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Saturday, May 09, 2020

News Weakly - 5/9/2020

Me Too, But Not You
Embattled Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is on a shortlist of women to be Joe Biden's vice president, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that she supports Biden over Tara Reade's sexual allegations. A survivor of sexual abuse herself, she decided to take the reasonable approach of "We need to give people an opportunity to tell their story. Then we have a duty to vet it. And just because you’re a survivor doesn't mean that every claim is equal." (That was not a sarcastic "reasonable" on my part.) She and the #MeToo movement ruled out that approach with Kavanaugh and any other conservative who was accused. Survivor and feminist Whitmer argues we should not just "believe all women." That is news.

And then this odd twist to a related story. The New York Times recently "acquitted" Biden for Tara Reade's accusation of sexual abuse (after, as it turned out, the Biden campaign asked them to modify their story) -- "found no evidence" kind of thing -- and now they're urging the DNC to investigate. Is that not a plain, "Don't believe us"?

Values Clarification: Perceptions, Not Lives, Matter
In response to the "Black Lives Matter" movement, police have adopted what is called the "thin blue line" flag to say, "Blue Lives Matter," referring to police. San Francisco's police chief, Bill Scott, has ordered his officers not to wear this as some may perceive it as "divisive and disrespectful." It's a little disturbing when the chief of police appears to argues that police lives don't matter as much as not being perceived as "divisive and disrespectful." Police lives don't matter that much, right, Chief?

Greta v the World
In the midst of a fatal pandemic -- fatal to hundreds of thousands of humans and to the world economy -- Greta Thunberg has lawyers suing the world for climate change. Okay, officially they've brought suit against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey, but we all know it doesn't -- can't -- end there. For "reasons we don't understand" (wink, wink) they ignored two of the biggest polluters -- China and the U.S. Sixteen child petitioners ages 8 to 17 from 12 countries want the world to cut emissions. I'm pretty sure 1) they won't like the world moved back to pre-Industrial Age standards of living and 2) that no one will actually take the steps required to return emissions to pre-Industrial Age levels. Good luck with that, kids. But in a world where we've decided that the wisest people are the youngest, we shouldn't expect anything less.

Please ...
Ohio state representative Nino Vitale has refused to "be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution" (2 Peter 2:13) or to "be subject to the governing authorities" (Rom 13:1) on the basis of an arbitrary "We're all made in the image of God ... so I won't wear a mask." He did not follow through on his own logic with, "Nor will I wear any clothes because I'm made in the image of God, and I want to see it in my brothers and sisters." (That last phrase was a quote from him.) Please, Mr. Vitale. Stand your ground all you want, but don't do it in the name of God. "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Rom 2:24) Don't be "that guy."

Can You Say, "No First Amendment"?
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week that would tell religious organizations that the First Amendment does not apply to them. "Do your religious beliefs require that you do not supply women's birth control? Well, too bad. Time to require you to change religious beliefs." Why would the rest of us expect any different?

Love in Other Words
I've heard some outlandish names parents have given their babies. One nurse told me about a pregnant woman who was diagnosed with chlamydia. When she was told the diagnosis, she said, "'Chlamydia' ... that would be a great name for a daughter." Please don't! At least 5 people out there are named Abcde. Cruel. Perhaps my favorite for worst is Sssst. Four s's makes it "four s't." Get it? "Forest." In a similar vein, out of their deep and abiding love for their new baby boy, Mr. and Mrs. Elon Musk have named him ... X Æ A-12 Musk, an entirely unpronounceable, essentially meaningless name that is sure to embarrass this kid for a long, long time. (I'm trying to imagine the response when a potential employer sees that in the header of resume.) Nothing says "love" like a lifetime of abuse, eh?

Headline Bias
In every news outlet I saw, the headline was something like "Trump Contradicts Nurse." There was "dispute," "rebuke," and even "testy oval office exchange." It appears to go unnoticed that the nurse answered, "Oh, no, I agree, Mr. President." Because the news is clearly biased everywhere. (Yes, even here.)

I Read It On The Internet
One reader bemoaned the fact that I put all this "downer" stuff in here last week and didn't include any "relief humor" to offset it, so here is some of the latest headlines from the Babylon Bee. One I noticed was, "'It's Worth It If It Saves Just One Life,' Says Woman Who Supports Abortion On Demand." Another read, "Bill Of Rights Was Hidden Away For Safekeeping During Lockdown And Now No One Can Find It." And, of course, there was the satirical, "Democrats Warn We Shouldn’t Reopen The Country Until We Can Be Safe From Trump Getting Credit For A Good Economy." That was satirical ... right?

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