Here’s a graph of the deaths from Covid-19. Note how fast the deaths are rising now. And if you think vaccines will solve this problem, remember that it will take around six months for the required 70% of Americans to start getting vaccinated, and that is assuming that significant numbers of Americans don’t refuse the vaccine. Also, you need two vaccine shots a month apart, and then an additional two weeks for the shots to become effective. Given that Covid-19 is doubling every two months (and that number could get worse because of people gathering for the holidays), that means that the number of deaths will likely go up at least eight times in six months. You do the math.
On Wednesday, the US had the worst day ever for the pandemic, setting new records for Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Yes, it is bad in the US. In just one day, 3,656 people died from Covid-19 (more than the number who died from the terrorist attacks on 9/11).
The US will pass 17 million cases today. In two states, more than 10% of the population have contracted the disease.
In some states, hospitals have run out of beds for new cases and are now rationing. Health care workers are overworked and burned out. The number of cases is doubling every two months, so this will get much worse.
Be safe. Stay home. Wear a mask if you have to go out. Thanksgiving was a super-spreader event. Christmas will be even worse. We are not out of the woods yet, and vaccinations will take many months to have a significant effect.
Monday, the electoral college voted and Joe Biden got the most votes. I’m sure the big bad Trump will huff and puff and try to blow the house down, but to no avail. He’s fired.
Saturday Night Live displayed a brilliant analogy of just how out of whack our news media has become. What if the right wing media treated sports news the same way it treats political news. The analogy is apt, because sports fans can show the same kind of fervor as Trump’s base.
Filed in Irony|Comments Off on Taking Propaganda to the Next Level
This video shows how Fox News responds to two different protests, and they couldn’t have been any more hypocritical.
First are the Staten Island Protests, which were protesting a bar that was shut down for defying both city and state Covid-19 closure orders. Deputies attempted to arrest the owner for serving patrons in violation of the law, but the owner tried to drive away, and struck one of the deputies and kept driving for about 100 yards with the officer hanging onto the hood where he was struck. Note that there is strong evidence that bars are one of the worst spreaders of the deadly disease caused by Covid-19.
Next are the Black Lives Matter protests. Can you guess the Fox News response to those compared to the Staten Island Protests?
Republicans seem hellbent on destroying not just our democracy, but also our country. Why? So they can blame it on the Democrats.
They have given up on their claims of fraud in the presidential election, and now they have resorting to just trying to overturn the election. They will fail at this, but it is a distraction we sorely do not need right now while we are trying to end the pandemic and keep the economy afloat.
They are refusing to pass a stimulus bill sufficient to keep our economy running, so when the economy goes south they can blame it on the Democrats. They also refuse to send needed money to the states and local governments, even now that red states have become the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Trump is threatening to veto the Defense Authorization Bill, unless Congress adds a completely unrelated provision to punish social media sites for supposedly discriminating against conservatives.
They are doing everything in their power to hamstring Joe Biden even before he becomes president, and I’m sure they will continue to block everything Biden and the Democrats do for his entire term (just like they did for Barack Obama).
Rudy Giuliani was hospitalized yesterday with the coronavirus. Now there is nobody left in Donald Trump’s orbit to claim that the election was stolen. Well, nobody but Trump himself. So Trump will go down like the worst losers do, alone and raving, deserted by allies and maybe even family.
I really hope the Dems are able to pull off a miracle and elect two senators from the previously red state of Georgia. The main reason for this is because we desperately need to get rid of Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader.
The Majority Leader gets to decide, unilaterally, which business comes up for a vote in the Senate. Which is why he was able to block Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court. McConnell can block any appointment to the judiciary, as well as Biden’s cabinet picks, if he wants to.
Believe it or not, I can understand why some people vote for Donald Trump, more than I can understand why McConnell keeps getting reelected.
Once again we see the pattern of Republicans spending like drunken sailors when they are in power, and then becoming deficit hawks when they lose power. During the George W Bush administration, VP Dick Cheney famously said “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
Cheney was talking about the midterm elections, which the GOP had won. Despite prosecuting two expensive wars, the Republicans wanted to cut taxes for the rich, but Treasury secretary Paul O’Neill objected because growing budget deficits posed a threat to the economy. Cheney was saying that the voters don’t care about deficits. He was right, the wealthy got their tax cuts, and O’Neill was fired.
Now, with Biden about to assume the presidency and the coronavirus pandemic completely out of control, the Republicans suddenly care about deficits again. In reality, they want to cripple the Biden administration and then blame the resulting economic problems on the Democrats.
They did that with Obama, after they then handed the new president an economy in freefall. Now, they are doing the same thing with a pandemic that they are continuing to refuse to fight. Will Americans be fooled again?
The NY Times has posted a simple interactive tool “Find Your Place in the Vaccine Line” that will give you an idea of how soon you might be able to receive a vaccine for Covid-19.
