Now, friends, don't get me wrong -- I love our Dear Leader as much as the next guy. I mean, it's the law, right? Nevertheless, the Biden administration's "guidance" to social media companies about which posts and voices they ought to censor and/or silence is more than a little creepy. As many have observed, it flirts with direct, state-sponsored abolition of the First Amendment. Among other things, it might strengthen the federal case Donald Trump is making that his own eviction from Facebook, Twitter, etc. was a violation of the First Amendment. Judges and Justices, we're looking for some relief here -- for a principled stand in favor of free speech. Can you help us out?
https://nypost.com/2021/07/16/government-dictating-what-social-media-bans-is-tyrannical/
Below you'll find an outstanding, data-based analysis of the outsized role played by independents in our federal elections. The writer argues convincingly that Bidenists and Democrats risk alienating independents as they pursue bold, transformational, and extremely progressive reforms. Independents have already soured on Joe Biden. The Dems, moreover, show no signs of reversing course. They seem to think that demonizing Republicans is the answer to all their electoral problems. Granted, they have a massive megaphone with which to make their case, but come on -- how long do you think you can ride Trump-hatred and cries of "Racism!" to victory???
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/14/election-day-2022-will-be-independents-day/
Inflation is real, and inflation in house prices and rents is in some areas extreme. The geographical distribution of rent increases is fascinating. It looks like people are fleeing major metro areas for smaller cities. Gee, I wonder why high taxes, wokeness gone berzerk, and constant shootings don't appeal to people? Odd, isn't it?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-apartment-rent-hike-pre-pandemic-price-levels/
There has been a surge in the number of coronavirus cases recently in the U.S. and beyond, caused primarily by the spread of the much-ballyhooed "Delta variant". From what I hear, though, this variant is less deadly than its parent. Be that as it may, Los Angeles County is responding by reintroducing mask mandates -- even for the vaccinated! And the Los Angeles County Sheriff, to his immense credit, is saying his officers won't be enforcing the new mandate. Wow! In France, by contrast, "vaccine passports" are the order of the day, and discrimination against the unvaccinated is intensifying. Will this eventually happen here too? We'll see.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/los-angeles-county-sheriff-wont-enforce-mask-order
Finally, my home away from home, South Africa, is beset not only by the dreaded virus but also by violent protests and looting in the aftermath of the jailing of the country's former president, Jacob Zuma. What a mess! Here's hoping that calm can be restored soon.
https://www.breitbart.com/news/ramaphosa-vows-army-will-return-order-to-south-africa/
Dr. Waddy from Jack: The influence of common sense becomes more evident as leftist presumption and ill considered opportunism continues apace. I doubt that many independents cleave left; why should they? Electorally the left is in (yes tenuous) charge just now so what is not to like for an ostensible independent so inclined?Kumbayaa Joe is hopelessly intimidated by fear of political incorrectness and is not the man to stem the radical onslaught. Luckily, the real America, in this still free country, can stop if it remains true!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Your use of the term fascist, coupled with a picture of Biden, is highly appropriate. He is a hopelessly compromised reflexive liberal who doesn't dare stand against his party's dominant radical left. And they ARE fascists: devoted to "national grandeur, and to a master group and authoritarian government intolerant of opposition". That fits the the American left reet petite I'd say. They purpose a U.S. forced into political purity of structure, motive and consequence; their very definition of national greatness Of course, in proven practice, the abominable history of fascism is fraught with murderous and vicious antisemitism. Its one thing to criticize Israeli policy and quite another to wish the best for those forces which purpose the actual human and geographic extinction of the Jewish state and the hope it represents for Judaism ( I am not Jewish but I recognize it as a transcendent force for civilization). If it walks like fascism and quacks like facism, then it probably IS facism yes? And so is the American left and , in effect, its compliant apologist, Biden (that poor thing). Besides, I love seeing leftists confronted with that term they have heretofore so casually and with presumed dismissal, leveled on those who are as insolent as to doubt them!
ReplyDeleteNick, not sure if your outrageous characterization of President Biden stems from the fact that he beat your candidate by over 7 million (that's 7,000,000) votes, or your ignorance about the science related to COVID. Given other comments in this post, it may be the latter.
ReplyDeleteYou are "hearing" that the Delta variant is less deadly than the original (wild) type? Where are you hearing that information from -- the same person that fed Trump all of the lies that he told saying "I hear that ..."?
The Delta variant - B.1.617.2 - is 50% more infectious than the Alpha variant -- B.1.17 -- which was 50% more infectious than wild type. In terms of lethality, no study has shown for the same age grouping of patients that the Delta variant is less lethal. One study out of the UK announced that fewer unvaccinated patients were dying from the Delta variant than had died from wild type. The problem with that study is that at the present time, the number of unvaccinated people most at risk of dying from COVID is rather small as most of them are vaccinated. Thus, many more people in the sample of COVID patients with the Delta variant are younger and less likely to die from COVID. In other words, the samples across the two studies were apples and oranges.
Now because of the stupid and unpatriotic Trumpanzees who are not getting vaccinated, COVID is mutating even more. Now we have the Delta Plus variant - B.1.617.2.1 or AY.1 - which is a more deadly form of the Delta variant as it attacks the lungs more aggressively.
Just as concerning are the Epsilon - B.1.427 - and Lambda - C.37 - variants. While both are about 20% more infectious, the concern with both are the mutations in their spike proteins that can potentially make them more resistant to the vaccine.
So, Nick, before you diminish the risk of COVID, please do a little research, please.
Good point, Jack. Historically, independents have often leaned right, not left. Consider that, since the 1930s, there have been more Dems than Republicans in this country. Ergo, the only way a Republican could win a national election WAS by winning independents, and often by a generous margin...
ReplyDeleteJack, the confluence between modern leftism and the fascism of old is admittedly only partial, but it's thought-provoking nonetheless. One commonality between modern leftism and Nazism, for instance, is the obsession with race, and the naive assumption that a person's moral standing can be intuited from their racial origins. Hitler would give CRT two thumbs up, I'm sure -- with a few minor tweaks, of course.
"Trumpanzees" -- cute, Rod. When all else fails, dehumanize your enemies. Classic!
You are aware, Rod, that racial minorities and young people are among the least enthusiastic "vaxxers", yes? Believe it or not, not EVERYTHING in this world is as simple as "Trump did it".
You know your variants better than I do. Kudos. What we know for sure is that none of the new strains have been PROVEN to be more deadly, but yeah -- it's theoretically possible that one of them may be. It would be pretty bad luck if strains appeared that were more transmissible AND more deadly, but for the sake of CNN's ratings we can always cling to hope, I guess.
Let's not lose sight of the bigger picture: cases are way down from their highs, deaths are way down from their highs, and America is better situated than almost any other country in the world, vaccine-wise. Plus, the people tending to get the disease now are younger, and thus less likely to have serious cases.
I prefer to see the glass as more than half full.
Nick, you label Joe Biden a fascist. I label Trump supporters Trumpanzees. I think one label is a bit worse than the other, and it's not the one beginning with T.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot about the variants -- and epidemiology in general (long story). I know enough to be concerned over the direction of the mutations. Even if not more deadly, the variants being more infectious makes it more dangerous. While the variants are infecting younger people so that deaths are not increasing, the number of individuals with long haul symptoms are increasing.
On the other hand, the good news is that cases are about 1/10 what they were in January, and deaths about 1/15 of what they were. That's great. but if we don't get rid of the virus, the chances of a more deadly variant emerging increase.
BTW, the correlation between the number of Trump voters in a state and the number of people vaccinated is -.85.
I rest my case.
Rod
Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: Good thing a canny and courageous businessman like Trump was there to save free enterprise from the suffocating embrace of characteristic leftist political correctness in its outstandingly expeditious effort to create and universally distribute highly effective vaccines! Now leftists in charge would never have allowed the competition which produced this happy resu!t! Their bureaucracy would have moved ponderously to endorsement of one entity alone ,quite possibly governmental,to proceed, provided all strictures of political
ReplyDeletecorrectness be afforded and rigorously documented at ALL steps in advance of all subsequent steps and that punishment for any deviation be fully warned of and summarily carried out. Gee! It just took a man of common sense to put the quietus to all that
and enable our unparalleled technological, economic and transportation systems to do that good work they always do and which presumptuous totalitarians cannot begin to even imagine (their forte after all) how to do!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Perhaps our smaller communities will become redoubts of real American common sense PROVIDED they are determined to confront those refugees from the perhaps hopelessly captured coastal People's Republic of America and its co!onies (such as corrupted university towns and some interior cities which form islands of lala in vast seas of common sense and Americanism) with the demand that theymust recognize and mitigate their perhaps unrealized but also, with some, presumptuously, retained and purposed, leftist habits. Deny them posts on school boards and city and town government unless they embrace real American principles or agree to remain an atypical minority yet respectful of those whose homes they have invaded! This for tha sake of your children, your culture, your country and eventually, your livelihoods and all your freedoms. Let the coastal entities be whirlpools of dysfunction. Guiliani proved they COULD be redeemed but his kind is as far between as is positive principle in these benighted regions.
ReplyDeleteRod, it's not exactly true that I labeled Joe Biden a "fascist", but I did say he was the "new face of fascism", insofar as I regard the collusion between the Biden Administration and Big Tech to regulate speech as the most fascistic threat to America currently going. You would no doubt see ample fascism elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you recognize that a lot of progress has been made in the battle against COVID.
That's an interesting correlation between Trump support and lack of vaccination, but again it's reductive. As this poll demonstrates, Republicans are hesitant to get vaccinated (I'm not sure why, because the "Trump vaccine" is super!), but so are young people and various other categories of Americans. C'est la vie.
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-june-2021/
Jack, I dunno how much credit Trump deserves for helping to foster our top-flight vaccines, but more than zero, I would think.
Jack, it sure would be nice if we could guarantee that the leftists fleeing the inevitable dysfunction caused by their own ideology could be prevented from spreading the proverbial virus of neo-Marxism, but that would require, among other things, that human beings learn from history -- at least from recent history! It's a big "ask".
Nick, first, the Biden administration and Big Tech are not colluding on anything. Of the 12 individuals who are responsible for distributing over 65% of the COVID misinformation, only three have been suspended from either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, and, in all three cases, it has been one platform apiece. Has the administration talked with Google, Facebook and Twitter about ways of curbing the misinformation so that more people won't die? Yes, and they would have been irresponsible not to. But, there have been no regulations proposed, and Big Tech leaders have been clear that they would not engage in violating free speech.
ReplyDeleteBut, let's be clear. These are private companies. They have terms of service agreements that users must follow. If, as Facebook has done, the companies take down comments that Facebook has deemed to be unacceptable, they can do so. That is neither a free speech violation nor fascism.
IF, however, the Biden administration directed the companies to eliminate specific statements or individuals from their platforms, then the companies are state actors, and their free speech rights are diminished. But, accusations are not proof. There is NO evidence that such actions have happened. There would have to be written evidence or testimony that demonstrated that the Administration tried to use the companies to squelch free speech rights.
As for those not being vaccinated, there are more GQPers who have not been vaccinated than young people or African Americans. In fact, the vaccination rate among African Americans (while lower than whites) has exceeded earlier expectations -- given the terrible history African Americans have faced in terms of the U.S. medical system. As for younger people, more Dem young people have gotten vaccinated than GQP younger people. So, yes, younger people and African Americans have gotten vaccinated at a lower rate. But the primary predictor of not getting vaccinated is political party affiliation, and, specifically, whether or not people voted for Trump.
Nick, you can defend your party as hard as you want, but your biggest obstacles are facts.
You're right, Rod, that proving effective collusion between the federal government and Big Tech won't be easy. The Biden Administration seems to be trying to make it easier, however, with its latest effort to provide comprehensive guidance to social media companies on how they might go about suppressing speech more effectively... (And calling them "killers" for failing to do so.) How will the courts see it? I don't know, but a lot is riding on it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I know for sure: there's a lot more collusion between Biden and Big Tech than there ever was between Trump and Russia!
You're right -- Trumpers are among the least likely to be vaccinated. And yet I'm a Trumper and I'm vaccinated. Trump is a Trumper and he's vaccinated. It's a shame that the issue became so politicized, but both sides bear responsibility for that.