Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Robert Roaldi]

... So I'm not sure exactly how that was the optimum result.

I'm sure it was optimum for someone.

[Robert Roaldi]

Some behaviours are difficult to stomach, https://thehill.com/homenews/house/536118-video-shows-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-calling-parkland-shooting-survivor-a.

It's ok for this politician to disagree with the guy about guns. But did she really have to personally insult him and call him names? I don't know anything about him, but even assuming the worst about him, his kid was shot in a school, is it really a good thing to be seen insulting him? Even the stooopidest politician should be able to figure that out, shouldn't they?

[faberryman]

My wife who works for a public health nonprofit just sat in a meeting yesterday with a group of national healthcare professionals and HHS representatives. They are in a bit of a panic right now for the vaccine rollout because there was literally no national distribution plan. So on Jan 20 they started one but it still has a ways to go.

The Trump plan was to allocate doses to states prorata by population. Originally, the military was going to handle delivery with army guys in camo toting AR15s riding around in humvees (not to be confused with Oath Keepers in camo toting AR15s riding around in jeeps) delivering the vaccine to hospitals, doctors offices, pharmacies, and public health departments. So naturally they appointed a general to be in charge. Trumped crowed about using the military on TV. The general looked at the plan, shook his head, and said this is never going to work. What were they (meaning Jared) thinking? What a bunch of idiots (meaning Jared). So now, the general had no idea what to do, so he starts talking to UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service. This is about the time Trump appoints that dufus to be Postmaster General and told him to screw up postal delivery so none of  the mail-in ballots could be delivered on time. So now the Postal Service is out and the general is left with UPS and FedEx. You might have noticed that when the UPS and FedEx guys deliver your packages, you don't see any cryo freezers that go to -70 in the back of their trucks. So now UPS and FedEx are out of the running as well. Next, I heard something about airplanes. Okay, there are a couple of airlines that deliver stuff so maybe that will work, but they don't have any cryo freezers either. Obviously there are no cryo freezers in the Strategic Reserve because Obama was playing golf all the time, so the government had to come up with funds to buy a bunch of cryo freezers for the airplane delivery guys, and so that was put in the stimulus bill, which congress and the administration dithered over for months. The general in charge of distribution was freaking out when someone in the private sector mentioned to him that the solution to the problem was easy: just tell the vaccine manufactures to ship it directly to the states, which meant that distribution at the top level was now the vaccine manufacturers' problem, and that distribution to the healthcare facilities was the states problem. So the general got a medal, a raise, and a promotion for solving the problem, and now he has been assigned to handle the mineshaft gap. Honestly, I don't know who is distributing the vaccine to whom, but you know it's a clusterfuck. Certainly all of the credit for the situation goes to Trump. Biden is trying to untangle it. One advantage Biden has is there is no vaccine to distribute so while the vaccine makers are ramping up he has some time to come to a solution so we don't all die. At least that's what many people say.

[TechTalk]

You're conflating the issues.  The problem is that they opened up the younger group of people who aren't as affected.  There would be enough shots for the 80-year-old otherwise.  The original plan was to vaccinate everyone over 65 first, not 16-year-olds who are overweight.  If they wanted to move up the younger group, fine.  But they should arrange the appointments so the older group gets the injections first.  Right now it's whoever calls in first...

I haven't heard any discussion in public about this new plan.  It was instituted by some unknown people without the public being informed, all at the last minute, just as the first doses were being given.  It makes the CDC and governments seem like they again don't know what they're doing.  Who could trust them?

Biden team sees risks in Trump decision to widen vaccine pool
Immediately including anyone under 65 with a high-risk condition will increase strain on states and create unrealistic expectations, say advisers

https://webcache.google/https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/12/biden-trump-vaccine

Advisers to President-elect Joe Biden are balking at a decision by the Trump administration to dramatically increase the number of people eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, believing the changes could overwhelm states and create unrealistic expectations for millions of Americans waiting for shots.

At issue are changes to the vaccine rollout announced Tuesday by the Trump administration. Officials instructed states to begin vaccinating tens of millions of people with a high-risk medical condition putting them at increased risk of dying from the coronavirus, along with all adults 65 and older. Including both those groups immediately adds another 100 million people potential seeking shots, bringing the total to about 184 million and intensifying demand on already stressed sign-up systems.

The Trump administration also said Tuesday it would begin releasing all available vaccine supply, rather than holding back second doses, as the incoming administration said last week it intended to do.

Biden’s team similarly wants states to expand eligibility for elderly residents, as some are already doing, said two transition officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe ongoing deliberations. But the officials said immediately including people 64 and under with a high-risk condition — which can mean everything from diabetes to obesity — would stretch supply and saddle states desperately in need of additional resources to augment their workforce and stand up mass vaccination sites.

The last-minute shift, announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar with fewer than eight days left in the Trump administration, added new complications to an already difficult handoff of one of the most ambitious immunization campaign in American history. Azar, joined by other members of the administration at a Tuesday briefing, maintained the vaccination effort is proceeding apace, despite data showing that only a third of distributed doses had been administered. Federal and state officials say there is a lag in reporting.

[Robert Roaldi]

Trump's legacy, https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/536113-tens-of-thousands-of-voters-drop-republican-affiliation-after-capitol.

I know, I know, it's early days yet, but losing registered voters and losing some big money backers has got to look bad for Donald, no matter how you cut it.

[Robert Roaldi]

The Trump plan was to allocate doses to states prorata by population. Originally, the military was going to handle delivery with army guys in camo toting AR15s riding around in humvees (not to be confused with Oath Keepers in camo toting AR15s driving around in jeeps) delivering the vaccine to hospitals, doctors offices, pharmacies, and public health departments. So naturally they appointed a general to be in charge. Trumped crowed about using the military on TV. The general looked at the plan, shook his head, and said this is never going to work. What were they (meaning Jared) thinking? What a bunch of idiots (meaning Jared). So now, the general had no idea what to do, so he starts talking to UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service. This is about the time Trump appoints that dufus to be Postmaster General and told him to screw up postal delivery so none of  the mail-in ballots could be delivered on time. So now the Postal Service is out and the general is left with UPS and FedEx. You might have noticed that when the UPS and FedEx guys deliver your packages, you don't see any cryo freezers that go to -70 in the back of their trucks. So now UPS and FedEx are out of the running as well. Next, I heard something about airplanes. Okay, there are a couple of airlines that deliver stuff so maybe that will work , but they don't have any cryo freezers either. Obviously there are no cryo freezers in the Strategic Reserve because Obama was playing golf all the time, so the government had to come up with funds to buy a bunch of cryo freezers for the airplane delivery guys, and so that was put in the stimulus bill, which congress and the administration dithered over for months. The general in charge of distribution was freaking out when someone in the private sector mentioned to him that the solution to the problem was easy: just tell the vaccine manufactures to ship it directly to the states, which meant that distribution at the top level was now the vaccine manufacturers' problem, and that distribution to the healthcare facilities was the states problem. Honestly, I don't know who is distributing the vaccine to whom, but you know it's a clusterfuck. Certainly all of the credit for the situation goes to Trump, and Biden is trying to untangle it. One advantage Biden has is there is no vaccine to distribute so while the vaccine makers are ramping up he has some time to come to a solution so we don't all die. At least that's what many people say.

Hard to know what to say. Almost like they deliberately tried to eff things up. Makes no sense.

And yet some are doubling down, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/27/post-trump-gop-462864.

[Alan Klein]

By bringing in different race and gender, you bring in different perspectives on things. Getting people that all agree with each other or have the same backgrounds or perspectives leads to a very narrow view of things.

That's an argument to continue racism.

[Alan Klein]

Yet you applaud when Trump puts tariffs on stuff made out of the USA. Shouldn't we just let the free market determine what and where things are made?

Things change when you're at economic war with a foreign power. China's stealing us blind.  I don't believe in tariffs. However, when China applies them to our products, then all bets are off and we should retaliate.  Hopefully, we can reach a point where both sides will play fair again and we can drop them.  We also are using tariffs to stop them from stealing our intellectual property.  If not tariffs, what would you suggest we do to enforce that?  Go to a real war? 

I don't think we're going to see Biden drop these tariffs so fast.  He already acknowledges these issues with China. They were problems before Trump during the Obama/Biden administration and before.  Trump was just the first president who did anything strong about it.  Hopefully, it will stiffen Biden's resolve as well.

[Alan Klein]

I don't think he said anything like that. I think he said someone who has detailed experience with the issues in Baltimore brings more to the table than someone who knows diddly squat about these issues.

That's an argument to continue white position and power.  After all, they have more experience than minorities at things because they've done them longer. It's racism, any way you try to justify it.

[digitaldog]

That's an argument to continue racism.

There is never an acceptable argument to continue racism, but an old white guy suggesting there is sure sounds like a racist concept. No surprise at this point.

[faberryman]

The Trump administration also said Tuesday it would begin releasing all available vaccine supply, rather than holding back second doses, as the incoming administration said last week it intended to do.

Of course, this announcement by Secretary Azar came two weeks after someone somewhere already gave the okay to release all the reserve doses, so the following day Secretary Azar had to come out and say oops there are no reserve doses, and all the governors said gee that's too bad, what are we going to do now? I believe at that time someone on Biden's COVID task force suggested ordering some more vaccine, but Trump was busy golfing with Lindsey Graham, so there has been some delay. The other problem, in addition to the golfing, was that Twitter closed Trump's account, and so Trump was rendered completely helpless.

I have to admit that I derive no small satisfaction knowing that Trump is stuck down at Mar-A-Lago hating Melania's renovations. I hear that Melania has been wearing that "I don't really care" jacket a lot recently. I hear Tammy Wynette in the background now.

[chez]

That's an argument to continue racism.

Really, how so? Explain your disturbed thinking.

[digitaldog]

Explain your disturbed thinking.

He can't and he shouldn't try. 

[chez]

That's an argument to continue white position and power.  After all, they have more experience than minorities at things because they've done them longer. It's racism, any way you try to justify it.

Alan, stop and listen for once. If you don't want anything to change...just keep doing what you are doing. Keep the same people in power...after all they've been doing this for a long time. If you like the status quo...then keep those same white elderly people in power. If you want change, then things need to change. By adding different experience bases...you grow rather than stagnate.

Now I'm not sure if you actually want to change from today's stays quo.

[chez]

Things change when you're at economic war with a foreign power. China's stealing us blind.  I don't believe in tariffs. However, when China applies them to our products, then all bets are off and we should retaliate.  Hopefully, we can reach a point where both sides will play fair again and we can drop them.  We also are using tariffs to stop them from stealing our intellectual property.  If not tariffs, what would you suggest we do to enforce that?  Go to a real war? 

I don't think we're going to see Biden drop these tariffs so fast.  He already acknowledges these issues with China. They were problems before Trump during the Obama/Biden administration and before.  Trump was just the first president who did anything strong about it.  Hopefully, it will stiffen Biden's resolve as well.

Oh I see. Free market is good, until it ain't. As far as tariffs go, you should look up who put down the tariffs first.

[faberryman]

Anyone who has been paying any attention knows why Alan is so opposed to affirmative action policies, not that I am suggesting Biden's appointment of minorities and women to cabinet and other posts is affirmative action; rather, that is how it is perceived by Alan and so he objects.

[faberryman]

We also are using tariffs to stop them from stealing our intellectual property.  If not tariffs, what would you suggest we do to enforce that?  Go to a real war?

How are those tariffs working out to stop China from "stealing" our intellectual property?

Notice the black and white thinking: it's either tariffs or "real war". Not only that, but the black and white thinking is posed as a strawman. A twofer.

[LesPalenik]

And insurrection which it appears he'll get away with which is sad.

Not only that, but he'll get also a fat pension and a free life-time office.

according to legal experts, under the laws currently in effect, Trump will retain perks including a pension, office space and security detail even in the unlikely event that he is convicted by the Senate in its impeachment trial.

There is a growing push among Democrats to deny Trump a modern-day perk of post-presidency life: intelligence briefings and access to classified information. “There’s no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing,” said Representative Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, in a CBS interview on Jan. 17. “I don’t think he can be trusted with it.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment-benefits-explai/explainer-why-trumps-post-presidency-perks-like-a-pension-and-office-are-safe-for-the-rest-of-his-life-idUSKBN29W238

[Alan Klein]

Alan, stop and listen for once. If you don't want anything to change...just keep doing what you are doing. Keep the same people in power...after all they've been doing this for a long time. If you like the status quo...then keep those same white elderly people in power. If you want change, then things need to change. By adding different experience bases...you grow rather than stagnate.

Now I'm not sure if you actually want to change from today's stays quo.

That's up to the voters.  Obama is black and was elected twice.  Harris is black and East Indian and a woman.  Biden?  Well, he's from Delaware or is it Scranton? No one's holding anyone back today.  Work hard and you can succeed.  There are always people of goodwill who will help you along.  But you got to do the work.  No free passes based on color or gender.

[jeremyrh]

That's up to the voters.  Obama is black and was elected twice.  Harris is black and East Indian and a woman.  Biden?  Well, he's from Delaware or is it Scranton? No one's holding anyone back today.  Work hard and you can succeed.  There are always people of goodwill who will help you along.  But you got to do the work.  No free passes based on color or gender.

You’ve been playing the game with the level set to “Easy”. It’s insulting for you to suggest that people without your advantages has just not been working hard enough.