Court packing? Lets talk about it…

While republicans try to push a distracting and distorting hypothetical about supreme court packing, it’s worth looking at the real facts. Heather Cox Richardson mentions this in her October 11 Letters from an American: “What makes this so especially bizarre is that it is Republicans, not Democrats, who have made the courts the centerpiece of their agenda and have packed them with judges who adhere to an extremist ideology. Since the Nixon administration began in 1969, Democrats have appointed just 4 Supreme Court justices, while Republicans have appointed 15.

2020-10-12T08:41:30-05:00October 12th, 2020|Home, Musings|

Correcting the very bad presidential advice…

Released by the CDC on October 6, more evidence that mitigation measures DO work:

From the report: “The number of COVID-19 cases in Arizona stabilized and then decreased after sustained implementation and enforcement of statewide and locally enhanced mitigation measures, beginning approximately 2 weeks after implementation and enforcement of mask mandates and enhanced sanitations practices began on June 17; further decreases were observed during July 13–August 7, after statewide limitations and closures of certain services and businesses.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Widespread implementation and enforcement of sustained community mitigation measures, including mask wearing, informed by state and local officials’ continual data monitoring and collaboration can help prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and decrease the numbers of COVID-19 cases.”

2020-10-10T15:06:55-05:00October 6th, 2020|Home, Musings|

A man with no empathy…

The US is averaging nearly 1,000 Covid-19 deaths per day. That equals:
– 250 Benghazis per day
– A 9-11 every three days
– An Omaha Beach every two days
– A Pearl Harbor every 2 ½ days
And yet: “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said in an interview with Bob Woodward, the audio recording of which was made public in September. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

I wonder when, if ever, we’ll hear any explanation for or apology because he has needlessly (his own best interest excepted) put secret service personnel, first responders, White House staffers and even his own supporters at risk of illness by campaigning and fund raising (without masks or social distancing), perfectly exemplified by his attending a fund raiser in New Jersey after his known exposure last Thursday, and then taking a joy ride for political theater the day before his release. His irrational behavior was then compounded further by his maskless reentry into the White House after discharge.  Public health advocates are driven to despair…

2020-10-06T15:34:23-05:00October 5th, 2020|Home, Musings|

Hard Evidence of How Trump has Hurt America

• Anne Applebaum’s excellent piece in The Atlantic references the Cornell University misinformation study in laying it all out (italics are my own):

“…Trump’s super-spreading of disinformation has already changed America. Just a few days ago, Cornell University published a study showing that 38 percent of media stories containing misinformation about the virus refer to the president: Trump is literally, not metaphorically, the single most important reason so many Americans distrust information they receive about the disease. He is literally, not metaphorically, the reason so many Americans distrust our electoral system too. He is literally, not metaphorically, the reason so many Americans distrust one another…And we are all … unsurprised. This kind of obfuscation, this level of confusion, is exactly what we have come to expect from our national leader. Trump has destroyed our trust with wanton abandon—trust in our political system, trust in our institutions, trust in science, trust in America itself—simply because it benefits him, personally, to do so. Whatever happens to Trump over the next few weeks, that is the legacy that will outlast his presidency. It has already distorted and changed and altered the country just as profoundly as the coronavirus itself.”

2020-10-16T14:37:19-05:00October 5th, 2020|HomeRecommended|
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