There is an urban legend in Fort Worth circles about a guy that was pulled over. The police officer saw a mysterious package in the front seat. Supposedly, the driver said, “don’t worry officer, it’s not a bomb. It’s crack cocaine.” I seriously doubt this story is true, but we always told in Government class to illustrate a point. Some people are just stupid and you don’t want to be like them.

Well apparently the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign has gotten off to an even worse start than Ron DeSantis’s campaign. Then, someone accused him of suggesting that the COVID virus was engineered and racially motivated. Then, he managed to make a statement that just cleared up everything.

The @nypost story is mistaken. I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews. I accurately pointed out — during an off-the-record conversation — that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 15, 2023

Don’t worry officer. It’s not a bomb. It’s just crack cocaine. To put it another way, essentially Kennedy is saying, “I’m not a racist. I’m just nuts.” Is it any wonder that he is conservatives’ favorite spoiler candidate. They are hoping that you and me will overlook the crazy and just vote for him because he’s a Kennedy and because he is younger than Joe Biden.

Who knows what is motivating RFK Jr. Maybe he knows he has no chance in the world, but just wants his 15 minutes of notoriety. Maybe he is delusional enough to believe he has a chance. Maybe he knows exactly what conservatives are doing and just wants to take down Joe Biden for his own reasons. Maybe he is too dense to know he’s a tool. Maybe the tweet above is just an admission of lunacy.

Some people are just blessed without self-awareness. Let’s say his statement is 100 percent true. There are parts of it that make perfect sense. Maybe the virus was a bioweapon. Maybe it effects some people more than others. Maybe a lot of things. However, you put all of that together and it makes very little sense. Most people would know that before saying it. RFK Jr. isn’t most people.

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to take a look at a couple of commercials from the Texas governor’s race between Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke. As it stands, I only hear pro-Abbott commercials. Three things have struck me from these ads.

Beto O’Rourke is for defunding the police

All Democrats and progressives please read the following sentence carefully. For the love of everything good and holy, please stop doing this. You come up with these slogans you think are winning slogans, but the other side just uses them against you.

Most people don’t understand nuance. I know you don’t literally want to eliminate police departments. I know you are not literally for anarchy. The average voter doesn’t understand the idea of spreading resources around to other agencies that would be in a better position to handle certain issues. They just see a hoard of criminals coming to your door.

Of course, Abbott has to throw in a reference to Black Lives Matter. Again, they have successfully linked BLM with crime and anarchy. Is it fair? Of course it isn’t. Are most of them lawless thugs? Of course they aren’t. People don’t stick around long enough for a lengthy explanation. So, being for BLM and being for police reform means you are pro-crime and for the forces that are bringing crime to our neighborhoods.

Beto is for Open Borders

Clearly he isn’t. He has said this multiple times. What he is for is streamlining our immigration policy and process so that people can enter the country safely and we can identify the bad guys quicker. He has talked about tearing down the wall because most experts agree the wall is virtually useless. Of course, most people only hear the first half of that particular statement.

So, this argument came down to two statements. First, hoards of drug dealers and mules are bringing over fentanyl. That’s oddly specific. That statement is both true and misleading. China actually produces the most fentanyl, but Mexico is seeing an increase. The one that got me was that the border between Mexico and the United States is the most dangerous border in the world. I almost pulled off the road into a ditch laughing. It is the most dangerous border in North America.

Beto is too dangerous for Texas

As we teach our students, pathos (emotion) is the most effectively logical appeal there is. To hell with facts or credibility. We just want you to believe that Beto O’Rourke would somehow kill thousands because he’s inherently dangerous. What happens if you are dangerously incompetent or reckless? A simple Google search on COVID showed that over 90,000 Texans have died from COVID since March of 2020. Most of those came in the first year when our beloved governor decided to lift protocols and keep local governments from imposing their own.

Remember the great freeze? You know the one where our grid virtually shut down statewide because we were in a hurry to deregulate everything that moves. Yeah, this is the one they still haven’t fixed and came close to having more blackouts this past summer. Yeah, THAT freeze cost 246 Texans their lives.

If you count the period when Greg Abbott was attorney general in Texas, we have had a rash of mass shootings in Texas. Take a look at the timeline. Most happened under his watch as governor. Yet, he and the legislature have hurdled head first into policies that would virtually give anyone unfettered access to any weapon they might want. Yet, we cannot predict or control what might happen at our schools and are just dumbfounded when these shootings happen. So tell me, isn’t Greg Abbott too dangerous for Texas?

One of the things I’ve noticed on social media lately are the cries from conservatives that liberals were apparently rooting for Donald Trump to die when he had COVID. Yet, they are all adults and none of them have wished death on Joe Biden. See, they are the adults and those that believe in civility unlike all of these nasty liberals. Of course, they forget that we have receipts.

Unhinged One America News anchor Alison Steinberg suggests Joe Biden’s covid is a false flag to perhaps get people to accept vaccine boosters or to install Kamala Harris at president. #OANN pic.twitter.com/yJYU4Rc0pu

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 22, 2022

I know many of you do not follow Twitter, so I need to add to this little gem. Steinberg later went on a private twitter video off air where she gleefully asked her followers if Joe Biden would die. Naturally, I first saw this in one of my social media echo chambers and the comments got pretty sarcastic when it came to her fashion and beauty choices. I’m just a simple guy, so I won’t get into any of that.

I only have two points when it comes to all of this. First of all, my memory may be a bit fuzzy, but I don’t remember anyone on MSNBC, The Young Turks, or any prominent member of the progressive media wishing death on Donald Trump. Of course, I don’t spend all my waking hours watching those channels or networks. Hell, I don’t watch a whole lot of television to begin with. So, maybe someone could help me out there. If I’ve missed a major progressive politician or news anchor wishing death on Donald Trump please provide the receipts.

We had an election where over 150 million people voted. More than 80 million voted for Joe Biden and against the former guy. There is absolutely a non-zero chance that a few of those 80 million people might have uttered those sentiments out loud. There’s a decent chance it was more than a few. I’m not answering for them. I refuse to. What I will do is apply pressure on any elected official or prominent talking head to clean up their act. However, I tend to doubt that I will have to do that.

Furthermore, this ignores the irony that the former guy gaslit the nation about the dangers of the virus and then ended up getting it. He spread it to others and allegedly attempted to spread it to more (including Joe Biden) knowingly and on purpose. More than a million people are dead and the vast majority probably didn’t need to die. I certainly don’t condone wishing death on anyone, but many of those people probably lost family members to the virus and maybe some close friends. Maybe those family members and close friends neglected to wear masks or vaccinate because their commander in chief said that was okay. I can’t condone anything, but under those conditions I certainly understand it.

 

The race for the nominations of the two major parties are moving closer and closer. Normally, when the midterm elections end then the two sides come out swinging at each other. Governors, prominent senators, and cults of personality collide on stage and on the roads of Iowa and New Hampshire. One often wonders why those particular states get such a prominent position, but we can set that down for the moment.

The Democratic side has some intrigue. Joe Biden will be 80 before the campaign for the nomination is over. One can’t help but wonder whether he has the energy to do this again. Obviously, the right would like nothing more than to see him step aside. It opens the door to Kamela Harris and other potentially more progressive candidates.

If we assume norms for a moment (I know, I know) we would assume that past presidents will move on into the sunset (or an eight by ten room with bars) then the Republican side has a handful of challengers that would seem to be ready to run. Most of them are governors, so we should probably take a moment to look at the latest.

The headliner just might be Ron DeSantis from Florida. It’s a populous state and he finds himself in the news often enough. We can go with the free version or the pay wall version. It’s the same basic story. Recent data has them third in current COVID cases. Being behind California and Texas is par for the course. They are bigger states. The fact that they are ahead of New York and Illinois is perhaps more telling.

In all fairness, that was the past. Newer data would seem to indicate that they are not the most egregious offenders in the past month. Great. They still have had more than 70,000 people die from COVID-19. That number could become 80,000 by the time campaign season gets here.

Not to be outdone, Greg Abbott in Texas has been at the helm when nearly 90,000 Texans have died from COVID. He will be one of the other major contenders for the nomination. Of course, Abbott is an equal opportunity to killer. If he doesn’t get you with lax regulations and mind-numbingly stupid belligerence then perhaps he will freeze you to death.

Both DeSantis and Abbott have postured their way into the former guy’s good graces. I’m sure the hope there will be that he will step aside (or step inside) and will tab one of them as the heir apparent. Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. In this case, freedom could lead to the loss of more life.

South Dakota governor Kristi Noem should not be forgotten. Her track record is a double edged sword. She set marks for positive COVID cases per capita, but was also part of a response that turned the tide. I’ll just let the charts do the talking.

I’m sure the usual suspects like Lyndsay Graham and Ted Cruz will throw their hat into the ring. Why vote for a senator who may lead thousands of people to their death when you can elect someone that’s actually done it? Let freedom ring all the way to the cemetery.

This week the NY Times published an excellent analysis of US response to the COVID 19 epidemic by compiling data from Johns Hopkins, the World Bank, and the US Census Bureau.  What the data show is a stark picture of just how badly the US responded to the pandemic compared to other developed countries.  The stupidity of the response is well illustrated in just two graphs:

The left graph is cumulative deaths per 100,000 since the pandemic began. The right graph is cumulative deaths from only the Omicron wave.  Notice that the US “wins” the death race over other wealthy countries by a LOT, and that failure stems from stupid public policy that is engrained in the US; the failure is worsened as a result of the stupidity of millions of Americans who chose to believe bullshit and have participated in politicizing science, vilifying of scientists  and doctors, and spreading nonsensical conspiracy theories about vaccines.

At the beginning of the pandemic, most wealthy countries locked down quickly, including the US.  The difference, though, was how the US did that compared to other countries.  Unlike the US, other wealthy countries, especially in Europe, took over the paychecks of their citizens, keeping them financially secure, which encouraged them to stay home and safe.  Characteristically, the US did it wrong.  First the US government stupidly poured a TRILLION dollars into companies with the stated goal of keeping people on the payroll, but the program was botched, and much of that money went into the pockets of the wealthy with little reaching  those who actually needed the money.  Second, GOP lead states like Texas started the misinformation campaign that developed into what is now a death cult among conservatives.  Recall that during this time, Dan Patrick, retired talk show host and bar owner, actually suggested that we should sacrifice the old and weak in favor of saving the economy.

Red states like Texas did extend unemployment benefits for a time, but that support was nowhere near livable, forcing millions of people to choose between risking the lives of themselves and their families and putting food on the table.  We all know how that turned out.  Add that to bullshit coming out of TFG’s mouth, his shutdown of all pandemic response that Bush II and Obama had put in place, and putting PPE response into the hands of that idiot Jared Kushner, and the perfect storm of stupidity flooded the entire country driving the US to the highest case and death rate in the developed world.

And it continues.  Playing to their base in an election year, Republicans all over the country are trying to out crazy one another doubling down on anti-vaxxer fears,  goofy conspiracy theories, and trying to to distract them with wild rhetoric about critical race theory and banning books.  And while they’re doing everything but their damn jobs, people continue to die.

There are lots of moments when federalism just seems to bog down. I remember watching former governor Rick Perry fumble around during hurricane relief when he was tasked as being a go between with the federal government and local government. Bill White (the mayor) got so exasperated that he told him to just stand in the corner while he worked directly with the federal relief people.

When it comes to a response to COVID, we are rapidly getting to that level of gross incompetence. The fact that the state actors are the ones again in the crosshairs shouldn’t be lost on anyone. The state level is dominated by Republicans while the local level has been dominated by Democrats. That alone is a good explanation for why things have gone awry.

In a time when it would be great to have one unified voice of how to proceed we have voices on four different levels. We have the national government making rules and recommendations. State governments have virtually punted any response or responsibility. This is especially true for those that have possible 2024 aspirations. So, that leaves local authorities and or private businesses to pick up the slack.

My daughter had a volleyball tournament this past weekend. Except, they weren’t allowed to go. One member of the team had been exposed to COVID. So, the whole team was barred from coming. I think the tournament organizers really don’t understand what they were doing here. See, there wasn’t one player on the team that was exposed. There were multiple players exposed.

Kids on these sorts of teams go to multiple schools. Those multiple schools have multiple rules in terms of COVID and exposure. Some tell you if you have been exposed and some don’t. Some advise you to get tested when exposed and some don’t. Obviously, a lot of people know these rules and will be less than honest about their exposure. That’s especially true when you consider the consequences of reporting that exposure.

I’d have to imagine that if every team were following the rules to the letter there would be no tournament. So, in a roundabout way they were actually guaranteeing more exposure and not less. Obviously, the situation caused a lot of frustration for the girls and for their parents. Frustration leads to less cooperation and less following of the rules. I imagine that is not what we are after.

That’s just one isolated situation. Multiply that numerous times and you’ll get what we currently have. You get a situation where national, state, and local entities say three different things. Public and private entities say two different things. Multiply that by the number of private entities we deal with on a daily basis and the number of public entities we may deal with and you get a recipe for frustration and confusion. That’s for the people who are inclined to follow rules and recommendations in good faith. As we know, many people are not that way.

In that world, it shouldn’t be surprising that some people won’t follow the rules and instead may resort to drinking their urine to fight back the virus. This is federalism problem, but it really is a problem where some people are not invested in finding solutions. Some people are more invested in making sure others fail. They want frustration. Frustration is a path to their electoral success. At least we are all on the same page as far as that is concerned.