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Aaron Rodgers Unhinged, Blames "Woke Mob" After Lying About "Immunization"
The vaccination status of NFL football player Aaron Rodgers was revealed over the weekend and it turns out that the Green Bay Packers quarterback is not vaccinated for COVID-19. Rodgers tested positive for COVID last week and wasn’t able to play on Sunday in Green Bay’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. When asked about his status months ago, Rodgers chose his words carefully and said that he had been “immunized,” referring to either previously contracting the virus or taking prophylactic treatments. Rodgers went on The Pat McAffee Show last week and said, “I consulted with a now good friend of mine Joe Rogan after he got COVID and I’ve been doing a lot of the stuff he recommended in his podcasts . . . and I’m going to have the best immunity possible now.” Rodgers also said that he sent 500 pages of research about COVID immunity to the NFL. Sadly, being a quarterback at the top of his game, Rodgers is someone who is seen as a role model by American society and some of his fans are going to listen to his advice on topics even outside of football. In this case, that advice could prevent people from getting vaccinated, putting them at risk of potentially getting hospitalized or even dying of COVID-19.
CIVIL WAR: Trump Republicans Demand Removal of Other Republicans!
Over the weekend, the House of Representatives passed an historic $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Some representatives in the Republican Party joined most of the Democrats to pass the bill and that left certain GOP members furious with their colleagues. In total, thirty House Republicans crossed party lines to vote in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and six Democrats chose to vote against it. The final vote was 228 to 206. Florida Republican Congressman Anthony Sabatini expressed his outrage over his fellow GOP members greenlighting the spending plan by writing, “every Republican who voted for the infrastructure bill must be eliminated from the party.” Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert tweeted, "RINOS just passed this wasteful $1.2 trillion dollar ‘infrastructure’ bill. Pelosi did not have the votes in her party to pass this garbage. Time to name names and hold these fake republicans accountable.” Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina said, “vote for this infrastructure bill and I will primary the hell out of you.” And beleaguered Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted, “I can’t believe Republicans just gave the Democrats their socialism bill.” For the sake of putting wins on the board in 2022 it’s a good sign that Republicans are eating their own on this infrastructure package, but it’s a sad state of affairs that something as basic as spending money on roads and bridges is now such a partisan issue.
From over the weekend:
34 Out of 36,000 NYPD Officers Defy Vaccine Mandate
Ever since a vaccine mandate was announced for New York City government employees, talks have circulated about city officials walking off the job in protest. There were a number of stories about unions saying that thousands of their members plan to quit and people posting on social media their threats to quit. This led to stories in the media about how places like New York could lose up to a third of its police force. Andrew Giuliani, Rudy’s son who’s currently running for governor of New York, hypothesized that 23% of the NYPD force would be abandoning their posts and going on unpaid leave. All along we have been saying it’s best to wait and see how many officers follow through on these threats. Last week, the mandates became enforceable and it turns out that out of the 10,000 New York cops that the union said would resign in protest, only 34 actually have so far. Out of the 39,000 officers in total on the force, that means only 0.09% have actually quit their jobs over the vaccine mandates. The department reported no interruptions for their service so all in all, this suggests that the vaccine mandate for municipal employees is actually working and that most threats to leave are coming up empty.
From over the weekend:
Matt Gaetz Talks About Blowing Up Metal Detectors in House
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz’s behavior continues to get more and more outrageous as he fights off allegations of child sex trafficking. At a recent rally in central Florida, Gaetz joked about blowing up metal detectors that were installed for members of Congress to prevent radical Republicans like Lauren Boebert and Madison Cawthorn from carrying their guns with them into the House Chamber. Gaetz said about the metal detectors, “is it tannerite or C4 we want to put in those metal detectors and we blow them and we take them home.” While there’s in all likelihood not a serious threat being made by Matt Gaetz here, he should know better than to make such statements. We’ve seen the degree to which some Trump supporters are willing to resort to get their way with the January 6th Capitol riots and it’s conceivable that they could try to stage another attack at some point. Also, there’s a general concern about stochastic terrorism. If Gaetz expresses his approval for blowing up metal detectors in Congress, the odds become somewhat likely that one of his followers could decide to take him up on the offer and actually set off explosives. Just when we thought Gaetz couldn’t stoop any lower in his acts of desperation, he lowers the bar even more.
More on the show:
--The House of Representatives finally passes a bipartisan, albeit it much smaller, $1.2 trillion infrastructure package
--Joe Biden's federal vaccinate "mandate," which offers a test-out option, has been frozen by a panel of Republican-appointed judges
--President Joe Biden's approval rating declines to the lowest of his presidency so far, down to an average of 42.6%
--It is revealed that Virginia Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin's son, who is not old enough to vote, attempted to vote illegally in last week's Virginia gubernatorial election
--Right-wing media outlets Newsmax, which has been aggressively denouncing Joe Biden's vaccine "mandate," which has a test-out option, will be implementing the very same protocol they oppose
--A wild weekend of right wing insanity, including Melania Trump, Senator Josh Hawley, anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, and more
--Voicemail caller suggests that maybe lawyers deliberately try to select incompetent jurors for jury trials
--On the Bonus Show: Highway deaths soar as robot driving technology advances, despite declining sugar consumption, obesity continues to rise, Travis Scott sued over "predictable and preventable" concert tragedy, much more...
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Errata: "A Confederacy of Dunces" won a Pulitzer in 1980 not 1981.
It seems to me that the Radical White Right prefers warfare to welfare. I prefer that my tax dollars support social programs like Planned Parenthood, not foreign wars that enrich the wealthiest 'men' in the world who apparently pay little or no taxes and thrive on the demise of humankind.
The zero-sum game may be the foundation of capitalism in the short run, but over the long term, economic sustainability is much more fiscally conservative to the body politic. The Radical Right operates on "take the money and run," which is not a fiscally conservative policy in the long run (i.e., the cost to clean up. "As of June 12, 2019, there were 1344 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in the United States" (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/, and https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live).
Originating with the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) nation, the Seventh Generation Principle is based on the idea that decisions made today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future...[this principle] intensifies the bond of community, promotes stability, and provides concrete values with which each person can test his or her everyday actions" (from https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/timeline/opendoor/roleOfChief.html).
In my mind, this principle is the fiscally prudent practice and the foundation of the New Green Deal (i.e., clean water, clean air, and a sustainable economy). Unfortunately, the Radical White Right won't even entertain the idea and worse, they will obstruct it.
The novel "A Confederacy of Dunces" which won a Pulitizer Prize in 1981 refers to an epigram from Jonathan Swift's essay "Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting:" 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.'
This is a spiritual principle clearly expressed in Biblical scripture as 'pride goeth before a fall' and 'a house divided against itself cannot stand,' a concept familiar to Abraham Lincoln's audience in 1851 as a statement by Jesus recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) [from http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/house.htm]. In the latter case, it was "morally courageous but politically incorrect." Huh? What part of 'woof' do you not understand?
The sad irony is that the very groups that claim a Christian ethic and the moral high ground act to subvert the very teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament and inspired singer-songwriter–-the late John Prine who succumbed to the COVID virus April 7, 2020--to pen the line, "Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose."