost twenty years ago. The idea that the very people (from a social issue perspective) who have been in FAVOR of dress codes since the damn Eisenhower Administration now believe in the right of children to engage in free expression at school is fucking laughable at best. The people who ran for school board in my town and made it a priority to ban Co-Ed Naked t-shirts in the late 90s and now believe children's rights are being violated by a cloth covering form a circular venn diagram.
This has been politicized by ONE side of the spectrum, from the beginning. They did so to put a flag down in support of Trump, who lied about and downplayed the virus the entire year. The choice was saving lives by acting responsibly, or refusing to act responsibly as an act of support for their god emperor. They choose the later, it's why all our mitigation efforts have failed, and I'll never forget or forgive their stupidity and selfishness. They are the problem. Full stop.
And this now includes family members, whose comments and actions even in the face of people being hospitalized and almost dying, or even lashing out at other relatives for not attending large events, has only gotten more militant and standoffish. They don't deserve understanding, or accommodation, because it's clear they don't actually give a fuck about anyone who doesn't live under their roof. Not even people they claim to love. Enough with this infantilizing of 25-30% of the population, as if they simply don't know any better or aren't capable of seeking out normal information. They've instead chosen to believe Bill Gates is going to implant microchips in them through a vaccine. Enough. Life is too short. Alot shorter for hundreds of thousands of people as of this date.
I'm just so sick of pretending this wasn't ANOTHER issue in which Republican policies and choices were the problem. From the beginning, Democrats have been attempting to provide financial relief that far exceeds what the Republicans have offered. Mitch McConnell had a bill on sitting on his desk for over 3 months. They wanted things back to normal, so they refused anything beyond the initial stimulus until the last second. Their push is going to result in a half a million dead Americans by the time the vaccine is widely distributed. It's on THEM. And their voters.
They claim to love personal responsibility, they can take it. Every time you didn't wear a mask at the grocery store, you may have killed an elderly woman in a nursing home, who died alone on a ventilator. I know, one of them was my great aunt. Whose life had to be celebrated by a single priest at her burial with no one else in attendance, and arrangements made by a funeral home who currently is not even able to embalm bodies, either because they don't have the onsight staff, or, more likely, because there are simply too many of them. That's what your stroll to get your maple roll without a face-covering may have done to someone. It's not my fault they can't deal with that reality. These people can't be persuaded or negotiated with, only defeated at the ballot box. Which, coincidentally, they no longer believe should exist if they don't win.
Comments
I wouldn't throw away American democracy for less than a month's pay (which is what he is suggesting). Plenty of people probably would. It's also REAL easy for Trump to make statements. Not so easy to actually lobby or threaten Republican Senators to back it. Which he could have at any time. LBJ sure as shit did so. In fact, he would purposefully humiliate lawmakers by talking to them while on the toilet.
The lack of follow-up to that tax holiday never materialing after the way the media fawned over it that weekend it was announced was pathetic. And, apparently, everyone just didn't notice the money never showed up in their checks?? Unreal.
We know Trump's modus operandi by now. Flood the zone with chaos and bullshit and see if he can squeeze through the cracks created. This and the pardons are part of that.
Like building a wall and making Mexico pay for it? Let’s not forget he would abolish Obamacare within a month of taking office. Seems the only accomplishments he made were ridiculous tax cuts for the rich. Yay! The country is so much better under his guidance. He is a snake oil salesman, nothing more. Okay yeah, he is a very good snake oil salesman. He has no truth, every part of his history screams that. What he said is just a move and means less than nothing.
The GOP, as currently exists, is a criminal despicable enterprise out for the elites.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/12/24/house-stimulus-checks-trump/
If you voted Republican, you voted for this.
So Vote for the Democrats for the Senate in Georgia if you want a functional government that does stuff for people and not only for corporations. Don't get me wrong, a government at the whims of Joe Mancin will be pretty bad as far as corporate handouts but still much better off than one controlled by Mitch McConnell as we've seen. Just look at how bad things have become with Republicans in charge of the White House and the Senate.
And yet, it's still being framed by Republicans as the fault of Democrats because of the foreign aide in the omnibus bill that the Trump Administration itself approved and asked for. The Democrats passed a bill MONTHS ago that McConnell wouldn't touch for $1200.00. They asked for unanimous consent to approve what the Republican's god emperor just suggested 48 hours ago, which is $2000.00 . And yet, somehow, someway, in right-wing land, it's still Nancy Pelosi who is the roadblock to people getting that money. Just total absurdity.
I voted for one Republican. He was a good guy running for Wayne County Treasurer. Lost by a landslide though. Does that mean I voted for that?
Well it sounds like you voted for it but he didn't win?
FWIW, I think he's probably referring to federal office. I can only speak for myself, but I'll concede there are still a few decent Republicans scattered throughout the country. The governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, comes to mind. Even Mitt Romney seems tolerable. I don't agree with these guys on a lot of ideological grounds, but they're not corrupt, anti-democratic, etc.
But it's very very hard to find any decent ones among those in federal offices.
Just have all 450,000 of them write Trump about how they love him, would have voted for him (if they weren't incarcerated), think he got screwed out of a 2nd term by fraudulent votes and support his efforts to overturn the election and they're as good as pardoned...
Looking at BOP there's somewhere about 7000 in federal prison in Florida. Why not pardon them all? Screw it. Justice means nothing anymore. There is no justice, it's all a joke - a game.
Democrats wouldn't do that. But anyway, Trump's not using the pardon in that way to win elections, he's using the Pardon to be corrupt.
Trump pardoned literally everyone who lied for him or obstructed justice in the Mueller investigation. Notably the only two people he hasn't pardoned are Rick Gates and Michael Cohen both who didn't lie for him.
Trump has pardoned, on multiple occasions, murderous war criminals. Not only the people that massacred people in Iraq but a murderous Navy Seal who other Seals testified against.
Trump pardoned the father of his son in law because why not be a corrupt jerk, MAGA.
Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio who oversaw the torture of people in Arizona and neglected to investigate child sex abuse cases. There's more corrupt pardons but that's just the ones I recall off the top of my head.
Not only has he debased the pardon power, he gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh for a lifetime of lying and to Miriam Addelson because her husband donates millions to the GOP. What a corrupt joke.
What's Biden going to do if he actually takes office and isn't overthrown by a Republican coup after all? Biden's going to do nothing and reach out a hand to these same scumbags in Congress that support Trump and who are saying he's an illegitimate because ______________ (conspiracy / no reason).
Anyway, nothing matters anymore. America has become a big mess, more than it was before.
You can break the law, obstruct justice, do whatever you want, embezzle, be as corrupt as you want to be, break whatever laws you want. If you are a Republican or covering up for criminal acts of a Republican don't worry a future Republican will pardon you.
Merry Christmas.
Stay under the radar and you'll be fine. That's my plan. In reality, the federal government doesn't have much control over us as individuals...
Merry Christmas to you too!
The reason the hospitals are slammed now is because nearly 10 million people flew over Thanksgiving (and many more hit the road in their cars).
Like 6 million flew last week.
The US is screwed. This shouldn't have to be a politicial issue but it is and that's a reason our national response has been abysmal.
It isn't just a political issue. It's a living your life issue. It was never going to be better than this no matter who was in charge. Even the countries that handled the pandemic better in the beginning are woefully inadequate now. Barring fining and/or incarcerating people (which was never going to happen in this country) human nature is bound to take over. Sorry, but it's the truth...
I don’t understand the mentality that says any economic cost is worth say Brexit but it is not worth it to save the elderly and the vulnerable. The I’ve got to live my life argument is really wearing thin - how long has this been going on in the grand scheme of things? The vaccine is on the way. I think I’ll manage to not visit HMV or go to a live concert in the short term, thanks, if that may contribute to saving many lives. And the virus is evolving where it is being left to run riot...
I'm sorry but I know an 88 year old man who, although he does wear a mask, refuses to stay secluded. His logic? Says he's not sacrificing a year of his life because he has no idea how many he has left. I was going to argue with him about it, but then I thought maybe he has a point.
This is not an 'I'm right and everybody else is wrong' thing. It's not the zombie apocalypse. Covid-19 is roughly twice as lethal as the flu (probably less than that once all the numbers come in). Wait until the numbers are in on suicide rates and other mortality due to seclusion, depression, fear of going to the doctor and loss of work. The virus itself is only part of the story.
Another part is deaths are not the only risk of Covid-19. Some people lose limbs. Some suffer what appear to be permanent effects months later after their recovery.
So if somebody deosn't follow the rules what would you do with them?
Depends on the rules that they're breaking, IMO. For a situation like the one that is being discussed, I'd say it would be similar to an infraction, or at most a misdemeanor, but certainly not a felony. The solution? Just give him a ticket, as if it was a traffic infraction.
I realize that my opinion on this issue won't make me very popular, but let's be realistic here. What are you supposed to do with cases like these, are you going to advocate for the use of excessive force against folks that refuse to remain secluded and wear a mask? That's bullshit. We're not going to solve this problem by resorting to either police brutality or the threat of incarceration. You might have a case if you advocate for hefty fines instead of measly tickets, but that borders on coercion if you ask me.
Both speeding and going maskless are easily detectable public activities that put other people's lives at risk. So how the hell do we enforce speed limits?
Answer that obvious question and you have your answer for how we can enforce everything from mask mandates to vaccines. It's not whether the government can do it; it's whether the government wants to.
There aren't enough law enforcement officers to even remotely enforce a mask mandate. Not only that, the law enforcement forces around here aren't interested in enforcing it. In Michigan there has been a $1000 fine for not wearing a mask, mandated by Governor Whitmer. I haven't heard of one ticket being issued. When a cop was in the parking lot watching the parent/coaches meeting of my daughter's basketball team and the coach mentioned mask wearing and the fine, the cop rolled his eyes and literally told us it would never happen. This fairy tale land where everybody does what they're told is just not reality...
That's insane... the fine should be in the $20 ballpark at most. That way in can be realistically delivered.
That's why the real solution here is education. People should be able to make rational decisions, and they can't do that if they're misinformed. It would have been crucial if every news outlet informed the general public about the scientific knowledge that we have of the virus, the elementary safety precautions that should be followed, the outline or plan for the next 12 months, and the current state of vaccine production. Additionally, they should have also gone out of their way to ease people's minds and basically give everyone some semblance of hope. Instead, what has predominated is the spreading of misinformation, fearmongering, and political capitalization of an atrocious situation.
Sorry, can’t see that the mortality rate of the flu is half the rate of COVID-19. On average around 40,000 people die of the flu every year, what are we at now with COVID-19, 330,000+. People are dying every day of COVID at the rate of the Gettysburg battle. If a politician started a war where 3,000 Americans died every day they would not be impeached, they would be dangling from a rope outside the White House. Yes, we have to look at the whole picture and oh no! We can’t ask people to make sacrifices! It was handled wrong, the data is all there. Just the fact that someone as smart as you is arguing that you can’t expect people to continue a lockdown is proof of that. In the history of this country we have never been more connected to the outside world from our own home than we are now. It is tough and people are suffering, I promise you though if a foreign enemy was attacking our country and killing people at a rate of 3,000 or more per day, no one would be complaining of making sacrifices. I have tremendous respect for you but that argument is weak. Try harder.
It's a failure of will; not a logistical impossibility. The police in your hometown are choosing not to enforce the law because they apparently don't feel like it.
The police can tear gas protesters and gun down random people but they can't issue a ticket for not wearing a mask? No, that behavior does not show gaps in the executive's power. It shows the executive's order of priorities.
Give me a badge and a notepad and my tiny pink-haired transgender ass can enforce the law your police service is too lazy to act on.
Why do we pay for police officers who don't enforce laws? If an officer isn't doing his job, fire him and recruit somebody who will.
If I'm being completely honest, I can't think of an easier law to enforce that what people wear on their faces in broad daylight. If law enforcement is too weak, stupid, powerless, lazy, and/or negligent to enforce a law that simple, they should be laid off and replaced with people who actually work.
More people have contracted Covid than normally contract the flu. That's why more people have died. The mortality 'rate' is what I was talking about. It's not really 'my' argument anyway. It's what I hear from the right-wing members of my family.
Look, I wish people in this country were capable of logical thinking and following advice from the government (or ignoring bad advice from government) but clearly we're not there. From my perspective, religion clouds the judgment of folks on the right, and naivety about human nature clouds the judgment of people on the left.
School administrators stopped the girls in my high school class from wearing white undershirts where their bras were visible. This was almost twenty years ago. The idea that the very people (from a social issue perspective) who have been in FAVOR of dress codes since the damn Eisenhower Administration now believe in the right of children to engage in free expression at school is fucking laughable at best. The people who ran for school board in my town and made it a priority to ban Co-Ed Naked t-shirts in the late 90s and now believe children's rights are being violated by a cloth covering form a circular venn diagram.
This has been politicized by ONE side of the spectrum, from the beginning. They did so to put a flag down in support of Trump, who lied about and downplayed the virus the entire year. The choice was saving lives by acting responsibly, or refusing to act responsibly as an act of support for their god emperor. They choose the later, it's why all our mitigation efforts have failed, and I'll never forget or forgive their stupidity and selfishness. They are the problem. Full stop.
And this now includes family members, whose comments and actions even in the face of people being hospitalized and almost dying, or even lashing out at other relatives for not attending large events, has only gotten more militant and standoffish. They don't deserve understanding, or accommodation, because it's clear they don't actually give a fuck about anyone who doesn't live under their roof. Not even people they claim to love. Enough with this infantilizing of 25-30% of the population, as if they simply don't know any better or aren't capable of seeking out normal information. They've instead chosen to believe Bill Gates is going to implant microchips in them through a vaccine. Enough. Life is too short. Alot shorter for hundreds of thousands of people as of this date.
I'm just so sick of pretending this wasn't ANOTHER issue in which Republican policies and choices were the problem. From the beginning, Democrats have been attempting to provide financial relief that far exceeds what the Republicans have offered. Mitch McConnell had a bill on sitting on his desk for over 3 months. They wanted things back to normal, so they refused anything beyond the initial stimulus until the last second. Their push is going to result in a half a million dead Americans by the time the vaccine is widely distributed. It's on THEM. And their voters.
They claim to love personal responsibility, they can take it. Every time you didn't wear a mask at the grocery store, you may have killed an elderly woman in a nursing home, who died alone on a ventilator. I know, one of them was my great aunt. Whose life had to be celebrated by a single priest at her burial with no one else in attendance, and arrangements made by a funeral home who currently is not even able to embalm bodies, either because they don't have the onsight staff, or, more likely, because there are simply too many of them. That's what your stroll to get your maple roll without a face-covering may have done to someone. It's not my fault they can't deal with that reality. These people can't be persuaded or negotiated with, only defeated at the ballot box. Which, coincidentally, they no longer believe should exist if they don't win.