Isolation and Quarantine

 While doing some research on the issues involved with voluntary and involuntary isolation and quarantine, I ran across the case of Robert Daniels, a Russian who had been admitted into the US despite having a rare and highly drug-resistant form of tuberculosis (TB). As a condition of entry, he agreed not to go out in public without a mask (sound familiar?), but got caught at a Maricopa County (AZ) convenience store without one. He was promptly tossed in the hoosegow, for NINE MONTHS.

"Like jailed inmates accused of crimes, Daniels is subjected to intrusive strip searches and he is unable to receive any visits from family and friends. He isn’t permitted to exercise or walk outside, and has no access to social or recreational activities like the Internet. He has been outside only once in the past nine months, and was shackled hand and foot. The lights in his cell are required to be kept on at night, and video cameras record his every move. He can’t see through the frosted windows in his room and wasn’t able to shower or call anyone until a few weeks ago." (1)

Bear in mind, Roberts wasn't being accused of being a mass murderer, or anything... he was a guy with a contagious disease.

"In its complaint, the ACLU argues that the county has failed to implement procedures on how to humanely quarantine sick patients for lengthy periods of time, and in an effort to cut costs deliberately failed to explore alternative locations in which to quarantine Daniels. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio(2) publicly stated that in the interest of security he would treat any person housed in the jail ward in the same manner as all other jail inmates."(3)

The ACLU went on to describe the compassionate medical treatment Roberts received:

" Like jailed inmates accused of crimes, Daniels is subjected to intrusive strip searches and he is unable to receive any visits from family and friends. He isn’t permitted to exercise or walk outside, and has no access to social or recreational activities like the Internet. He has been outside only once in the past nine months, and was shackled hand and foot. The lights in his cell are required to be kept on at night, and video cameras record his every move. He can’t see through the frosted windows in his room and wasn’t able to shower or call anyone until a few weeks ago."(4)

We ran into a similar situation here in Maine a few years, during the last Ebola scare here in the states. Kaci Hickox, a nurse who had worked with "Doctors Without Borders" in West Africa, was locked up, initially in New Jersey, on the orders of Governor Chris Christie (another trump supporter), and subsequently in Maine, on orders from Governor Paul LePage (yet another trumper... are you starting to see a pattern here?). Hickox sued in both cases, and won. Christie, by the way, claimed Hickox was positive for Ebola; she was not. (5)

"I never had symptoms of Ebola. I tested negative for Ebola the first night I stayed in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s private prison," Hickox said in a statement released through the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which is representing her in the lawsuit.

"My liberty, my interests and consequently my civil rights were ignored because some ambitious governors saw an opportunity to use an age-old political tactic: fear," she said.(6)

This, of course, is standard operating procedure for the GOP: use fear if you don't have facts on your side. 

__________

1. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-arizona-sues-county-officials-over-inhumane-confinement-tb-patient, retrieved Mar 2, 2021

2. You remember Joe "Feed Them Green Bologna" Arpaio: he was pardoned by his good buddy trump after pissing off the Federal Courts by ignoring orders that his *COUNTY* deputies not engage in *FEDERAL* immigration enforcement.

3. Ibid

4. Ibid

5. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/kaci-hickox-maine-nurse-quarantined-ebola-scare-sues-new-jersey-n449491, retrieved Mar 2, 2021

6. Ibid

I Work With Idiots. And I Mean **IDIOTS**

[Edited to remove confusing formatting] 

The two trumpers working day shift showed up this morning at 6:30, as usual. They were talking politics, and from what I overheard (since they know better than to tell ME their bullshit):

Biden got caught selling the nuclear launch codes to the Chinese, so

• the Army cancelled the compromised codes
• gave Biden fake codes, and
• gave the "real" codes to trump, 
• since "he's technically still our president"

When I mentioned trump's meeting with Putin in Helsinki (when trump entered after being obviously taken to the woodshed by Putin), I was told trump looked sad, because he had to yell at our ally Putin

trump is going to run for the House in 2022, unless "the Army takes out" incumbent Rep Lois Frankel (who is a democrat)

Once he is a Congressman, he will be elected Speaker of the House by a unanimous* vote and

• he will impeach Biden and Harris by unanimous* votes and remove them, becoming President
• he will repeal the 22nd Amendment (presidential term limits) by Executive Order
• and "keep getting re-elected till he dies, and then Ivanka takes over"

Biden's use of Executive Orders "is completely illegal"

Biden "and that woman who claims to be black" are "still running their child sex ring from DC"

• I mentioned Epstein and was told the following:
• trump never met Epstein
• the picture of trump with Epstein was actually Biden, with trump's face photoshopped in
• trump is in the process of gathering the evidence that will "prove" the Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, and Harrises "are all known child killers after they rape the kids."

trump will outlaw all political parties but the GOP

"Then we get to kill all you fucking libs and take back our country"

__________

* I don't know how they think trump's going to get "unanimous" votes, unless the GOP executes all the Dems in the Senate and House. I'm sure the two fuckwads I work with would think that was a dandy solution.

trump v. Fauci: The Final Chapter?

According to CNN, Dr Anthony Fauci has committed the cardinal sin:

Fauci's transgression is to base his evaluations -- after decades of public service and expertise fighting HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika and anthrax -- on facts and logic that conflict with Trump's chosen version of reality. Fauci has long said that only the virus can decide when normal life -- things such as NFL games and schools reopening, for instance -- will be safe again.

Trump has always been battling the pandemic he wants to fight, rather than the one that actually exists, with a strategy shaped mostly by his political requirements as he seeks a second term. The pandemic arrived in the US despite his insistence that it would not be a problem. Now, with 84,000 Americans dead and 1.3 million infected, Trump argues that the country has prevailed over the virus and it's time to get back to work.

He wants to declare victory, forget about this stupid virus, and get back to what he does best: holding Nuremberg-style rallies full of howling blockheads who have no concept of reality. He doesn't give a damn about 84,000 dead Americans, or the 1.4 million infected (so far, as of 9:30 AM today, per Johns Hopkins University). Nor does he care about the potential for 2.2 million dead by the end of the year. He also doesn't give a damn about the unemployment rate being 14.9% at the end of April, or the 30,000,000 Americans who have lost their jobs (and income and medical insurance) since this whole thing began.. He doesn't give a damn about anyone or anything that isn't donald j. trump.

In recent weeks, Trump has shifted from an approach rooted in benchmarks for phased state openings based on a waning of the virus to one based on opening the economy whatever the cost. [emphasis added]

This, of course, is the real problem: the Coronoavirus/Covid-19 pandemic is murdering trump's shot at a second term (which means it's also murdering his chances of staying out of prison, most likely for the rest of his life). trump knows that if his base ever figures out just how bad things are now, and that they are going to get far worse before they get any better, his ass is cooked in November. And that means, come January 21, US Marshals will show up and do a little "cuff-and-stuff" on the donald, and haul his ass to the Southern District of New York, where he cannot expect any deference, or mercy.

So once again, trump's big mouth and continual lies have gotten his ass in bigly trouble.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

It's Coming, People. Batten Down the Hatches

Heather Cox Richardson, writing in today's issue of "Letters From an American," makes a very ominous point, one that a growing number of us are making. Discussing the declassification of the names of FBI agents involved in the trump/Flynn/Russia investigation, and turning those names over to a Justice Department run by trump sycophant, Billy Barr, Cox says:

More, though, it suggests that the Trump administration does not anticipate a Democratic presidency following this one, since it could expect any precedent it now sets to be used against its own people. That it is willing to weaponize intelligence information from a previous administration suggests it is not concerned that the next administration will weaponize intelligence information against Trump officials. That confidence concerns me. [Emphasis added]

"That confidence" scares the shit out of me.

This goes back to recurring fears that trump will use some sort of subterfuge to either postpone or cancel the 2020 elections, and name himeself "president-for-life," as both Papa Doc and Baby Doc did in Haiti, and as Xi Jinping has done in China..

Trump has, in fact, stated his intentions many times in the past, passing them off as "jokes" or "sarcasm" or "wishful thinking." Squirrel-frying goober and former Arkansas governor Mike "Bubba" Huckabee (who is also the father -- to the best of our knowledge -- for former trump spokesdrone Sarah Huckabee Sanders) has claimed that trump's impeachment makes him "eligble" for a third term (which is, of course, total bullshit).

Trump himself has floated the idea on many occasions, claiming that "people will demand" he serve a "third, fourth, or even fifth" term, that he wished he could stay in office "maybe [...] 14 [years]," "looking into" naming himself "president for life" as Xi Jinping did in 2018. He even tweeting a video of himself as president to the year 80,000. The scary part is, his zombie followers would think that was a GREAT idea, almost as great as making education optional.

And don't try to explain these away as jokes. trump -- like the FBI in "Men In Black" -- has no known sense of humor. He does, however, have a keenly developed sense of how to say exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time.

I think we may have passed the point of no return: I doubt trump will leave peacefully if defeated at the polls. I have a feeling that if the numbers look ominous to him, he'll just skip the election althogether.

Miscellaneous Musings and Random Raciocinations

I. Once Again, Fox Admits It Lies

Fox is being sued by WASHLITE (Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics), which is claiming that Fox's coverage of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic is violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act by “falsely and deceptively disseminating ‘news’ via cable news contracts that the coronavirus was a ‘hoax’ and that it was otherwise not a danger to public health and safety," and specifically names host Sean insHannity and former host Trish Regan. Fox, in response, claims that the First Amendment protects "false" and "outrageous" speech, which is, unfortunately, true.

“It’s Constitutional Law 101: the First Amendment protects our right to speak openly and freely on matters of public concern,” Fox News Media general counsel Lily Fu Claffee [emphasis on F.U.] said in a statement. “If WASHLITE doesn’t like what we said, it can criticize us, but it can’t silence us with a lawsuit.”

Again, even accepting the Complaint’s characterization of the speech at issue, the Fox commentators were expressing their view on the scientific question of how dangerous the Coronavirus is and how society should respond to it — including what type of governmental action should be taken.” [emphasis added]

A number of years back, in a Canadian court, Fox also admitted it lied, and claimed not to be a news agency, but an "entertainment" outlet, and, as such, was not bound by the truth.


II. Nazis and Klukkers in Michigan 

The far-right, pro-gun, pro-militia, anti-government, pro-trump Nazis and Klukkers were out in force in Michigan, carrying an assortment of Confederate flags, nooses, and swastikas. The "very fine people," as preznit called them a few years back, were protesting the states "stay at home" and masks orders promulgated by the governor. A large number of them, carrying AR-15s, tried -- unsuccessfully -- to get into the legislative chambers.

As home to the Michigan Militia, and several active Klaverns, the state has an unfortunate expertise at dealing with these goobers, many of whom seem to believe they're just one step removed from Navy SEALS, but most of them couldn't fight their way out a pack of rampaging Brownies, even WITH the multiple firearms they all carry. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were both involved in the Michigan Milita, which shows you where the group's sympathies are.


III. "God Wouldn't Wear a Mask, So I'm Not Going To, Either"

Ohio State Representative Nino Vitale (GOP, of course, since he's an idiot) says he's refusing to wear a mask in public, claiming, “This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask.”

Vitale, who has that typical dull, vacant, deer-in-the-headlights look so common among goopers, says, “This is not based on logic, this is based on fear and propaganda and every statistical, data driven study done in the last 2 weeks says death counts are low, the models were wrong, and this is more like the flu," indicating that not only is he a blithering idiot, but that he's also slurped down a few gallons of trumpian Kool-Aid. Other than the Spanish Flu of 100 years ago, I can't think of any flu outbreak that has killed in excess of 60,000 people in two months.

The good people of Ohio need to retire this Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin' sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, duck f***in', toothless, chinless, mouth breathin', meth-cookin’, NASCAR-lovin’, redneck, slack-jawed, drooling-idiot, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, inbred moran. Although to be fair, I must point out that he does, in fact, have a chin.


IV. The Oath Keepers. Again.

The Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government extremist group, identifued as a hate group by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which claims to be comprised of active and former law enforcement officers and military (and which claims to be the final arbiter on the Constitution), is now threatening American police officers, saying, "Police in the U.S. need to realize they stand at the precipice of losing the trust, support, and protection of millions of American patriots. They must reverse course and refuse unlawful orders, or risk being declared domestic enemies of the Constitution." Of course, what they deem unlawful are the executive orders issued by various governors, designed to keep the citizens safe and healthy. And while the cops may lose the trust, etc., of the Oath Keepers, they will continue to enjoy the respect of the 299,000,000 or so who aren't far-right-wing loons.

The Oath Keepers, by the way, are closely aligned with the various militia movements, the Sovereign Citizens, Christian Identity, the Klukkers, Aryan Nation/Aryan Brotherhood, and the various pro-Nazi parties. These people are NOT good Americans, no matter what they may claim. They're thugs, killers, and terrorists.


V. The Preznit Is Unraveling

In case there was any doubt, the past dozen days have proved we’re at the point in his presidency where Donald Trump has become his own caricature, a figure impossible to parody, a man whose words and actions are indistinguishable from an Alec Baldwin skit on Saturday Night Live.

These words, from an article in The Atlantic, paint a grim picture of the cascading failures of our Idiot-in-Chief. From his asinine comments about Nazis and Klukkers being "very fine people," and Mexicans being "drug dealers and rapists, but some very good people too" to his more recent moronic pronouncements about shining "just very powerful light" up your ass and "injecting disinfectant as a way to combat the effects of the virus “because you see it gets in the lungs and does a tremendous number on them, so it’d be interesting to check that[,]” it is becoming more and more obvious that not only is he completely and totally unfit for any job requiring intelligent thought, but that he is also rapidly losing what little grasp he may have had of reality.

He even lit into GWB, after Bush contributed a video to "The Call To Unite," going into a typical trumpian twittertantrum, which made -- if this is even possible -- Bush actually seem Presidential, intelligent, and decent.

He then went on to claim that he was being treated "worse" than Prsident Lincoln, who, if memory serves me correctly, WAS FREAKING ASSASSINATED. This, of course, was a warmed-over reprise of a previous complaint, that he was being treated worse than Jesus, who, if memory serves me correctly, WAS FREAKING CRUCIFIED.

What scares me is that his paranoia and megalomania (and his understandable desire to stay out of the clutched of the Southern District of New York and a few other United States Attorneys) is the growing possibility that he will whip up some sort of bogus "national emergency" that "I, alone" can solve, "requiring" him to "postpone" the election until the emergency is over... in other words, until the statute of limitations has run on all his crimes. But given his life-long proclivities, he will continue to commit as many crimes as he can, so the limitation statutes will just keep piling up.

This is what happens when you elect an insane, paranoid, megalomaniacal, egotistical, liar to high political office.


VI. We Can Declare Victory and Go Home

The Federal Coronavirus/Covid-19 task force will be wound down at the end of the month, allowing trump to claim -- falsely -- that "I, alone" defeated the virus, and it's now safe for everyone to go back to work, making money for the millionaires.

The second senior administration official told CNN that the White House is shifting its focus toward reopening the economy "and putting Americans back to work." That shift will take place over the next few weeks and doctors such as Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who have been prominent figures in the President's task force briefings with reporters, will still play "an important advisory role" in the process, the second senior administration official said.

Fauci, and to a lesser extent, Birx, would both be shuffled back off to their labs and insulated from the media, so they couldn't contradict trumps calims that everything is now hunky-dory. The article adds that one driver behind the wind-down is that Mikey pence wants to get out and travel and can't, partially because he's "leading" the task force, and partially because ISN'T FREAKING SAFE TO GO GALLIVANTING AROUND IN PUBLIC YET, even if Mikey does have "The Power of the Mythical Sky God" and the Sweet Baby Jesus on his side (just ask all the Evangelicals who have died from this damned virus).

Gonna Be A Looooooooong Day

I’m stuck working with a rabid, far-right trumpette, who insists on making me listen to Faux, so I can “finally learn the truth: that Barack HUSSEIN Obama is a Kenyan Mooozlum and Clinton really did murder Vince Foster and she ran a child sex ring and eavesdropped on trump, who is the greatest American since Jesus.” When I point out that Jesus wasn’t American, she says “of curse he was, he was white, wasn’t he?” Umm, no, Jesus was a dark-skinned Jew.  “But God is white, so Jesus must have been white too.”

How can you argue with such profound proudly blind stupidity?

It’s going to be a VEREEEERRRRY LOOOOOOOOOOONG six hours.

Oh, My...

This is priceless. Just absolutely priceless.

Especially since it happened on Faux.

Bar patrons chanting "Fuck trump" after the women's team won their fourth World Cup.

Reporter didn't hear what the patrons were chanting at first. But WE did.

Back in FB Jail. Again.

I read a post on a trumper's page that utilized a demeaning term for gays. I reported the post to Facebook, and received a reply that the post did not violate their community standards. I copied and pasted a section of the post to my page, and -- bingo -- thirty days for posting hate speech.

And the link to appeal the decision doesn't work, because "you've been blocked from using Facebook."

Obviously, Facebook's definition of "hate speech" is anything negative or derogaroty about trump, Talibangelicals, white supremacists, or other far-right loons.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Now that Zuckerberg is a billionaire, and got that way because of all the fake Russian ads, it's not surprising that he would side with billionaires against the little people. Bit it IS surprising, at least to me, that a guy named Zuckerberg would be so solicitous of Nazis and dere pweshus widdle fee-fees.
__________

I am becoming more and more afraid that trump will use his trumpDay parade on Thursday to announce a few "minor" changes: like he's dissolving Congress, declaring himself "president for life," outlawing the Democratic Party, and announcing the round-up -- "Red Dawn" style -- of "subversive, anti-American types."

And we cannot count on the military or law enforcement to dislodge him: both groups have been thoroughly infiltrated over the past 30+ years by far-right extremists. Don't belivieve me? Ask the FBI and the department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/opinion-grave-threats-white-supremacy-and-far-right-extremism.