The Trump Pandemic

[L'Emmerdeur]

imrs.jpeg

Not without issues..

I tend to sympathize with the right's gripe that racism has steadily declined, and that whites don't deserve to be singled out for being particularly racist.

Where they err is to insist that the less racist attitudes of their children and grandchildren have translated neatly into equal opportunities for all. They clearly haven't.

What do you tell the nice young person who asks you about accepting people from another race as neighbors? The thing is, the refrain of our erstwhile Trump apologist is accurate. Racism is unpopular in the US. That has meant that those with racist attitudes are less likely to publicly air them, though in the age of Trump that's changed some. I agree that there seems to be less racism in younger people, and I hope that trend will continue despite the backsliding of recent years.

[Sean Hayden]

What do you tell the nice young person who asks you about accepting people from another race as neighbors?

I'm fine with it, as are most Americans. Of course many might just lie. But that hasn't been my experience. Perfect strangers have shared their racist views with me. I remember being approached by a guy working on my grandma's fence, apparently he had known my grandfather: "Don't worry, it'll look like white guys built it". I guess he meant it would cost a fortune and be built by slaves, amiright?

I've run into that kind of thing many times.

Still, even if I hadn't seen the progress in my own generation, and younger, everything I've read shows a steady decline in racism in the US.

Unfortunately, I don't think the progress is inevitable. I also think many people writing white guys this, and white guys that, either haven't had much experience with racism, or are engaging in a bit of lying by omission themselves.

[L'Emmerdeur]

What somebody is willing to babble to an acquaintance may not align with what they'd be willing to tell a pollster. Of course white racism isn't the only racism in the US. I'd say it's more worthy of note because the nation and the government of the country were formed and grew within a white racist milieu, one that still exists and is intimately entwined with power structures in the country.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Trump has finally found a willing stooge with MD after his name to push the moronic Trumpist approach to the pandemic. Including telling outright lies about immunity and sitting on funding for a nationwide testing program, because who needs it, anyway? Let's go with herd immunity, because freedom! Don't forget, masks are useless.

'Trump’s Top COVID Advisor Blocks Testing, Attacks Masks, But Says Americans Who Have Had a Cold Are Protected'

President Donald Trump installed radiologist Dr. Scott Atlas as his top coronavirus expert after seeing him on Fox News. Atlas has attacked the wearing of masks saying they don’t work, has blocked the federal government from spending billions in congressionally-approved funds for coronavirus testing, and pushed a quack theory that claims Americans who have had the common cold are somehow protected from the deadly coronavirus.

...

Although he denies it, Atlas is supporting “herd immunity,” claiming far fewer Americans than scientists say need to be infected with coronavirus in order to stop the pandemic.

“Given the transmissibility of the coronavirus, experts estimate about 60 to 70 percent of the population would need to become infected to reach herd immunity, a course that they warn would probably result in hundreds of thousands of excess deaths.”

CDC Director Robert Redfield says less than 10% of Americans have been infected with the coronavirus.

“Atlas publicly contradicted Redfield last month, telling reporters that more of the population was protected against the virus because of so-called T-cell immunity, in which people with exposure to previous coronaviruses — such as the common cold — have T cells that also protect them against covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.”

Atlas’ claim is false, as the 8 million Americans already infected and the 220,000 who have died prove.

But science isn’t Atlas’ goal: pushing Trump’s goal of completely re-opening the country is Atlas’ goal.

“At a task force meeting late last month, Atlas stated that there was herd immunity in much of the country because of a combination of high infection rates in cities such as New York and Miami and T-cell immunity,” The Post reports. “He said that only 40 to 50 percent of people need to be infected to reach the threshold. And he argued that because of this immunity, all restrictions should be lifted, schools should be opened and only the most vulnerable populations, such as nursing home residents, should be sheltered.”

Atlas has blocked proposals from Birx and Fauci, which called for “dramatically increasing the nation’s testing capacity, especially as experts anticipate a devastating increase in cases this winter. They have urged the government to use unspent money Congress allocated for testing — which amounts to $9 billion, according to a Democratic Senate appropriations aide — so that anyone who needs to can get a test with results returned quickly.”

And as was widely reported, Twitter over the weekend removed a tweet Dr. Atlas posted attacking masks, for violating its safety standards and rules about spreading misinformation.

[Brian Peacock]

No doubt he'll be thrown under the cart when the time comes. "We were only following the scientific advice." - which, of course, was only the advice they told the advisors they wanted to be advised about.

[Sean Hayden]

What somebody is willing to babble to an acquaintance may not align with what they'd be willing to tell a pollster. Of course white racism isn't the only racism in the US. I'd say it's more worthy of note because the nation and the government of the country were formed and grew within a white racist milieu, one that still exists and is intimately entwined with power structures in the country.

I disagree, and as power becomes more diverse it will continue to be important to eliminate racism from all corners. It's unacceptable to excuse racism against whites because whites have benefited most.

For one thing, this ignores the lived experience of most whites.

[Sean Hayden]

eg, many supported the South because only slaves were lower socially, and long before that whites were indentured servants. The idea that the US government was established to benefit whites, without regard to other social considerations, is a potentially harmful simplification.

[Tero]

Our county had 13 deaths in Oct, a third of the entire number of deaths.
Total cases 8200, 3600 are counted recovered.

[Seabass]

Wherever Trump holds a hate rally we also see a huge spike in hate crimes and viral outbreaks. Remember, these are the people who espouse a worldview that says immigrants and minorities are inherently filthy, diseased, and violent.

Trump’s campaign made stops nationwide. Coronavirus cases surged in his wake in at least five places.

[rainbow]

Wherever Trump holds a hate rally we also see a huge spike in hate crimes and viral outbreaks. Remember, these are the people who espouse a worldview that says immigrants and minorities are inherently filthy, diseased, and violent.

Trump’s campaign made stops nationwide. Coronavirus cases surged in his wake in at least five places.

Lackawanna, Pennsylvania

Seriously?
Mebbe they should rename it Viagra

[Tero]

We have a bowling alley owner first suing the city over mask mandate, now he wants the mayor recalled over illegally naming a health director
https://twitter.com/janekleeb/status/13 ... 1165568001

[rainbow]

We have a bowling alley owner first suing the city over mask mandate.

Quite right too. What about good viruses that get stopped by those masks?
Nobody ever talks about them.

[NineBerry]

I saw an interview with a participant at a German anti-mask-protest. She complained she opposes the mask obligation because she had to get glasses because she had started to get headaches from wearing a mask while sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time.

[JimC]

Masks are still going to be mandatory here for some time. I'd like a move to mask wearing to be compulsory in shared indoor spaces (i.e. shops etc.) and public transport, but optional in the outdoors...

[Scot Dutchy]

Masks are still going to be mandatory here for some time. I'd like a move to mask wearing to be compulsory in shared indoor spaces (i.e. shops etc.) and public transport, but optional in the outdoors...

Nice control. Smiling faces are illegal
I seen idiots here strangely mostly Asians wearing a mask outside in a force nine gale. Fucking crazy.