Musings —05.11.2020 09:49 AM
—Today’s Warren Explainer©️
The US 2020 ballot question will be social distancing vs. opening everything up. Or, as we call it up here in Canada, living vs. dying.
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) May 11, 2020
Musings —05.11.2020 09:49 AM
—The US 2020 ballot question will be social distancing vs. opening everything up. Or, as we call it up here in Canada, living vs. dying.
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) May 11, 2020
The vicious partisan vitriol has been quite worrisome. Thankfully Hollywood celebrities are stepping in and telling people to knock it off and settle down. My faith has now been restored that popularly elected democratic institutions have the ability to handle an international crisis of unimaginable complexity.
Further, all the TV ads produced by gigantic corporations, featuring depressing piano music and still photos of random healthcare workers are a reassuring reminder that we can always count on capitalism to look out for ordinary people.
1. Social distancing and opening things up are not mutually exclusive.
2. Canadians shouldn’t get too smug about comparing Canada to the US. Consider what’s happening in Montreal.
3. Andrew Cuomo. Does his order forcing senior care centers to take in COVID patients fall under social distancing or opening things up? Just curious.
Re your point #2, in some respects it depends how you count and what you choose to count. As one columnist I read pointed out, the US looks really bad when you include the New York numbers. You back those out, and Canada and the US look fairly similar.
On the other hand, turnabout is fair play: if you back out the Quebec numbers, Canada looks very good. Notably BC, given the fact it’s our third most populous province and Vancouver International Airport is basically a huge pipeline to China.
Doctor, you raise some valid points for the situation today.
But, my caution to Canadians is that the pandemic isn’t over. There is lots of time for things to get worse, and we might even be faced with a second wave in the fall. I hope not on both counts.
The common denominator is this:
More Liberal Eastern Canada has a COVID death rate 9 times worse than conservative Western Canada (203 deaths per Million vs. 23/M).
In USA, Democratic States have a COVID death rate 3 times worse than Republican States (353 deaths/M vs. 118/M.
I wasn’t aware that Doug Ford was a Liberal and John Horgan was a Conservative, so thanks for alerting me to that.
https://t.co/Hp1aIAJIIR?amp=1
I’m quite certain this issue will come up frequently as a ballot question.
A clip from that font of misinformation Fox News. Not exactly a smoking gun.
“A clip from that font of misinformation Fox News. ”
Unlike the bastion of truth and impartiality that is CNN, right?
“Not exactly a smoking gun.”
Stay tuned. This is just the opening round…wait until the actual indictments begin and they start ratting each other out.
Fred,
You see, I’ve solved that problem. I don’t believe any of them until it’s credibly multi-sourced.
Fred,
There are criminal indictments and then there are political-criminal indictments, and the latter go all the way back to Nixon. Unfortunately, what’s founded in law has long been in the eyes of the beholder and his or her convenience or inconvenience. That’s why Barr is such a disgrace because he’s doing exactly what so many of his AG predecessors did.
“. That’s why Barr is such a disgrace because he’s doing exactly what so many of his AG predecessors did.”
I don’t understand, Ronald…what should he be doing differently?
Fred,
It basically boils down to two things that both Democratic and Republican AGs have done: a) prosecuting or auditing (or not) for solely political reasons, and b) overruling the discretion of professional prosecutors, most of whom have not made biased or politically motivated prosecutorial decisions. Most but quite obviously not all.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/may/11/chuck-todd/nbcs-chuck-todd-meet-press-leave-out-key-context-s/
Does this paragon of journalistic virtue meet your high standards.
2000 former DOJ personnel say it’s a crock of shit. That would be Republicans and Democrats
Yeah – in the middle of a global pandemic and the worst economic meltdown since the 1930s, the average American will be obsessing about . . . Obama.
David Frum — a conservative — nails it:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/trump-has-lost-plot/611548/
I got as far as this:
“But these explanations miss the point. Trump horribly and uniquely bungled the coronavirus crisis. The human result is mass death and Great Depression–scale unemployment. ”
Oh, PLEASE…
Like “mass death” isn’t happening in EVERY country?
Like “Great Depression-scale unemployment” isn’t also happening in EVERY country?
That would be amusing, if it was written by a child…but it’s just sad when written by a grown man.
If you’re looking for humor, Doc, try this:
https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/14/a-handy-guide-to-writing-the-nevertrump-column/
I especially love the first point: “I’m a Conservative. No, really.”
(comedy gold…:)
Spot on. This is a false choice between social distancing and opening things up. Many provinces, and states, and countries, are doing their best to find a compromise between the two.
Not that it will stop lazy opposition politicians from trying to paint this as a black and white choice.