“Certain goods became scarce as operations were shuttered and supply chains disrupted.”
Imagine not being able to get toilet paper and it not being totally the fault of the president. I don’t remember Donald Trump being blamed for that. Only for the idiotic lies he told.
I would think when societies experience an increase in instability, there’s a corresponding increase in peoples’ anxiety and a perceived need for a countervailing force for stability. Hence an increase in authoritarian populism. And are we ever seeing this authoritarian increase now!
For several generations, we’ve experienced national and global changes that have led to significant societal change. Technology, computers, and the internet. Tremendous changes in communication. Expansion of a global economy. Changes in countries’ demographics. And yes, the first global pandemic in a hundred years.
I just hope we, as a people, can use our rationality and reason to cope with these changes, instead of our emotions and anxiety. I think the future of our country as a representative democracy depends on it.
I hadn't really thought about the impact of COVID on all of this chaos politically. Thank you for bringing that to light. We were definitely a captive, fearful audience at that point. We were uncertain of the future and had a insane man in the White House telling people to inject bleach, take medications made for animals, ignore the facts, etc., all while driving around with COVID and waving out of the window of his car and preaching from his balcony like a crazy dictator. How do they even get away with asking "Weren't you better off four years ago?"
COVID exacerbated these divisions but they were already present by the time someone like DT began running for president based on his popularity on a TV show and his delusional "success" as a businessman. It also exposed weaknesses caused by international businesses always seeking the highest profits by finding the cheapest labor worldwide, hence, our disastrous medical supply problems. But the divisions were felt most intensely at hospitals where so many were ctitically and mortally ill,, some opting tor "herd immunity" before the vaccines were introduced, at the same time overwhelmed and doctors and nurses and support staff felt helpless and demoralized. The flicker of good that came out of the COVID experience was the acknowledgement of essential workers, once seen as menial laborers, who kept things going as best they could, and the spirit of selfless people doing everything they could to make sure others had food to eat for their families. For many of us, instead of being divisive, it was a time to take precautions to stay alive and a humbling lesson in our mortality.
DT was also fanning the flames of racism when Obama began running for president, and it increased exponentially with anti-Asian rhetoric. Now he is claiming "they" are taking over our country.
When I got my Covid booster recently I asked the nurse if the shot would hurt. “I don’t know,” she replied, “I haven’t gotten one.” I said nothing. She continued, “I have a very good immune system and besides it’s a personal choice.” A nurse. A trained medical professional. What the hell?
Speaking of vaccination, it is perhaps a victim of its own success. Not far from my house is a little old cemetery, probably a family burial plot, or maybe at one time a tiny church was there but left no trace. The oldest stones date from the 1790’s, the newest from the 1860’s. No more than 2 dozen headstones, I would say about a third are for infants and toddlers. It is heartbreaking to see, in a row, headstones for three babies from the same family, with their sad inscriptions: “Age 1 year, 8 months, 17 days” and so on. I think of the sorrow of the parents, saying goodbye forever, over and over, to their children. It is the same story in any of the old cemeteries around here, if you go and look. Maybe some of those deaths were accidents, but the vast majority were from illnesses and infections that people were basically helpless against at the time. You betcha they would have prayed for something, anything, that could have prevented those deaths. Then vaccines and antibiotics arrived, thanks to science, and that sorrow faded from our collective memory. We now see the death of a child as an unusual, terrible tragedy, not an inevitable part of parenthood, because the expectation is that they will grow up strong and healthy. Thanks to vaccines and medicine.
My daughter, when she was about three, came down with a fever and sore throat, and developed a bright red rash. I took her to my mom, who was a PA and my go-to for medical advice and help. She diagnosed her with scarlet fever, and when my dad heard those words he gasped and covered his face with his hands. His sister, for whom I was named, died from scarlet fever in the late 1920’s. He was terrified. My mom, never one for drama, said “Oh stop it. Two days of antibiotics and she’ll be fine.” And she was. My dad was born in 1920, and lived to be over 100, but many from his time were not as lucky, and most everyone alive today does not have that memory of a time when simple childhood diseases often meant death. I can only hope they don’t have to find out what that was like.
Misinformation and disinformation are tactics that have been used by governments, organizations, individuals, and religions for centuries. The extent of its reach now is exponential, as is the quantity and maliciousness.
Take for instance our seditious, lying wench's recent comment on the tragic accident and death of two local New York Army National Guard aviators who were participating in Joint Task Force North, as well as a Border Patrol Agent, in the vicinity of Rio Grande City, Texas. A third NG member remains hospitalized. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
In her weekly emailer, the seditious, lying wench stated, "This tragic loss is another reminder of the tremendous cost resulting from Joe Biden's border crisis."
As is always the case when it comes to our seditious, lying wench, there is always more to it than meets the eye.
Joint Task Force North, originally named Joint Task Force-6, was established in 1989, by then President George HW Bush in response to drug interdiction efforts. According to the JTF North website, DoD has supported civilian law enforcement agencies’ border security activities since the early 1990s.
"For fiscal year 2024, up to 2500 service members, primarily sourced from the National Guard, are authorized to support the CBP’s (Customs and Border Protection) border security mission along the southwest border." https://www.jtfn.northcom.mil/About-Us/
National Guard, federally activated, assisting in securing our border since 1989. A tragedy, used as a political opponent flailing during campaign season.
I mourn the tragic loss of these brave aviators and Border Patrol Agent. I hope for the speedy recovery of the crew chief. I abhor the use of their deaths as a political potshot by a seditious, lying traitor who regularly uses the military and law enforcement as political props. She has been and remains a threat to our national security.
"A promise by one of the presidential candidates, repeated numerous times, to strip federal funding from “any school that has a vaccine mandate” has warranted a shrug."
Take every opportunity to name the candidate. Let us know who it is that is so radical that he would call for ending vaccinations that have saved millions of lives. Let us know who wants to return us to the days of measles epidemics and children in iron lungs from polio
I know Trump said it. But there are actually TWO benighted candidates, Trump and No Labels' Robert Kennedy, Jr., who casually, and with no regard for science or sanity, rejects vaccination.
Thank you, Mr. Doolittle, for writing eloquently about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the nation's "strange behavior," and for highlighting that there remains among some of us the misunderstanding of how critical are vaccines in guarding our healths.
May I additionally point this out? According to New York State's data on the prevalence of Covid-19 vaccination in the state's counties, updated as of last month, we in Warren County had a rate of 16.0%, far better than the NYS average of 11.8%. While in my view this rate is inadequate, I am happy we have done better than most. And I salute the remarkable work of our county's Department of Public Health in promoting vaccination - they sure do help drive our performance.
“Certain goods became scarce as operations were shuttered and supply chains disrupted.”
Imagine not being able to get toilet paper and it not being totally the fault of the president. I don’t remember Donald Trump being blamed for that. Only for the idiotic lies he told.
I would think when societies experience an increase in instability, there’s a corresponding increase in peoples’ anxiety and a perceived need for a countervailing force for stability. Hence an increase in authoritarian populism. And are we ever seeing this authoritarian increase now!
For several generations, we’ve experienced national and global changes that have led to significant societal change. Technology, computers, and the internet. Tremendous changes in communication. Expansion of a global economy. Changes in countries’ demographics. And yes, the first global pandemic in a hundred years.
I just hope we, as a people, can use our rationality and reason to cope with these changes, instead of our emotions and anxiety. I think the future of our country as a representative democracy depends on it.
I hadn't really thought about the impact of COVID on all of this chaos politically. Thank you for bringing that to light. We were definitely a captive, fearful audience at that point. We were uncertain of the future and had a insane man in the White House telling people to inject bleach, take medications made for animals, ignore the facts, etc., all while driving around with COVID and waving out of the window of his car and preaching from his balcony like a crazy dictator. How do they even get away with asking "Weren't you better off four years ago?"
“The only thing we haven’t done well is get good press.” Donald Trump, March 17, 2020
How about we go back a bit farther to the Tea Party Patriots? We were divided over healthcare.
COVID exacerbated these divisions but they were already present by the time someone like DT began running for president based on his popularity on a TV show and his delusional "success" as a businessman. It also exposed weaknesses caused by international businesses always seeking the highest profits by finding the cheapest labor worldwide, hence, our disastrous medical supply problems. But the divisions were felt most intensely at hospitals where so many were ctitically and mortally ill,, some opting tor "herd immunity" before the vaccines were introduced, at the same time overwhelmed and doctors and nurses and support staff felt helpless and demoralized. The flicker of good that came out of the COVID experience was the acknowledgement of essential workers, once seen as menial laborers, who kept things going as best they could, and the spirit of selfless people doing everything they could to make sure others had food to eat for their families. For many of us, instead of being divisive, it was a time to take precautions to stay alive and a humbling lesson in our mortality.
DT was also fanning the flames of racism when Obama began running for president, and it increased exponentially with anti-Asian rhetoric. Now he is claiming "they" are taking over our country.
When I got my Covid booster recently I asked the nurse if the shot would hurt. “I don’t know,” she replied, “I haven’t gotten one.” I said nothing. She continued, “I have a very good immune system and besides it’s a personal choice.” A nurse. A trained medical professional. What the hell?
Speaking of vaccination, it is perhaps a victim of its own success. Not far from my house is a little old cemetery, probably a family burial plot, or maybe at one time a tiny church was there but left no trace. The oldest stones date from the 1790’s, the newest from the 1860’s. No more than 2 dozen headstones, I would say about a third are for infants and toddlers. It is heartbreaking to see, in a row, headstones for three babies from the same family, with their sad inscriptions: “Age 1 year, 8 months, 17 days” and so on. I think of the sorrow of the parents, saying goodbye forever, over and over, to their children. It is the same story in any of the old cemeteries around here, if you go and look. Maybe some of those deaths were accidents, but the vast majority were from illnesses and infections that people were basically helpless against at the time. You betcha they would have prayed for something, anything, that could have prevented those deaths. Then vaccines and antibiotics arrived, thanks to science, and that sorrow faded from our collective memory. We now see the death of a child as an unusual, terrible tragedy, not an inevitable part of parenthood, because the expectation is that they will grow up strong and healthy. Thanks to vaccines and medicine.
My daughter, when she was about three, came down with a fever and sore throat, and developed a bright red rash. I took her to my mom, who was a PA and my go-to for medical advice and help. She diagnosed her with scarlet fever, and when my dad heard those words he gasped and covered his face with his hands. His sister, for whom I was named, died from scarlet fever in the late 1920’s. He was terrified. My mom, never one for drama, said “Oh stop it. Two days of antibiotics and she’ll be fine.” And she was. My dad was born in 1920, and lived to be over 100, but many from his time were not as lucky, and most everyone alive today does not have that memory of a time when simple childhood diseases often meant death. I can only hope they don’t have to find out what that was like.
Misinformation and disinformation are tactics that have been used by governments, organizations, individuals, and religions for centuries. The extent of its reach now is exponential, as is the quantity and maliciousness.
Take for instance our seditious, lying wench's recent comment on the tragic accident and death of two local New York Army National Guard aviators who were participating in Joint Task Force North, as well as a Border Patrol Agent, in the vicinity of Rio Grande City, Texas. A third NG member remains hospitalized. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
In her weekly emailer, the seditious, lying wench stated, "This tragic loss is another reminder of the tremendous cost resulting from Joe Biden's border crisis."
This is the most enraging comment from the hideous monster I have ever read. An opportunistic pi**ing on the graves of three of our finest, who she did not even have the courtesy to name. So, I provide the opportunity for you to learn who the brave local aviators were. https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article-View/Article/3702385/new-york-national-guard-names-soldiers-killed-in-texas-helicopter-crash/
As is always the case when it comes to our seditious, lying wench, there is always more to it than meets the eye.
Joint Task Force North, originally named Joint Task Force-6, was established in 1989, by then President George HW Bush in response to drug interdiction efforts. According to the JTF North website, DoD has supported civilian law enforcement agencies’ border security activities since the early 1990s.
"For fiscal year 2024, up to 2500 service members, primarily sourced from the National Guard, are authorized to support the CBP’s (Customs and Border Protection) border security mission along the southwest border." https://www.jtfn.northcom.mil/About-Us/
National Guard, federally activated, assisting in securing our border since 1989. A tragedy, used as a political opponent flailing during campaign season.
I mourn the tragic loss of these brave aviators and Border Patrol Agent. I hope for the speedy recovery of the crew chief. I abhor the use of their deaths as a political potshot by a seditious, lying traitor who regularly uses the military and law enforcement as political props. She has been and remains a threat to our national security.
SUPPORT UKRAINE
Carter’s Pond is a great little place to go for an outing.
Thumbs up on all 3 writings. We agree, Carter Pond area is a gem.
"A promise by one of the presidential candidates, repeated numerous times, to strip federal funding from “any school that has a vaccine mandate” has warranted a shrug."
Take every opportunity to name the candidate. Let us know who it is that is so radical that he would call for ending vaccinations that have saved millions of lives. Let us know who wants to return us to the days of measles epidemics and children in iron lungs from polio
I know Trump said it. But there are actually TWO benighted candidates, Trump and No Labels' Robert Kennedy, Jr., who casually, and with no regard for science or sanity, rejects vaccination.
Thank you, Mr. Doolittle, for writing eloquently about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the nation's "strange behavior," and for highlighting that there remains among some of us the misunderstanding of how critical are vaccines in guarding our healths.
May I additionally point this out? According to New York State's data on the prevalence of Covid-19 vaccination in the state's counties, updated as of last month, we in Warren County had a rate of 16.0%, far better than the NYS average of 11.8%. While in my view this rate is inadequate, I am happy we have done better than most. And I salute the remarkable work of our county's Department of Public Health in promoting vaccination - they sure do help drive our performance.