DL Open Thread Sunday, April 4, 2021

It’s one thing to share a country with dead-end losers who have turned a political party into a death cult. It’s something else entirely when that death cult insists on killing others. Their new obsession — resisting the idea of “vaccine passports,” because their freedom to infect others is more important than the right of those others to stay alive and uninfected. Business owners hate the idea because they don’t want to police it; even some health officials worry it will further politicize what should be a public health issue. Look, if dumb conservative fuckers they want to kill themselves, I’ll help them in any way I can, but I draw the line when they want to kill others.

It’s not just Republicans, either. Both major teachers’ unions have been pushing to reopen schools, leading to teacher deaths that authorities would like to cover up.

You know how some conservatives are convinced Covid-19 escaped from a Chinese lab? They have been shouted down, but scientists say that while it’s unlikely a lab was involved, it can’t be ruled out. The World Health Organization report that pooh-poohs the idea is viewed with suspicion because the Chinese basically control the WHO.

Speaking of Republicans’ lack of responsibility, you’ve probably heard — they’ve repeated it enough over the years — that puffed-up pseudo-intellectual William F. Buckley bravely saved conservatism from extremists by standing against the John Birch Society. It’s a nice story, but like many nice stories, it just ain’t true.

Over on the sexual deviancy beat, every Republican except for sexual deviant Jim Jordan have figured out that Matt Gaetz is radioactive, and his career is over whether he realizes it or not. Naturally, aides to The Last Guy™ have had to talk him into keeping his anus-shaped mouth shut about it.

The Trump campaign apparently stayed afloat last fall by fleecing his donors for repeat donations when they thought they were making one-time contributions. Thousands of people complained to their credit-card companies over what they thought was fraud, leading the campaign to refund more than $64 million to its own supporters. As the NYTimes piece notes, that money “amounted to an interest-free loan from unwitting supporters at the most important juncture of the 2020 race.”

Would I feel better about fossil fuel companies if they treated employees better while they destroy the planet? Probably not. As it is, I’m not inclined to feel charitably toward an industry that fired 60,000 people after taking $8.2 billion in bailout money.

Quote of the day: “Our secular liberal society does not know how to honor a godly man and in honor of George Floyd, white institutions issued reams of mission statements about inclusivity and diversity and banning words such as “master” that might be triggers. … To me, this isn’t justice, it’s masturbation, but in the world we live in, gesture trumps reality.” Garrison Keillor, “Still Thinking of George Floyd, Wishing I’d Known Him”

The floor’s yours.