Tag: #Trump

  • Hydroxychloroquine News Story

    Hydroxychloroquine News Story

    It was just heartbreaking to see. I went on Facebook, and I saw that a good friend of mine from college had posted a pro hydroxychloroquine news story. There was no comment left, or request that we should, “read the article, and keep an open mind,” or any other phrase of have some sort of civil debate about this topic. Through they had left not a word of whether they believed hydroxychloroquine worked or not, it just broke my heart to see.

    Broke my heart because it caused me to fear the worst about them.  This was a person I went to college with, who I would describe as a person of above average intelligence, huge amount of compassion, determination, and not a person I would describe as easily fooled. This is also a person who would describe themselves as conservative, and a Christian, but in no way closed minded to people who are different from them.

    It broke my heart because it made me feel like they drank to Kool-Aid.

    I have friends that are 100% pro-Trump, and to them, there is nothing that he can do wrong. I know people who claim to be libertarians that will argue that you can’t force anyone to do anything, even if it would benefit the world. But these people have always been like that, so when they post Trump stuff, or argue that they will never wear a mask, it fits within their proclivity.

    It broke my heart because it means my old college friend has changed, and chosen to go down this path. They are choosing to believe something that has been proved not to work.

  • Coronavirus and Changing America

    Funny what the different a day can make.

    Yesterday, all was pretty normal in the City.

    Today, there is a decided change. I can see it with the people on the street. There are more masks out, and though this was always a town where people went out of their way not to come in contact with others, today everyone is moving as if there is a bubble around them.

    Trump’s address on tv last night didn’t help anything. Shutting down Europe access while leaving the UK alone doesn’t really help anyone. The problem is that the virus is here, and we need to start dealing with that. Testing, and limiting groups does make sense, but right now, I only see state and local governments doing that. The Trump administration isn’t really leading.

    I do think the NBA also made the right call, and other leagues should consider doing the same thing. These are mass gatherings, and it’s not that everyone who goes to these events will get infected, it’s that enough might take it home to parents and grandparents, who are the truly vulnerable here.

    I would hope, and this is hope not a fact, that 30 days of this, of people laying low, will slow the spread of coronavirus down, so it can become manageable. The only way for that to happen is to allow testing and gathering data. Let the doctors and scientists do their job, and that will take time.

    For the rest of us, let’s have level heads, and pitch in together. Should we help small business and workers; yes. What if there was a 30-day “Bill Holiday,” where no bills, rents, or payments are mandatorily collected? Everyone gets a break. This wouldn’t be a government hand out, but would be the people of this nation choosing to do this on their own. I have seen it happen in small towns that are hit by natural disasters. Why not everywhere else?

  • Don’t Eat Your Own

    Ung… That’s how I feel about people supporting candidates in the same political party.

    Forest for the trees, and forgetting who the real problem is, seems to be happening a little too much.

    I see it from supporters for all candidates. When trying to have a conversation about the differences and what that would mean if that person got elected, what I find is that everyone is claiming that the other candidates are the second coming of evil… after Trump that is.

    And then everyone ends with, “But I’ll vote for whoever gets the nomination.”

    Will you?

    Really?

    You can’t tell me how awful Sanders is, and then I am supposed to believe that you will vote for Sanders when it comes down to it? Even though you just told me that he will lose to Trump. You aren’t going to think that the cause is lost and just stay home?

    That’s what I fear, because Bernie fans did that in 2016, or they went for Trump… Which boggles my mind, but the more research I read up on, it makes a little sense now; Populism.

    The democrats need to chill out.

    No one is that evil, and the easiest way to make someone electable is to show up and vote.

    I can see Biden getting to nomination, and I see Bernie fans again staying home. And I can see Bernie getting it, and all the moderates then will think the game is over, and they will stay home.

    We need to think about this process as Thanksgiving; your family may annoy the crap outta you, but you are going to show up anyway.

  • Moderates Don’t Get It

    I like Bret Stephens, and I know that he is a very smart guy. He is knowledgeable, logical, and pretty funny as well. He put out this op-ed in the New York Times today, titled, “The Democrats Are in Trouble: The party’s riskiest bet is now its likeliest.” A little dramatic, but hey, they guy is trying to sell papers here.

    Bret starts off by saying that he is/was for Bloomberg, but Mike melted down at the debate, and now the Democratic party is in dire straits because, as Bret sees it, Bernie is now going to win the nomination.

    Stephens then rhetorically asks, why Democrats want to risk it with Sanders, to which Bret answers;

    “Maybe it’s because they have overlearned the lessons of the 2016 election: that nominating the centrist and responsible candidate served them poorly. Or maybe it’s because they’ve reasoned that “electability,” being an insufficient requirement for the nomination, is an unnecessary one as well. Or maybe they feel that, when their hearts scream Yes, it’s best to ignore the brain’s screams of No.”

    Sadly, what will cause the Democrats to lose in the Midwest, which is where this election is really coming down to, is this thinking that people in the middle of this country want a person to be reasonable and logical, and to have a plan that appeals to everybody. That’s the “electability” that Stephens refers, and that might be a winning argument if the other guy was Mitt Romney or John McCain, two who also tried to run campaigns aimed at the middle and “electability.”

    Except, that’s not who is running.

    Look, I don’t like Trump, but compared with a Democrat moderate, Donald comes off as the cool guy who doesn’t give a fuck. That makes voters excited, and excited voters show up.

    Bernie has the most excited votes behind him, and they will get others to show up with them.

    Again, people, there are no significant numbers of swing voters out there. Again, read “The Audacity of Hate,” if you don’t believe me. To that, I just have to add, Democrat moderates, ya’ll gotta chill out, man. Bernie is not the problem.

    The belief that logic will beat passion is.

  • The Barr Saga Continues

    I know the NYTimes is reporting that Barr is upset with Trump for calling himself the law of the land, but the cynical part of me is still having a hard time believing that is true. I guess there is a chance that Barr has been blindsided by Trump, and that Barr honestly wants to do the right thing… Yeah, I just don’t buy it.

    What I see is more along the lines of Pandora’s box or a tube of toothpaste. Trump is out and you can’t put him back in. That’s what makes me think is happening to Barr and the Justice Department right now. They cannot contain the President anymore after the impeachment trial. I believe that is why Trump’s pardons and commutations happened yesterday. That was Trump flexing muscle, saying to Barr and Justice, that if you convict my people, I will just release them, and belittling your work.

    Also, to digress for a second… The people who got the pardons and commutations all committed white collar crimes. It’s also like Trump is saying that bribery, tax evasion, corruption aren’t really crimes. I find it funny, as that those are the crimes that have always been swirling around Trump.

    What is left is for Barr to resign, and that places us all in a “devil you know,” situation. I thought Jeff Sessions was a bad choice, but then we got Matthew Whitaker who was amazingly unqualified, which lead to Barr who was supposedly was going to be “an adult in the room,” but we see how that worked.

    So… who is hiding out there to be next?