Some Progressive Opinions

Pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ rights, intersectional feminist. I post social issues, pop culture, and news stories you might not have heard about on Fox.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Satanic Abortions cut through unconstitutional abortion laws

States across the US have enacted cruel, unconstitutional abortion laws that require doctors to sexually assault women seeking abortions and lie to them about the health impacts of abortion. Some laws require funerals for foetal remains. These laws were pushed by ALEC, the corporate-backed “legislative exchange” that pushes “model legislation” through a network of slick lobbyists in state-houses across the country. ALEC purports to be in favor of “liberty” and “small government.” Enter the Satanic Temple, a federally recognized religion whose members do not believe in Satan or supernatural phenomena. They believe “that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition.” The Temple has a fantastic schtick. They go to places where christofascists have gotten laws passed that shove their weird, apostate version of “Christianity” down everyone else’s throats and point out that the First Amendment requires nondiscrimination among faiths. Wanna put a giant stone Ten Commandments in front of your courthouse? Sure. But they’re gonna put a giant statue of Baphomet right next to it. The court challenges they mount aren’t cheap, but they’re slam dunks. The US Constitution is pretty clear on this. Now, in 1993, Chuck Schumer sponsored the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” which lets Americans sue governments over laws that “substantially burdens a person’s exercise of religion.” https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/1308 Religious maniacs LOVE the RFRA and its progeny, like SCOTUS’s Hobby Lobby decision, which broadened the RFRA’s provisions and allowed corporations to claim exemptions from Rendering Unto Caesar where that interfered with the owners’ faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burwell_v._Hobby_Lobby_Stores,_Inc. Guess what you get when you combine the RFRA, ALEC’s restrictive abortion laws, and the Satanic Temple? That’s right…SATANIC ABORTIONS. https://announcement.thesatanictemple.com/rrr-campaign41280784 A Satanic Abortion is a religious ritual that is totally indistinguishable from a normal, medical abortion, except that the participant says a few self-affirming words about her bodily autonomy. Oh, also: the ritual absolutely forbids, as a bedrock matter of religous conviction, any waiting periods, the withholding of medically necessary advice, mandatory counseling, required readings, and unnecessary sonograms. Also forbidden: mandatory fetal heartbeat listening sessions and compulsory fetal burials. If you want an abortion and the doctor tries this bullshit, hand them one of these exemption letters explaining how the law doesn’t apply thanks to the RFRA. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mup4nee1n9wkvqb/Religious%20Abortion%20Exemption%20Letter.pdf Now, the religious right could fight this. But if they win…they overturn the RFRA, and Hobby Lobby has to provide its employees with contraception and all the other theocratic exemptions go poof, too. The Temple is pretty amazing. Here’s some highlights of their previous campaigns: “Publicly confronted hate groups, fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in public schools, applied for equal representation when religious installations are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict women’s reproductive autonomy, exposed harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners in mental health care, organized clubs alongside other religious after-school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations, and engaged in other advocacy in accordance with our tenets.”

[wilwheaton]

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Why covid cases are spiking but deaths aren't

The number of covid cases in the US is spiking but the death count isn’t. This mystery has spawned many explanations, most of them optimistic (“it’s young people who are recovering,” “our therapies are better,” etc). But the real explanation is simpler, and it’s sad.

As epidemiologist Ellie Murray explains, it’s almost certainly just “lead time bias.”

That’s when you test more people, including presymptomatic people, and thus discover the disease earlier than before.

https://twitter.com/EpiEllie/status/1280305393516904448

That means we learn people are sick earlier, which means that the time between detection and death gets longer - not because people are surviving longer from the onset of symptoms, but because we’re detecting sick people before they exhibit symptoms.

Lead-time bias emerges whenever we ramp up testing: routine mammograms and colonoscopies appeared to change the course of related cancers, but what was really going on was earlier, presymptomatic identification of cancers.

And while it’s true that we measured earlier cases from the first symptoms, we didn’t know what some symptoms were (loss of smell, for example) and we relied on self-reporting by gravely ill people, which isn’t as good as actual tests.

That’s called “recall bias.” Sometimes we’d ask family members, who only knew about the symptoms that were severe enough to warrant mentioning (“proxy respondent bias”).

Bottom line: “When you start identifying people at earlier stages of a disease, it looks like they survive longer (or have the disease longer) compared to when you identify based on severe symptoms.” -Ellie Murray

[superhusbands4ever]

Here’s a fun tale from your local Target employee:

I was pushing truck for OTC today which is the pharmacy area. I was pushing cases of hand sanitizer because we got the “good stuff” in today (purell) and it goes quick even with the the product limit put in place. People were literally taking it from my hand before I could put it on the shelf, but that’s not the point.

As I was putting the goods on the shelf, this woman comes up to the stand and she’s very excited. “Yes! You guys have it! How many can I take, is there a limit?” I say yes, 3 per person per transaction per day. She nods, accepting, and grabs her three. “Sorry, that was weird. I’m a teacher, I’m trying to stock up. I promise I’m not a hoarder.” I smile and nod and say it’s fine. She starts to walk away but stops and turns back.

“Do you have any Clorox wipes in stock by any chance?”

Heart sinking, I shake my head and say no, sorry, and we don’t know for sure when we’ll get more. (We get them maybe once every two weeks, but the product limit for those is one per person per transaction per day and they usually sell out within hours of going on the shelf.)

Her face dropped and she kinda looked down at her hand sanitizer and said “that’s okay, with the product limit I wouldn’t be able to get enough before school starts anyway. It’s only 4 weeks away.” She laughed a little but I could hear the frustration in her voice and see the tension in her face. She sounded defeated. The most I could offer her was one of the small bottles of pure bleach. I honestly wanted to cry. For a second there I thought she would. I had no clue what to say as she turned and walked away.

This is what teachers are dealing with. Even in years when there’s not a pandemic they have to rely on donations from parents or their own money to be able to buy hand sanitizer, wipes, tissues, etc. for their classrooms. Now they’re being forced to return to school with no extra funding, no extra supplies, no support from the government; they’re STILL expected to provide for and protect these kids *on their own.* All while, now, risking their own lives and their own health because the government doesn’t want to admit that they fucked up handling this pandemic.

Every time I hear someone say “kids don’t die from it, it’ll be fine,” I realize that person does not give a flying fuck about teachers. Sure, *maybe* the kids will be fine. But the teachers are not children. They are adults with underlying conditions, adults living with elderly family, adults who are over 50 and are at more risk. Adults with at risk family at home. Adults who are at risk themselves. But they are STILL trying their hardest to protect your children in the classroom.

It’s honestly fucked up that we live in a country where police departments get millions or even billions of dollars in state funding, yet teachers have to buy their own cleaning supplies and doctors have to reuse PPE in hospitals. Police get tens of thousands of dollars worth of riot armor to wear and terrorize peaceful protesters, while the Navajo Nation get sent body bags instead of medical supplies.

Honestly I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I’m tired y’all. I’m tired and frustrated because leadership in this country doesn’t care enough to prioritize human life. Idk, it was a small moment in the grand scheme of things but it really was a slap in the face reminder of how this country treats it’s own people. I feel like we’ve all been getting those lately.

[cephalopodvictorious]

Kids don't die from it except when they DO, and teachers CARE and when they can't prevent it and they know that their kids are dying and hospitalized and irreparably harmed and they couldn't stop it, you're setting a lot of people up for a LOT of trauma, on top of everything else too.

[wilwheaton]

This is the natural consequence of a cult of personality in which the leader’s ego and survival are paramount. Trump wants to slow testing (which alerts those infected and those they have encountered so they can be traced and quarantined) because it makes the numbers — “his” numbers — look bad. No president has behaved in such monstrously self-absorbed ways, willing to wave away the lives of Americans so he can appear more successful.

 The party of grotesque selfishness (via wilwheaton)

[wilwheaton]

Let me take you for a moment to a fantasy land. In this place, the coronavirus pandemic was bad for a couple of months but now it is largely under control. If you lived there you’d still be a little uncertain about going to a concert or a movie, but your life would have largely returned to normal. You wouldn’t have lost your job; the government would have had a comprehensive support program that kept unemployment low. You’d be able to see your family and friends without fear. Your children would be returning to school in September. There would be some precautions to take for a while longer, but there would be no doubt that the pandemic was on its way to being defeated. To us here in the United States, this picture seems magical, like a dispatch from the far future. But it isn’t. It’s the situation that exists right now in many of our peer countries around the world. And the fact that our situation is so different? That shouldn’t just make you feel disappointed, or anxious, or upset. It should make you enraged. That is the proper response to where we find ourselves today.

If you aren’t filled with rage at Trump, you aren’t paying attention  (via wilwheaton)

[scavengedluxury]

[afloweroutofstone]

I'm not a Biden supporter. He's a criminal, warhawk, and alleged rapist. He supported the Patriot act, the Iraq war, and is in the pockets of oil companies.The one thing, the ONLY significant reason I consider voting for him is the massive amount (trillions) that Trump has handed to the 1% that will be siphoned into political lobbying for years to come. They'll continue to oppress the rest of us. That's what the difference is, the decades we've lost. Pls help articulate this to people like me.

I don’t like Biden for the same reasons, plus some (let’s not forget Social Security, criminal justice, and the war on drugs!). But I still think people in swing states should vote for him. I know some people, especially victims of sexual violence, who are unwilling to cast a vote for someone with a credible rape accusation; if that’s the objection, I’m not going to push anyone on it. I can understand that perspective and I have no interest in changing anyone’s mind about it. What I can say is this: for all the problems with a potential Biden administration, it would be better than a Trump administration in meaningful ways with real consequences. Biden isn’t worth fighting for, but he is sometimes worth voting for. Here’s my honest view on this.

Joe Biden won’t go to bat for any bold progressive priorities that aren’t already well accepted as Democratic planks. Medicare for All and a real Green New Deal are effectively off-the-table in this election. But there are worthwhile reforms popular with congressional Democrats that Biden would push for: a minimum wage hike, paid family leave, etc. It’s not hard to see that four years fighting for those things is more productive for progressives than four years of fighting against capital gains tax cuts for the rich. What’s more is that Biden will be far easier to push and pressure on achieving small wins on almost every issue than Trump would be, and that itself is a strong reason.

For all the issues that Biden would be no better than Trump on, it’s nonetheless undeniable that a Biden administration would be better than a Trump administration. I have no ringing endorsement of Biden and his administration would leave much to be desired, but I do have a long list of reasons he’s preferable to the only alternative at this juncture. Before 2016, Chomsky pointed out that “[s]light differences in a very powerful system can have large consequences.” Just a small sampling:

Any Biden tax reform package would be flawed, but it wouldn’t nakedly funnel trillions more into the pockets of the rich and large corporations. Even the worst Democratic tax proposals don’t come near what the 2017 TCJA did.

Trump’s administration is probably the most corrupt President in a century, passing Reagan’s. Here’s a list of examples; it’s 15,000 words. Of course, a Biden administration would distribute rewards for political power through “traditional” means and participate in the systemic corruption that defines American politics, but there’s zero chance he will ever go as above and beyond as Trump in directly showering the wealthy and powerful in yet more wealth and power.

Biden’s environmental platform lacks the necessary ambition, but there’s no reason to believe he would continue Trump’s path of slashing environmental regulations and decimating the EPA, and he does have an incentive to go along with environmentalist proposals brought to his desk from congress. He might try and do something like Obama’s Clean Power Plan through regulation- misguided but not unhelpful. 

Like Democratic Presidents before him, Biden is basically guaranteed to remove the Mexico City Policy (implemented basically every time a Republican president takes office and removed whenever a Dem does). The policy bans foreign aid to healthcare organizations which provide abortions or even provide counseling on the issue, serving as a global gag order on reproductive justice which limits healthcare access for the poor around the world while actually failing at its goal, increasing abortion rates due to reduced contraceptive access.

Democrats have electoral incentives to expand voting rights, while Republicans have incentives to fight to restrict them at every possible turn.

Biden will not dismantle ICE or create a humane immigration system, but he’ll likely return to the still-cruel-but-less-cruel Obama-era practices of discretion in deportation and a reduction in incarceration of the undocumented. Even personnel choices would make a meaningful difference; having hard nationalists like Cuccinelli in power right now means that every decision that can be made to worsen immigrant welfare will be made.

I know “but the Supreme Court!” is already getting old as a reason, but it really is true. The two oldest Supreme Court Justices are liberals, and losing their seats to another Gorsuch or Kavanaugh would devastate progressive policy ambitions for decades. It’s a stupid way to set up a judicial system, sure, but we absolutely cannot afford to lose ground in it, and even some wishy-washy nominee like Merrick Garland would have a huge positive impact towards everything from labor law to reproductive justice. Just as important are the lower courts, which McConnell and Trump have been stacking with conservatives as fast as they can to play the long game.

Biden will waste his time trying to “fix” Obamacare, which is substantially better than Trump spending his time trying to dismantle it. As much of a band-aid as it is, it has reduced the rate of uninsurance by 6-7%, and the response of universal healthcare advocates shouldn’t be to ignore those small gains. 

Biden would continue the bipartisan tradition of flouting international law, but he wouldn’t defund WHO, he wouldn’t pull the US out of the UN Human Rights Council, he’d sign on to half-measures like the Paris Accords, and on and on. This has a global importance, as the only thing worse than a US which disregards international law, cooperation, and diplomacy is a US which is trying to destroy international law, cooperation, and diplomacy.

Even on foreign policy, where the difference between Biden and Trump is smallest, there will be marginal improvements. He’s seemed to signal that he’s open to concessions to the left on stuff like ending our involvement in Yemen. He won’t do anything to stop Israeli occupation of Palestine, but he won’t take the unique step Trump has of basically giving Israel a full approval of West Bank settlements, and that sort of thing does have an effect (settlement building always accelerates when the American government gives the Israeli government active cover for it). It’s possible we’ll see a reduction in drone strikes given how much Trump has escalated our drone strike program beyond the Obama administration’s levels, though that’s not a guarantee. Biden is less likely than Trump to do things like loosening private arms exports rules to flood third world nations already suffering from violence with more weapons. Etc. 

I could go on all day. There’s a theme here. Joe Biden’s response to issues would range from doing nothing at all to making things incrementally better, and for that reason, progressives like me and you looking for a real fight for a better future don’t find him appealing. But the stupidity of the American electoral system means that when it comes specifically to voting for President, the only other option now is someone who actively fights to make things worse. When it costs something like an hour to cast a vote in a race between a spineless asshole who we can pressure and a vicious asshole who we can’t, then it’s worth that hour for swing state voters whose vote actually matters.

The Presidential campaign should not be the organizational focus of the left. We need to be organizing downballot and organizing outside of elections entirely. But voting for President shouldn’t be seen as some meaningful act of identification with a candidate, it’s a cold calculus of outcomes which matter even for those entirely uninvolved with electoralism. The right understands this.

[wilwheaton]

Democrats tried to put language into the CARES act that would have prevented this. Republicans refused.

Tell me again how there’s no difference between the parties.

Actually, don’t tell me that. We all know it isn’t true.

[wilwheaton]

[psychicsmurf]

[irrepressible-domovoy]

Jsyk, they say the second wave in the US is going to hit between September and November, most likely. Stay safe and keep washing your friggin’ hands!

[angry-acehole-for-positivity]

Remember to stay aware of your local safety measures, which can be found on the official government sites for your states, provinces, or territories.

[howilearnedtocope]

Why we need masks for all

Okay, I am going to put myself out here: we need masks for all. If you live in a country that doesn’t have widespread use of masks in public, this one is for you.

Here is a graph of coronavirus trajectories by country. All those countries in blue have widespread public use of masks, in addition to other measures.

Obviously I am not basing all of this on a few countries that have managed to slow the spread. Here is a link to a summary of 33 scientific papers that show that masks (even handmade ones, we’ll get to that) reduce spread of infection for the general population. Many of these studies are themselves meta-analyses of data. The evidence is mounting that public mask usage is an important strategy to reduce COVID-19 transmission. I want to highlight this paper in particular which modeled that public mask usage could slow or even stop the spread of an influenza pandemic.

(The CDC and WHO still maintain that healthy people should not wear masks. Preserving them for healthcare workers is important, but that is a separate question from whether they work or not. It seems likely from the evidence presented above that they do help at least somewhat)

Of course, there is a nationwide shortage of masks in most countries. Medical grade masks must be reserved for healthcare workers (if you have some, look for local ways to donate them, many hospitals are accepting donations). So where do we get the masks for the public? We follow the lead of the Czech Republic and Taiwan and make our own. Here is a great summary of how the Czech Republic went from 0 to 100% public mask usage, in less than two weeks.

A person makes masks and a “mask tree” where neighbors could donate handmade masks to others. Note that masks (or anything really) can be effectively sterilized by heating above 70C (158F) either in the oven for paper masks or using regular cycle in your washer and dryer for cloth masks.

Studies have shown even basic household materials like t-shirts can be effective at blocking droplets that contain viruses.

Are they as good as n95 respirators? No. But outside of certain medical procedures, the disease mainly spreads through droplets, and these homemade masks are still pretty good (though not perfect) at blocking those. This goes both ways: the masks provide a layer of protection to protect you, but ALSO contain a lot of the droplets you could be spreading. Some people with the disease don’t have any symptoms at all, so wearing masks is also important to reduce the chance of infecting others.

Masks, like social distancing, don’t have to be 100% effective in order to help flatten the curve.

Here is a model from the Seattle area, which shows how small changes in social contacts can effect total case numbers. You can see that even reducing contacts 25% has a profound effect on case numbers after a few weeks. The same thing would be true if wearing masks reduced transmissions by just 25%.

I want to point out that as long as you don’t take risks you wouldn’t take otherwise and keep your hands off the mask, there is very little risk to doing this now as we wait for further scientific evidence. And the evidence is mounting that simple masks reduce risk and slow spread.

In the Czech republic, they went from no one wearing masks to 100% (it is now mandatory in public) in about 10 days. While the mandatory order to cover your mouth and nose is only a week old, they have seen a slower growth of cases than the rest of Europe despite lots of testing.

Basic masks can be made with just a t-shirt and scissors, no sewing required. This video shows you how, just wear your mask higher on your face than this guy. (Video is changed from original post to one that doesn’t require Facebook login)

And a few more tutorials

DIY facemask with filter pocket from Maker’s Habitat (video)

Facemask with adjustable wire and filter pocket from Easy2Sew (video)

Craft Passion Face Mask Pattern (pattern & instructions)

A Dr Explains how to make a facemask from a HEPA filter (video)

Simple mask that can be made with a sewing machine, from Craft Passion

If you get good at making homemade masks, especially the ones with HEPA filters, some hospitals are now accepting donations of homemade masks as well. Check to see what is going on in your local area.

If the papers cited above are correct, wearing a mask now when you need to leave the house for essential chores will reduce the time it takes to bring our cases down, and public use of masks could be invaluable in keeping cases low when people start to go back to work.

We can change our culture from stigmatizing masks to expecting people wear them. It happened in the Czech Republic in less than two weeks. We can do it too.

If you have the time, please watch this video. It was the thing that really made all of this click for me, and it has a ton of great information. Here is a shorter video from the Czech youtuber who started the movement in his country which I also recommend watching & sharing.

Please reblog & add resouces, tutorials, or mask selfies! There are three main things you can do to help spread the word and normalize mask wearing: 1) share videos & other information on the topic; 2) take a selfie of you wearing a home-made mask; 3) spread the message, with hashtag #masks4all.

[howilearnedtocope]

March 30th updates:

A lot has happened in the four days since I wrote the post. Some news:

Austria Requires Masks in Supermarkets

Bulgaria makes wearing a protective mask in public places compulsory

George Gao, director-general of the Chinese CDC, gave an interview about the biggest mistakes other countries are making:

“The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.”

President of Slovakia, Zuzana Chepalova has been matching her masks to her outfits this week. Slovakia has also made masks mandatory in public.

A team of public health experts at American Enterprise Institute included public use of masks a key part of their strategy:

There is emerging evidence that asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 is possible, which complicates efforts to pursue case-based interventions. To reduce this risk during Phase I, everyone, including people without symptoms, should be encouraged to wear nonmedical fabric face masks while in public

(Link - it’s worth reading the whole section on masks if you are interested)

US Senator Pat Toomey calls for the public to wear homemade masks to prevent the spread of covid-19. 

Not news, but important, here is the conclusion of a study that evaluated homemade masks against surgical and n95 respirators for protection against respiratory infection:

“Any type of general mask use is likely to decrease viral exposure and infection risk on a population level, in spite of imperfect fit and imperfect adherence, personal respirators providing most protection. Masks worn by patients may not offer as great a degree of protection against aerosol transmission.”

A great new summary video to share, featuring experts from the Czech medical community and the Minister of Health of the Czech Republic:

In addition to the t-shirt method in the original post, here are three more face-covering tutorials that do not require a sewing machine:

This one is disposable!

Here is how to turn a t-shirt into an impromptu face covering, no cutting or sewing required.

5 more new sew styles. Could potentially be reinforced with a paper towel, or additional cloth.

I want to end with a plea not to treat the masks as a substitute for quarantine, social distancing, hygiene and other measures. The biggest fear in recommending masks to the public is that people might get a false sense of security from them. If people use masks as an excuse to take these other precautions less seriously, it could undo any benefit they have and even make the situation worse. If you wear a mask, you MUST continue with all the social distancing and hygiene measures as before. Don’t think of the mask as permission to do risky things: think of it as a constant reminder of how careful we must be.

Mask or not: isolate yourself when sick, stay home as much as possible, keep a safe distance from others when you must go out, avoid touching your face, and wash your hands frequently and well.

Stay safe y’all. These are wild times

[wilwheaton]

Trump needs the same rural white voters who carried him then to come out for him again. He’s getting them fired up right now. In part, it’s an effective message because rural areas of Michigan have been hit far less hard than blue urban centers like Detroit, where most of the cases and deaths have been concentrated. (Whether it’ll stay that way with protesters risking bringing it back home is an open question.) Weeks ago, Trump warned that the cure for the disease can’t be worse than the virus itself. Many economists have since weighed in, arguing that that is a false choice. We can take steps to shore up the economy through actions by the Fed and stimulus packages in Congress while attempting to curb the virus. At the same time, there’s no way for the economy to turn back on like a light switch. Covid-19 cases in the US are still on the rise, and most Americans say they wouldn’t go back to normal life even if the rules changed. That’s not a recipe for economic recovery. The most-respected plan is the one Trump’s own administration has set forth. Once deaths and new cases are down for a solid period of time, once testing can track the virus’s spread, the rules can slowly start to change. It’s a cautious approach based on the best evidence available. It’s not about politics. And most Americans don’t want it to be.

Stay-at-home orders: Anti-quarantine protesters are a minority (via wilwheaton)

[wilwheaton]

America doesn’t want another Tea Party

Don’t let Fox News fool you. 81 percent of Americans do not share the views of anti-quarantine protesters.

Don’t be fooled by Fox News, Donald Trump, or the same type of groups that produced the Tea Party a decade ago: The protesters taking to the streets against social distancing are a small minority of Americans — and their attitudes represent a fraction of public opinion.

In fact, America has done something remarkable in this moment: It has united.

Last week, 81 percent of Americans told pollsters for a Politico/Morning Consult poll that the country “should continue to social distance for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus, even if it means continued damage to the economy.”

Let me repeat that: 81 percent of Americans agree. That’s an astounding figure.

An NBC poll found a lower rate at 60 percent, but still a solid majority. Large majorities of Democrats and independents are more concerned about the virus than the economy, as are about half of Republicans.

This consensus is striking given that Americans live in an era when they’re divided along party lines on everything from climate change to the NFL.

But continued vigilance is required. Trump will keep trying to divide Americans ahead of the election this fall. Fox will continue to air images that make the anti-social-distancing movement look mainstream. Well-funded conservative groups will gin up more events.

[makingdonalddrumpfagain]

[liberalsarecool]

White terror enjoys a positive media bias in coverage.

[wilwheaton]

Right now it’s Democrats who want to do the most to rescue the economy, even though a quick recovery represents Trump’s only hope of winning reelection. Republicans are fighting every step of the way to make the rescue packages as small as possible; they may be worried that if we do too much and Trump loses anyway, Biden could be left with an economy getting back on its feet and a population that remembers how the government gave them generous unemployment benefits and a stimulus check or two. Which is why Republicans will deploy a strategy that includes both sabotaging the economy by demanding brutal austerity policies and a sweeping anti-government PR effort. The latter will feature promoting a tea party II with angry protests that are catnip to the media; fake scandal-mongering to portray the Biden administration as corrupt (Solyndra! Fast and Furious!); and every effort they can devise to throw sand in the government’s gears to make it difficult for the administration to actually solve today’s problems, let alone prepare for tomorrow’s.

The coming GOP plot to sabotage a Biden presidency  (via wilwheaton)

[whitepeopletwitter]