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

[Jack Dracula]

But if he sent out the kits, the pandemic would be over, or something.

Exactly. At the end of the whole thing, absolutely nothing would have changed. Does anyone expect all these people are going to quarantine while they wait for their tests to come back? Let's say they test negative? All it means is they didn't have it at the time they took the test. And they could still get the virus at any point after they get results back so where's the actual benefit after all of that money and energy is applied?

Bear in mind Republicans would be picking at every real and imaginary problem with the program the whole way along with Biden hating Democrats.

I'd also like to mention that many states have free tests available upon request due to a federally funded program.
Thanks alot Biden!

[numberthirty]

But if he sent out the kits, the pandemic would be over, or something.

No.

He would have taken a step to competently deal with a pandemic.

Which is actually what he ran on.

It's not like I am expecting King Diamond to sign up with the church choir here...

[numberthirty]

Exactly. At the end of the whole thing, absolutely nothing would have changed. Does anyone expect all these people are going to quarantine while they wait for their tests to come back? Let's say they test negative? All it means is they didn't have it at the time they took the test. And they could still get the virus at any point after they get results back so where's the actual benefit after all of that money and energy is applied?

Bear in mind Republicans would be picking at every real and imaginary problem with the program the whole way along with Biden hating Democrats.

I'd also like to mention that many states have free tests available upon request due to a federally funded program.
Thanks alot Biden!

Uh, yeah...

Take no competent steps to address a pandemic because Republicans could grumble.

Again, are folks even taking a half a minute to think twice about any of this.

Really basic...

Yes. Federal government should be mailing out test kits because testing is a "First Day..."/"Kindergarten..." aspect of dealing with a pandemic.

Past that?

It would also help if your Press Secretary would not scoff at the idea that Federal Government should work in the public's interest in the midst of a pandemic.

Again...

Nobody is asking them to run a four minute mile.

That said, getting the "Bare Minimum..."/"Basics 101..." stuff right is not too much to ask of folks who ran on competency.

[Jack Dracula]

No.

He would have taken a step to competently deal with a pandemic.

Which is actually what he ran on.

It's not like I am expecting King Diamond to sign up with the church choir here...

Actually, the Biden Administration has had free COVID test available upon request since last December.

Consistent with the Biden Administration's “Path Out of the Pandemic,” HHS is providing free, at-home self-tests to health centers and Medicare-certified rural health clinics, for distribution at no cost to patients and community members. The program is intended to ensure COVID-19 tests are made available to populations and settings in need of testing, especially populations at greatest risk from adverse outcomes related to COVID-19. As of December 21, 2021, all HRSA-supported health centers (including look-alikes) and Medicare-certified rural health clinics are eligible to participate in the program after completing the onboarding process.

Again, many states also have free, mail-order test kits available upon request through various state-level health services due to a federally funded program.

[numberthirty]

Already posted this one, but apparently it bears repeating...

If Katie Porter is clearly laying out why Congress needs to earn back the public trust?

She might be doing so because Democrats getting out in front of earning public trust back would be a sensible move if the party wants folks' support.

[Jack Dracula]

Uh, yeah...

Take no competent steps to address a pandemic because Republicans could grumble.

Again, are folks even taking a half a minute to think twice about any of this.

Really basic...

Yes. Federal government should be mailing out test kits because testing is a "First Day..."/"Kindergarten..." aspect of dealing with a pandemic.

Past that?

It would also help if your Press Secretary would not scoff at the idea that Federal Government should work in the public's interest in the midst of a pandemic.

Again...

Nobody is asking them to run a four minute mile.

That said, getting the "Bare Minimum..."/"Basics 101..." stuff right is not too much to ask of folks who ran on competency.

Once again:
Actually, the Biden Administration has had free COVID test available upon request since last December.

Consistent with the Biden Administration's “Path Out of the Pandemic,” HHS is providing free, at-home self-tests to health centers and Medicare-certified rural health clinics, for distribution at no cost to patients and community members. The program is intended to ensure COVID-19 tests are made available to populations and settings in need of testing, especially populations at greatest risk from adverse outcomes related to COVID-19. As of December 21, 2021, all HRSA-supported health centers (including look-alikes) and Medicare-certified rural health clinics are eligible to participate in the program after completing the onboarding process.

Again, many states also have free, mail-order test kits available upon request through various state-level health services due to a federally funded program.

[numberthirty]

Actually, the Biden Administration has had free COVID test available upon request since last December.

Consistent with the Biden Administration's “Path Out of the Pandemic,” HHS is providing free, at-home self-tests to health centers and Medicare-certified rural health clinics, for distribution at no cost to patients and community members. The program is intended to ensure COVID-19 tests are made available to populations and settings in need of testing, especially populations at greatest risk from adverse outcomes related to COVID-19. As of December 21, 2021, all HRSA-supported health centers (including look-alikes) and Medicare-certified rural health clinics are eligible to participate in the program after completing the onboarding process.

Again, many states also have free, mail-order test kits available upon request through various state-level health services due to a federally funded program.

Politely, you have the reaction happening before the action...

Here is an article from The Washington Post about Psaki fumbling this very thing in early December last year...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...esting-regime/

The White House gets testy over its coronavirus testing regimen

NPR’s Mara Liasson pressed Psaki on the continued hurdles Americans face in getting rapid, at-home coronavirus tests. The administration recently announced people with private health insurance would be reimbursed for the tests, which often cost between $20 and $30 for a pair.

“That’s kind of complicated, though,” Liasson noted. “Why not just make them free and give them out to — and have them available everywhere?”

Psaki shot back sarcastically: “Should we just send one to every American?”

After Liasson suggested that maybe this was actually a good idea, Psaki responded, “Then what happens if you — if every American has one test? How much does that cost, and then what happens after that?”

[numberthirty]

So...

Did they get it right after it had already gone off in their face like an Acme kit?...

Yeah.

Would have been quite a bit more competent to just do so before anyone had to twist an arm.

[numberthirty]

And, honestly...

That's not even some of the smaller scale stuff that isn't completely like "You are kidding me, right?...", but would have been good to see.

Late summer/early fall the administration had to go after a few "Fly By Night..." testing outfits that were ripping folks off and not even sending results to them at all.

In a seriously competent response to a pandemic?

The administration really would have had folks out there keeping those sorts of places honest in a situation where it is really, really likely to have scammers coming out of the woodwork.

[Jack Dracula]

Politely, you have the reaction happening before the action...

Here is an article from The Washington Post about Psaki fumbling this very thing in early December last year...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...esting-regime/

Again, anyone with two brain cells and five minutes to think about it can figure out why that's a ridiculous suggestion.

And it's equally ridiculous to assume the Biden administration implemented an extremely complicated, federally funded program in just two weeks based on this single ten secong exchange between Psaki and a random reporter.

They obviously had the program in production for months before this reporter asked her stupid question.

[numberthirty]

Again, anyone with two brain cells and five minutes to think about it can figure out why that's a ridiculous suggestion.

And it's equally ridiculous to assume the Biden administration implemented an extremely complicated, federally funded program in just two weeks based on this single ten secong exchange between Psaki and a random reporter.

They obviously had the program in production for months before this reporter asked her stupid question.

Except for that it's anything but "Extremely Complicated..." when you are the Feds and most likely already had all of this stuff sitting around.

Which is before you even take a second to think through that Psaki saying what she did makes right around "Zero..." sense is what you are asserting is actually the case.

[numberthirty]

Never mind that it was the blowback after that exchange and not the actual exchange itself...

Again, it's because something went off in their face like an Acme kit.

[numberthirty]

Being Gaetz is starting to look like something out of The Warriors...

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/polit...at/9253430002/

Republican Greg Merk wants Northwest Florida to move on from Matt Gaetz and elect him

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/polit...at/9253414002/

Democrat Rebekah Jones says she can win in Northwest Florida

[CaptainEurope]

As for the actual reality of the situation...

The idea that getting real about the possibility that this will do harm versus "Hey, just shut up and cross you fingers here..."?

It is like watching Mike Tyson not training for the fight against Buster Douglan and loading up on Cheetos, and saying "No. Just shut up and hope this breaks our way..."

Which, politely? Is just beyond stupid.

It was a dumb call then, and it is a dumb call now.

Even if Dems really got "Second Heart Attack.." serious about giving folks a reason to vote for them starting Monday and doing so all of the way through the elections in the fall?

It will still be tough for them to stay in a position to do any sort of good post-elections. Never mind that Republicans taking over hobbles Biden's presidency. At a minimum.

This needs to get way more serious than it has been. While I guess that I can even see the "Well, what are we supposed to do except for to cross our fingers and hope this goes our way?..." take?

Most folks are already at a place where they are done with the idea that government is even worth bothering with showing up at the polling place for.

Dems need to take full advantage of every single opportunity that they have to try to sell folks on that it is from now until the fall.

Right now? That is just not happening.

Putting all of the lifting on the shoulders of the voter while just telling folks that they need to ignore clear flubs made thus far?

It is just not a particularly sensible course of action.

Again: The crack pipe story was NOT true.

[CaptainEurope]

I remember when 30 was busy assuring us Trump wouldn't really be bad for gay rights, or that his drone policy couldn't be worse than Obama's, or that his Supreme Court picks wouldn't really be all that big a deal.

There's a reason none of us should take anything he posts seriously.

By the way, did any of the people who kept criticizing Obama for using drones (and usually were quiet about Trump doing it so much more and removing transparency from the process) praise Biden for basically ending the drone wars and retroactively reinstating accountability for the Trump droning?