From your keyboard to the Goddess' eyes. Sadly, it's more likely to go this way:
Pandemic subsides = LOOK at the great leadership our great leader Donald Trump has led with! He has led us to salvation with his leading leadership! Fuck you, libs!
Pandemic sweeps countryside, wiping out extended families and producing mass graves in every village and hamlet = Those Democrats and the media prevented our Great Leader from leading greatly! This is all the fault of those evil liberals in their coastal enclaves who wouldn't let us have chloroquine because they wanted it all for their gay marriages! Vote Trump!
Since the First Law of Trump is “Everything Trump touches turns to shit,” every foreseeable future looks grim. By the time the Heartland is reeling from Italy-scale illness and death (that is, those places like Texas led by assholes), the Republican message will be “Look what Nancy Pelosi and AOC have done!” It won’t make any sense but the Second Law of Trump is “ It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that zing at libs!”
There really needs to be a concerted, relentless effort to make sure these people are drenched in spit every time they go out in public. In a time of deadly contagion it might, just might, concentrate their minds. Or if not, at least we’ll have some happy memories.
This is proof of my long held theory that after the forced fall of the unions by the GOP, they reverted the working system back to a form of slavery. It’s easy to see this mentality in the abusive boss, the extreme micromanager and the general inhumane way HR has become nothing more than a business partner for the CEOs. These are the former overseers. It is buried deep in the subconscious of the American mind if your ancestors go back before the influx of immigrants post civil war.
I like to hope that with this pandemic those Trumpettes whom were hypnotized by him will wake up. They may have no choice because most live in the red states where social services have been stripped, unemployment insurance is only 12 weeks and they don’t have the medical resources to help the population in those areas. All those small business owners who told us that they profited during this Trumpian regime should gather their documents now for their bankruptcy filing. Them, their businesses and communities will not come out of this unscathed. I think they will suffer even more than those of us in Urban settings.
But they made damn sure they stocked up on toilet paper, guns and ammo. Little good any of them will do against a microscopic enemy. But at least their TP supply will be protected as the family takes shifts to guard the hoard.
Switching the title from “Personnel” to “Human Resources” was a real giveaway. We view you as expendable ambulatory widgets now!
As to all the Trumpies being in red states—yeah, there are lots of them there. However, you’ll find more Trumpies in Staten Island and Queens than in all of South Dakota. Though to be fair, many of ours are just as shitty and loud as the ones in Staten Island. 😄
Absolutely thrilled to be living in a country where the ruling party and half the population value a 5 week old fetus more than they value the woman carrying it, more than they value an 8 year-old child in a detention camp, and more than they value a 70 year old grandmother living on Social Security in a COVID-19 hotspot. What a “pro-life” paradise!
This is like sitting around in Jonestown watching people screw themselves up to drink the Kool-Aid and giving you s#@t because you don't think it's such a hot idea.
I get you, but don't forget that many of the people at Jonestown drank it at gunpoint, amid panic and chaos, with no place but the jungle to run to, and they would have had to leave their grandparents and babies behind and they just couldn't.
There's a long scene in Pynchon's "V." set in SW Africa during the Trotta genocide where the wealthy proto-Nazi farmers lock themselves up in a castle and party shamelessly until the disaster plays out. (I think there's a similar scene in "Gravity's Rainbow," only its a plague ship filled with the wealthy.) I've always wondered what happens psychologically to these people when they see the paper-thin protections they've relied on start to melt. Pynchon parodies the depravity, but in the real world the parody is probably not that far from the mark.
Because the only way to keep the con going is to brazen it out. "Me or your lying eyes!" is the *only* tactic these people have, and they're going to keep it up until their lungs are filled with fluid and they have to choose to sputter lies or breathe. There won't even be Atwater-styles deathbed confessions. They'll just continue to be defiant.
It means so much more to them than it does to us, this doctrine that they're rich and the rest of us aren't because they're better. If they don't have it then their lives have been lies. People will die on a battlefield for less. Its not surprising they're convinced they're immune to a voracious pandemic. They're operating in a pre-modern mindset, but its just as deluded and artificial as any modern simulacra.
I'm waiting now for the "magic spells" phase. Trump's miracle cures are the start of that. But we're in for some real "dance around a chicken three times and spit in a hat"-level madness.
Hard to utter words of defiance when you're intubated. There may be a lot of defiant middle fingers in the ICUs of Trumpland, though. On both sides of the personal protective equipment.
Dan Patrick, like his boss Greg Abbott, is a religious fanatic and a sociopath. GOP politicians, with very few exceptions is replete with some of the worst examples of humanity and are absolutely unapologetic about sneering contempt for the average Joe/Josephine.
Like the C-19 virus, they need to be electorally isolated and eventually eliminated from the body politic.
"...as the ERs flood and the bodies fall the false hopes with which they cover themselves will get to be too much for even their suckers to stand."
I wish I could agree. But (as I keep saying), MAGA isn't a political movement. It's a religious movement, and as such impervious to actual events, actual facts, etc. If Christianity is the irrational belief in a magical hero who will usher the faithful into eternal bliss once they can get out of this vale of tears, MAGA is the irrational belief that their magical hero will stick it to the libs *and the modern world they have created*. So they'll watch their parents (or children!) drop dead of C-19 and find a way to pin it on Hillary. Yes, that's "crazy," but what part of "irrational" don't you understand?
Tragically I agree. The conservatives I know in real life who don't even like Trump have spent the past couple years rallying to his defense anyway, not because he's won them over but because if they don't, they're admitting liberals have a point. That policies based on science and humanism would be working better. Then their whole vision of America as a simple place led by magicians will crumble. So, to admit Trump fucked up is to admit America doesn't exist. They can't do that; they can never separate the fairy tale of our nation from its reality, so they can never make decisions to help the reality. Meaning that as facts and corpses line up to prove reality is real, these solipsists will only deny harder, to save America.
For those of you who may not have seen it, attorney Scott McMillan (“a results-oriented law firm”) of Costa Mesa CA had this to say in a late-night tweet a little past midnight two days ago. Mr. McMillan has since deleted the tweet, but someone thoughtfully took a screen capture, so I have transcribed his pithy (pardon the lisp), results-oriented insight in order that a broader audience may have the benefit of it:
“The fundamental problem is whether we are going to tank the entire economy to save 2.5% of the population which is (1) generally expensive to maintain, and (2) not productive.”
It has become nakedly apparent that this has become the general tenor of discussions within Trump’s circle this week. As others have observed, it’s mordantly amusing that ten years ago the Republicans were howling about Obama’s “death panels,” demonstrating once again this absolutely fundamental axiom regarding the modern GOP: 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝘆𝘀.
From your keyboard to the Goddess' eyes. Sadly, it's more likely to go this way:
Pandemic subsides = LOOK at the great leadership our great leader Donald Trump has led with! He has led us to salvation with his leading leadership! Fuck you, libs!
Pandemic sweeps countryside, wiping out extended families and producing mass graves in every village and hamlet = Those Democrats and the media prevented our Great Leader from leading greatly! This is all the fault of those evil liberals in their coastal enclaves who wouldn't let us have chloroquine because they wanted it all for their gay marriages! Vote Trump!
That is going to sound from every evangelical pulpit throughout the land
Preach it, brother.
"We need to call off the quarantine and put people back to work" is really Putin saying "B**** better have my money!"
Since the First Law of Trump is “Everything Trump touches turns to shit,” every foreseeable future looks grim. By the time the Heartland is reeling from Italy-scale illness and death (that is, those places like Texas led by assholes), the Republican message will be “Look what Nancy Pelosi and AOC have done!” It won’t make any sense but the Second Law of Trump is “ It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that zing at libs!”
There really needs to be a concerted, relentless effort to make sure these people are drenched in spit every time they go out in public. In a time of deadly contagion it might, just might, concentrate their minds. Or if not, at least we’ll have some happy memories.
This is proof of my long held theory that after the forced fall of the unions by the GOP, they reverted the working system back to a form of slavery. It’s easy to see this mentality in the abusive boss, the extreme micromanager and the general inhumane way HR has become nothing more than a business partner for the CEOs. These are the former overseers. It is buried deep in the subconscious of the American mind if your ancestors go back before the influx of immigrants post civil war.
I like to hope that with this pandemic those Trumpettes whom were hypnotized by him will wake up. They may have no choice because most live in the red states where social services have been stripped, unemployment insurance is only 12 weeks and they don’t have the medical resources to help the population in those areas. All those small business owners who told us that they profited during this Trumpian regime should gather their documents now for their bankruptcy filing. Them, their businesses and communities will not come out of this unscathed. I think they will suffer even more than those of us in Urban settings.
But they made damn sure they stocked up on toilet paper, guns and ammo. Little good any of them will do against a microscopic enemy. But at least their TP supply will be protected as the family takes shifts to guard the hoard.
Switching the title from “Personnel” to “Human Resources” was a real giveaway. We view you as expendable ambulatory widgets now!
As to all the Trumpies being in red states—yeah, there are lots of them there. However, you’ll find more Trumpies in Staten Island and Queens than in all of South Dakota. Though to be fair, many of ours are just as shitty and loud as the ones in Staten Island. 😄
Absolutely thrilled to be living in a country where the ruling party and half the population value a 5 week old fetus more than they value the woman carrying it, more than they value an 8 year-old child in a detention camp, and more than they value a 70 year old grandmother living on Social Security in a COVID-19 hotspot. What a “pro-life” paradise!
I actually saw one of them.wonder why the news doesn't cover the number of abortions daily the way they list the daily COVID-19 fatalities.
This is like sitting around in Jonestown watching people screw themselves up to drink the Kool-Aid and giving you s#@t because you don't think it's such a hot idea.
I get you, but don't forget that many of the people at Jonestown drank it at gunpoint, amid panic and chaos, with no place but the jungle to run to, and they would have had to leave their grandparents and babies behind and they just couldn't.
There's a long scene in Pynchon's "V." set in SW Africa during the Trotta genocide where the wealthy proto-Nazi farmers lock themselves up in a castle and party shamelessly until the disaster plays out. (I think there's a similar scene in "Gravity's Rainbow," only its a plague ship filled with the wealthy.) I've always wondered what happens psychologically to these people when they see the paper-thin protections they've relied on start to melt. Pynchon parodies the depravity, but in the real world the parody is probably not that far from the mark.
Because the only way to keep the con going is to brazen it out. "Me or your lying eyes!" is the *only* tactic these people have, and they're going to keep it up until their lungs are filled with fluid and they have to choose to sputter lies or breathe. There won't even be Atwater-styles deathbed confessions. They'll just continue to be defiant.
It means so much more to them than it does to us, this doctrine that they're rich and the rest of us aren't because they're better. If they don't have it then their lives have been lies. People will die on a battlefield for less. Its not surprising they're convinced they're immune to a voracious pandemic. They're operating in a pre-modern mindset, but its just as deluded and artificial as any modern simulacra.
I'm waiting now for the "magic spells" phase. Trump's miracle cures are the start of that. But we're in for some real "dance around a chicken three times and spit in a hat"-level madness.
Hard to utter words of defiance when you're intubated. There may be a lot of defiant middle fingers in the ICUs of Trumpland, though. On both sides of the personal protective equipment.
Pynchon, personally, had this “social distancing” thing nailed a long time ago.
So did Salinger.
There are several ex-mistresses who would disagree.
Dan Patrick, like his boss Greg Abbott, is a religious fanatic and a sociopath. GOP politicians, with very few exceptions is replete with some of the worst examples of humanity and are absolutely unapologetic about sneering contempt for the average Joe/Josephine.
Like the C-19 virus, they need to be electorally isolated and eventually eliminated from the body politic.
"...as the ERs flood and the bodies fall the false hopes with which they cover themselves will get to be too much for even their suckers to stand."
I wish I could agree. But (as I keep saying), MAGA isn't a political movement. It's a religious movement, and as such impervious to actual events, actual facts, etc. If Christianity is the irrational belief in a magical hero who will usher the faithful into eternal bliss once they can get out of this vale of tears, MAGA is the irrational belief that their magical hero will stick it to the libs *and the modern world they have created*. So they'll watch their parents (or children!) drop dead of C-19 and find a way to pin it on Hillary. Yes, that's "crazy," but what part of "irrational" don't you understand?
Tragically I agree. The conservatives I know in real life who don't even like Trump have spent the past couple years rallying to his defense anyway, not because he's won them over but because if they don't, they're admitting liberals have a point. That policies based on science and humanism would be working better. Then their whole vision of America as a simple place led by magicians will crumble. So, to admit Trump fucked up is to admit America doesn't exist. They can't do that; they can never separate the fairy tale of our nation from its reality, so they can never make decisions to help the reality. Meaning that as facts and corpses line up to prove reality is real, these solipsists will only deny harder, to save America.
For those of you who may not have seen it, attorney Scott McMillan (“a results-oriented law firm”) of Costa Mesa CA had this to say in a late-night tweet a little past midnight two days ago. Mr. McMillan has since deleted the tweet, but someone thoughtfully took a screen capture, so I have transcribed his pithy (pardon the lisp), results-oriented insight in order that a broader audience may have the benefit of it:
“The fundamental problem is whether we are going to tank the entire economy to save 2.5% of the population which is (1) generally expensive to maintain, and (2) not productive.”
It has become nakedly apparent that this has become the general tenor of discussions within Trump’s circle this week. As others have observed, it’s mordantly amusing that ten years ago the Republicans were howling about Obama’s “death panels,” demonstrating once again this absolutely fundamental axiom regarding the modern GOP: 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝘆𝘀.
Roy, this column is an absolute classic. It needs to be made public so the people who most need to see it get a chance at it.
Have done! Thanks!
I've been calling it "The Trump Virus" at work. The look I get from the brethren is priceless.
It’s the sequel to the “Trump prion” that causes chronic brain atrophy in all who swallow his baloney.