The Lancet says the COVID-19 pandemic may end as soon as March -- given that by then a "large proportion of the world will have been infected with the omicron variant" -- and though of course the coronavirus will stay with us, it won't wreck our lives as badly. "The impacts of future SARS-CoV-2 transmission on health," they write, "will be less because of broad previous exposure to the virus, regularly adapted vaccines to new antigens or variants, the advent of antivirals, and the knowledge that the vulnerable can protect themselves during future waves when needed by using high-quality masks and physical distancing." I figure a two hundred year-old medical journal probably knows better than I do, and definitely knows better than any five dozen internet "influencers" one could name.
The Kansas government wants state legislators to approve a $4 billion slab of corporate welfare so it doesn't lose out on a big project -- but offers scant details. A lot of state legislators are acting like they have no choice but to pass the legislation, so that Kansas doesn't "lose out" on big corporate facilities, but if they're acting like hostages, that's a sign they can't win the argument on the merits. Also, too, if it looks like dung, and it smells like dung, you don't have to taste it just because the Kansas state government says it's meatloaf. Looking for a more politically pragmatic argument? Look up "Foxconn" and "the end of Scott Walker's career as Wisconsin Governor."
When I hear that a supermajority of Americans do not want our Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, I'm reminded that I think the American people are actually pretty wise -- just like I am whenever I confront polling about Medicare-for-All and raising taxes on the rich. I know a lot of smart folks who disagree with me about that, and I don't really blame them, since our media constantly push the worst people in America in our faces until we forget all the good folks we know. It's really our media's fault that people watch Tucker Carlson and listen to Joe Rogan; the notion that they're somehow the best American civilization has to offer is a profoundly offensive notion.
When I hear that Joe Manchin says he's ready to start a big spending bill from scratch and will talk with anyone who'll listen, I wonder how many good Americans still want to talk to Joe Manchin. I mean, he led us on for eight months on Build Back Better, so I don't know why any sane and rational person would trust him now. Is he going to spend another eight or ten months making demand after demand and then, after Democrats give in to all of them, suddenly throw up his hands at some imagined slight and say I've tried but I just can't get to yes? It's a question worth asking! And it's also a question worth answering in the affirmative, so we don't waste all of 2022 like we wasted all of 2021. He needs to be shamed and shunned, just like Kyrsten Sinema does, and that's true even though we can all count to 50.
I've also got a bone to pick with Mr. Manchin's suggestion that he does what he does because the rural folks he represents are so much different from urban folks. I mean, even if his constituents would rather hold hands and pitch woo than make a party out of loving, that doesn't mean they turn up their nose at paid family leave and a Child Tax Credit expansion like he does. Polling also tells us that rural folks, even the ones who identify as conservative, like a lot of liberal policy initiatives, like Medicare-for-all, taxpayer-funded community college, and treating-not-imprisoning drug addicts. So folks like Joe Manchin are just pretending they're speaking for them, and what is that, class? Drama, that's what, and not particularly good drama at that.
Finally, suggesting Black folks aren't American wasn't actually the stupidest thing Mitch McConnell's said lately -- the stupidest thing he's said lately was when he responded to a question about what a Republican majority would prioritize with "(t)hat is a very good question, and I'll let you know when we take (the majority) back.". So the party that makes such a drama about hating post-modernism acts awfully post-modern; what a surprise! Look, here's what they're going to do: they're going to yell and scream about crime and vaccine mandates and critical race theory, and while you're watch that, they're going to try to cut taxes on the rich, outlaw class-action lawsuits, cripple Medicaid, privatize Medicare and Social Security, and defund all the parts of government that still help good Americans. They're sure as hell not going to run that ad! Sadly, Democrats won't, either, because it'd be uncivil.
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