The United States isn’t the only nation still reeling toward disaster, but the U.S. is unique in being the nation that has failed to address the pandemic, seen the horror that it could bring, and then failed again. The rising tide of cases in the United States represents an unmatched level of failure. An unrivaled instance of mismanagement. A peerless instance of utter incompetence.
In a separate post Sumner says that the nasty guy and his minions have received significant help from Sean Hannity of Fox News. Sumner says his viewers have been “hannitized” – he’s right up there helping the nasty guy spread lies. It’s to the point that studies are showing …
The most astounding result: Both infection rates and mortality can be mapped to places where Sean Hannity is most popular.
Steven Joseph of the Kos Community discussed the virus in Arizona, one of the new hot spots. He starts off with a chart of major events, which show how nonsensical Gov. Ducey has been.
March 20, 33 new cases that day, Ducey closed bars, theaters, gyms, and limited restaurant services.
March 30, 138 cases, Ducey issues a stay at home order. Over the next two weeks the number of cases a day rose and dipped, then rose again.
May 8, 365 cases, barbershops and hair salons are allowed to reopen.
May 15, 495 cases, stay at home order lifted and local governments are banned from issuing local restrictions.
June 17, 1752 cases, the ban on local government restrictions lifted.
June 23, 3779 cases, nasty guy holds a rally in a church in Phoenix.
It seems strange that Ducey would issue a stay at home order when there are 138 new cases a day and won’t reissue it when there are 1752 or even 3779 new cases a day. Then again, we’re dealing with the GOP. It makes me think they want a lot of people to get sick and die.
In another post Sumner wrote that what happened to New York with its skyrocketing cases early in the pandemic was a tragedy. Everyone was blindsided. But what is now happening in Arizona, Texas, and Florida is not due to being blindsided. These GOP governors already had New York as an example of how bad it can get and what works to keep the virus under control. And they’re not doing it. Sumner concludes:
New York got blindsided. The states most affected now walked into the red tide of COVID-19 with their eyes wide open, and their minds tight shut to the advice of experts. Governors like Abbott, DeSantis, and Ducey had a choice: they could protect their citizens, or they could please Donald Trump. There is absolutely no doubt about which way they went.
What happened before was a tragedy. What’s happening now is a crime.
Leah McElrath tweeted:
Three times as many Americans have died from COVID-19 in the past four months than died in the first four years of the AIDS crisis.And in thinking about it I realized both viruses flourished because the government didn’t want to do anything.
Think about that for a moment.
Ana Mardoll, who describes himself as “A Boy Named Ana,” tweeted that he wants to get rid of Hanlon’s razor:
Hanlon's razor is an aphorism which states "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." It became popular in computer programming circles because bugs are easy to carelessly introduce into software.
The problem is that we now have cases where a politician makes choice after choice after choice--all of which add up to a consistent, singular bad outcome for his country--and folks just brush his actions aside as "stupid" rather than malicious.
...
"Do you really think [politician] is SMART enough to do X?" is a thing we have to hear about time and time again, and it's a distraction from the *fact* that the politician is doing X and that we need to respond.
...
Consider assuming that everything our politicians are doing *is* deliberate and coordinated, and not some aspect of "stupidity" that we throw up our hands at and say well-what-can-you-do-eh.
Bubba Wallace is the only African American driver in NASCAR’s top circuit. He recently got several white drivers to support his call to ban the Confederate flag at NASCAR events. NASCAR agreed. Of course, this flag is very popular with NASCAR fans.
On Monday someone on Wallace’s team found a noose in his stall at the track. Investigations are proceeding. Leading up to Monday’s race the other drivers showed their solidarity with Wallace by walking with him as he positioned his car in pre-race ceremonies.
From Bill in Portland, Maine’s collection of late night commentary.
I just wanna say to all those [MAGA] people: the next time you get an operation, you just say to the doctor, ‘You take that liberal bulls*** somewhere else. You come in here with no covering, you don’t wash those hands, and you stick them in my open wound, because I am an American.
—Jon Stewart, on the Trump cult's refusal to wear masks, on The Late Show
If you're missing the sensation of shaking a good friend's hand, I've found that a 4-day-old mango has a pretty similar feel.
—Conan O'Brien
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