All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

So Florida is actually going to go through with punishing the schools that are requiring masks. You'd think at least one person would be able to look the Governor in the eye and say, "Sir, even aside from it being a questionable move to demand them to be maskless...have you thought about the optics of it? You're punishing them for doing what they think is right for their children."

Either those officials don't have the balls to challenge DeSantis, or they'll all in with his anti-mask dictates, regardless of the horrific optics.

On top of that, isn't the Republican party the part of small government and personal freedom? Doesn't stepping in and countermanding a local elected body's decision fly in the face of both of those ideals?

You're assuming the Qpublican Party actually has ideals. That train left the station years ago.

[Tami]

If anyone is in the path of Henri, stay safe.

[Tendrin]

Most importantly, I'm glad your parents are okay. What reason do you have to believe that their caregiver caught Covid because her kids were allowed to go to school unmasked?

Because the caregiver told me exactly what happened and how they got sick, and how she got it, and it's relevant to the larger issue of reopening schools, which will be an even bigger petri dish than how my caregiver's children caught it. And if something that small can do that to my parents, I'd like you to take a moment and consider that more broadly, as well as the recent halting and closure of schools and classes all across the country as a result of the delta variant, versus what some guy on substack who's not even a doctor says.

As for the spreadsheet comment, if you believe we should follow the science them we should follow it wherever it leads. The problem with using anecdotal evidence is that people in the wrong side of issues are going to do the same thing. For example, it's the basis for many of the arguments against vaccination, or for Trump for that matter.

I believe we should follow the science. Science is evolving. Science and uncertainty demand we protect our children from the unknowable long term consequences of covid infection, and protect those who are around them, especially given we know how transmissable Delta is (which your substack article never even mentions once). I'm not shocked, of course, that you're rushing to once again to decry a 'liberal overreaction', though. It's basically your entire political philosophy.

Mask refusal isn't really about science, no matter how pretty a spreadsheet you can paint of it.

[Iron Maiden]

All it takes is looking at the maps. The mask resistant states, which are all red states, have the worst rates of infection. In the state of Indiana where I live it plays out again by counties. The northern section of Indiana is generally goes Democratic voting. Those counties are in the yellow. The rest of the state is mostly GOP and they have a higher rate of infection.

[JackDaw]

There always been, always will be cases where an individuals freedom has to be limited, to preserve a reasonable balance between individual freedom and the overall good of society.

I would suggest that no sane person would champion an individuals freedom to gun down other people, for example.

Ultimately much of politics is about looking pragmatically at different situations and asking “in situations like this where should we strike the balance between individual freedom and society’s good?”

One mans freedom not to get the Covid vaccination or not to wear a mask might lead to other people getting infected, and potentially become seriously ill, even die.

Anti-maskers/ anti- vaxxers ought at least (in an ideal world) honestly ask themselves if this particular individual freedom is worth risking harm to other people.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It could be argued that the anti-masking obsession began with science adverse Trump who publicly disliked wearing them (some having joked that was because he didn't want his makeup to rub off on it) and both the GQP and their propaganda arm Faux News ran with it, leading to the unholy mess the country is in today.

Meanwhile, as for the vaccine, the Pfizer version could get full approval from the FDA as early as tomorrow. Could that convince more people to get the shot? We'll see.

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2014 that "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published our profile of Cliff Stearns, a twelve-term Florida Congressman who at one point during the debate over the Zadroga Bill that would provide medical coverage for 9/11 first responders, suggested that those American heroes should have to first go through background checks to assure they weren’t on a terror watch list before they could get coverage. He was also accused of offering someone a bribe to drop out of a primary, along with a variety of other ethics violations, voiced his suspicions about President Obama’s birth certificate, and led the GOP charge in their 2011 attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. In the 2012 elections, during the primary for his House seat, Stearns underestimated Tea Party candidate Ted Yoho, got upset, and thus ended up going into an early retirement, being given a fond send-off from Republicans at the 2012 RNC.

It was on this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" shared our profiles of the U.S. House Representative from California’s 25th Congressional District, Steven Knight, who prior to being elected to Congress as a California State Senator, campaigned hard to keep the Confederate flag being sold at gift shops in the state (in spite of California not being a part of the Confederacy), showed a fervent need to uphold California’s ban on bilingual education, cast a vote against a ban on gay conversion therapy, and that he was also a supporter of Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ban in California, completing a hat trick of bigotry to be on the wrong side of African-Americans, Hispanics AND the LGBT community. Knight was also against workers’ rights, and even simple ideas like raising the minimum wage. Since arriving in Washington, Rep. Knight has been a consistent conservative vote, particularly anti-abortion legislation, supporting such laws regardless of if they attempt to redefine rape and incest, and voting for a ban on abortion at 20 weeks. We did mention how narrowly Knight was elected, and that his seat is considered vulnerable in the 2016 elections from both the left, and right, because of his reaction to anti-amnesty immigration protesters who showed up at his office on April 21st, 2015. One of the protesters shook Rep. Knight’s hand, and accused him of lying, saying he researched Knight’s vote on HR 240, and that he had “voted for amnesty for immigrants”. Now, that might not be the most nuanced interpretation of Knight’s vote (considering that the alternative was to defund the Department of Homeland Security). But perhaps the best way to respond would not have been Rep. Knight’s response, which was, “If you touch me again, I’ll drop your ass.” Go figure, threatening to beat up your own constituents will not endear you to them. Steven Knight was considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in 2018, and even though his district had not voted Democratic since 1993, Katie Hill managed to flip his seat with the help of the Blue Wave. He has yet to run for office since that defeat.

On this date in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Deanna Lorraine aka Deanna Tesoriero, a candidate running to be the next U.S. House Representative for California’s 12th Congressional District, hoping to unseat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her extremely liberal San Francisco district. Lorraine’s campaign, from the jump, was nothing more than a conservative trolling effort, make no mistake. This may be what romantically linked her to another CSGOPOTD with the same political goals, Omar Navarro, who we covered about a year and a half ago, at the time mentioning how he stalked his former girlfriend who got a restraining order against him. Lorraine is that ex, and they had a lot in common. In 2008, Deanna Lorraine was a “dating coach”/love guru” in San Diego, trying to help singles find love (while never being married herself), who talked in general terms about using techniques like “clinical hypnotherapy”, “thetahealing” and “spiritual energy healing” to help couples truly bond. This may come as a shock… but it was never given accreditation by the Better Business Bureau, and as of October of 2019, she owed a 40,000 tax lien. That debt shut her dating service down six years ago, and around the time Donald Trump started to grift his way into national politics in 2015... Deanna Lorraine also began her interest in politics. If you noticed the fact that we mentioned Deanna’s business is located in San Diego, we’ll mention she lives in San Francisco… 400 miles away from where the district she’s running to represent is. So… that’s awkward. But, we’re really going to be honest… Deanna Lorraine is a never-ending repository for terrible opinions, as she has repeatedly endorsed the Qanon conspiracy theory on social media, promoted the Pizzagate conspiracy theory that was its predecessor, and when she found out Ben and Jerry’s came out in opposition to White Supremacy in June of 2020, she started making noise on Twitter about wanting to boycott the company. Lorraine called for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be fired as far back as April 12th, 2020, or daring to contradict Donald Trump on what could be done to stop the spread of Covid-19 and he believes that vaccines work. She was trying to make the #FireFauci Hashtag start trending… and yes, TRUMP RETWEETED HER. Lorraine has a long, sordid history of promoting anti-vaccination conspiracy theories, and seems to fuel the ones about Bill Gates being behind Covid-19. As the 2020 Democratic National Convention opened and as the family of George Floyd was invited to speak about his death at the hands of police, and calling for police reform, Lorraine posted on Twitter, “Why is George Floyd’s family speaking at #DemConvention? Did they offer them free meth?” In the end, DeAnna Lorraine finished a distant fifth of six candidates in the open primary for California’s 12th, earning all of 1.8% of the vote. She is currently trying to rebrand herself as some sort of celebrity for this “achievement” while staying relevant by being voraciously bigoted. We’re doubting that ends up being any more of a successful endeavor than her dating service. As she is unlikely to ever reach office, we will set aside her profile at this time, however, to cover another kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1016-50, since this was established in July 2014.


Daniel Rodimer

Welcome to what is the 1016th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling Daniel Rodimer, a former WWE wrestler (with all of 3 appearances on the barely-viewed show WWE Heat and being considered one of the Top 10 talent busts of the past two decades), and former Arena Football League player who is already a three-time loser in attempts to reach elected office at various levels of government, as well as in two different states. That may have something to do with Rodimer having been accused of assault on three different occasions, avoiding conviction three times, due to an agreement made with prosecutors to attend anger management classes after his first alleged assault at a Florida Waffle House in 2010, and two other incidents in 2011 and 2013 where no charges were filed. There is a fourth incident involving calls to 911 but Rodimer’s at-the-time girlfriend, now-wife, calling authorities due to alleged domestic assault, but police declined to make an arrest, deciding it was only a verbal argument, and a fifth incident where she also called the police alleging he had broken into their home and stolen $200,000 in cash and jewelry.

A fine candidate for Republicans, indeed.

Daniel Rodimer narrowly lost a 2018 attempt to get elected to the Nevada State Senate, and in 2020, lost to Democratic Congresswoman Susie Lee by by about 13,000 votes. Bizarrely, Rodimer carpet-bagged his way to Texas only months after that to run in the 2021 special election to try to take the seat formerly held by Congressman Ron Wright, after he died of Covid-19, being mocked by people on both sides of the aisle after he attempted to rebrand himself with a thick Texas accent and riding (or pretending to ride) a bull as if he was always from the Lone Star State. His slogan? “Make America Texas Again”. Nobody was fooled, and he finished tenth out of twenty candidates battling it out in that primary.

We’re hoping he’s going to take a hint and attempt a comeback in wrestling.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Hey, Tami! Turned on the local TV news and saw the first Qpublican authored attack ad on Phil Murphy, basically blaming him for the current rise in COVID cases which, in case GQPers hadn’t noticed, was happening EVERYWHERE. If Qpublicans were running New Jersey or Pennsylvania, we’d be absolutely ravaged by the virus like Texas and Florida, and everyone knows it.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Radio host who regretted vaccine skepticism dies of COVID

Republican's just keep dying when masks and vaccines could have saved their lives.

Valentine had been a skeptic of coronavirus vaccines. But after he tested positive for COVID-19, and prior to his hospitalization, he told his listeners to consider, “If I get this COVID thing, do I have a chance of dying from it?” If so, he advised them to get vaccinated. He said he chose not to get vaccinated because he thought he probably wouldn’t die.

After Valentine was moved into a critical care unit, Mark Valentine said his brother regretted that “he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination.”

Sat, August 21, 2021, 5:43 PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from COVID-19 has died. He was 61.

Nashville radio station SuperTalk 99.7 WTN confirmed Phil Valentine's death in a tweet Saturday.

Valentine had been a skeptic of coronavirus vaccines. But after he tested positive for COVID-19, and prior to his hospitalization, he told his listeners to consider, “If I get this COVID thing, do I have a chance of dying from it?” If so, he advised them to get vaccinated. He said he chose not to get vaccinated because he thought he probably wouldn’t die.

After Valentine was moved into a critical care unit, Mark Valentine said his brother regretted that “he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination.”

“I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ’Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories," Mark Valentine told The Tennessean on July 25.

“He regrets not being more adamant about getting the vaccine. Look at the dadgum data,” Mark Valentine said.

[Tendrin]

Hadn't heard updates on Valentine, figured he was probably a goner.

Covid 19 appears particularly lethal to conservative radio hosts these days.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Radio host who regretted vaccine skepticism dies of COVID

Republican's just keep dying when masks and vaccines could have saved their lives.

Yeah, ignoring that dadgum data is proving to be deadly, time after time after time. And yet, Qpublicans, right wingers, conservatives and their rock headed ilk continue playing stupid games and are winning stupid prizes as a result. I have ZERO compassion for these fools.

[Tendrin]

Schools don't need masks because some guy on Substack has CHARTS.

Meanwhile, in reality:

But Fields said she received substantially higher numbers from the Florida Department of Health Polk County. As of noon on Tuesday, the first full week of school, those numbers showed:

• 413 students with positive cases.

• 233 staff with positive cases.

• 2,071 students in quarantine.

• 185 staff in quarantine.

“These numbers have not been vetted by our staff,” Fields acknowledged. “They are working on verifying the data. I would imagine the numbers will be higher than reflected here.”

I am sure this won't reach outside that bubble at all in any way to other, vulnerable people because we all know children are saintly, sanitary miracles and not vectors of disease to their families back home.

https://www.theledger.com/story/news...ng/8152720002/

Mask your kids, people.

[worstblogever]

After months of prodding by his political advisors, last night at a MAGA/hate rally in Alabama, Trump told a crowd he was vaccinated, and encouraged them to get the Covid-19 vaccine as well.

THEY BOOED HIM WHEN HE SAID IT.

This will probably be the last time he says something like that, sadly, as a result.

But while watching him have his own followers turn on him over something so simple, it is a bit terrifying to see that at this point, no one may need to drive this death cult Trump's built off a cliff, they're hell bent on putting the pedal to the floor and driving off themselves with or without Orange Foolius.

[Tami]

Hey, Tami! Turned on the local TV news and saw the first Qpublican authored attack ad on Phil Murphy, basically blaming him for the current rise in COVID cases which, in case GQPers hadn’t noticed, was happening EVERYWHERE. If Qpublicans were running New Jersey or Pennsylvania, we’d be absolutely ravaged by the virus like Texas and Florida, and everyone knows it.

Dealing with Delta is hard in every State, but trying to portray Murphy as having handled it badly in NJ is only going to work among die-hard Anti-vaxxers and Anti-Maskers. The vaccination rate in NJ is approaching 70% total for fully vaccinated. We are already at that mark for at least one dose. There are a few pockets of hesitancy or resistance, but I think that will change over time.

Gov Murphy's approval ratings are still well above 50%.

New poll puts Murphy’s approval rating at 57 percent among New Jerseyans

Some interesting takaways

By a margin of 49 percent to 41 percent, residents say Murphy is more concerned with governing the state than with his political future. By late in Christie’s term, after he had unsuccessfully run for the Republican presidential nomination, 79 percent of residents said he was more concerned with himself than the state.

“A lot of New Jerseyans feel like they’ve already been bitten by a governor who cruised to reelection during a time of crisis. I think that probably dampens some voters’ enthusiasm about giving Murphy a second term,” Murray said.

Among those surveyed, 34 percent said Murphy has “major accomplishments” he can point to, 37 percent said he has “minor accomplishments” and 25 percent say he has no real accomplishments.

A strong plurality, 46 percent, said Murphy’s policies have hurt property taxpayers, while just 14 percent say they’ve helped. New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, which Murray described as a “perennial thorn for state officeholders.” But Murray said the issue isn’t currently a high priority for voters in the fall.

A slight plurality of respondents, 36 percent, said Murphy’s policies have hurt the middle class, while 31 percent said they’ve helped it and 25 percent said the governor’s policies haven’t affected the middle class. That’s an improvement from a 2019 poll in which just 17 percent said Murphy’s policies have helped the middle-class.

A bigger plurality, 43 percent, said the governor’s policies have benefited poor residents, while 22 percent said those policies have hurt the poor and 22 percent said there’s been no impact. Voters are evenly split on whether Murphy has helped or hurt the rich — with 22 percent on each side of the question — while 38 percent said he’s had no impact despite presiding over a tax hike on income over $5 million in 2018 and income over $1 million in 2020.

Residents are evenly split on whether Murphy’s policies have helped or hurt businesses, at 21 percent each. Another 38 percent said his policies have had no impact on New Jersey’s businesses. One of Ciattarelli’s main attacks on Murphy centers around the struggles of businesses because of state-imposed pandemic restrictions.

Twenty-four percent of those surveyed said Murphy’s policies have helped transit riders and 18 percent say they’ve hurt them. Murphy, who has promised to improve NJ Transit “if it kills me,” has struggled to fix the beleaguered agency, which has been plagued for years by delays, hardware problems and staff shortages.

[Tami]

Watch Now: Tulsa ER nurse wants world to see her 3-year-old's battle against COVID-19

The mother of one of the youngest critical COVID-19 patients treated at the Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis has a message for the unvaccinated.

Why her?

Because she is a registered nurse in the emergency room there, and she believes she gave her 3-year-old daughter the virus after contracting it from one of the many unvaccinated patients she has treated recently.

On Aug. 12, she took to Facebook, emotionally exhausted and, yes, angry.

“I don’t normally speak on topics like this, but I feel that something needs to be said,” Amelia Cannon wrote late on her daughter’s second night in the hospital. “So forgive me, but I am angry. I am angry that I have done EVERYTHING right. Angry that I come to work and exhaust myself to treat unvaccinated patients. Only to bring it home to my babies. Can you imagine my frustration? My guilt? My fear?”

In addition to her Emergency Department duties, Cannon has been working in COVID patient rooms more frequently of late because of the surge in cases.

“Shortly after a few of my shifts in the COVID rooms, I started feeling ill, but of course I had already come home with my family and exposed them,” Cannon said Friday during a videoconference interview with local reporters from her daughter’s room in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

One by one, each member of Cannon’s household became symptomatic. A few days after Amelia, it was Aurora, 3. Then about a week into the ordeal, it was Amelia’s husband, Kyle, and their 1-year-old daughter Alice’s turn.

Kyle and Alice had only mild symptoms for a few days, which Amelia attributes to her husband being vaccinated and to Alice likely having some immunity as a result of still being nursed by a vaccinated mother.

While Amelia’s symptoms were more intense, she, too, felt better after a few days.

But a week after becoming symptomatic, Aurora took a turn for the worse, and her parents called paramedics to their Fort Gibson home.