The Commentariat -- July 4, 2020
For American patriots, Independence Day is aspirational (see, for instance, President Barack Obama's July 4, 2016 speech, linked below.) Mrs. McC: My aspiration: may this be our last Independence Day which Donald Trump sullies.
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Afternoon Update:
Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: “Joe Biden on Saturday offered a counterpoint to the dark and defiant Fourth of July message President Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore, striking notes of unity in a video and op-ed released on the nation’s 244th birthday.... It was a stark contrast with Trump, who focused Friday on the men who built the country, saying they are heroes and that those skeptical of the country’s founders are part of a 'radical ideology' and a 'left-wing cultural revolution.' The dueling Independence Day messages highlight the vastly different ways Biden and Trump have responded to the country’s racial reckoning in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis police custody.” ~~~
~~~ Joe Biden, in an NBC News essay: "... pursuit of a more perfect union has been thrown off course in recent years — and no one bears more responsibility than President Donald Trump. Every day, he finds new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy — from baseless attacks on our voting rights to the use of military force against Americans protesting peacefully for racial justice. He has systematically gone after the guardrails of our democracy: the free press, the courts, and our fundamental belief that no one in America — not even the president — is above the law. He has made it clear time and again that he won’t hesitate to tear apart our most cherished democratic structures for an ounce of personal gain. And that corruption of our founding principles threatens everything this nation has worked so hard to build, blighting our ability not only to elevate our values, but also to lead the world.... To ensure that our democratic values are able to rise to new heights, I will take decisive steps to strengthen our foundation. That means immediately reversing Trump’s cruel and counterproductive asylum, travel ban, and family separation policies — and reaffirming our innate identity, reflected in our Constitution and emblazoned in the Statue of Liberty, as a nation of immigrants. It means fighting for — not conspiring against — the independence of our judiciary and the freedom of our press. It means rooting out systemic racism from every area of society it infects — from unfairly administered COVID-19 recovery funds, to laws that perpetuate racial wealth gaps, to health disparities, to housing policy, to policing, to our justice system and everywhere in between."
Fomenting His Own Revolution. Asawin Suebsaeng & Allison Quinn of the Daily Beast: “'This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution,' [Donald Trump claimed during his South Dakota speech Friday night]..., before repeatedly going on to compare himself and his supporters to Patriots during the American Revolution—and protesters to members of the British Army. Speaking as if preparing his political supporters for battle, he said, 'Just as patriots did in centuries past, the American people will stand in their way, and we will win, and win quickly.... We will not be tyrannized, we will not be demeaned, we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people,' he said.” ~~~
~~~ GOP "Unnerved" by Their Trumpenstein Monster. Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: “President Trump’s unyielding push to preserve Confederate symbols and the legacy of white domination, crystallized by his harsh denunciation of the racial justice movement Friday night at Mount Rushmore, has unnerved Republicans who have long enabled him but now fear losing power and forever associating their party with his racial animus. Although amplifying racism and stoking culture wars have been mainstays of Trump’s public identity for decades, they have been particularly pronounced this summer as the president has reacted to the national reckoning over systemic discrimination by seeking to weaponize the anger and resentment of some white Americans for his own political gain. Trump has left little doubt through his utterances the past few weeks that he sees himself not only as the Republican standard-bearer, but as leader of a modern grievance movement animated by civic strife and marked by calls for 'white power,' the phrase chanted by one of his supporters in a video the president shared last weekend on Twitter. He later deleted the video but did not disavow its message.”
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here: "Cases are trending upward in 39 states, and at least five — Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina — set single-day case records on Friday, the start of a holiday weekend governed by patchwork restrictions and planning after local leaders shifted policies to try to keep pace with the surge.... For this weekend, as many as 80 percent of community fireworks displays in large cities and small towns have been canceled over fears that the gathered crowds would become hot spots for new outbreaks."
Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: “The United States entered the Fourth of July weekend against a backdrop of surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, with officials and health experts nervously watching to see if the public would heed warnings to limit the size of their gatherings and take other steps to curb the virus. Florida on Saturday set another daily record for new infections, reporting 11,458 confirmed cases.... Intensive care unit capacity at Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest hospital complex, exceeded 100 percent.... Cincinnati, Cleveland and Wichita became the latest major U.S. cities to pass mask ordinances.... Beaches were closed in Los Angeles, South Florida and in other states, but Myrtle Beach, S.C., remained open to the public, even as cases in the city and state continued to rise sharply. The tourist hub passed a last-minute mask ordinance as thousands of vacationers flocked in for the holiday. 'We are doing all that we can,' Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN. 'I believe that people spread this virus — that’s been proven — not places.'” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds as if Mayor Brenda earned her philosophy degree at the same school of public policy that teaches "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." Idiot.
Thanks to Hattie for the lead on this one:
Dennis Romero of NBC News: "Three Aurora, Colorado, police officers were fired Friday for taking part in a disrespectful selfie-photo session near the memorial site for Elijah McClain, who died after being in a police chokehold, the interim chief said. The officers involved in the photos, which show three of them smiling as one is in a mock chokehold, were identified by interim Chief Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora Police Department as Jason Rosenblatt, Erica Marrero and Kyle Dittrich. A fourth officer, Jaron Jones, resigned Tuesday."
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Worst President* Abuses His Office Again
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Standing in a packed amphitheater in front of Mount Rushmore for an Independence Day celebration, President Trump delivered a dark and divisive speech on Friday that cast his struggling effort to win a second term as a battle against a 'new far-left fascism' seeking to wipe out the nation’s values and history. With the coronavirus pandemic raging and his campaign faltering in the polls, his appearance amounted to a fiery reboot of his re-election effort, using the holiday and an official presidential address to mount a full-on culture war against a straw-man version of the left that he portrayed as inciting mayhem and moving the country toward totalitarianism.... Appealing unabashedly to his base with ominous language and imagery, he railed against what he described as a dangerous 'cancel culture' intent on toppling monuments and framed himself as a strong leader who would protect the Second Amendment, law enforcement and the country’s heritage.... More than just a partisan rally, it underscored the extent to which Mr. Trump is appealing to a subset of Americans to carry him to a second term by changing the subject and appealing to fear and division.” ~~~
~~~ David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: “... President Trump on Friday delivered a dark speech ahead of Independence Day in which he sought to exploit the nation’s racial and social divisions and rally supporters around a law-and-order message that has become a cornerstone of his reelection campaign. Trump focused most of his address before a crowd of several thousand in South Dakota on what he described as a grave threat to the nation from liberals and angry mobs — a 'left-wing cultural revolution' that aims to rewrite U.S. history and erase its heritage amid the racial justice protests that have roiled cities for weeks.... The president ... referred to 'violent mayhem' in the streets, even though many of the mass demonstrations have been largely peaceful. He warned that 'angry mobs' were unleashing 'a wave of violent crime' and using 'cancel culture' as a weapon to intimidate and dominate political opponents — in what he compared to 'totalitarianism.'... Though the Mount Rushmore trip was billed as an official White House event [Mrs. McC: so taxpayers would foot the bill], the president made an overt appeal to his partisan supporters in attacking liberals. His appeal came as he has faced tumbling public approval over his handling of the mass protests and the deadly coronavirus pandemic.” ~~~
~~~ Jordan Muller of Politico: "It was a divisive address that stood in stark contrast to a weekend holiday celebrating national unity across a country also riven by a deadly pandemic.... Although health experts have slammed Trump for holding the event amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, he did not directly refer to the virus or the country's daily record-setting case toll.... Native American groups — who consider the land on which the monument was built sacred — staged protests outside, clashing at times with the National Guard." ~~~
~~~ Robin Givhan of the Washington Post: "Thousands of unmasked guests, awaiting the arrival of the president, sat shoulder to shoulder in black folding chairs tethered together in a kind of coronavirus chain of denial. The VIPs would, of course, be seated separately onstage — not six feet apart, but not amid the storm of exhalations, coughs, vociferous cheers and sneezes. And just to add to the upside-down, inside-out madness of the mass gathering, Ivanka Trump ... tweeted a reminder to be safe over the holiday weekend by social distancing and wearing a mask." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In case you're thinking some of the Trumpenlumpen whose chairs were "tethered together in a kind of coronavirus chain of denial" at least might have moved their chairs over to the side for a little social distancing, think again. CNN showed a close-up of the chairs, and they also were "tethered together" with zip ties. ~~~
~~~ What a Real President Says on Independence Day. Mrs. McCrabbie: Just for the fun of it, I checked back to see what President Barack Obama said in his Independence Day speech in the last presidential election year. Here's Obama's July 4, 2016 speech, delivered in the East Room of the White House before a crowd largely made up of military families: "And so on a day like this, we celebrate, we have fun, we marvel at everything that's been done before, but we also have to recommit ourselves to making sure that everybody in this country is free; that everybody has opportunity; that everybody gets a fair shot; that we look after all of our veterans when they come home; that we look after our military families and give them a fair shake; that every child has a good education. (Applause.) That is what we should be striving for on Independence Day." Donald Trump has no idea what Independence Day is about, much less what the presidency is about.
Family Matters
Junior's Girlfriend Kicked Out of Trump Family 4th Shindig. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of President Trump’s eldest son and a top fund-raising official for the Trump re-election campaign, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday before a Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore, a person familiar with her condition said. Ms. Guilfoyle traveled to South Dakota with ... Donald Trump Jr., in anticipation of attending a huge fireworks display where the president was set to speak. They did not travel aboard Air Force One, according to the person..., and she was the only person in the group who tested positive.... She and the younger Mr. Trump never met up with the president’s entourage, the person said. Out of caution, the couple plans to drive back from South Dakota to the East Coast, the person said.... Ms. Guilfoyle attended Mr. Trump’s indoor rally last month in Tulsa, Okla." A Guardian story is here. Thanks to Hattie for the lead.
Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “Eric Trump tweeted, and then deleted, a photo of former President Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein‘s alleged partner-in-crime Ghislaine Maxwell, after Twitter users buried him in a deluge of photos of Maxwell appearing very chummy with his father, President Donald Trump. Eric Trump’s tweet was captioned 'Birds of a feather…' and showed Clinton walking his daughter Chelsea Clinton down the aisle at her 2o10 wedding, while Maxwell is shown in the background among other wedding guests.... Twitter users responded seemingly instantaneously, posting photo after photo showing Maxwell — and often Epstein too — far more cozy with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "Mary L. Trump, the author of an explosive book about her uncle President Trump, asked a court to lift a restraining order against her, saying in an affidavit filed Thursday that she was misled by the family into signing a confidentiality agreement in an inheritance case two decades ago.... Mary Trump said in her affidavit that, in agreeing to the inheritance settlement, she relied on asset valuations of the family estate provided to her by Donald Trump and his siblings that she said have since been proved to be inaccurate.... She said the inaccuracy of the valuations was revealed in a 2018 investigation by the New York Times of family finances." A Daily Beast story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Mrs. McCrabbie: Heard on CNN that Trump went to his golf course Friday, and that today was the 365th day since he was sworn in that he has spent at one of his properties. That means that lazy bastard has spent a full year on vacation (or more) since being sworn in less than four years ago.
David Rothkopf in the New York Review of Books: "If we have a president who is selfish, ignorant, venal, dishonest, racist, misogynist, and corrupt, what does it tell us that a significant minority of American citizens celebrates such a leader, while another segment of our compatriots are willing to tolerate them, at least enough to give him their votes?... We must address the root causes that enabled a man as profoundly flawed and corrupt as Trump to win high office.... Ending Trump’s misrule and restoring confidence in the presidency demands the undoing of impediments to free and fair elections. That will entail root-and-branch campaign finance reform, an end to voter suppression, new defenses against foreign interference in elections, and reining in the digital disinformation engines. These are perhaps only the minimum demands for restoring American democracy." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
"Live With It." Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "After several months of mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic, the White House is settling on a new one: Learn to live with it. Administration officials are planning to intensify what they hope is a sharper, and less conflicting, message of the pandemic next week, according to senior administration officials, after struggling to offer clear directives amid a crippling surge in cases across the country.... At the crux of the message, officials said, is a recognition by the White House that the virus ... will be around through the November election. As a result..., Donald Trump's top advisers plan to argue, the country must figure out how to press forward despite it. Therapeutic drugs will be showcased as a key component for doing that and the White House will increasingly emphasize the relatively low risk most Americans have of dying from the virus, officials said."
Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "At least eight Secret Service agents are currently holed up in a hotel in Phoenix, some suffering the flu-like coronavirus symptoms after coming down with the disease while preparing for a visit by Vice President Mike Pence, two people familiar with the matter say. Last month, up to 15 agents who tested positive for the virus loaded into cars and drove themselves home, avoiding flights after becoming infected while preparing for ... Donald Trump's campaign rally, according to another source familiar with the situation.... One agency source said there is "growing anger and frustration" among some in the Secret Service at what they consider to be 'unnecessary trips and exposure' because of Trump and Pence's travel. 'Even ardent Trump supporters are fed up,' one agency source said. 'We signed up to take a bullet for him, we did not sign up to get sick for him for no good reason.'" Mrs. McC: Only "ardent Trump supporters" within the Secret Service should be sent on these advance jaunts.
of Yahoo! News reports on how Trump & his political aides sidelined & muzzled the CDC as the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. “Not only were CDC officials kept off television broadcasts, but [CDC director Robert] Redfield and others could not even hold briefings. 'We continued to ask for approval' from the White House to hold briefings, the CDC spokesperson told Yahoo News. 'We were not given approval. Finally, we just stopped asking.'... Even [Anthony] Fauci’s ability to speak publicly has been curtailed, since he has a tendency to undercut the always sunny outlook of Trump.... That leaves no single person, or single agency, to communicate directly and forthrightly with the public.” Mrs. McC: Fauci does not work for the CDC. Nazaryan deserves some kind of award for "Outstanding Performance in Burying the Lead." It comes up mid-paragraph -- in the 19th paragraph.
Patria Non Grata. Mark Landler & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "England will drop its mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from more than 50 countries but leave the restrictions in place for travelers coming from the United States, deepening the isolation of America and delivering another rebuke to President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.... But those from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and dozens of other countries will be able to travel to England with no restrictions — an arrangement intended to bolster the languishing tourism industry in time for the summer vacation season. The regulations will take effect on July 10. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland apply their own travel policies and may not follow England’s lead in easing restrictions." (Mrs. McC: Thanks to Akhilleus for correcting my Latin grammar, as requested.)
The Greatest Nation on Earth -- Is Definitely Not the U.S.A. Peter Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "The pandemic has ravaged Europeans and Americans alike, but the economic pain has played out in starkly different fashion. The United States has relied on a significant expansion of unemployment insurance, cushioning the blow for tens of millions of people who have lost their jobs, with the assumption that they will be swiftly rehired once normality returns. European countries — among them Denmark, Ireland, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Austria — have prevented joblessness by effectively nationalizing payrolls, heavily subsidizing wages and enabling paychecks to continue uninterrupted. As cases increase at an alarming rate in much of the United States, the reliance on an overwhelmed unemployment system — the next infusion of money perpetually subject to the whims of Washington — leaves Americans uniquely exposed to a deepening crisis of joblessness. Europe appears poised to spring back from the catastrophe faster, whenever commerce resumes, because its companies need not rehire workers."
Here's how Melissa Clark, the New York Times' food editor, had an as-safe-as-possible friends-and-family cookout.
Let's All Go to the Movies. Hannah Denham of the Washington Post: WalMart "will transform 160 of its store parking lots into drive-in theaters next month. Walmart is launching the program next month in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, the New York-based media company co-founded by Robert De Niro. The locations and movie lineup will be announced on a new Walmart Drive-In website, the retailer said in a news release. It’s unclear whether the movies will be new releases, but admission is free, said Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Dog Ate Trump's Intel Report. Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "A memo produced in recent days by the office of the nation’s top intelligence official acknowledged that the C.I.A. and top counterterrorism officials have assessed that Russia appears to have offered bounties to kill American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, but emphasized uncertainties and gaps in evidence, according to three officials. The memo is said to contain no new information, and both its timing and its stressing of doubts suggested that it was intended to bolster the Trump administration’s attempts to justify its inaction on the months-old assessment, the officials said. Some former national security officials said the account of the memo indicated that politics may have influenced its production. The National Intelligence Council, which reports to the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, produced the two-and-a-half page document...."
Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese officials trying to stamp out political dissent in Hong Kong, sending the measure to President Trump’s desk for his signature. The passage of the bill, spearheaded by Senators Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, comes days after Chinese leaders imposed a sweeping new security law intended to quell protests demanding free elections and greater autonomy in an escalation of Beijing’s campaign to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.... The House unanimously passed the bill on Wednesday...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sports Reports in the Time of Protests
Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post: “The process that the Washington NFL franchise announced Friday isn’t to determine whether to change the offensive name that has been attached to the team for more than eight decades. The process is to determine how to rebrand: the timing, the level of transparency, the elimination of unintended consequences and, of course, the intricacies of the proper way to select and market a new name. The old name is dead. [Team owner] Daniel Snyder wouldn’t backtrack from 'NEVER — you can use caps' to a team statement vowing to consider 'the best interest of all in mind' without resignation that his obdurate protection of tradition must end. What has changed in the seven years since Snyder drew that hard line? Well, the world. And most of that change has occurred in a four-month sliver of this 2020 gloom because of an escalating pandemic combined with heightened tension and awareness of racism.” ~~~
~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate has a comprehensive story on the team's name-change progress. Mrs. McC: This is another instance where corporate pressure was the last straw, this time coming from Fed-Ex.
Jake Russell of the Washington Post: "The Cleveland Indians acknowledged that they are ready to discuss changing their team name in the wake of news that the Washington Redskins will review theirs before the NFL’s 2020 season.... The Athletic reported that the Indians expect to consult with members of the Native American community as well as their fans, players, alumni and internal staff before deciding on a name change."
Texas. "Kill 'em" Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune: "In the days after George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis last month, as massive protests against police brutality spread across Texas and other states, conservative power broker Steve Hotze of Houston called Gov. Greg Abbott's chief of staff to pass along a message. 'I want you to give a message to the governor,' Hotze told Abbott's chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. 'I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you.'"
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Reader Comments (24)
I can't believe the ultimate approach to the virus in the US would be "live with it". How long will it take the virus to circulate throughout a population of more than 300 million, knowing that getting infected doesn't apparantly guarantee you won't get it again? Other countries have to be aghast in horror at this reality. The EU has already blocked US citizens from entering the schengen zone until further notice, and I'm amazed no one in the media is alarmed at this. The EU is one of our strongest trading partners, and the flow of goods and PEOPLE has been essential to maintaining and strengthening the bilateral relationship. And now, one day we wake up and no more Americans can travel to Europe....for how long? At least months, for sure. A year? More? What are the economic effects of this? How are the corporate overlords of the GOP not up in arms (though they could probably get exemptions for them and their clans)? I've got lots of questions and no answers.
On another note, I recommend this video of Glenn Kirshner, former federal prosecutor, to understand the intricate corruption of the DOJ by Bill Barr. Kirshner connects a lot of dots from various stories we've been reading about lately.
https://youtu.be/2jgtmqOKpn8
Happy 4th y'all.
Here's an old ad from an old favorite brand: "Be safe on the Fourth, stay home with a Fifth".
Times and measures have changed, but good advice these days.
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!
@safari: Glen Kirshner would make a dandy teacher at probably anything that is difficult to comprehend. His "Three Card Monte" analogy is exactly right when explaining Billy Barr's sneaky justice scams. And yes, bravo for Jeff Bermin who spotted the ace!
So when Jeff Sessions was ousted B.B. must have been waiting in the wings, dusting off that spiffy letter he sent to Trump that said, in essence, "you can do pretty much what you want to do and with my help we can maybe eliminate the "pretty much" because I firmly believe a president is above the law."
If I remember correctly Barr was ready to retire. He said during his confirmation "I don't need this job." Why then take it? Was it to prove he could carry out his ideology? The cards that he keeps up his sleeve have begun to cause some itching; we can only hope more Jeffs will spot the ace.
When I was a kid our Fourth of July's were spent on a high hill overlooking Lake Michigan at the home of friends of the family. The display was spectacular and I can still feel the thrill of it all. Sadly, I can rightfully say, the thrill is gone. Our country is fractured and hurting terribly and in need of some deep healing. I saw a glimpse of Trump and the missus watching the firework display above the heads of our carved stone American notables while down below thousands of people congregated and cheered and somewhere in the distance Indian voices were crying out in despair and anger.
This should be a day of reflection, not celebration but hey––as Bobby says–-"Be safe on the Fourth––stay home with a Fifth."
Although we on the mobbed-up radical left are less than citizens, I would like to wish everyone a nice Fourth. Yesterday I saw two cars, one with four flags flying atop the windows and a pickup truck toting a large flag, a la Charlottesville rally or any flea market in the summer... I must say, I feel strangely unpatriotic as everyone on the right and far-right usurps all gestures of patriotic feeling at the same time as they infect and ruin the rest of us. The hypocrisy and criminality live on and grow.
And may the virus affect more of those on the right, as they are, to me, quite expendable. Oh rats-- was that ungracious? The MSM keeps saying Lumpweasel is "trying to divide the American people", like that is new and inspiring and MIGHT happen...
Marie,
Your meaning is clear (patriam non gratam), but you’d want to use “patria”, which is the nominative case. “Patriam”, the accusative case form, would be used as the direct object. You could also simply say “personae non gratae”. That would be all of us, thank you very much, Fatus Fuckus. (I guess he does. Fuck us, that is.)
Anyway, felix quartus.
@Akhilleus: Thanks. Is that then "Patria non grata"? And, yeah, I did think of "personae not gratae," but I wasn't sure about the "e" on the end of "gratae." I didn't take Latin, but I know enough from Spanish, French & Italian that the modifiers have to agree with the noun in number & gender. But Fatus Fuckus? Coulda figured that out. And I do like it. And the subject-matter notwithstanding, I know it isn't Pig Latin.
Fatty used to complain that other countries laughed at the US before he came along to straighten them out. Those other countries are laughing harder than ever now, thanking the gods that they are not (most of them, anyway) saddled with an incompetent buffoon whose ultimate response to the global pandemic is “Whatever...”
Not content with being the worst president in US history, he’s now in contention for worst leader in world history, apart from the Hitlers, Stalins, Pol Pots, and Caligulas, that is. But give him time, and another four years, who knows?
Somewhere in a special room in hell, those guys are probably saying “Hey, this Trump guy is brilliant. A deadly pathogen hits the country and he HELPS it kill hundreds of thousands! Genius”, sez Stalin. “Stable genius” sez Hitler. At which they all crack up and take bets on how long before they’ll see him in hell.
Can’t be too soon for me, I’ll tell ya.
Marie,
Pig Latin, no. “Latin” referring to a pig, yes. And yes, patria non grata is fine.
Jeanne, I empathize. I don't wear my old (really old) Washington Senators ballcap because it is a red similar to the red of a MAGA, and I don't want anyone misinterpreting the meaning of a ballcap. Which is, the bill keeps the sun out of your eyes.
And I used to fly a full-size flag on Mothers' Day and the Fourth. I have a number to choose from, two of which are still in the tricorner fold as when they were handed over, and one which flew at work in the early '80s. But my immediate neighbors are almost all immigrants, from China, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Taiwan ... and even though they know me, I feel that the whackos have so coopted the symbols of patriotism that my neighbors might wonder why I fly the full-size RWB.
Just a few miles north of where I live is a mild version of redneckistan where they like to put out the Home Depot flag-on-a-stick, and on the Fourth driving through those neighborhoods is like being at the county fair.
Also, I have a F150 and in the winter wear a Carhartt jacket when doing yardwork. Even though my neighbors also see my Subaru, I suspect they may wonder from time to time about how redneck I am.
And, in this very liberal congressional district and in the conservative one to the north, no one puts any kind of bumper sticker on their car, even in an election year. That was not the case here twenty years ago.
This is kind of (actually, very) disjointed, but the bottom line is yes, the whackos' cooptation of our symbols is another way in which we are poorer as a culture these days.
He has a wife, you know ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMGu-55sKJs
A note about the Washington R team name from a fly-over state: https://missoulian.com/sports/washington-redskins-logo-has-deep-connection-to-blackfeet-reservation-wetzel-family/article_0062cbe2-4b49-5d84-aea0-93c9faf4c8b6.html.
When only urbanites, when only Ivy leaguers, when only corporate owners, when only the powerful set public policy, it is easily imaginable that the disregarded masses belch forth a reaction like the election of Agent Orange.
@Marie: I took two years of Latin in High School and have retained enough to put in a thimble. Not to worry, said one of my teachers, these courses will give you a sturdy background, language wise. "Uh huh", I said. Seneca's "Vita brevis est, ars longa" has, however, stayed with me. Or as someone once murmured–-"It's all Greek to me!"
I am acquainted with a woman whose husband is a Secret Service agent on the President*’s detail. He is also a cancer survivor and has two young children. I can’t imagine the anxiety that they must go through every day.
Am not much of a bumper sticker girl but I keep wanting to get one made that says “I love America. That’s why I am a Democrat.” We need to reclaim our patriotism from the GOP and the like, who really hate America - the one they purport to love is a pretend America, as fake as the President* they worship.
@safari -
Thanks much for the excellent Glenn Kirschner vid, followed by another lending context to Geoffrey Berman’s Audrey Strauss torch-passing. Yesss!
@Rockygirl -
Fantastic bumper slogan! If I owned an auto (Citygirl here) I’d proudly sport one.
From Randy Rainbow / “Cover Your Freakin’ Face”
https://www.google.com/search?q=Randy%20Rainbow%
@Patrick: I always think I'm way too sophisticated for Monty Python gags. You disproved that self-serving theory again. Thanks for the laughs.
Fantasy vs. Reality, or the Pretender vs. Frederick Douglass
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53292585
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBe5qbnkqoM&app=desktop
(These kids made my heart sing.)
R/4eading Charlie on Dan Patrick's assertion that Fauci is wrong about everything; it makes me wonder why we never hear that one reason 3/4 of the country is STOOPID is because the textbooks are ordered for the entire country on the advice of the evangelistic know-nothings in TX because they order the most...This used to be something Dems worried about, maybe 10 years ago? For all the talk about how the youth of today knows nothing about history, in particularly civil rights (or not) and slavery, they have never read it or had teaching including it. TX has managed to dumb down every kid in the country, and I have heard zero about this with all the talk about incomplete education. Dan Patrick is only a symptom. School districts need to opt out of the TX-favored crap in the textbooks. WHY don't we hear about this??? I think it happened as a reaction to (gasp) the teaching of evolution, and that has been years ago...
Sorry-- the proofreader did not proofread my first word, and I have no idea what that means; it should be Reading... And the worst part is, I am the proofreader... Break out the mojitos!!
Maybe to mark the number 4, we're now at 4(0) states with Rt's at 1.0 or greater...
Sheesh!
@Ken, that's why I'm glad that I live where I do. CT is now ranked #1, or would it be 51, on the Rt list. My little town in the NW corner has had only had 6 cases, but 1 death, and the numbers haven't changed in weeks. There's no fear of wearing masks around here. The only annoying thing is that even after all these weeks some people haven't figured out what the Xes and arrows mean at the end of the aisles at the local Stop & Shop. Yesterday, when I mentioned to one woman that she was going the wrong way, she refused to turn around, insisting on barging ahead, saying "I going this way anyway." I'm pretty certain that I uttered an expletive in response.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/01/opinion/4th-of-july-quiz.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Not very patriotic of me, I know, but I missed three.
Unwashed,
She must have been a Republican.