Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has endorsed noble self-sacrifice as a reason to prop up the economy.
No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.
I want to, you know, live smart and see through this, but I don’t want to see the whole country to be sacrificed, and that’s what I see.
How brave. I would just ask, which America? The one all America loves? What’s that?
The America that is trying to heal scars of slavery, that believes in giving everyone an equal opportunity, that supports the dignity of labor with unions, that respects the rights of other people outside our borders, and that welcomes new immigrants? That’s the America I grew up with. It was a pretty good promise of an America, flawed but at least we had some ideals, and while we fell far short of meeting them, there was a hope of change.
Or does he mean the America of overpaid CEOs, healthcare run for the profit of insurance companies, white nationalists, border camps, stolen children, drone strikes, greed and inequity? Because I’m not willing to risk my life for that America. I want that America to die, not me. We should be honoring our grandparents rather than treating them as disposable, to help Wall Street bankers.
I think Patrick misspoke. He meant to say the capitalism that all capitalists love, not America.
Please do go die for your “America”, Lt. Gov. Patrick. That will help me as I live for mine.
Very good comments. Now is the time to stop supporting large corporations and multi-millionaires and start making social services like health insurance, the environment, and a living wage our top priorities.
I think I need to open a guillotine factory.
The Invisible Hand needs a sacrifice.
I am not surprised that these people would rather kill people off than find a better way.
When this is all over, I hope we all see a different America.
What amazes me is that these people can’t even see outside their own awfulness enough to see that what they are advocating wouldn’t even achieve its stated aims. Put 9 million people into ICUs over a couple of months, and you’d have not just the healthcare system break down but the entire economy and social order.
Can you imagine how this would play out in a country with more guns than people?
I mean, if you could watch it from the outside, it would be awe inspiring!
Oh, good, the rich and powerful are talking about sacrifice. That’s about the right time for everyone else to head for the door and find a nice spot to hide. It’s akin to the (possibly apocryphal) Mayan priest asking around to meet someone with a big heart…
This might also be a good opportunity to remind certain people of the “lead by example”-mantra. Patrick has already volunteered to jump the proverbial cliff. Trump, if pressed, would presumably claim to be immune and immortal, so that’s two down already.
You can be sure that he will have that ventalator.
You have to remember that Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick doesn’t really want to die for the sake of the US economy.
He wants you (plural) to die for the sake of the US economy.
I’m sure Dan Patrick will be in his bunker somewhere with HEPA filtered air, distilled water, and a huge supply of food and alcohol.
PS He does, as has already been pointed out, have the option of getting Covid-19 virus himself and then living or dying as the virus wastes his lungs.
Free country and all that.
And we are all cheering for him to go for it.
This guy is, no surprise, also an ignorant idiot.
.1. It’s a myth that the Covid-19 virus only kills old people.
40% of hospitalized patients in the ICU are under 55.
.2. 30% of US coronavirus cases are people between ages 20-44
.3. Other risk groups include health care workers and people with a wide variety of underlying conditions such as immune suppression (cancer treatment), lung and heart problems etc..
Not mentioned often is that even if you survive a severe case of Covid-19, your lungs can be permanently damaged.
Do you want to have limited mobility and exercise capacity for the rest of your life for the sake of Dan Patrick’s ultra-rich class?
If Republicans really want to make America a better place, they’d all sacrifice themselves. We would simultaneously reduce the number of possible plague carriers and at the same time get rid of the people who are responsible for making us so vulnerable to the plague. It’s a two-fer! I will personally buy whatever method of deliverance Patrick chooses. He could simply walk around other people until he gets the virus, but that sounds like a slow, possibly ugly death. There are other, faster methods. I can suggest one or two if he needs advice. For example, he could jump into a pit of crocodiles and wrestle them until he’s gone. It would be quick, and he could sell the rights to the video to raise money for his survivors.
But Trump is older than most of us – shouldn’t he be the one setting the example with the ultimate sacrifice?
I’m going to amplify my last point a bit on a FYI basis.
The Chinese also found this in a larger study of 140 patients.
The results are early and preliminary but not at all surprising.
Pneumonia and being on a ventilator are already known for being hard on your lungs.
But look it’s not all bad. You can just toss your oxygen cylinder in your roller and go, feeling good about saving the bank accounts of the billionaire friends of Dan Patrick.
(Of course, this is sarcasm.)
@PZ, the full source article describes what the “noble sacrifice” would be for, the almighty, indispensable, live-giving economy. So, he wants all elders to die so that his stocks don’t lose value.
I say, if one wants to lead, one should lead by example. So, that Lieutenant Governor should lead by example as well and promptly die. It’ll do my heart all manner of good, it’d perk me right up!
@12, it’s actually far, far worse than that. COVID-19 binds to the ACE 2 receptor, which is responsible for both lowering blood pressure and lowering inflammation. So, with that receptor being bound by the virus, inflammation is way up, so that the damage to the lungs causes fibrosis. Basically, the damaged areas heal with scar tissue, which won’t fade and is rather lousy at gas exchange. That has been established at a long term level, as fibrosis doesn’t go away, it can’t.
https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/1242255282157182976/photo/1
Cartoon
Two red panic buttons, one is labeled “Kill Grandma,” and the other is labeled “Some rich assholes become slightly less rich.”
(Cross posted from the Political Madness thread. Link)
Don’t be fooled. This man does not intend to sacrifice himself, and he will take any and all means available to protect himself. The people he’s willing to sacrifice are the employees for his “small business” he mentions later in the interview. He cares more about protecting his business’s income over protecting the bodies of his employees. The former keeps him up at night, while the deaths or serious injury of the latter are below notice for one such as him.
I am reminded of one of the “Today’s Mottos” from an old episode of “Welcome to Night Vale”: If you had a button that every time you pressed it you would get a million dollars but some unknown person far away would die, you would have a pretty good model of the American economy.
“If there IS a God. If there IS a God. May he STRIKE THIS AUDIENCE DEAD!” – George Carlin
I’m not seeing that the Dan Patrick/Trump/Loonytarian Sociopath plan of just letting the Covid-19 pandemic run wild while the USA just ignores it, will work anyway.
.1. OK, so we all just go about our normal days, and we all get sick and some of us die.
Then what???
.2. Run the numbers.
Somewhere between 60% and 90% of us would get infected.
This is a very infectious virus.
That is using 80%, 263 million infected.
Using 2% dead, we have 5.3 million dead people.
They won’t all be coffin dodging old people either.
Some of them will be young, and some of the survivors will have permanent lung damage.
.3. What is this going to do to the US economy?
Well, who knows but it won’t be good.
It will at the least cause a serious recession or worse.
.4. Most people aren’t going to follow his plan anyway.
If the pandemic rages, a whole lot of people will just stay home, hide out, and wait for the pandemic to end.
Which is what we are doing right now anyway.
The Trump Regime is now talking about the cure being worse than the disease.
Which is the cure and which is the disease here though???
PS We are about to find out what happens when a country just lets the virus run wild.
Everyone has been wondering what happens when Covid-19 hits a Third World country with minimal health care or even government. Places like a Syrian refugee camp, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, most of the Third World etc..
It will happen and then we will know. Closest to this right now is Iran.
Dan Patrick is 70. He hence belongs to the risk group, the heaviest burden on health care. So he can set the right example by using euthanasia.
Bet he won’t do it.
Such calls for self sacrifice somehow always are meant for others, not for those who urge on it. This is why I despise this christian concept. It’s a means of further suppression.
@ 5 a_ray_in_dilbert_space
I mean, if you could watch it from the outside, it would be awe inspiring!
I am watching from just across the border and it is terrifying enough as it is.
It is scary here but watching one’s behemoth neighbour in meltdown raises things to terrifying.
@18
of course it would not work and would be far worse then a complete shutdown and debt holiday could ever be.
in the real world there are many voices some of which will be reasonable and sound
and some are idiots and self-serving ass holes
and there is nothing in the world that prevents the people from changing their minds and forming a new way to order their lives.
all it would take is for the “leadership” to disregard the well being of the people and for the people to recognize it
uncle frogy
From John Scalzi’s Twitterfeed:
I think he means the America where he gets the best spot in the overflowing morgue, and the peons have to tend to their deceased elders in their own homes. At least, that’s the America he’d get with this brilliant plan.
I can only hope that the American people remember this in November and vote accordingly.
Of course this isn’t a choice between “tank the economy” and “lots of people die”. It’s a choice between “tank the economy and fewer people die” and “tank the economy and millions of people die”.
A few years ago there was a very bad flu season (2014/15). It was so bad that we had 30k deaths (out of 82 million people over 6 months. Currently Italy with 60 million people is on its way to have that death toll in a single month). It was damaging some businesses just because there were not enough people to run them. Buses had reduced schedules because drivers were home sick in droves. What do they think will happen to an economy where at any given time 10% of the population are massively sick, 2% require hospital care and 0.5% die?
But you should be very, very worried about the fact that the GOP is willing to kill off its own voter base of old white people. It means they don’t think they’ll ever need to face an election again.
Is there a reason I get stuck in everybody’s spamtrap?
publicola, #24
I don’t mean this in a bad way, but you don’t live in America, do you?
Patrick says he’ll sacrifice himself so his progeny can continue to buy toys they don’t need with money that could have been far better spent. Isn’t my place to tell him or anyone how to spend their own money, but I am right to encourage us all to consider whether accumulating toys that scream “I got mine, to hell with you!” represents the best use of our resources.
@25
This is brilliant. I am inclined to steal it if it’s OK.