A Member of the Public

So, RawStory, right? But that’s where I saw yet another discussion of insiders being shocked that they’re not getting the information they need to keep themselves healthy and/or to do their jobs (from the context it’s not clear which, if not both, is being lamented). In this particular case, however, it’s a high-level staffer or official of the Leopards Eating Faces Party who is shocked, SHOCKED that they are being treated like a commoner, with crucial information being withheld and no way to determine which of the contradictory stories appearing in the press are the lies and which are to be believed. The original reporting was from Politico, and I quote from them despite the hat tip from Raw Story:

[Read more…]

QAnon has decided that Trump catching COVID is … a good thing?

It’s like 2020 isn’t even trying to make sense anymore. If any of you readers can explain what’s happening here, I’ll be impressed:

[Read more…]

FUCKING ASSHAT HAS COVID-19

Yep, the October Surprise has already happened before large hunks of the country were even able to finish October 1st.

Technically though, we should add some clarity: we only know Trump has been exposed to coronavirus. No news has yet been released as of 1:30am EST / 10:30pm PST about the President’s symptoms (or lack thereof), but the president’s Twitter account did announce that he and Melania had both tested positive and were entering quarantine. Apparently the white house has also known for days that Hope Hicks tested positive and after she was positive was traveling and interacting with Trump, White House staff, and the White House Press Corps. There is as yet no guarantee that Biden was not directly or indirectly exposed, so watch for updates on that front.

[Read more…]

Defend the USPS

It’s not entirely clear to me, but I think that if the USPS hasn’t received bailout and election support funding, then that means these folks haven’t received enough phone calls.

[Read more…]

Lifeless In Seattle: A totally real record of really real press conferences conducted by the Trump Administration

Day 1: We are sorry to report that the Chinese launched an ICBM whose nuclear warhead evaporated Seattle.

Day 2: Yes, we’ve also heard the rumors that Putin had instructed the FSB to ensure that Seattle would die “by nuclear fire”. This is categorically untrue.
[Read more…]

How fucked is the USA? A COVID-19 DeathSplainer.

SARS-CoV2 infections were originally doubling once every 2.5 days, according to the CDC and the WHO. Over the last 4 days, deaths in different countries have had different doubling rates, but US deaths doubled very close to once in that 4 days.

This is a result of the fact that the places with the highest numbers of deaths also have done the most to slow transmission via shelter-in-place orders and other measures. So even if infections and deaths are doubling much faster in counties and states that haven’t yet been hit hard, the total number of deaths they add from a single doubling might yet be small compared to deaths in, say, New York City, which had over 500 on Friday. (By the way, New York City’s measures haven’t yet been effective at slowing the doubling: their deaths doubled in a mere 3 days.) We are not likely headed for a slowdown of the doubling rate because there are so many places where the virus is just beginning its infectious burn, and while each individual county might be small, there are many counties with many, many people in Texas and Florida and Georgia and other red states.

[Read more…]

The libs who cried wolf: a cautionary tail

Unreasonable libs: “Wolf!”

Reasonable centrist: “Yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely a wolf. But he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet. Give it time”

“Wolf!”

“Yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely a wolf, but he ran on being an outsider and disclosing code-word intelligence to the Russians and hiring a literal, actual foreign agent as National Security Advisor, well, that’s pretty outsider-stuff. No insider would do that. But it’s still the first 100 days, give him a chance to become presidential.”

“Wolf!”

“Yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely a wolf. And it is bad for the country and bad for democracy when he calls innocent people traitors, labels the press “enemies of the people” and makes himself synonymous with the country and, by extension, his personal interests synonymous with the country’s interests. But he told us he’s not the usual politician, so he’s just being true to his nature. No need to get worked up.”

“Wolf!”

“Yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely a wolf. He’s racked up a history of dishonesty unparalleled in US political history. But with that canine brain I don’t think he even actually understands that he’s lying. He just says he’s grandma to get a better chance to eat you, or because his wolf-nature doesn’t understand normal human communication and social reality. We can’t hold that against him, can we? It’s not like he’s maliciously lying.”

“Wolf!”

“Yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely a wolf. He’s definitely abused his office and committed offenses that are surely comparable to those that sparked Nixon’s impeachment, but I got to tell you, you never learned the lesson of that story, ‘The boy who cried wolf’ did you? We would have been able to remove him from office if you hadn’t gone and sacrificed your credibility crying ‘Wolf!’ repeatedly for three years.”

 

 

The context doesn’t matter

It is said that there are times we laugh because we dare not weep. The times right now are shockingly serious, though as serious as all this is, there’s plenty that Trump gives us to laugh at. So here I’m going to share a quote from today’s public appearance by Hair Furor. Trump actually said this, as part of some press-conference answer that he thought would actually help him. Of course, the context doesn’t even matter. This is just for the lulz:

Yesterday somebody asked me a question and I gave an answer, but always in the form of corruption.