Wednesday Open Thread [2.4.15]

I am so fucking sick and tired of having the dumbest, most ignorant, most know nothing idiots drive our national conversation. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said that restaurants should be allowed to opt out of regulations requiring restaurant employees to wash their hands.

What.

The Actual.

Fuck?

And what the actual why?

Is there now a RELIGIOUS FUCKING FREEDOM PRINCIPLE ABOUT WASHING HANDS???? I remember Jesus Fucking Christ washing the feet of his disciples, so I guess that means you only ever wash your feet, and never your hands! Tillis the Fecal Master’s rationale is that washing your hands would be optional for employees so long as the establishment posts a sign warning the customers that their employees’ hands are dripping with slimy brown diarrhea which recently escaped their asshole. And, under the Grand Ayn Rand Theory of the Free Market, that establishment would soon lose all business, and those employees would be out of a job, all so that an employee can have the freedom of not washing his hands.

This is why Randians and Libertarians are idiots. You do not have the freedom to not wash your hands. It is not in the Constitution. It is not in the Bill of Rights. It is not in the Declaration of Independence. If you want to serve food and be paid for it, you wash your hands after you wipe your ass.

Period.

End of Discussion.

If you don’t like it, move to Russia and fellate Putin.

The reason you have a rule that requires businesses to have a sign in the bathroom reminding employees to wash their hands is to, amazingly, remind employees to wash their hands. The goal is to maximize hand-washing in order to minimize the spread of communicable diseases. Because we all live in a society.

Weren’t these know nothing Republicans just freaking out about Ebola a few months ago? And now they want weekly pandemics of flu, fevers and food poisoning all for the freedom of not washing your hands.

This goes hand in fucking hand with the other latest Republican know nothing boomlet: the FREEDOM!!!! of not vaccinating your child. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie:

“It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul:

“I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. […] I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn’t own your children. Parents own the children. And it is an issue of freedom and public health.”

Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy:

“For me, I want that to be my choice as a parent, and you know what? I know my kids best. I know what morals and values are right for my children and I think we should not have an oppressive state telling us what to do.”

Each one of these officials have disqualified themselves for public office. Each must resign immediately and be banned from ever holding any public office again.

New York Times:

“The vaccination controversy is a twist on an old problem for the Republican Party: how to approach matters that have largely been settled among scientists but are not widely accepted by conservatives.”

“It is a dance Republican candidates often do when they hedge their answers about whether evolution should be taught in schools. It is what makes the fight over global warming such a liability for their party, and what led last year to a widely criticized response to the Ebola scare.”

Why the fuck do uneducated idiot conservative voters get to decide anything in this country? Why the fuck do you dance around them, you cowardly Republicans? If you had any courage, and any conscience, at all, this is what you say to these know nothings: “Ma’am, we all live in the 21st Century, and we all live in one society. A modern society. A society that has seen medical advancements that have wiped out diseases like the measles and small pox and the bubonic plague. And the reason these diseases have been wiped out is because responsible doctors vaccinated the children of responsible parents against those diseases. So vaccinate your children now. Go to the doctor and do it now. You don’t have the freedom to not do it.”

If they idiot know nothing says he or she is not voting for you, you say “Fine, I don’t want your vote.”

And I say, if you don’t vaccinate your children, the law should prevent you and your child from receiving any medical care at all, for anything, until such time as you change your mind and be a responsible and non-neglectful and non-selfish parent. And you should also lose all tax credits they receive for having children and/or dependents.

The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 3, 2015

OHIO–PRESIDENT–Quinnipiac: Clinton 47, Christie 34; Clinton 47, Bush 36; Clinton 48, Paul 36; Clinton 49, Huckabee 34
FLORIDA–PRESIDENT–Quinnipiac: Clinton 51, Christie 33; Clinton 44, Bush 43; Clinton 50, Paul 38; Clinton 51, Huckabee 34
PENNSYLVANIA–PRESIDENT–Quinnipiac: Clinton 50, Christie 39; Clinton 50, Bush 35; Clinton 53, Paul 34; Clinton 54, Huckabee 34

Michael Tomasky: “I finally sat myself down and watched that Scott Walker speech from last week that everyone is raving about. If this was the standout speech, I sure made the right decision in not subjecting myself to the rest of them. It was little more than a series of red-meat appetizers and entrees: Wisconsin defunded Planned Parenthood, said no to Obamacare, passed some kind of law against ‘frivolous’ lawsuits, and moved to crack down on voter ‘fraud’—all of that besides, of course, his big move, busting the public-employee unions. There wasn’t a single concrete idea about addressing any of the major problems the country faces.”