DL Open Thread: Sat., April 4, 2020
Florida Rethuglican Party May Have Blowed Itself Up Real Good. And, no, it’s not what you think. An absolute must-read. Schadenfreude you can enjoy w/o guilt. The Rethugs set up an unemployment system designed to make it extremely difficult for the unemployed to get benefits, and…:
Privately, Republicans admit that the $77.9 million system that is now failing Florida workers is doing exactly what Scott designed it to do — lower the state’s reported number of jobless claims after the great recession.
“It’s a sh– sandwich, and it was designed that way by Scott,” said one DeSantis advisor. “It wasn’t about saving money. It was about making it harder for people to get benefits or keep benefits so that the unemployment numbers were low to give the governor something to brag about.”
Republican Party of Florida chairman Joe Gruters was more succinct: “$77 million? Someone should go to jail over that.”
With hundreds of thousands of Floridians out of work, the state’s overwhelmed system is making it nearly impossible for many people to even get in line for benefits.
This is what happens when people who don’t believe in government are put in charge of government.
Trump Don’t Need No Steenkin’ Mask. Is he trying to make Fauci and Birx resign?
Everything Falls Apart, Ctd. The daily carnage? 278,458 confirmed cases and 7,159 deaths in the US. Still no national stay-in-place order by Trump. Let’s be real here. Over the past four decades, the Rethuglican Party, aided and abetted by Fox News and the radio bloviators, have experienced electoral success by railing against anything the federal government does. It was a big and successful lie. It is why Trump doesn’t want to use federal power to address this pandemic, and it’s why those who have been taken in by the propaganda are not abandoning him. They’ve been brainwashed. Willingly. Oh, and Trump and the Rethugs have so gutted the government that they are now incapable of marshaling resources for the public. They’re supposedly there for backup, though. This pandemic lays bare the lies that the Rethugs have fed the country since the days of Reagan. They’re in charge, and they aren’t up to the task. Why, Joe Biden said just the other day…waitaminnit, no he didn’t.
Trump Fires Inspector General Who Protected Whistleblower. The ‘when’ is a big part of the story. The firing was announced in the 10 pm hour last night.
Trump Names Buddy To Be ‘Independent Watchdog’ For Coronavirus Funds. What could possibly go wrong? The criminal element is firmly in charge.
Appalachian Coal Communities Could Be Wiped Out. Yet, and I can’t make this up, coal mines are still operating–as ‘essential’ businesses–in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Kushner Companies Suing Tenants Who Can’t Afford To Pay The Rent. We know that Trump doesn’t have a single redeeming feature (just ask Larry David), but does Jared have one either? Guess Ivanka married her dad.
Rethugs Forced Emergency Funding Cuts During Obama Years. Yep, the Tea Party Rethugs who controlled both the House and the Senate. Thanks for nothing.
Health Care Giant: No Hazard Pay For Frontline Responders. Every time I worry that I’m overusing the word ‘unconscionable’, something like this comes along.
This Day In Coronavirus Denialism. Yes, fear of schadenfreude prevents me from thinking out loud on this. YMMV.
Delaware Cases Exploding. Nursing homes are particularly at risk. Yes, we are talking about at-risk populations. But the state has long looked the other way when it comes to enforcing standards in these facilities. Time to stop looking the other way.
Wow, lotsa stuff today. What do you want to talk about?
Florida is a mess and has been for many years, now they’ve got a deliberately designed to fail unemployment system failing hundreds of thousands of unemployed Floridians. I still see the big event being when all those churches start infecting believers by the tens of thousands, sorry, Jayzuz is no protection and these preachers are leading their flock to death and destruction. The church goers are going to infect thousands of others as well. These people are most likely all part of Trump’s base.
I just read where DeSantis modified his stay-in-place order to permit church gatherings of any size. Just in time for Palm Sunday.
“Delaware cases exploding” …Really? Who woulda thunk that?
We are rapidly approaching a precipice that threatens the health and safety of all Delawareans. DHSS and DPH still refuse to face reality that COVID can spread uncontrollably and rapidly if the public is not allowed the slightest idea of where specific positive infections are found. They have continued the subterfuge even when cases are occurring in places exposed to the general public such as two major chicken processing plants, daycares, medical facilities and stores such as Shoprite. These places present a clear and present danger of exposure to all families in Delaware without any attempt to notify the public of the risks. The DHSS most recent press release issued today once again states (in their words) “DPH will not disclose additional information about the individuals who passed away, nor will DPH confirm specific information about any individual case, even if other persons or entities disclose it independently”.
Now to further illustrate their disregard for the public interest, DHSS has concocted the tale that they have been actively seeking sufficient numbers of test kits to enable a flattening of the inevitable curve when in fact this Administration was given information more than two weeks ago of the availability of FDA approved test kits from a supplier, https://www.aldatubio.com/team/ ready and willing to sell to Delaware. Today’s article in the News Journal https://www.delawareonline.com/…/delays-delawar…/2940720001/ illustrates a failure to appreciate the basic weapons needed to fight this contagion or a serious issue of incompetency.
We don’t need just “Rapid Fire” tests and we certainly don’t need only 5,000 tests. We need every immediately available test kit that we can get our hands on or Delaware will be swallowed whole by this contagion. Dr. Ratay and SecretaryOdom-Walker are over their heads and the Governor is not stepping up. To ignore test kits available in this immediate moment which DHSS has been made aware of is to guarantee an impossibility of identifying carriers and spreaders of this virus and will doom the citizens of Delaware. This is intolerable.
I, too, would like to know where the identified cases in Delaware are. Seems like we could make more prudent decisions if we knew. Delaware’s always been more secretive than most other states, though. On virtually everything. That should change.
El Som,
Thanks. Nail on the head.
John K.
Here’s one I missed. Those oil execs who met with Trump yesterday? He gave them coronavirus tests because ‘they’ve given us millions of jobs’. And didn’t take a penny for themselves, I’m sure:
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/trump-says-oil-executives-deserve-coronavirus-tests-because-they-gave-us-millions-of-jobs/
I flip on the tube only to see Trump conducting his daily monologue, and I hear him say that corporations should be given a deduction to send their executives to restaurants to make the eateries ‘even hotter than before’. Oh, and tax breaks to the sports leagues as well. You know, like the ‘not-for-profit’ NFL.
Swoosh. The TV goes dark. As does my mood.
Your mood is always dark.
I can always get darker, if you’d like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6fvzGIBfQ
The final straw in censorship and transparency denial. The News Journal has removed my truth based, factual comments criticizing the performance/decisions (or lack thereof) of DHSS.,Sec. Walker, Dr. Ratay and the governor from their Facebook comment page multiple times now. Another bastion of corporate whoremanship doing the masters bidding. If anyone wishes to discuss the facts of this censoring or subject matter I’ve posted see my Facebook page or call me personally.
Representative John Kowalko
So. I head down to gas up the car and pick up a gallon of milk at the place where I usually gas up my car and pick up a gallon of milk. I gas up the car, put the Walgreen’s version of Purell on my hands, and drive around to the entrance on the other side of the building.
There’s a sign on the door saying to not enter there, but to enter on the pumps side b/c of social distancing. Great. Except that the door is unlocked and people are flowing through there and on the pump side the same way they always do.
In other words, the store isn’t doing anything to control the usual flow of traffic.
I realize that I don’t need milk that badly.