I’ve got just one more day here in Massachusetts and I have to admit that, while it has been great to visit my dad and get his bank accounts access issues all taken care of and to see my friends, I’m ready to go home. All this mask-wearing and “fear porn” has me feeling anxious and claustrophobic. It all seems so pointless. I picked this up from none other than the CDC:
And for this we’re wearing masks and destroying our freedoms and livelihoods?? It’s really pathetic.
Sorry, Democrats – you can bitch and moan about Amy Coney “Syd” Barrett being confirmed as a Supreme Court judge all you want, but you only have yourselves to blame. Don’t thank Mitch McConnell and President Trump, blame former Nevada senator (and former Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (who should have announced her retirement while Barack Obama was president, and, of course, the typically stupid and clueless political chops of New York senator (and Minority Leader) “Chuckles” Schumer.
I don’t see a whole lot of enthusiasm for President Trump’s chances in New Hampshire in conservative polling circles with this one exception, and I think I know why. Just driving around the seacoast area on Monday the ratio of Biden/Harris signs to Trump / Pence had to be 90/10 – more than I remember ever seeing during the 2016 campaign. Now, the seacoast is obviously more liberal than the rest of the state, but were Trump to have an honest chance in NH I would have expected to see far more signage in his favor.
Talk a bout a tweet that didn’t age well. I just can’t imagine the kind of hubris it takes to have had the chutzpa to tweet something like that. Man, did we dodge a bullet!
…but it shouldn’t be surprising: there appears to be zero – I mean zero – physical energy out there for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I saw a dozen or so Biden folks at a major intersection the other day but heard no one beeping their support for them as I waited at the red light. And the Biden / Harris rallies (to whatever extent they can be called rallies) are a joke. Here in Massachusetts there are lots of Biden signs inside the I495 belt, but that’s to be expected: it’s as “blue” an area as you’re going to find in the good ol’ U S of A. But it’s not a positive call for Biden’s election: around here it’s Trump Derangement Syndrome and Trump hatred to fullest extent.
…in fact, outside of perhaps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” I would hazard a guess most of these folks around here haven’t a clue as to a single thing they support Biden for. Just as long as it’s not Trump. And I don’t have to tell you for the umpteenth time that a negative vote is not one that results in elections being won.
This is what life in Joe Biden’s America is going to look like if he is elected:
…and what life in Donald Trump’s America looks like.
Honestly, which one would you choose?
This picture captures perfectly the Joe Biden campaign:
Now it’s back to my Arizona return prep. While the autumn colors and chill have been a nice break from the Arizona summer, it’s good to know some things never change when late October arrives. Now I’m looking forward to getting back to some warm sunshine. Not looking forward to the plane ride back, tho – it’ll be non-stop mask wearing for a good nine hours.
99,000 new infections. No other nation on the planet has reached this level of infections. One entire unit at my hospital is shut down due to patients being infected and came up positive after they were admitted. And now staff have become infected causing a staffing shortage. Cannot admit new patients so we’re are losing revenue. This is not about percentages of deaths anymore. Hospitals are over burdened and staff are exhausted. There are only 8 icu beds left in the entire state of NDakota and they have one of the highest infection rates. Wear your mask. You live in AZ. A hot zone.
Comment by Jana — October 31, 2020 @ 7:51 am
Doug, my entire hospital is shut down due to an outbreak of COVIC. Nurses are ill, patients quarantined to their rooms. This means staff will be flexed, including me due to not being able to admit new patients, as I do admissions. Bottoms line their are going to be lost wages, pt treatment disrupted as they cannot attend programs, loss of revenue to the hospital. It just takes one asymptotic person to start the spread in spite of all the precautions we take. You and I are in the higher risk groups. Please wear a mask. It’s no more an imposition than putting on your seatbelt and not smoking in public areas. I wear a mask all day long, I use sanitizer all day long and yet, I am still at risk. 99,000 new infections is the reality. Overwhelmed hospitals is the reality. Lack of ICU beds is the reality. More deaths are the reality.
Comment by Jana — November 1, 2020 @ 8:03 am
Did not have my glasses on so there are typos
Comment by Jana — November 1, 2020 @ 8:05 am
Thanks for your comments, Jana. Regarding Arizona, whether one considers it a “hot spot” or not:
https://www.azfamily.com/news/continuing_coverage/coronavirus_coverage/interactives/
the fact is – and this is true nationwide, COVID-19 cases do not equal COVID-19 deaths. In Arizona, if you look at the infection rate going up, down, and now starting to tread back up, the death rate has stayed flat. There is a lot more testing going on out there because the schools are back to opening and closing and opening again. Fear is off the charts, and I’m not straying from my opinion that is is entirely unwarranted. Are there hot spots? Yes. Are there hospitals that are in trouble because the COVID-19 has pushed their staffing and their profit margins to the limit? Yes. But it doesn’t change the fact that COVID-19 preys upon the weakest in our culture. But, regardless of your age, if you have kept yourself in reasonably good shape and don’t have significant underlying conditions, you aren’t going to die.
Me? I wear a mask whenever I’m asked to and do it willingly. It’s a courtesy to others who aren’t in good shape and can be vulnerable. It’s also the law here in Maricopa County. But to compare mask-wearing to wearing seat belts and restricting smokers to designated areas is not equivalent. Mask-wearing is dehumanizing. Lockdowns are dehumanizing. As is social distancing. Human beings are social creatures. We crave social interaction and use facial expression and non-verbal communication to socially interact as much as we do speaking. The wearing of masks communicates fear, vulnerability, and a constant reminder of our mortality. I can’t imagine the level of fear we are passing along to our children! We’re constantly being told to wear a mask. Until when? For the rest of our lives? Until there’s a vaccine? What if there is no vaccine? What happens when the next pandemic comes along, which it will? I’m sorry, but I choose freedom over fear. And if I get sick and die, well, that’s human nature. So be it. But at least I’ll die free.
Hang in there and stay safe! Your back patio craves the cocktails by moonlight!
Comment by The Great White Shank — November 2, 2020 @ 1:42 pm