Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Yesterday, I told you that Covid-19 cases are trending upward in eight vaccine-hesitant states. One of you responded, "My God, the horror. Double masks. School, church business closings. More stimulus because fear is infrastructure."
In a country that has suffered 615,000 deaths as of yesterday, I find that dismissive attitude troublesome.
According to CBSNews, the new Covid-19 cases appearing are mostly among the vaccinate hesitant.
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
There was a time when this country pulled together and it was when we were at our best. While I don't pine for the 1950's conformity on issues like inequality of race and sexist attitudes, we were better at governance. Hell Eisenhower was a Republican but this 5 star general would be cast out by that party today. Science and scientists were respected as were teachers. Why can't we see how we're destroying ourselves now with rigid thinking and not really listening to each other anymore? This pandemic brought out the worst traits that our society has developed since social media became the new science. Everybody has an "us against them" attitude and everyone is an expert now because they "heard it or saw it somewhere". We're f"""ing ourselves over as a country. We need to step back and be thankful that we are the largest country that is able to finally step out of the fog of the pandemic and grateful for the scientists that got us here.
ReplyDeleteMassive infrastructure projects, the GI bill, tax the rich to pay for it. All because we were trying to rebuild after a war and depression. That kind of commitment is what we need now after this pandemic especially...its long overdue.
ReplyDeleteAll because of a bat.
ReplyDeleteMy comment and I'm Pfizer vaxxed since the day I was first eligible. I question 600K, fear mongers, and especially fear mongers with stuff to sell. We haven't seen the worst of this yet. I'm leaving in an hour for the funeral of a man who took his life over the weekend. Get ready for the real pandemic caused by government authoritarianism. I'm troubled you don't give a shit. But you be you.
ReplyDeletetRump lied, denied & golfed and now over 600,000 Americans are dead!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Bernie!
ReplyDeleteI don’t know the intent of the poster quoted, but we need to look at things realistically. While I have no numbers to back this, I would think that a lot of flu deaths are of the unvaccinated and/or elderly population with underlying factors, which may be the case as we coexist with Covid. Logically, masks are going to cut down on the common cold, flu, Covid, etc., but shouldn’t we also want to build up a natural immunity? The poster noted fear and I tend to agree. Early on, the sky-is-falling scenario was being blasted from the rooftops and many, many people are still living in fear of the virus. Frankly, the poster offended me less than seeing Cuomo, for one, being so over-the-top when announcing the reopening of NY. Considering his missteps, perhaps a more subdued approach would have been better.
I believe the people who wanted to be vaccinated have done so already.The un-vacinated have chosen not to
ReplyDelete"My comment and I'm Pfizer vaxxed since the day I was first eligible."
ReplyDeleteOh so you're the hypocrite who bashes the vaccine after you ran out and got one.
" While I have no numbers to back this, I would think that a lot of flu deaths"
ReplyDelete... And this is how misinformation starts.
"tRump lied, denied & golfed and now over 600,000 Americans are dead!"
ReplyDeleteI believe about 100k of those deaths came after he left office and until the vaccine began kicking in. We had a very bad January.
Re the the flu, I saw on May 28 (took a screenshot) the acting PA Health Sec noted that we had fewer than 4,000 flu cases this season compared to 131,000 last season due to covid-19 mitigation efforts.
ReplyDeleteI will always give Trump a lot of credit for fast tracking the vaccines, it will save countless lives.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand he screwed himself and blew his chances for reelection by not leaning into the crisis early and rallying the country behind the united effort and mutual sacrifice needed to minimize the impact of COVID as we waited things out and for vaccines to be ready. Sadly, he listened to advisors who underestimated the scope and scale of what was to come, downplayed things too much, contradicted his own government experts on multiple occasions and basically ended up dividing the country because he saw that a small part of his base were throwing tantrums in the street because they couldn't eat at their local Applebee's and drink in bars...
Bernie, only 100,000 after Trump??? Where you getting your news?
ReplyDeleteCases mean nothing. Deaths and hospitalizations are way down everywhere including red states. So stop your Debbie Downer post. You must be desperate for topics. Bike ride can't come soon enough.
ReplyDeleteFor those who feel that those not getting the vaccine is not their problem: The people still getting infected are breeding grounds for a mutation of a more dangerous, more infectious virus. It was no surprise that a new more infectious variant which will probably spread to the U.S. has recently arisen in India.
ReplyDeleteShould people be banned from certain places for not being vaccinated? I know someone who was just told they would not be able to attend college without proof of a meningitis shot.
All because of Trump and the right
ReplyDeleteThere were -- and are -- a great many immunodeficient individuals (a many of them elderly, but also many chemo patients, patients suffering from advanced AIDS, Lupus, etc) who were poorly treated by their caregivers, denied proper prophylactic protocols appropriate to their risk profile, and died as a result. There are many who should be in jail, starting with nursing home stuffers Levine and Cuomo.
ReplyDeleteAs for the non-immunodeficient, we have to be very careful of the metric "Cases!!!" which is often used to inflame rather than inform. "Cases!!!" counts deaths and the sniffles with equal weight.
Much more indicative is the simple fact that the census tells us there are 269,500,000 Americans under 65. CDC tells us that out of that group 110K have died. That's a ratio of 0.0004097217069, meaning a 99.96% chance of *not* dying of COVID for that demographic. For juveniles we have about 300 deaths out of an approximate population of 75,000,000 - a statistical zero. That data tends to enrage scientifically illiterate COVID fetishists, but it is what it is.
In a very real way, we locked-down the wrong people.
"Very bad January". Agree. January 6th, bad. January 20th, horrific. January 20th to present. downhill all the way. First sign of correction will be November 2nd, 2021.
ReplyDelete'
Too bad that the risk can't be entirely confined to those who refuse to be vaccinated. I'm fully vaccinated but I still wore my mask this morning when shopping at Sam's.
ReplyDelete"Too bad that the risk can't be entirely confined to those who refuse to be vaccinated. I'm fully vaccinated but I still wore my mask this morning when shopping at Sam's."
ReplyDeleteI was at the Walmart Tire Center this morning to get new tires. I was masked. After I dropped the car off, I was on my way out the door for a walk when I was confronted by some old geezer who told me I don't need to wear a mask anymore. He said people wanted to get rid of Trump and that's why we had to wear masks, but now that "they" got rid of him, they lifted the mask edict. This was completely unsolicited. This guy didn't like it when I said I'm glad "they" got rid of him.
I decline to publish the personal attacks and retorts from the anti-vax hypocrite who himself got one as soon as he could.
ReplyDeleteI would if he identified himself, as I do.
ReplyDelete@11:26
ReplyDeleteRemember, though, that for many in the population, vaccination simply trades one risk for another. If you're under 65, you have a 99.96% chance of *not* dying of COVID. If you're under 65 without significant comorbidity, your chances improve from there to very nearly 100% (not that they weren't nearly that in the first place). This is why the largely unscientific "Cases!!!" metric very poorly correlates to actual morbidity and mortality.
No one "refuses" to be vaccinated. Some at very low risk simply make a very sensible, well-informed choice not to be. Why the animosity toward them?
@11:58 - Because as has been explained multiple times, these folks who choose not to get vaccinated are first putting others at risk because they can become carriers and not know it which then causes additional spread of the disease. Secondly once infected they burden our hospitals and health care systems.
ReplyDeleteSome have legitimate reasons for not getting the vaccine. Others are choosing not to for political reasons or simply because they've been manipulated into thinking its bad for them. These people will regret it, not because of the small risk of dying, but because of the potential financial impact their hospitalization will have on their bank accounts.
"[Trump] saw that a small part of his base were throwing tantrums in the street because they couldn't eat at their local Applebee's and drink in bars..."
ReplyDeleteThis is a snobbish and disgusting straw man argument. It's so easy for those of us with white collar or government jobs to be able to sit home for months and tell everyone to stay home and sacrifice for the common good. Do you think maybe some people actually care about the livelihood of bartenders, waiters, small business owners, etc. who suffered due to these lockdowns? When you attack the people who hated lockdowns because they simply wanted to eat at an Applebee's and drink at a bar, you come off as quite foolish. Maybe we care about the families of working class people and small businesses crippled by these months-long lockdowns. Maybe we aren't all so shallow that we opposed lockdowns because we like eating at restaurants. Those who fail to take their opponents' ideas seriously tend not to be very effective thinkers, speakers, or writers and don't tend to convince anyone except those who already agree . . . .
11:26, those who decline to get vaccinated without a valid medical excuse are "free riders" who depend upon the rest of us to protect them. Or, they're making what is, essentially, a political statement. That's their option, legally speaking, but it's also my option not to let them enter my place of business or home. The rest of us have choices, too!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was checking out at a convenience store when the very chirpy clerk asked me "Don't you like our new open counter--no partitions." I just said "Actually, no, I don't" and left.
ReplyDeleteI've since thought I might've elaborated with "I'm vaccinated, but I have no idea whether you (the unmasked clerk) or others in the store are." The elderly lady behind me in line also was masked. I am more inclined to go to places that still require masks.
A word about this so-called "herd immunity". With some diseases more then others there may be a greater or lesser percentage.. but there's always a percentage of risk. For instance if "herd immunity' were the answer for all no one would be getting STD's, TB, ever changing types of flu each fall, Ebola, salmonella, etc.
ReplyDeleteIn other words no one should count on there ever being a full "herd immunity" to some types of bacteria and viruses.. particularly this one.
Trumps' fault! That is why we have several vaccines that the world is now begging for from America. Wonder if the socialist clowns in DC could or would have done this. I think not. It gives up their political fear propaganda base and s influence over the weak minded. God Help us all!
ReplyDelete11:56, again: I don't contest one's legal right to forego vaccination. Yes, the people in question may well believe they're trading risks. I think that's incorrect, and it's an entirely self-centered analysis. They certainly are increasing everyone else's risk of contracting COVID. The COVID vaccines are good, but they are not infallible.
ReplyDeleteBernie, you should have told the old geezer that he breathing on you was consider a threat to you and told him to either back away or else.
ReplyDelete11.58
ReplyDeleteAnd only five people died in "Jaws"
hundreds had no problem swimming around so why hunt the shark?
after all the majority had a tiny chance of getting eaten alive
10.07
ReplyDelete" the census tells us there are 269,500,000 Americans under 65. CDC tells us that out of that group 110K have died."
So the over 65 crowd is expendable? got it.
At what percentage does that tragic terrible crushing burden of wearing a mask become a useful idea?
Also
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/15/georgia-shooting-big-bear/
"The shooting unfolded just after 1 p.m. Monday at the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur, Ga., when investigators say a customer, later identified as 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker Jr., left the store after the mask dispute without making his purchase. But he immediately returned.
“Tucker walked directly back to the cashier, pulled out a handgun and shot her,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said. After killing Willis, the gunman opened fire on the off-duty DeKalb County sheriff’s deputy who tried to intervene during his shift as a security guard, the GBI said."
As to vaccine development, Trump didn't do anything that anyone else as President wouldn't have done. That we needed a vaccine was breathtakingly obvious, and considerable resources would've been brought to bear with or without Trump. So, OK, he gets SOME credit--but let's not overdo it.
ReplyDeleteBut when it came to the rest of COVID, such as promoting masks and social distancing, Trump failed to do what almost anyone else would've done. This was inexcusable.
If you are vaccinated are you worried that you still might get infected? Am I missing the point of being vaccinated? Why do people that are vaccinated still wear a facial covering?
ReplyDelete9:38 - President Trump was a frequent promoter of wearing masks and keeping social distancing, etc. He held weekly, sometimes daily, press conferences on the situation. I watched most of them live, and parts of others on the internet. He was joined for many weeks by Fauci, Birx, and other officials.
ReplyDeleteActually, it was Democrats who insisted he always yield to the “experts.” He surely did. No question about that!
You probably also missed his statements at the very beginning in which he explained each State Governor is the best manager for their state because they are closer to their own people and resources. Our own Governor Wolf was one of the least prepared, for sure.
It’s really unfortunate our news media was so rabidly intent on lying and censoring to discredit anything President Trump did.
President Trump is out of elected now, I suggest you and others start to address a brand new host of problems brought about by that change.
@11:04
ReplyDelete"Very very bad January". Agreed. January 6th, totally disgusting and needs to be thoroughly investigated.
January 20th, 2017 Horrendous!
January 20th to present. Godsend. American leadership is coming back thanks to President Biden.
Johns Hopkins shows an increase over the past two weeks in Texas. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/us/texas
ReplyDelete"If you are vaccinated are you worried that you still might get infected? Am I missing the point of being vaccinated? Why do people that are vaccinated still wear a facial covering?"
ReplyDeleteVaccines aren't 100% effective, and variants are another concern, so I will continue to wear a mask when in a building that's open to the public until I see that the "reopening" measures that began in earnest on Memorial Day weekend don't lead to setbacks. (So far, mostly so good.)
I have no way of knowing if the people I encounter in public buildings are fully vaccinated. I also figure that many of the unmasked just want to "make a statement" that they also make by refusing to be vaccinated.
If progress continues, I'll relax at least somewhat.
The real crime was the lack of interest in treatment. The 600,000 that died was not necessary. I had covid this past January, and although I begged my doctor for treatment, I received none.
ReplyDelete8.18
ReplyDeletethere was no treatment available.
try
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/health/covid-pill-antiviral.html
Or
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/potential-oral-treatment-covid-19-identified
@10:12
ReplyDeleteHydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. I would have gladly taken either of these drugs, which have been used for many years and any side effects well known, and they are very inexpensive. But I was not offered that option.