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.

Happy 2014...

The lovely yet talented Mrs618 and I awoke to a glorious, bright, sunny morning, the start of a new year... and the realization that we have no medical insurance.

None.

Our less-than-illustrious Teabaggin' Governor, Fat-Ass Paul LePage, he of more chins than a Chinatown phone book, whose entire family -- including his equally-fat-assed daughter Lauren "I Fell Out Of The Ugly Tree And Hit Every Branch On The Way Down" LePage --gets state-funded healthcare at tax payer expense, took advantage of the one part of the Affordable Care Act that the rethuglicans love.

Now that the ACA allows everyone to buy insurance on the open market, Fat-Ass was able to dump 70,000 Mainers off the roles of MaineCare, our Medicare program. The problem is, of course, one has to have the money to buy a policy on the open market, which is why the plan provides financial assistance for those making at least the Federal poverty level to 450% of the poverty level.

Those of us who are unemployed, or who otherwise fall below the poverty level do not qualify for financial assistance, so, for us, it's "AMF, YOYO"*

I doubt that any of the workers at Fat-Ass' previous employer, Marden's Junk Emporium (which makes Sanford and Son look like Neiman-Marcus) get insurance. Well, maybe one fat-assed part-time cashier did... whose Daddy just happened to be the boss.

This does explain, though, why Fat-Ass was so bound and determined to pay off the past-due Medicare payments to the hospitals. Now that they have this influx of "found money" -- cause, face it, Fat-Ass would never have paid them otherwise, preferring to use the money for tax cuts for the rich -- he can now completely screw over 70,000 Mainers.

We were at the hospital yesterday, getting one last round of blood work for Mrs618, and a bunch of us in the waiting room were talking. We agreed it seemed more crowded than usual. Then, one after another, we all said we were losing our insurance at midnight.

Guess what, Fat-Ass? Now that none of us have insurance, we'll have to wait longer before we bite the bullet when we get sick. We'll be far sicker, and we'll also be completely uninsured. You know what that means? That means the emergency room will become our primary care physician by default. We'll be a dead drain on the hospital's resources. The hospitals are, after all, required to render emergency care, regardless of the patient's ability to pay, so all the rich doctors who voted for you will see their income plummet because the hospitals have to provide minimal care for us at their own expense. You're taking money out of the pockets of the IDIOTS who voted you in. Great re-election strategy there, Fat-Ass.

About half the folks in the waiting room had voted for Fat-Ass, because they were the typical Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin' sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, duck f***in', toothless, mouth breathin' morans who always vote Rethuglican, despite the fact that those same Rethuglicans inevitably screw them over. But most of them, yesterday, said they wouldn't vote to re-elect Fat-Ass, and a bunch of them said they wouldn't vote Rethuglican anymore period.

They even admitted that Fat-Ass did exactly what he said he would do during his campaigns: make Maine business-friendly (by cutting regulations, worker's rights, insurance costs, and social services). They were amazed that a politician -- especially a Rethuglican -- kept his word.

Fat-Ass's poorly-thought-out master stroke will also increase the drain on other social services, like fire and EMS squads. Folks will wait longer to call for help, so they'll be far sicker, requiring more intensive and expensive pre-hospital intervention. Guess who's going to wind up paying for that? Yup, the taxpayers. Hospital stays will be longer. More folks will be faced with the "heat, food, or medicine" quandary, probably resulting in increases in malnourishment and chronic hypothermia as well as more serious medical conditions.

The lovely yet talented Mrs618 has some serious, chronic medical issues. Her prescriptions -- without insurance -- run about $3,000 a month (according to the prescription labels affixed by our pharmacy).  My average monthly income is about $150.00, from the few per diem teaching gigs I can find.

Without some sort of assistance, my wife will die in less than a year.

Let me repeat that, in case you missed it:

Without some sort of assistance, my wife WILL DIE IN LESS THAN A YEAR.


BECAUSE THOSE MOTHERFUCKING TEABAGGING SUCK-ASS REPUBLICAN "FAMILY VALUES" ASSHOLES DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE DARKER THAN EDGAR WINTER OR ANYONE MAKING LESS THAN $300,000 A YEAR.

Happy New Year, everyone.


* Look it up.

At Least I'm Not Alone...

D r i f t g l a s s has a post up that describes my own situation almost perfectly, except for gender and lack of MIT credentials. Of course, the same can be said by countless thousands -- if not millions -- across the country.

Ms. Barrington-Ward, D r i f t g l a s s, Jurassic Pork, and yr humble and obt svt are all in the same boat: unemployed for so long that we're now unemployable, with credit scores that have been "sledgehammered," in JP's words.

I tell you, if there is reincarnation, I don't want to come back and be a nice guy all over again. I did that this time around, and I have nothing to show for it. Next time, I want to be a mean, miserable, nasty SOB... with lots of money.

It SUCKS to be in this situation. And to the jerkwads who say it's our fault, fine. Let's trade places. You take our cushy, lazy-ass lifestyles, and try to feed your families.

And we'll piss all over you.

Sanctimonious assholes.

Sequestration (and Castration*?)

Our local Mouse Channel affiliate, WMTW Channel 8, has a story today about Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor closing its famous Loop Road and other amenities until mid-May, as a result of the Rethuglican-inspired sequestration. The same process eliminated public tours of the White House, leading some Rethugs to bitch mightily about the BMITWH "holding the nation hostage" to his budget plans or some such nonsense.

Now, granted, I do not have the economic knowledge or training of Badtux or JurassicPork, but allow me to offer some alternative plans to reduce the cost of government:

• Congresscritters -- both Senators and Representatives -- do not get paid until a budget has been passed and signed by the President. Some will claim the Constitution prohibits "adjusting" Congressional pay or benefits until after the next succeeding election; the Rethugs like to say their financial emergency trumps all else -- including national defense -- so it should also trump their financial well-being. Hell, if we gotta suffer, it's only fair they suffer with us.
• Congresscritters no longer get free or discounted travel anywhere for any reason, including official business. They get to fly Grayhound like the rest of us.
• Lobbyists must deposit their bribes campaign contributions into the Treasury, rather than the bottomless pockets of the pols.
• Eliminate free healthcare for Congresscritters. Let them see what it 's like to go without insurance.
• Eliminate free parking privileges for Congresscritters and their staff.
• In fact, eliminate their freakin' JOBS.

Wouldn't you LOVE to see the Zombie-eyed Granny Starver standing on the corner with a little cardboard sign that says "Will teabag for food"?

Scroom.

Scroomall.

* I vote for cutting their nuts off. No anesthesia, no bandages, no mercy. That's the only way to keep them from reproducing.

Data Breaches

We've all heard horror stories about commercial entities not taking sufficient steps to safeguard their customers' information. TJX (parent company of TJ Maxx), Hannaford Brothers Supermarkets, TD Bank, all sorts of people have been experiencing data breaches (even the Social Security Administration and -- not surprisingly -- the TSA). Many folks in the security field are trying to figure out better ways to protect this information. Believe it or not, this may be one place where the private sector really might be the solution.

Think about this:

Your company, XYZ Bank and Trust, holds confidential information on hundreds of thousands of customers. We're talking names, addresses, bank account numbers and Social Security numbers. You keep all this information on unencrypted tapes because (a) you're lazy, and (b) you don't want to spend a couple of thousand bucks on encryption software. Then, one day, you discover that the tape has vanished between Office A and Office B. Investigation indicates that the manager at Office A asked her teen-age son to drop the tape at Office B en route to pick up his girlfriend. Your customers have their information at risk.

As Karl Malden used to ask, "What will you do? What will you do?"

Here's a nice, easy solution. Fine the business a mere $100.00 for each customer potentially affected. This fine, by law, must come out of owner's or shareholder's equity, not general operating expense (which promptly gets passed right back to the consumers affected by your laziness). The cost of any credit monitoring comes out of owner's or shareholder's equity. Prohibit the bank from raising interest rates charged and from reducing interest paid, for a period of two years. For particularly egregious offenses, double the fines.

Not all that bad, right?

TD Bank managed to expose the information of 267,000 customers. That would be a fine of $26,700,000. Out of the shareholders' pockets. You think the shareholders would make sure that never happened again?  Damn straight they would.

You want to really drive the point home? Fines and costs come out of executive compensation. Start with the highest paid official of the corporation, deduct all but $50,000*, and put the withheld funds towards the fines. Do that until all fines and costs have been covered. Maybe hold an extra 50% in escrow, just in case. The execs will make goddamned sure those tapes are constantly monitored.

One more twist, if you're feeling REALLY evil: if any customer's information is misused, post the same information from the executives, including Social Security, and prohibit them from changing Social Security or bank account numbers for six months.

Hit the lazy thieving bastards in the pocketbook, and they'll start paying attention.

* Some of the executives may complain that they can't live on $50,000. Point out that that's a LOT more than many of us make, and welcome them to the 99%. They'll have to sell the BMW, the Rolls, the yacht, and the Montana ranch? Cry me an effin' river, dude.

Gotta Love Brooks

I have to admit, David Brooks' column yesterday floored me. Discussing the bailout plan for the financial industry, he says:

It does not rely on any system of checks and balances, but on the wisdom and public spiritedness of those in charge [Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke]. It offers succor to the investment banks that contributed to this mess and will burn through large piles of public money. But in exchange, it promises to restore confidence. [...] The country ... will turn to the safe heads of the investment banks. [...] Government activism will provide support to corporations, banks and business and will be used to shore up the stable conditions they need to thrive. [...] We're entering an era of the educated establishment, in which government acts to create a stable -- and often oligarchic-- framework for capitalist endeavor.

The "wisdom and public spiritedness of those in charge"?!? "Succor to the investment banks that contributed to this mess"?!?

Where's the relief for the thousands of Americans who are in danger of losing their homes? Sure, a lot of them were suckered in by immoral, lying bastards from companies like Countrywide, and conned into taking out mortgages they couldn't possibly afford, but what about the little guy?

Oh, wait... under the current administration -- and most likely under the potential administration of McSame and the MILF -- the little guy doesn't count. Only the rich and powerful count and are worthy of salvation.

Amazing how activist governments are a Bad Thing... until you need one to bail out your richie-rich friends.

Badtux, by the way, has a very good explanation of the technical points of the bailout plan; unlike those promulgated by the economists (on either side), his is easy to understand.

On a semi-related matter, today's Portland Press Herald has an editorial saying it's time for the undecided voters to wake up and start thinking about who will be the next President. It seems to me that Brooks' column should show the little guy where his vote should go.

A Crime Against Humanity

Via The Dark Wraith, I found a post by Peter of Lone Tree (one of the regulars at BlondeSense), linking to a Houston Chronicle story about a man taking his own life rather than vacating a home he had lost to foreclosure. The Wraith, with his inimitable flair, got right to the point of the matter:

Who here thinks - I mean, really, really believes - that any rich person, spitefully, blithely hateful to the working class, or pandering and blubbering to it, fundamentally has even a clue?

That fellow down there in Houston? He finally figured it out. When hope is gone, all that remains is the one thing almost no authority can prevent a person from having:

The right not to die on his knees.

The Wraith points out that the failure does not lie solely with the Republicans; Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are equally oblivious.

The Dark Wraith is, as usual, right.

I don't think it takes any great genius to recognize that politicians -- any and all politicians -- are completely insulated from the real world. When one has to be a millionaire to run for office, one winds up with office-holders who have a millionaire's outlook on life. And while most of them may not come right out and say it, I think their general feeling is, "I did it, so can you. And if you can't, you're a loser."