April 19, 2020

Trump is encouraging a corporate-backed astroturf 'uprising' against his own COVID-19 guidelines

Donald Trump threw another tantrum this week, maniacally tweeting in all caps, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN,” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA” and so on. On their face, the tweets amounted to the Commander-in-Chief inciting rebellion, which is a felony.  The regime naturally denied this interpretation, but as NBC reported, the message “pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed ‘the boogaloo,’ for which many far-right activists have been gearing up and advocating since last year.” What could go wrong?

As crazy as all of that seems, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Trump was encouraging people to rebel against state governments for complying with Trump’s own stay-in-place guidelines. While he “has expressed confidence in recent days that some states with smaller outbreaks could begin a return to normalcy even before the April 30 expiration date for the administration’s most recent social distancing guidance,” according to Politico, it is obviously not yet April 30. This is roughly akin to an unhinged, dimwitted Abraham Lincoln urging South Carolina to secede.

But coherence, or lack thereof, doesn’t matter. This entire “uprising” is a propaganda campaign coordinated by the Republican Party, various corporate-funded advocacy groups and “the Proud Boys, conservative armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and other elements of the radical right,” according to The Guardian, and promoted relentlessly by Fox News and other conservative media outlets.  The Michigan protest, for example, “was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, which Michigan state corporate filings show has also operated under the name of Michigan Trump Republicans. It was also heavily promoted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, a group linked to the Trump cabinet member Betsy DeVos.” .......(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/trump-is-encouraging-a-corporate-backed-astroturf-uprising-against-his-own-covid-19-guidelines/

April 19, 2020

Trump is insane: And it's time for leading Democrats to say that out loud

Trump is insane: And it's time for leading Democrats to say that out loud
Rational Americans already understand that our president is mentally ill. Will Democrats ever speak truth to power?


Psychologists warn of the deadly consequences of the "silent partner" in abusive homes. When a father beats or sexually assaults a child, the family will often react by refusing to discuss the abuse, allowing silence to enable the predator and protect against confronting a reality that is too painful and frightening. 

The United States of America is now an abusive household. Donald Trump is the lunatic authority figure stalking and traumatizing the victims — the American people — while the Democratic Party, along with the mainstream media, act as the silent partner.

It becomes increasingly evident, with Trump's every social media post, public utterance and policy directive, that our president suffers from a severe form of mental illness. His insanity threatens millions of lives, and has become particularly dangerous during the most devastating public health crisis in the last 100 years. ........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/04/18/trump-is-insane-and-its-time-for-leading-democrats-to-say-that-out-loud/

April 17, 2020

Smells like astroturf

(CNN)Protesters gathered in several state capitals this week to voice their opposition to stay-at-home orders issued to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina and Utah -- states led by both Republican and Democratic governors -- have all seen protests in recent days as people grow more concerned about the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

"A small segment of the state is protesting and that's their right," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, told CNN. People are getting "stir crazy" at home, she said, and they're worried about paying the bills. ........(more)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/04/16/us/protests-coronavirus-stay-home-orders/index.html

April 17, 2020

Right-wing groups with ties to Betsy DeVos are behind protests against coronavirus restrictions: rep

According to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released earlier this week, 81% of Americans believe that the United States “should continue to social distance for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus.” In other words, most Americans are smart enough to realize that while social distancing is inconvenient and difficult, it is certainly preferable to dying from COVID-19. But a minority of far-right extremists have been holding rallies and protests against social distancing. And journalist Jason Wilson, in an article The Guardian, takes a look at some of the groups behind those protests.

“While protesters in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, many are also supported by street-fighting right-wing groups like the Proud Boys, conservative armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and other elements of the radical right,” Wilson explains.

One of the protests occurred in Michigan on Wednesday, April 15. According to Wilson, that demonstration was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a.k.a. Michigan Trump Republicans, and was “also heavily promoted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, a group linked to Trump cabinet member Betsy DeVos.” Placards, Wilson adds, “identified the Michigan Proud Boys as participants in the vehicle convoy.” ......(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/right-wing-groups-with-ties-to-betsy-devos-are-behind-protests-against-coronavirus-restrictions-report/

April 17, 2020

Michigan manbaby protest: Wait, we thought conservatives were "rugged individuals"

Michigan manbaby protest: Wait, we thought conservatives were "rugged individuals"
Who'd a thunk it? Right-wingers are a bunch of spoiled brats who start whining over the slightest inconvenience



On Wednesday, a crowd of right-wing nuts — complete with their oversized but underworked utility vehicles, Confederate flags, guns and other such overcompensation accoutrements — descended on the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, to whine about the temporary pause to dinners at Applebee's and accidental brushfires at gender-reveal parties. The deep fear of emasculation driving the protest was not particularly subtle at this protest, as the crowd chanted "Lock her up" at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who is accused of no other crime other than making deeply insecure men fuss about a woman in power.  

The ostensible purpose of the protests was to pressure Whitmer to relax some of the restrictions on businesses and movement under the coronavirus lockdown. In reality, of course, this is happening because a bunch of Fox News-loving Trump supporters have been poisoned by propaganda that has convinced them the coronavirus is overblown or a hoax, all being spread by the libs to destroy Trump's chances at re-election.

Well, that, and the fact that they're a bunch of sexists who hate having a female governor, which goes a long way toward explaining why the Michigan protest was bigger than others in Ohio or North Carolina, whose governors are male. .......(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/04/16/michigan-manbaby-protest-wait-we-thought-conservatives-were-rugged-individuals/

April 16, 2020

Watching Trump's news conference.....

... most people have a basic empathy, a natural way of connecting with other human beings. Even in his strained attempts to appear magnanimous, Trump can't do it.
There is something wrong with him -- something dead on the inside. He really is a DSM case study waiting to happen.

April 16, 2020

With Daffy Duck in the WH, the country is breaking into regional councils for the time being.

7 Midwestern governors announce their states will coordinate on reopening

(CNN) - A bipartisan group of governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky announced Thursday that they will work in close coordination to reopen the Midwest regional economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came in a news release from Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, sent on behalf of all the participating governors.

"Our number one priority when analyzing when best to reopen our economy is the health and safety of our citizens," the governors said in a joint statement.

"We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education," the statement added. ........(more)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/midwest-governors-reopening-pact/index.html

April 16, 2020

Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going

Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going
More than 1,500 people on the company’s cruise ships have been diagnosed with Covid-19, and dozens have died.

By Austin Carr and Chris Palmeri


(Bloomberg) The news, when it reached the Grand Princess early on March 4, barely registered at first. In a letter slipped under passenger cabin doors, Grant Tarling, Carnival Corp.’s chief medical officer, announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control had begun “investigating a small cluster” of Covid-19 cases in California that might have been linked to the ship. Thirteen days after leaving San Francisco for Hawaii, the vessel would be skipping a scheduled stop in Mexico on its return voyage and sailing back early to its Bay Area port.

That day, passengers noticed new hand sanitizer stations and crew members wearing gloves, but life on the Grand Princess, which advertises 1,301 cabins, 20 restaurants and lounges, about a dozen shops, and four freshwater swimming pools, otherwise went on as normal. Guests prepared for a ukulele concert, played bridge at shared tables, and took line-dancing classes. That night, Laurie Miller and her husband, John, attended True or Moo, a show featuring an emcee in a cow costume; the following morning, John joined about 200 other passengers in the ship’s Broadway-style theater for a lecture on Clint Eastwood movies. “I’m surprised they’re even letting this event happen,” he whispered to a nearby friend. “This is a big crowd.”

Around lunchtime on March 5, the ship’s captain, John Smith, announced a quarantine over the ship’s public address system. All 2,422 passengers needed to go to their cabins to shelter in place. Laurie Miller was in the Da Vinci dining room eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream. “Oh my God,” she remembers thinking. “This is real.” Then she ordered more ice cream.

Other passengers ambled to the ship’s stores and dining areas, too, to take advantage of the perks while they could. “Evvverrrybody went to the buffet,” recalls 61-year-old Debbi Loftus, who was traveling with her parents. “I just thought, Oh, crap, the ukulele concert is going to be canceled.” Crowds of elderly guests filed to their cabins through narrow hallways and down the stairs of the ship’s 17 decks. Sixty-nine-year-old Karen Dever tried an elevator only to find it packed with fellow passengers. “So much for social distancing!” she joked aloud. ........(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/

April 16, 2020

Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going

Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going
More than 1,500 people on the company’s cruise ships have been diagnosed with Covid-19, and dozens have died.

By Austin Carr and Chris Palmeri


(Bloomberg) The news, when it reached the Grand Princess early on March 4, barely registered at first. In a letter slipped under passenger cabin doors, Grant Tarling, Carnival Corp.’s chief medical officer, announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control had begun “investigating a small cluster” of Covid-19 cases in California that might have been linked to the ship. Thirteen days after leaving San Francisco for Hawaii, the vessel would be skipping a scheduled stop in Mexico on its return voyage and sailing back early to its Bay Area port.

That day, passengers noticed new hand sanitizer stations and crew members wearing gloves, but life on the Grand Princess, which advertises 1,301 cabins, 20 restaurants and lounges, about a dozen shops, and four freshwater swimming pools, otherwise went on as normal. Guests prepared for a ukulele concert, played bridge at shared tables, and took line-dancing classes. That night, Laurie Miller and her husband, John, attended True or Moo, a show featuring an emcee in a cow costume; the following morning, John joined about 200 other passengers in the ship’s Broadway-style theater for a lecture on Clint Eastwood movies. “I’m surprised they’re even letting this event happen,” he whispered to a nearby friend. “This is a big crowd.”

Around lunchtime on March 5, the ship’s captain, John Smith, announced a quarantine over the ship’s public address system. All 2,422 passengers needed to go to their cabins to shelter in place. Laurie Miller was in the Da Vinci dining room eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream. “Oh my God,” she remembers thinking. “This is real.” Then she ordered more ice cream.

Other passengers ambled to the ship’s stores and dining areas, too, to take advantage of the perks while they could. “Evvverrrybody went to the buffet,” recalls 61-year-old Debbi Loftus, who was traveling with her parents. “I just thought, Oh, crap, the ukulele concert is going to be canceled.” Crowds of elderly guests filed to their cabins through narrow hallways and down the stairs of the ship’s 17 decks. Sixty-nine-year-old Karen Dever tried an elevator only to find it packed with fellow passengers. “So much for social distancing!” she joked aloud. ........(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/

April 16, 2020

"Operation Gridlock" is in full effect, and by all accounts it looks dumb as hell."

People protest Whitmer's stay-at-home order by creating traffic gridlock, not adhering to social distancing
by Lee DeVito April 15, 2020 at 1:20 PM


(Detroit Metro Times) Folks, "Operation Gridlock" is in full effect, and by all accounts it looks dumb as hell.

Protesters descended upon Lansing on Wednesday, arguing that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order is excessive. The protesters say Whitmer's expanded executive order, which has shut much of the economy down through April in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus, goes too far, closing the home improvement and gardening centers at grocery stores and barring people from traveling to their cabins up north.

"People always say: 'Conservatives never protest because they are too busy working,'" a Facebook page for the protest reads. "Well, guess what. You’re not working— so it’s time to PROTEST."

Lowercase-"L" libertarian Rep. Justin Amash weighed in, saying Whitmer should reassess the scope of her order. But the protest was also fueled by some dubious conservative actors, including Andrew Malcolm, a former New York Times journalist who later worked for George W. Bush's campaign. Malcolm posted a photo of Whitmer on Twitter, falsely claiming it showed her breaking her administration's own rule prohibiting large gatherings while signing a measure that fines citizens $1,000 for not adhering to social distancing measures. ........(more)

https://m.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2020/04/15/people-protest-whitmers-stay-at-home-order-by-creating-traffic-gridlock-not-adhering-to-social-distancing?utm_source=feature&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=hpfeatures&utm_content=HomeFeaturedStoriesCustomMobile