babylonsister
babylonsister's JournalTo the World, We're Now America the Racist and Pitiful
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/to-the-world-were-now-america-the-racist-and-pitifulTo the World, Were Now America the Racist and Pitiful
By Robin Wright
July 3, 2020
snip//
The Trump Administrations ineptitude in handling the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the Presidents disdain for longstanding allies and international treaties, have compounded the damage to Americas image. A second poll, released last week by the European Council on Foreign Relations, reported that public perceptions of the United States are increasingly negative in virtually all of the European nations surveyed. In France, the country that backed the American Revolution and later donated the Statue of Liberty, forty-six per cent of the people polled said that their opinion of the U.S. has worsened a lot. The proportion of respondents who still view America as a key ally is vanishingly smallas low as six per cent in Italy.
Americas standing worldwide has sunk before, although usually over foreign-policy decisions, such as the invasion of Iraq, in 2003. The mood globally feels different now, Richard Burkholder, who was the director of Gallups international polling for decades, told me. Criticism is now focused on American practices at home. The United States was once a beacon, he said. I dont see people looking up to us as they did before. Fintan OToole, a columnist for the Irish Times, was blunter. Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger, he wrote, in April. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.
snip//
The sorry state of Americas political and physical health ripples across the globe. The United States, long the bedrock of the Western alliance, is less inspirational todayand perhaps will be even less so tomorrow. The United States has traditionally had an ability to reinvent itself, Mark Leonard, the co-founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told me. The brutality of the American political systemwhere entire élites get kicked out whenever there is a change of party at the tophas led to resilience historically. What you see now are structural problems much more difficult to solve. He added that inequality is so deeply bakedin education, property and the economy, job opportunities, gerrymandering of voting districts, policing and justice, and the mediathat America is now a toxic brew of problems. That means theres not much bandwidth in America for thinking about anything other than its culture wars, he said.
This Fourth of July holiday is one of the most humbling in our history. Even at the height of world wars or the Great Depression, America inspired. But, today, the United States is destroying the moral authority it once had. There will still be fireworks. And the Statue of Liberty still towers over New York Harbor. But it is harder today to convince others that Americans embraceor practicethe ideals that Lady Liberty represents.
Trump To Cancel Jacksonville Convention To Avoid Being Humiliated
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/07/02/trump-cancel-convention.htmlPosted on Thu, Jul 2nd, 2020 by Jason Easley
Trump To Cancel Jacksonville Convention To Avoid Being Humiliated
Trump is expected to cancel his relocated Republican convention in Jacksonville, FL because the Trump campaign is trying to avoid another humiliation.
Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair reported:
According to a Republican working on the convention, the campaign is now preparing to cancel the event so that Trump doesnt suffer another Tulsalike humiliation. They probably wont have it, the source said. Its not going to be the soft landing Trump wanted.
With the coronavirus raging through Florida, a one-third capacity turnout would have been a big number for Trumps acceptance speech. Trumps rallies have long been used as an ego-boosting tool, and now that his own incompetence has taken them away, Donald Trump has nowhere to get his cult leader fix.
Jacksonville didnt want Trumps convention, and it looks like holding any sort of convention with people attending will backfire on him as the US is setting daily coronavirus case records.
The man who relies on rallies to measure his success had to cancel his acceptance speech because it would have resulted in a fresh round of humiliation.
The script is being written for a perfect ending to the presidential days of Donald Trump.
It's Not a Debate: Wear a Mask By Connie Schultz
It's Not a Debate: Wear a Mask
By Connie Schultz
July 2, 2020 5 min read
If you're still opposed to wearing a face mask in public, this column is for Very Special You.
I don't mean that sarcastically. One of us believes we're magically immune to this highly contagious virus, and it sure isn't me. I've never felt that special a day in my life. So, lucky you.
Except you probably aren't that lucky.
I'm making a judgment on your news consumption when I say, perhaps you're unaware of the latest numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths. We've all been busy.
I'm here to help. As of 12:14 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 2, these are the numbers in the U.S. as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more commonly called the CDC:
2,679,230 cases of infection.
128, 024 deaths.
In the time it took you to read those figures, the numbers have gone up. Also on Thursday, July 2, the U.S. hit an all-time high of newly reported cases of infection, at over 40,000.
Across the country, public health experts cite the same reasons: Too many people are not staying home, and when they go out, they are refusing to wear face masks. They're also not keeping a safe distance of six feet from others.
Let's acknowledge the obvious: We have a president who has refused to encourage his fellow Americans to wear face masks during this deadly pandemic. Just hours ago, CNN's Jim Acosta reported that President Donald Trump had this to say about the spike of cases in several states: "We are putting out that life because it's a bad life that we're talking about."
Read that out loud.
Lord help us.
more...
https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/07/20/its-not-a-debate-wear-a-mask
" They're not wearing a mask because nobody's saying put the mask on."
https://politicalwire.com/2020/07/03/quote-of-the-day-2609/
Quote of the Day
July 3, 2020 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, quoted by The Hill.
Virus Test Used by White House May Not Be Accurate
https://politicalwire.com/2020/07/03/virus-test-used-by-white-house-may-not-be-accurate/Virus Test Used by White House May Not Be Accurate
July 3, 2020 at 7:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
But multiple studies have raised questions about the accuracy of a coronavirus test the White House has used, and the Food and Drug Administration has received dozens of reports of potential problems with that test.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/03/politics/coronavirus-white-house-test-abbott/index.html
Coronavirus test used by White House has questionable accuracy
Hugh Downs, anchor of '20/20' and 'Today,' dead at 99
I remember him fondly.
Hugh Downs, anchor of '20/20' and 'Today,' dead at 99
By Brian Lowry, CNN Business
Updated 6:15 PM ET, Thu July 2, 2020
Los Angeles (CNN Business)Hugh Downs, the versatile and Emmy-winning broadcaster whose decades-long TV career ranged from anchoring ABC News' "20/20" to the "Today" show to serving as Jack Paar's sidekick on "The Tonight Show," has died at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 99.
Local outlet AZFamily was first to report the news of Downs' passing, citing a statement from his great-niece, Molly Shaheen.
Downs -- who retired in 1999 -- was essentially there for the very start of commercial television, serving as the announcer for the children's show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and comedy legend Sid Caesar's "Caesar's Hour" in the 1950s.
In 1957, when Paar succeeded Steve Allen as host of "The Tonight Show," Downs became the announcer. The next year, Downs launched his run as the original host of the game show "Concentration."
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/media/hugh-downs-obituary/index.html
Fauci warns new coronavirus mutation may cause virus to spread more easily
Fauci warns new coronavirus mutation may cause virus to spread more easily
By John Bowden - 07/02/20 10:42 PM EDT
Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, warned Thursday that a new strain of the coronavirus found to be dominant around the world may contain a mutation that allows it to spread from person-to-person with more ease.
In an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association, Fauci referenced an article published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell that pointed to a new, prevalent virus strain thought to have first spread in Italy.
He said it is possible this strain carries a higher viral load in the respiratory system, thereby making human transmission more likely.
"t just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible," he continued.
The study, which was released by researchers affiliated with the Sheffield COVID-19 Genomics Group, stated Thursday that the new strain "has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic."
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/505766-fauci-warns-new-coronavirus-mutation-may-cause-virus-to-spread
Joint Chiefs Chairman Confirms Soldiers Were Issued Bayonets For DC Protests
Joint Chiefs Chairman Confirms Soldiers Were Issued Bayonets For DC Protests
By Sarah Blake Morgan and James Laporta
July 2, 2020 4:42 p.m.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets. Defense documents obtained by the AP show some were not trained in riot response.
Members of the Armys 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, which is based in D.C. and typically guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, were mobilized last month to respond to massive protests over the treatment of Black Americans and systemic issues of police brutality. But they were never actually sent to the protests after they arrived.
The soldiers were issued bayonets for their June 2 deployment but told they were to remain in their scabbards and not attached to their service rifles, Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark A. Milley wrote to two U.S. representatives in a letter that was obtained by the AP. The soldiers were also told no weapons were to enter the capital without clear orders and only after nonlethal options were first reviewed, he said.
Milley said the order to mobilize the troops came from Major Army Gen. Omar Jones, who serves as commander of the military district of Washington. His letter, dated June 26, was sent to two Democratic Congressmen, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, and Rep. Ted Lieu of California, who asked him for an explanation after the AP first reported on the use of bayonets on June 2.
Roughly 700 members of the 82nd Airborne Division were sent to two military bases near the District Capitol Area. The soldiers were armed with live-rounds, bayonets, and riot gear. Bloomberg reported on June 11 that the Old Guard was also issued bayonets.
more...
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/joint-chiefs-chairman-confirms-soldiers-were-issued-bayonets-for-dc-protests
The Rude Pundit: Biden and Trump: Who's the Demented One? A Comparison
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/07/biden-and-trump-whos-demented-one.htmlThe Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
7/02/2020
Biden and Trump: Who's the Demented One? A Comparison
snip//
Asked about Black Lives Matter protesters taking down statues, Biden was again clear and empathetic, saying, "I think the idea of bringing down, I think all those Confederate monuments to Confederate soldiers and generals, et cetera, who strongly supported secession and the maintenance of slavery and going to war to do it, I think those statues belong in museums. They dont belong in public places."
And here's Trump on the same subject: "Like the character on the horse the other day, hes up there putting on the ropes. Hes in trouble, on the Andrew Jackson beautiful, its beautiful, right opposite the White House. And you got to remember Andrew Jackson, the Battle of New Orleans and so much. He was a very good president. He was a great general and you cant let that happen." (To be a little fair here, Biden did say that he was against tearing down statues of Jefferson and Washington. But he didn't mention Jackson, who was a bloodthirsty motherfucker who we should be embarrassed to call one of our presidents.)
When he was questioned about everything becoming political, including wearing masks so you lower your risk of fucking killing someone, Biden dismissed Trump's bullshit and talked about how we've gotta do this for each other, you know, like a nation, not a mass of individual islands screeching about freedom: "Were also talking about it in terms of the president talks about manhood and being strong and you dont need the mask. I think we have to start appealing to the better side of human nature by pointing out that that mask is not so much to protect me. Its if I have it, its to protect you against me. Its to protect other people. And its called patriotism. Its called responsibility. Its called making sure you look out for the other person."
In an interview with Eric Bolling for Sinclair Media Group (motto: "Trump's balls aren't gonna polish themselves" , the president offered grudging support for mask-wearing at last, but he put it this way: "Well, I've already had masks and I want a mask. And if I'm near people, you know, you were tested, right? Just now. And everybody that's around me as president gets tested, that's like standard. Uh, and I'm also -- I keep distances. I'm, you know, supposed to keep a distance and I keep distances. But if I needed a mask, if I was in a crowd of, you know, crowd, a lot of people and everything else, I'd wear -- I have no problem with a mask at all...I have no objection to masks whatsoever. Do what you're supposed to do and also do what makes you feel good." Not a single goddamn word about being kind to each other. It was purely about how he feels, purely selfish, with not even a nod to the larger good because he doesn't fucking see how that matters.
Joe Biden is 77 years old. Donald Trump is 74 years old. It's not ageism to say that they have slowed down a bit, that they have moments when they're not as quick on their feet. It's not ableism. It's medical science. But Trump has made it a centerpiece of his reelection campaign that Biden is somehow suffering such grave cognitive decline that he can't function. It's absurd for Donald "Can't Complete a Sentence" Trump to make that allegation. That's projection to such an extreme extent that he may as well be accusing Biden of combing his hair like it's old cotton candy, fucking a porn star, and putting on orange makeup. Motherfucker, that's you.
Honestly, occasional lapses aside, the biggest difference is that Biden sounds like a regular old politician, and that just sounds fuckin' weird now, man. It's like we've dated someone who kept shoveling cocaine into our noses and screaming at us to tell him we love him for four godforsaken years and all of a sudden we meet a guy who says, "Just have some tea and lemme tell you how it can all be better." Jesus, you think, I wanna get off this fuckin' bender and here's my chance.
(Note: Full disclosure- I have praised Biden in the past, too, like when he debated Paul Ryan and Sarah Palin. Context is everything.)
Arizona Republican Voters Are Trashing Trump's Pandemic Response
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/07/02/arizona-republicans-trump.htmlPosted on Thu, Jul 2nd, 2020 by Jason Easley
Arizona Republican Voters Are Trashing Trumps Pandemic Response
As virus cases surge in Arizona, Republican Voters Against Trump is out with a new ad with the states voters trashing Trump.
In the ad, an Arizona Republican named Patricia says, Hes letting over 100,000 people die due to his incompetence.
The spot loaded with Republicans talking about how Trump has ruined the economy and made people sick with his handling of the pandemic.
Arizona Republicans say that they have had enough and they are pledging to vote for Joe Biden in November.
Watch the ad:
&feature=emb_logo
The Arizona ad is brutal for Trump, and it illustrates how much the political landscape has changed during his presidency. Trump isnt just running against Joe Biden. He is running against a united group of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who have come together under the common banner of getting this president out of office.
Trumps presidency has been a disaster that has literally helped the virus kill hundreds of thousands of Americans with no end in sight.
Arizona is a state that was already on the Democratic radar in 2020, and the Biden momentum has only continued to grow since the pandemic. It is debatable whether Arizona or Florida is the nations biggest virus hotspot, but voters are being reminded of who is to blame for their misery.
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