News Weakly - 10/10/20

Statuesque
The story is that the Mellon Foundation has committed $250 million to "reimagine" U.S. monuments in this time of anti-monuments (so to speak). I have nothing sarcastic or snarky to say here. I'm just thinking who today's society would consider "heroic," worthy of emulating, and who could endure the test of time. In a time when a classy comedian like Bill Cosby, "America's Dad," gets 3-10 years for drugging and sexually assaulting someone, who do we think is going to stand the test of time? In a world where "My boy was a good boy, a heroic boy, a wonderful kid" is a reference to a thug, a gang member, a thief, or a killer, where in the world are we going to identify heroes that define the best of us?

Feeding the Trolls
So, among the conspiracy theory folks these days a favorite point is, "We don't trust the COVID reporting. We don't think it's accurate!" In order to quell these fears, the WHO has come out with their own unique numbers. Instead of the 35 million or so who have been infected, they say the number is closer to 780 million … or so. And while our best information says 1 million people have died of COVID-related causes, they say it's "certainly higher." That is, the WHO doesn't trust our COVID reporting. They don't think it's accurate. There you go, conspiracy nuts; your fears have been confirmed.

Just a Thought
There is much ado about President Trump's hint that he might not accept the results of the election and go quietly. Isn't the outrage a bit odd coming from an entire political party that still hasn't accepted the results of the 2016 election?

And Now for Something Completely Different
Not news this time, but an interesting piece (in opposition to what I've been saying this election cycle … and last). Something to think about.

Counting the Cost
The London Economic reported that "More than 2,300 people died from Covid-19 in the United States on the days President Trump was in hospital." The news outlet complained, "Since leaving care, any suggestion that the president’s brush with the illness would draw out a more empathetic response to Covid-19 have swiftly been dashed." In contrast, over 9,000 babies were executed by abortion in the 3 days that Trump was hospitalized. The media, the mothers, the doctors, and the public obviously don't care. Between February 2 and October 3 the CDC reports that more than 198,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. while something like 738,000 babies have been killed by choice. Any notion that this many babies killed during the pandemic might draw out a more empathetic response from the media or the public should immediately be quashed. I don't suppose too many will be mourning for them.

America Makes It Clear
Our nation is locked in a voting struggle for who will be our next president. Emotions are high. Politics is big. And Americans proved the depth of their concerns ... when their biggest takeaway from the debate between Harris and Pence was a fly on Pence's head. Seriously, America, get a grip. We have very real issues at stake here and a fly is not among them. But in America where the media treats Twitter like "the voice of the people," replacing actual interviews with tweets as a story, if this is what we can expect from voters, we should definitely lower our expectations for any serious voters.

Disqualified
During a townhall gathering an audience member asked Joe Biden about his "particular plan to protect women's reproductive rights in the U.S." with Amy Barrett possibly joining the Supreme Court. Biden didn't waver. "Number one, we don't know exactly what she will do, although the expectation is that she very well may overrule Roe, and the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation to make Roe the law of the land. That's what I would do." I believe that a man whose fundamental promise is not only to refuse to protect the most vulnerable people of the land, but to make their murder legally protected by law is not qualified to be the president of that land.

But ... HIPAA
The Hill (and others) are reporting that rotten ol' Trump made doctors at Walter Reed Medical Center sign nondisclosure agreements before treating him last year. Two refused and were not allowed to be involved. So people decry this kind of secrecy. Except … we have laws in this country that prevent anyone from releasing personal medical information. When I check in at my doctor's office for my annual physical I have to keep my distance from anyone else checking in because there are laws. When a coworker recently was diagnosed with COVID, we weren't allowed to say who it was because there are laws. Just not for the president, I guess.

And ... There It Is If you've been here before, you know that one of the big things I talk about is "words mean something." I'm particularly concerned with our post-modern thinking that allows us to yank out words, turn them around in their meaning to suit our taste, and then impose them on everyone else. Nancy Pelosi is making my point for me. The 25th Amendment comes into play when the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." In this case, the vice president operates as president. Pelosi wants a commission to "evaluate presidential mental and physical fitness" where "mental fitness" could be defined by the commission as "doesn't think like we want him to" so he could easily be classified as "mentally unfit." Given that each chamber of Congress has to affirm the finding within 25 days and given that Vice President Pence would act as president ("Oh, no!"), I can only imagine that Pelosi is making this move 1) with the anticipation that Trump might win the election, 2) there is an expectation that she and her people can define "mental fitness" in their own image, and 3) they'll deal with Pence when they get there.

Just Pondering
The district attorney in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, announced there was not a sufficient case to charge the police officer who shot Alvin Cole with a crime. And the crowd erupted. Protests continue. You know, "No justice, no peace." But I'm wondering. If he had brought charges would that have sufficed? If the officer was tried and exonerated by a jury, would that have sufficed? I'm pretty sure that the only "justice" that would suffice would be termination of the officer's job or, perhaps, his life. I suspect "We call for justice these days, but it's only on our terms." We're not asking that justice be satisfied; we're demanding that we are.

Satire from Another Source This time from Genesius Times, the headline reads, "Biden touts abortion as 'mostly peaceful'." Fitting, given Biden's assurance that he plans to make abortion the law of the land. And again from Genesius Times because I commented on the topic above, we get, "BREAKING: Pence’s excellent debate responses fed by covert drone fly." Now, come on, that's humorous. Okay, not if you hate everything about this current administration, but to normal folks …

Must be true; I read it on the Internet.