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Saturday, May 02, 2020

News Weakly - 5/2/2020

Surprising and Not
You'd think this wouldn't be news. Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Joe Biden for president. As in, "Duh!" How could she not endorse their only candidate? The "news" part, I think, is the fact that it took her so long. Bernie dropped out in early April and it took her weeks to say, "Well, yeah, okay, I guess I'll back this accused sexual predator" ... without, of course, any reference to his accusations of sexual abuse. They don't talk about that. Go figure.

More Virus Damage
This pandemic has caused all sorts of changes in the world in general and America in particular. We figured out what was essential -- killing babies, being sure people had their marijuana, junk mail, that sort of thing -- as well as what's not, like haircuts, dental hygiene, and First Amendment rights. Now House Speaker Pelosi is considering a "guaranteed income" as part of the aid package. We've already leveraged our great grandchildren's future on this problem -- a problem that I contend has not been handled safely, reasonably, or justly -- and now we're trying to wedge in genuine socialism to our national mindset. What the myriads of Democratic candidates for president couldn't do a Chinese virus is edging toward. Because once you let that genie out, it's not going back in the bottle.

A Fine Example of Consensus
Switzerland is starting to ease up on their lockdown. This week their chief of infectious diseases said that it was now okay for children under 10 to hug their grandparents because "Young children are not infected and do not transmit the virus. They just don't have the receptors to catch the disease." Like all the experts have been saying all along. (Science is a puny god.)

What Kind of Fool is That?
New York has been the hardest hit in this pandemic. This week, when Spain (the #2 country in cases worldwide) had 239,639 cases, New York had 299,691 cases. Very tough. New York has been squabbling with Trump because they don't believe they're getting enough support. So when hundreds of people across the country sent in donated masks to help, the governor did the right thing. He made a mural out of them and put them on display. Because that's exactly the kind of help New York needs, right? "Oh, don't worry," Cuomo's senior adviser is telling us. "We'll distribute those." Okay, but do people really want masks that have been on display? Not exactly a sterile environment, is it? Is this the best we can do?

He's No Fool
So, Facebook reported better-than-expected 1st quarter earnings this week thanks to the stay-at-home world in which we live. Then CEO Mark Zuckerberg really warmed up to his true expertise. He warned that we all need to stay home longer or face a resurgence of this virus. I'm sure there was no ulterior motive, no "And I'm pretty sure if we all keep this up I'll be a lot richer." I mean, who knows viruses better than Mark Zuckerberg, right?

Coming Soon to a State Near You
According to the headlines, President Trump won't extend the federal social distancing guidelines. "Oh, my, he really doesn't care, does he?" President Trump is stepping back to the 10th Amendment line and leaving it up to the States to decide ... like it says in the Bill of Rights. (Oh, I know, there's no reason to think that he did it for that reason. I'm just sayin'.) Not to worry. He got thumped for suggestions of total power and he'll get thumped for suggestions of releasing total power. If Trump said it, it's bad ... at least in the Trump-hate crowd. So now we can blame our state government rather than our federal government.

Meanwhile the experts are warning us not to let up too soon on this lockdown. They say up to 18 months. Oh, this latest suggests 2 years. I'm not sure what society can survive without income that long or what possible means of recovery could follow the deaths of those societies, but, hey, what do I know? I'm no expert.

2 comments:

Bruce said...

I'm sure you remember the movie "The Time Machine". In the 1960 version (I have not seen the more recent one) the time traveler goes way into the future and finds a Greek-like society that lounges around all day eating grapes with no motivation to do anything; even their books have turned to brittle remembrances of the past.

I fear that we are well on the way to a similar society where no one works, no one learns (studies), no one feels the "yearning to be free" emotion in their gut.

Today's post was a real downer. I wish you had added a Babylon Bee reference to lighten the load a little bit.

Stan said...

Yes, Bruce, I feel your pain. Of course, since I don't believe God is off His throne, I don't expect the end you reference, but maybe this will help.

I liked the story with the headline, "Newly Mustachioed Bill De Blasio Unveils Special Red Armbands For Police Enforcing Lockdown" with a picture of De Blasio looking a lot like Hitler wearing a not-quite Nazi symbol on his arm. Or the dig at California with the headline, "California Prisons Release Thousands Of Felons To Make Room For Skaters, Surfers, People Who Go Outside."

Better?