PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[faberryman]

And it's said that one shouldn't disrespect one's audience...

You are not the audience.

[Peter McLennan]

You are not the audience.

True. 

Still stunningly disrespectful, though. To anyone, let alone the scientists.

[faberryman]

Still stunningly disrespectful, though. To anyone, let alone the scientists.

My view is that he doesn't know the difference between a vaccine and a therapeutic, and therefore is not being intentionally disrespectful. Rather, he is as dumb as a pile of bricks. As in Animal House, when Bluto is giving his speech about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor, "Forget it. He's rolling."

[MattBurt]

Yeh...dumb and dumber...take your pick.

I think they are pretty equal but Jr. is all full of bravado. He's probably a bit more Dunning Kruger-esque.

[faberryman]

What's with the Trump boys and beards? Are they trying to show that they are all grown up?

[Jeremy Roussak]

What's with the Trump boys and beards? Are they trying to show that they are all grown up?

I realise that it's not all that far below the general intellectual level of the discussion in this thread, but is that comment really the best you can come up with, and was it really worth posting?

Try to grow up, even if you are surrounded by children.

Jeremy

[faberryman]

I realise that it's not all that far below the general intellectual level of the discussion in this thread, but is that comment really the best you can come up with, and was it really worth posting?

I admit I’ve done better work, but it was the best I could do on the spur of the moment. It was sort of an offshoot of this idea I had of the boys going on a camping trip. I had this vision of them in cowboy hats sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows with Pops. He was wearing a sombrero. Ivanka had a ukulele. Michael Cohen was driving his jeep over a cliff yelling “Whoa, Nellybelle”. Doesn’t have much to do with COVID, but sometimes the mind wanders.

[Manoli]

The White House blocked Fauci and all federal government medical experts from appearing on the ‘This Week’ show. Anyone know the ‘why’ ?

[It’s a rhetorical question]

[faberryman]

The White House blocked Fauci and all federal government medical experts from appearing on the ‘This Week’ show.

How does that work exactly? Executive Order? Or does he just call them up and say don't do it? What happens if they do do it? Seems like they could just not take the call. I have call blocking on my phone set to block all calls from Trump. Seems to be working pretty well.

[Manoli]

How does that work exactly?

Ask Jon Karl !
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1315292328047894528

[Alan Klein]

How does that work exactly? Executive Order? Or does he just call them up and say don't do it? What happens if they do do it? Seems like they could just not take the call. I have call blocking on my phone set to block all calls from Trump. Seems to be working pretty well.

They get transferred to study viruses in Greenland.

[Robert Roaldi]

How does that work exactly? Executive Order? Or does he just call them up and say don't do it? What happens if they do do it?

Excellent question.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Doesn’t have much to do with COVID, but sometimes the mind wanders.

It's good for the mind to wander; it's sometimes not so good when it wanders near the fingers.

Jeremy

[TechTalk]

is that comment really the best you can come up with, and was it really worth posting?

A reasonable question,

I realise that it's not all that far below the general intellectual level of the discussion in this thread,

prefaced by unnecessary condescension,

Try to grow up, even if you are surrounded by children.

followed by good advice for everyone.

[faberryman]

Okay. So Melania is in the news. At least we now know she is still alive. Seems she wants to put some distance between herself and the President. Perfectly understandable I'd say. I'm surprised she has lasted this long. Anyway, she put something out on social media that details all the steps she has taken to keep people in the White House safe while her husband has been running around breathing on them. The story was in the Washington Post. I know you guys think that is Fake News and don't subscribe so I'll omit the link. Here is a quote though:

"It talked about the mask mandate the first lady implemented for residence staff in April and how her office had hired a “well-being” consultant to help maintain the mental health of the folks who vacuum the halls and do the president’s laundry."

Is a "well-being consultant" a psychiatrist or something? Is the White House staff doing therapy sessions every day over Zoom? I figured they needed to be doing that even before COVID. On the other hand, it could just be yoga. Hopefully, we will get more details tomorrow. I can't wait to hear how Tucker Carlson spins this.

[Craig Lamson]

Okay. So Melania is in the news. At least we now know she is still alive. Seems she wants to put some distance between herself and the President. Perfectly understandable I'd say. I'm surprised she has lasted this long. Anyway, she put something out on social media that details all the steps she has taken to keep people in the White House safe while her husband has been running around breathing on them. The story was in the Washington Post. I know you guys think that is Fake News and don't subscribe so I'll omit the link. Here is a quote though:

"It talked about the mask mandate the first lady implemented for residence staff in April and how her office had hired a “well-being” consultant to help maintain the mental health of the folks who vacuum the halls and do the president’s laundry."

Is a "well being consultant" a psychiatrist or something? Is the White House staff doing therapy sessions every day over Zoom? I figured they needed to be doing that even before COVID. On the other hand, it could just be yoga. Hopefully, we will get more details tomorrow. I can't wait to hear how Tucker Carlson spins this.

You actually watch Tucker Carlson?

[faberryman]

You actually watch Tucker Carlson?

I have seen his show a few times, but he comes on at 7:00 pm my time and by then I am done watching the news.  I sometimes read about the show the next day in my newsfeed. Fox News usually has a video clip too, and you can read the Fox viewer comments which are always enlightening. But by and large, I wouldn’t rate him that high on the credibility scale. Some of the stuff he says sounds pretty nutty to me. He does say it with a straight face, I’ll give him that. But mostly I think he needs a better haircut. I mean he looks like he just fell out of bed. Maybe his wife is cutting his hair. My wife is cutting my hair these days, and I think she is doing a better job. Or maybe he doesn’t have a wife. That probably explains it. Now that I think about it, who would want to be married to Tucker Carlson with that haircut and all? Now Sean Hannity has quite the haircut. The thing is he kind of looks like the bad guy in an old western. All he needs is a vest and a bolo tie. Or maybe a cape and a top hat. He seems like the kind of guy who would tie the good guy’s girlfriend to the railroad tracks. I generally don’t trust people who look like they would tie the good guy’s girlfriend to the railroad tracks. And don’t even get me started on Lou Dobbs. I really don’t even want to go there. I mean is he even alive? And what about old Laura Ingraham? The announcer says she’s coming up next and I’m already at the medicine cabinet getting some aspirin. What’s she all about? I don’t even want to know about the demographic she appeals to. Some things are just better left unsaid. And they say Fox News is the highest rated cable news network. Sweet Jesus. It makes you want to give up all hope. Fortunately, there’s CNN.

[TechTalk]

You reminded me that Tucker Carlson was a participant in one of the best discussions of politics and media ever broadcast. I just rewatched it.

https://www.youtube.com/Tucker Carlson-Paul Begala-Jon Stewart-Crossfire

[Alan Klein]

For those who insist on lockdown until the virus is gone.  Did anyone but me not know this was the W.H.O. policy all along?

The WHO's New Stance on Lockdowns Is Already Hotly Debated
THE AGENCY IS NOW BEING VOCAL AGAINST THE OVERUSE OF LOCKDOWNS.

 In a surprising turn of events, on Oct. 8, the World Health Organization's (WHO) special envoy on COVID-19, David Nabarro, MD, said the WHO does not advocate lockdowns as the primary way to control COVID.

While Nabarro notes there is a time and place where a lockdown is necessary, he insists they do more harm than good when implemented too frequently and without the proper planning accompanying it. "We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus," he said. "The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we'd rather not do it."
https://bestlifeonline.com/whos-new-stance-on-lockdowns/?nab=1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

[chez]

 "The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we'd rather not do it."

So in other words...lockdown most of the time as the virus has been out of control for the majority of times since March...just moving through different states, but always out of control.