Fox Hole Religion

Or Mask Mandates seem to be working in SD.  Another silly FB Friend questioned the effectiveness and risks of mask wearing again...  And I am curious what is happening in SD...  So I went looking for some causality.

First, I got the term "Fox Hole Religion" from an article I linked to previously.  The idea is that it is really easy to deny the risks of a situation until people in your Fox Hole get shot.  This idea works wonderful for Trump country.  So many deniers until their cousin is in the ICU and losing lung capacity.

In SD, several things were happening in Oct and Nov.

1. SD and ND were making the national news as being the worst COVID states in the country.
2. SD and ND quadrupled the number of dead per 10,000 residents.
3. Many of the cities where people shopped, socialized, etc implement mask mandates.
4. The number of COVID cases peaked

This leaves me wondering if people finally got scared and started taking it seriously?  Or did the masks do what they do... Slow the spread of COVID  It does not really matter as long as fewer people are getting sick and dying.

WH Admin Putting US at Risk

 By hampering transition.  On the upside, the House voted to over ride Trump's stupid veto of the Defense Bill.  And voters feel hopeful about Biden's soon to commence Presidency. 

And least Biden is willing to discuss the massive hack that occurred and that we need to improve.  While Trump ignores our latest case of domestic terrorism.

One more piece of good news, apparently even Rupert Murdoch thinks Trump is losing it.

Death vs Freedom Trade Off

~3,000 Extra Deaths in SD, ND IA, WI, NE.

It always seemed unfair to compare MN directly to the other states in the region because we started fighting COVID months before the other states did.  I assume because we have a large International airport and the others do not. So I picked July 18th as a start date for my comparison.  My rationale was:

• It was ~6 months after COVID started and all the States had information. Where as at the beginning people were learning and acting simultaneously. (mistakes were made)
• All of the listed states were dealing with cases and making decisions on how they would respond by that date. 

So I found data that showed COVID deaths by date by state and did the math. The result is pretty stark. 

• ND and SD experienced deaths rates ~2.5 times higher than MN. 
• IA experienced a death rate 1.5 times higher than MN

I then determined how many extra deaths occurred because the other states had exceeded MN's death rate.  The number ended up being an extra ~3,000 residents of the "free states" were dead.

So my question as usual...  Was not having state wide mask mandates, leaving bars / restaurants open, etc worth the lives of ~3,000 friends, neighbors, family members, etc?

Merry Christmas !!!

 

Will GOP Lose Senate

because of Trump's poor choices?  I mean he already cost them the Presidency.  And now he is busy:

• Delaying financial assistance that many Americans want, even after his personnel were in on the negotiations.
• Vetoing a very popular Defense Bill because it renames Military bases and does not attack Social Media.
• Continuing to fight the official election results.
• Pardoning every crony corrupt politicians and businessman he knows.
• Appointing all many of his friends to government positions
• Spending our tax dollars to fly to Mar-a-Lago after scuttling bi-partisan bills.
• And just acting erratically.

It will be interesting to see how the GOP Senators from Georgia convince voters that the GOP and themselves are capable, competent, honest and effective with Trump doing pretty much everything he can to undermine their efforts. :-)

Trump Pardons Corrupt Politicians

 and people who lied to the FBI.  Why doesn't this surprise me. :-(

And he tries to hide by saying that the government should write bigger checks to people who do not need them.  I mean he is so friggin Liberal that even Pelosi likes his idea. :-) 

GOP Betrays American Democracy

 by Juan Williams.  If you are unfamiliar with Juan, he is the moderate voice of reason on FOX Opinion shows who is regularly abused and scoffed at by the Far Right commentators. 

Here is an interesting piece on how Juan was fired from NPR for discussing his opinions elsewhere.

GOP Socialists Succeed

in sending checks to everyone below a certain income level.  Even if they have not been impacted by the pandemic.

Now I may just be jealous since I will not get any, but I think it is because I am a fiscal conservative and hate the idea of politicians playing fricking Santa Claus by going ever deeper in debt.  Especially for people who do not need the assistance.

My only question now if that orange skinned narcissist who wanted to borrow (steal) even more will demand again to have his signature on the checks? 

Trump Fails at National Defense

 And enables Russian Hack. Now he threatens to VETO a National Defense bill that includes additional cyber security support.  Which is badly needed.

Now Trump loved Putin as he often said.  I think Putin is going to miss him also.

Hurt USA to Hurt Biden?

 The GOP playbook. :-(  I wonder if the GOP was always so hypocritical and self serving, or if this a symptom of our country's extreme polarization?

I mean McConnell said his goal was to make Obama a one term President, and it looks like that is the GOP's goal for Biden.  I mean it seems they are trying to strip the President and the FED of powers and money that they just supported for Trump and the FED?

All because they do not want the economy to recover before the 2022 election. Really?  They are willing to sabotage our country for political gain?  Maybe I am done voting for Republicans until they start putting country and citizens before party.

Why Is GOP Writing Checks?

 To people who DO NOT NEED them?

"President Donald Trump, too, has called for "more money than they're talking about" in stimulus checks, and has continued to push for a second check in the final bill.  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not say whether Trump would refuse to sign a stimulus package that didn't include a second check, but said Tuesday that Trump "would really like to see those stimulus checks in there."

Maybe the GOP folks are friggin socialists? 

Importance of Masks / Distance

 That Trump will not share.  And since his followers are spreading lies about the vaccine, and he has not taken it or defended it in any real manner.  Hopefully Biden will provide a better role model for Americans.

Since the conservative folks in SD, ND and IA chose to stay open, not wear masks and /or social distance.  Approximately 1,760 additional of their friends and neighbors are dead.  If these states had followed MN's example they could have been around for Christmas. (see details below)

How is your state doing?

Trump Scared of Vaccine?

 or Why won't he take it?  I believe he is on the record that "his vaccine" is wonderful and a miracle...  And yet apparently he is scared to take it?

I mean the other alternative is that he is a self sacrificing man who wants to save his dose for folks in the nursing home?  Yeah I don't think so...

So first the man resists masks and now he resists the inoculation.  I think he is really trying to kill of his older followers. :-)

Co-Dependence vs Unconditional Love?

 A FB Friend posted this and it resonated with me.  Here are my random thoughts that it generated:

• Every family is unique and has its own dynamics.
• Loving people unconditionally is important to to me.
• However it is also critical to stand up for one's self and maintain boundaries when necessary.
• Some people generate energy in others and some people drain energy from others.
• The "energy generators" tend to be positive, accept you, try to help you, etc.
• The "energy vampires" often complain, compare, compete or seek to control you.
• The only person we can control is ourselves, others need to decide for themselves.
• The challenge of course is how to tell a challenging person that you love them, but that you will simply not spend time with them if the exhibit unacceptable behaviors in your presence.
• And if they will not or can not change, then deciding what to do and doing it?
• In my case, that means not cutting difficult people out of my life. But deciding how much and how often I am willing to give them my energy, focus, efforts, etc as a gift.
• I seek to reassure them I still love them, and yet I limit my time and efforts with them to keep myself healthy.
• A reminder: many "energy vampires" are unaware that they are doing it and have a bottomless stomach.  You have to set the boundaries and maintain them for your health and well being.
• Then it is up to them to decide if they want to change or not. 

Thoughts?

Trump Supports Welfare

Over Unemployment Insurance.  I never thought I would see the day where GOPers were arguing for the government to hand out welfare checks willy nilly to 10's of millions of Americans?

Not because they or their company's paid unemployment insurance premiums, but because they seemingly want to put out a lot of checks with Trump's name on them...

Not because the unemployed people have no jobs, income, food, etc, but because ?????

It is humorous when Bernie and Trump are aligned. 

Biggest 2020 Election Fraud is

 by Trump and his Followers.  I just love this statement by George Conway. :-) 

Even as Trump and the Texas AG set up this publicity stunt for pardon deal.

Noem Responsible for 473 Extra Deaths?

 And she is saying SD is COVID Success Story  She does this by cherry picking data and making odd comparison across space and time.

Now below is the simple math that shows how terrible of a job South Dakotans have done at saving the lives of their friends and neighbors.

If SD had followed Minnesota's lead

473 South Dakotans would still be alive.

Thankfully my parents have not become statistic in her TERRIBLE failure !!!!  I truly wonder how she sleeps at night... :-( 

Judges Rule Trump LOST

 30+ Cases and Counting  And now the GOP Texas AG is launching a long shot case to disenfranchise millions of voters on technicalities.  Thankfully the US systems seem robust in the face of this madness. It is so sad and frustrating watching the GOP implode because of a lying manipulative politician. 

As I told Laurie yesterday, this should be good news for Democrats.  I mean rational Independents and Republicans will need to vote DEM until the GOP regains their sanity, or the DEMs go so far left that we see the crazy GOPers as less of a threat than the crazy DEMs. :-)

You Believe What You Read

 And "junk food" can be bad for you, so use the following menus to make healthy choices. :-)

Unfortunately 2 of my older conservative friends seem to be making the leap from FOX News to Newsmax. Which to me is a very bad thing... I mean FOX is inaccurate and biased because of the entertainment / opinion shows. (ie Tucker Carlson, Hannity, The Five, etc)  However FOX does have a good News organization. (ie Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, Polling, Election Results, etc) Where as Newsmax is pretty much all opinions all the time.

What I find interesting is that these folks used to tell me about a crazy friend of theirs who in the 70's was a member of the John Birch Society, and now they seem to have joined up also. :-( 

Tap image to zoom.  Media Bias Chart Link &  All Sides Bias Link.

COVID: Its Everywhere...

 And hospitals are very busy.  The strange good news is that it is EVERYWHERE, so all hospitals are dealing with it. Unlike last spring it was mostly just on the coasts.

And of course the idiots who were scared of masks and mandates are getting it worst...  May God hold those politicians accountable when they seek to enter the pearly gates.  Tap to expand.

Trump's Alamo

 Courts are NOT FOX & Friends...

Trump lies about winning, fraud, stolen elections, etc. And US Judicial system laughs him out of court...

Perhaps he was persuaded to go to court by his attorney Rudy Giuliani, even though Giuliani hasn't seen the inside of a courtroom in decades. Perhaps Trump persuaded himself that he was untouchable even in a courtroom; after all, hadn't he gotten away with tens of thousands of lies?

Whatever the motivation, the litigation strategy has been a predictable disaster because it meant submitting unsupported claims about the 2020 election to courts with zero tolerance for unsupported claims. And no courts have a greater intolerance for such claims than federal courts, where the Trump campaign and its allies filed some of their most sweeping election challenges.

A federal district court should never be confused with "Fox & Friends." Federal judges as a group may be among the most focused, purposeful and substantive public servants in America. They are tough, they have zero tolerance for nonsense and they sometimes sanction lawyers who file lawsuits without a good faith basis.

The sanction risk alone forced Trump's lawyers to cull the fraud claims from their election lawsuits. But the remaining nickel-and-dime allegations of election violations hardly fooled the federal judges (or the state ones). The federal judges demonstrated that, as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts once said, there are no "Obama judges or Trump judges" but rather an "extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."

The only thing puzzling is why do so many gullible idiots still believe him. The Justice Dept., the IT Specialists, the FBI, the Secretary of States and the Courts say that 2020 was a very successful free and fair election, and yet they focus on the cult leader instead... It is surreal...

Bailout Summary

 Got this from Bloomberg Looks like Mitch just wants to give businesses money and protect them from the legal ramifications of not protecting their employees during the pandemic.

Not sure why the DEMs want to give more to airlines?  Do they own stock? :-)

The FOX Split Personality

 Biden WON !!!  Trump WON !!!

In case you did not know, FOX News has a split personality disorder that is very problematic.  

1. They have the "entertainment / opinion" section that relies on propagating every stupid crazy conspiracy theory Trump and the crazies can come up with.
2. They have an excellent news section that calls things straight. (ie Chris Wallace, the folks that called AZ for Biden early, etc)

So my favorite member of "The Five", Juan Williams, raised this point as the "Entertainers" pandered to the Trump True Believers.  The FOX News team has acknowledged that Biden won with no sign of significant fraud, errors, etc.  Even while the Entertainers (like Watters and Guttfeld) spend air time vilifying the American election system to benefit themselves financially. (ie ratings, ad dollars, etc)

Now FOX faces a real problem...  Do they totally untether themselves from their factual news group to stop their craziest viewers from moving to Newsmax? Or do they stay at least partially main stream?

Pardons for Sale?

Pardons for Family Members? 

Trump and Kushner Businesses benefit from SBA Loans

Threatening politicians and Election Workers

Threatening to VETO Defense Bill

I have to agree with Biden... "President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday boasted about his high approval rating and said he felt like he'd "done something good for the country" by defeating President Trump."

Same question. Why do people keep supporting this self serving lying politician?