Normalcy
On the Fox breakfast show Two Foul Balls and a Miss back on March 26, Ainsley Earhardt was lamenting the state of her nails. Come on down, Ainsley! Georgia will be open for business this Friday, which is even ahead of other states with dim-bulb governors. Grab a flight in the morning -- shouldn't be hard, they'll probably upgrade you -- and by afternoon you can bowl a few lines, hit the gym, and yes, get a manicure! Essential services all. How is the News Corporation's health plan? Asking for an acquaintance.
Charlie Pierce has a thorough analysis here, and much as I dislike the thought of living in a level four containment lab, I have to agree. My mayor, Van Johnson, put it well: keep the faith but follow the science. As did Pete Seeger, long ago, when he said of another politician reckless with the lives of others, "We're waist-deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool says to push on."
National Nurses United have been holding demonstrations around the country, demanding better protective measures and more equipment. Yesterday they hit the White House, where they held up the names of healthcare workers who have died in the pandemic, but Trump failed to mention them in the Tuesday edition of "Just Say Thank You and Shut Up." Because most of them are women?
Like everything else, politics is on hold (apart from Trump's daily campaign rallies, thoughtfully carried free by the cable newsertainment channels). Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has collected endorsements from the right (former Rep. Joe Walsh), the left (Bernie Sanders) and the even more left (Noam Chomsky). Has Chomsky ever supported a mere Democrat before? I don't think do. In another astounding development, older voters may have begun to think that the calls by Trump and his surrogates to lay down their lives for the economy are a little presumptuous. The older people get, the less likely they are to endorse Dan Patrick: "There are more important things than living."
"What have you got to lose?" is not something you want to hear from your doctor, but Dr. Trump said it over and over in promoting the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine for treating covid. The advice was so irresponsible that some people thought he had invested some of that Russian oligarch cash in the stuff. They tried it in VA hospitals and Texas nursing homes and the results were terrible. People with covid died anyway and people who really needed it for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus couldn't get it. Why stop at not helping when you can hinder at the same time? This week I expect Donzo and his Usual Gang of Covidiots to pivot to Dr. Gohmert's Magic Elixir, a wondrous powder that you add to water and mist, only $49.50 a box from Re-electLouie.com. It's German!
You're probably better off with John Daly's prophylactic, a daily shot of vodka. Of course, there are reports of people who survived covid with damaged hearts or in need of kidney dialysis, so you may want to ease up on your liver in case the potato squeezings don't work.
New York City remains the epicenter of the epicenter, so it's possible Mayor Bill DeBlasio only wants to cheer up its cabin-feverish millions. I think promising a ticker-tape parade for healthcare workers or Fourth of July fireworks might be (shall we say) premature, especially since the WHO believes there will be a second wave in the fall, just in time for regular flu season. Maybe a month of free Netflix? Or just pay everybody's rent?
We have had to forgo a lot of round-number anniversaries this year, including the ninetieth birthday of Stephen Sondheim, the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day (today) and the fiftieth Gay Pride parade scheduled for June. The fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 13 -- what a year 1970* was! -- has come and gone, and even Beethoven's 250th (December 16) is in doubt. These group events punctuate our lives even if we had nothing to do with them. For all our digital connectivity, they are missed.
*It was fifty years ago today -- actually April 10, 1970 -- that Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles. Of course, Yoko still gets blamed.
Charlie Pierce has a thorough analysis here, and much as I dislike the thought of living in a level four containment lab, I have to agree. My mayor, Van Johnson, put it well: keep the faith but follow the science. As did Pete Seeger, long ago, when he said of another politician reckless with the lives of others, "We're waist-deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool says to push on."
National Nurses United have been holding demonstrations around the country, demanding better protective measures and more equipment. Yesterday they hit the White House, where they held up the names of healthcare workers who have died in the pandemic, but Trump failed to mention them in the Tuesday edition of "Just Say Thank You and Shut Up." Because most of them are women?
Like everything else, politics is on hold (apart from Trump's daily campaign rallies, thoughtfully carried free by the cable newsertainment channels). Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has collected endorsements from the right (former Rep. Joe Walsh), the left (Bernie Sanders) and the even more left (Noam Chomsky). Has Chomsky ever supported a mere Democrat before? I don't think do. In another astounding development, older voters may have begun to think that the calls by Trump and his surrogates to lay down their lives for the economy are a little presumptuous. The older people get, the less likely they are to endorse Dan Patrick: "There are more important things than living."
"What have you got to lose?" is not something you want to hear from your doctor, but Dr. Trump said it over and over in promoting the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine for treating covid. The advice was so irresponsible that some people thought he had invested some of that Russian oligarch cash in the stuff. They tried it in VA hospitals and Texas nursing homes and the results were terrible. People with covid died anyway and people who really needed it for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus couldn't get it. Why stop at not helping when you can hinder at the same time? This week I expect Donzo and his Usual Gang of Covidiots to pivot to Dr. Gohmert's Magic Elixir, a wondrous powder that you add to water and mist, only $49.50 a box from Re-electLouie.com. It's German!
You're probably better off with John Daly's prophylactic, a daily shot of vodka. Of course, there are reports of people who survived covid with damaged hearts or in need of kidney dialysis, so you may want to ease up on your liver in case the potato squeezings don't work.
New York City remains the epicenter of the epicenter, so it's possible Mayor Bill DeBlasio only wants to cheer up its cabin-feverish millions. I think promising a ticker-tape parade for healthcare workers or Fourth of July fireworks might be (shall we say) premature, especially since the WHO believes there will be a second wave in the fall, just in time for regular flu season. Maybe a month of free Netflix? Or just pay everybody's rent?
We have had to forgo a lot of round-number anniversaries this year, including the ninetieth birthday of Stephen Sondheim, the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day (today) and the fiftieth Gay Pride parade scheduled for June. The fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 13 -- what a year 1970* was! -- has come and gone, and even Beethoven's 250th (December 16) is in doubt. These group events punctuate our lives even if we had nothing to do with them. For all our digital connectivity, they are missed.
*It was fifty years ago today -- actually April 10, 1970 -- that Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles. Of course, Yoko still gets blamed.
posted by Buttermilk Sky at 12:37 PM
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