29 Comments

And, of course, the one they have all settled on: This is Obama's fault for disbanding the CDC back in [mumble-mumble] and Trump has courageously restored funding!

In fact, his restored funding is so robust that it must be paid for with a tax cut!

(Seriously, though--I think the vast majority of Americans are looking at Trump's response to coronavirus being a tax cut and they're just bewildered. What the fuck does payroll tax have to do with the virus? How does shoveling low-interest loans to the shale-oil industry help my Aunt May stay alive? Even conservative True Believers who honestly think that tax cuts have magical powers are looking at this and feeling scammed.)

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Nothing says Republican like cutting necessary services to show government incompetence and to free a couple of bucks for special interests to waste.

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And don’t forget the hated urban areas will most likely be hot spots for contagion before rural areas are threatened. Add COVID-19 to the feces covered, rat-infested streets of San Francisco and you’ll have the rubes munching popcorn while they refresh their rightwing Facebook feeds to watch the death toll climb.

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Yeah, been waiting for this one. NY (state, but nobody knows there's there's a state here) just became Number! One! in cases yesterday. Teeming with (human) vermin, etc.

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New Rochelle: a Westchester County suburb, sneezing distance of Scarsdale and Larchmont. From there it's on to Rye, Croton-on-Hudson, and all the "embarrassed by Trump but will vote for him anyway because Socialmalism" white Republicans.

Like you say, human vermin.

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We’re far more liberal than that. Find other areas to tar where the facts match your bias.

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Wait, what? How am I tarring?

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If you're looking at New Rochelle from the south, turn your head slightly left and gaze in awe at one of the wealthiest enclaves in America: Greenwich, CT. More nouveau riche people per square inch than you can shake a petri dish at!

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I’d dare say given how much I despise a Cuomo, we might have high numbers because unlike many areas crippled by Trump policies, people are actually being tested.

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Yeah, the good Americans outside urban areas have lousy access to healthcare.

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I can't put out of my mind the Desi-American doctor who, early in 2017, said that he hated leaving the West Virginia town where he was the only doctor in many miles, but staying where people hated him didn't seem wise.

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"And for God's sake tell Matt Gaetz to take that stupid gas mask off. There's no known cure for Florida Man disease."

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Every one of them plausible.

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Trump's still shaking hands with random assholes at airports and rallies. Not long before that incessant sniffing becomes sneezing, hacking and fever. Were he literate, he would know that Prospero dies when he confronts the Red Masked stranger.

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In Trump's case, the Masked Singer.

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Yes, but he lives on forever in Theatre of Tragedy's "And when he falleth".

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Eh. Maybe this gross and complete failure of leadership will tank Trump 2020 (and the Trump Dynasty). But if this a plague from god that smites those who deserve to be smote, I may have to discover religion.

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I just keep laughing that there is this disease that is causing people to get ill and die but Americans are all worried about their fucking money and the economy. Well, I hope Americans get to keep their money and a great economy while they get sick and die. That'll be nice. I suppose. "Gurgle Gurgle, I'm dying of pneumonia, but at least my 401K is safe!"

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To be fair, I am quite a bit worried about money -- specifically, the coffee shop/diner on my corner. Before the coronavirus, I often worked from there, very productively and happily. But due to Starbucks and lots of other rivals moving in, the place hasn't been crowded in two years, so I worry they are on the verge of failure. I doubt I will die from the virus even if I catch it (knock on wood), but I am sure if this business fails, my life will be poorer for it. And that is, certainly, a worry about fucking money and the economy.

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Gromet, I appreciate your viewpoint. I wasn't really referring to people like us, whose retirement plan consists of whatever we get on social security. The money class was the target of my comments. I apologize for the lack of clarity.

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My retirement plan is to have a massive coronary at 65, since that's the only thing I can afford.

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Due to a recent battle with cancer and other ongoing health issues I'm a member of the "at risk" population because my immune system is shit right now. I'm pondering my odds.

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I can't upvote that for obvious reasons, but I will keep you (and many millions of others) in my thoughts. I know way too many people who have immune issues of one sort or another, and I have a busload of elderly friends and family who would likely not survive infection.

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Since the death rate for coronavirus gets exponentially higher the older the victim, I'm sure any payroll tax cut discussion would have an option to tie the number of over-65 year-olds who die directly to the size of the tax cut. In other words, if 20% of Social Security recipients die, you get a 20% payroll tax cut! Damn old folks aren't productive members of society anyway.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised with this administration if some Mnuchin type or even Trump himself didn't raise the exquisite possibility that the coronavirus might be a great way to cut entitlements without actually getting blamed for it. Instead of paying the elderly benefits, let them become contaminated and just die off. Think of the virus as a useful supply of ice floes in a time of global warming.

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"But angry dying people are our base! We have to keep them half-alive till November! Jeez, what a needle to thread."

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I see the marketing department has taken a page from South Dakota’s “Meth: We’re On It” and “Don’t Jerk And Drive.”

Lest you think “no state would do anything that ridiculous and humiliating,” I invite you to do a web search. Behold the fruit of Crony Capitalism and decades of Republican rule.

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in lieu of an organized response, the administration has issued an illustration of a simple precaution one can take to remain completely germ-free:

https://therealunknowncomic.com/uploads/1/2/5/3/125366430/header_images/1556255172.jpg

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Like the virus, various BS spin messages actually find a fertile hosts. Think "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" Liz Taylor. I know people who believe it is all about getting rid of Trump, even as GOP leaders go into quarantine. It may take having someone they know die of Covid-19 to convince them otherwise.

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Would anyone had heard anything about conspiracy hypotheses in China? They might be well-disposed to blaming Trump, and in a restricted information environment that sort of thing generally grows very well.

…and since Trump constantly demenas them, it touches on their 'face'. (Thank-you, I'll be here all week unless I sicken and die.)

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