Shermann
Shermann's JournalThe Karate Kid Part III sucked!
So I just watched the end of that snoozer. This is a "sequel" with quotes...a movie that is really a rehashing of an earlier film in disguise as opposed to a film that continues a story. I'm looking at you too Star Wars Episode VII.
Daniel got only one shot in on Mike in the final fight (and one weak shove and a trip). Mostly he takes a beating and lies crumpled on the ground whimpering that he is scared and wants to quit. Really? This is the kid that whipped the entire Cobra Kai dojo not that long ago? And fought to the death in Japan? No, Daniel would be a battle-hardened survivor with a bit more swagger after an ordeal like that. Like Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. See, now that was good.
On the antagonist side, Kreese was brilliant in Part I. His decision to let his #2 guy sweep the leg to weaken Daniel for the #1 guy was a sound business decision. There was even a flash of humanity out of Johnny and Bobby at the end. But their paths were chosen and they had to see them to the end. It was like a Shakespearean tragedy.
But that Terry guy isn't believable and just comes across as a douche. He went with the strategy of having the #1 guy give back EVERY earned point on penalties, basically because...he could? That strategy proved risky. 
The Deep State ain't what it used to be
It used to be that old-school conservatives knew how to play the "Deep State" card. They were mostly aware it was BS, but it served a purpose nonetheless. You see, it's easy to get yourself cornered at the water cooler by those clever college-educated liberals. There are other tools available here such as the obscure Constitutional reference (always popular) or the distraction to some other barely relevant minutia. But when all else fails, there is the Deep State.
Now this card can't be played too often. It is the "conservative nolo contendere". You can abandon a debate with your dignity intact, but without conceding defeat. It is thrown down like a magician's smoke bomb to facilitate the escape from sight. But the key to the trick is avoiding falsifiability. After all, liberals can't PROVE that there isn't an international conspiracy to manufacture a climate crisis in order to wrestle control of the energy industry. They can't PROVE that Democrats aren't working with the MSM to turn it into a left-wing partisan propaganda machine.
It's best to keep the Deep State nebulous. Maybe it is an international cartel, maybe it is just a handful of Democrats working together to block a Republican initiative. Or maybe it is something in between. Don't name any names. A well-crafted conspiracy theory is a portrait behind a tarp. You lift a corner of the tarp to reveal a small portion. Maybe two corners. You let the Fox News viewers' imaginations fill in the rest. NEVER reveal the whole thing because the painting is mostly unfinished white canvas.
But these Republicans today, I tell you what. Now the Deep State is the go-to trope for all occasions. We have seven million missing votes thanks to the Deep State. The trouble with that of course is the audits and court cases and resulting falsifiability. The Deep State planted false flag bearers at the Capitol riot. Hell, the Deep State even can be blamed for manufacturing sex scandals with underage girls.
All good things have to come to and end I guess.
It's time to take a second look at the original herd strategy
That is basically where you keep everything open and let the pandemic wash over the population to get naturally acquired immunity from infections.
Thankfully, it was largely shunned in favor of science and shutdowns last year.
However, now the landscape has changed in 2021. We've done the hard work to develop and test the vaccines while keep the economy on ice without tanking it. However, vaccine hesitancy may prevent us from reaching herd immunity. The rate at which immunity wears off could match the rate that variants are spreading. It could mean an endless plateau of cases with frequent outbreaks.
The original herd strategy could be the answer. There is little more science can do. After everybody who wants the vaccine gets it, open everything up and let the pandemic wash over everybody else. Cases will surge briefly instead of plateauing and we'll close the gap to herd immunity.
So the Republican governors may inadvertently be on the right track here.
Trump is still playing armchair immunologist
He was on Maria Bartiromo trash talking the J&J pause as being a big mistake. He didn't mention the related AstraZeneca pause, but presumably that was a mistake too? What have you got to lose, right?
Thanks to him and his party we are on the precipice of having a glut of unused vaccines in this country, but there was no mention of that either.
He did boast about how great his response to Covid was, although by his own metric it was objectively not a "job well done".
Maria demonstrated why she gets these high-profile interviews with her sharp-edged comments: "Uh huh. Uh huh."
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