My, my, my. What. A. Mess Tommy Lee Jones The Fugitive
As James Comey once famously put it, Lordy, I hope there are tapes. In this case, that’s not a problem, there are tons of them. Which is why I can’t help but wonder why they’re even bothering with this stunt.
Let me make sure that I’ve got this straight. GOP Florida Governor Ron Pissantis is starting to sound like he used to be a lab assistant for Dr. Tony Fauci when he was in college. Trump procto-scope Steve Scalise sounds like he wants to volunteer for a vaccine mobile and do his part getting some jabs in. Florida ballot mouse Marco Rubio sounds like he personally talked Trump into getting the vaccine. And even FUX News Uber Douche Flattop Hannity is getting almost teary eyed as he professes his undying love for all things vaccine. Why this sudden mass Come to Jesus moment?
Simple, they fucked up, and now they know it. They know it for two reasons, a resurgent Delta variant rampaging through their states, and of miserable internal polling numbers. Believe me, nothing speaks louder to a politician than tanking polling numbers.
And it’s all just s show. If Rubio wanted to look serious about this, he would publicly call ln Trump to make a public proclamation urging his supporters to get vaccinated, and Scalise would agree with him. Pissantis would hold another televised spectacle on FUX, this time to reverse the order he previously signed prohibiting counties and cities from declaring and enforcing mask mandates. And The Manatee would call out Fucker Carlson on his show for being the disgusting death eater that he is. This is just performance art.
They miscalculated. They tied themselves like cans to Trump’s tail in jeering the mask mandates and vaccines for a reason. After Biden took over, and a professional administration started getting vaccines out of warehouses and into peoples arms, the Covid numbers steadily declined. The arrival of spring, with more outdoor activities helped. These clowns figured that no matter what they said, after the horrors of the last year, the majority of their citizens would get the vaccine regardless of what they said. But it didn’t work out that way, Trump and FUX had done their job too well. So did Q-Anon.
They figured that with the increase in mass vaccinations, the dropping Covid rate, and the warm summer weather pretty much stalling Covid transmission out, this would all pretty much be in the rear view mirror by the start of football season. And instead, a more virulent strain of the virus is spiking their numbers when they desperately need them to drop.
This is already mid July. Even if they act immediately, and at least some compliance on vaccinations, It will take 2-3 months to bring things back under control again. And where does that put us? Smack dab into the fall, where a return by necessity to more indoor activity gives Delta, or God forbid an even worse variant a brand new playground to play in. All with the primaries just over the horizon.
There’s one more reason why I think that this is doomed to failure for them. I call it The nudge, nudge, wink, wink Syndrome. Glorious Bleater made a career of saying stupid, inflammatory shit. When pressed he invariably doubled down. Look at Charlottesville for a perfect example. Then he’d try to obfuscate. And finally he’d make a half ass retraction like, You want me to renounce David Duke, fine, I’ll renounce David Duke, whoever the hell he is! Everybody in the Cheato Prophet fan club knew he was just saying that to take the heat off, and I’m betting the same thing will happen to these jokers now.
Trump never had a plan that lasted more than 60 seconds because he was purely transactional, and these idjits followed him right down the rabbit hole. And now, when they desperately need a well thought out, long term plan, they’re boned. But those are actual hard core Trump GOP supporters who are getting sick and dying out there. And I don’t think that their friends and family are going to forget next November. The Democrats won’t let them.
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Another reason for their sudden onset of panic is the realisation that as their supporters refuse to wear masks and/or get vaccinated, they could die – and those will be lost votes come the election.
Maybe IO’m cynical but politicians worry about ttwo things only – being well funded and getting people to vote for them – a lack of either is the knell of doom for any political career
The actual numbers of MAGA goobers that glory in their “I ain’t letting the gud-damned fedrul gubmit make me get vax-un-ated. FREE – DUMB!!!” that die won’t likely affect the outcome of any one election. However, each person that does die, or gets sick enough that they wind up in an ICU has family and friends, some of whom will deny it’s actually Covid that’s responsible but more who will start thinking long and hard about the trust they placed in conservative “leaders.” Including Trump himself who despite having (thanks to extraodinary medical care 99.9 percent of us can’t get) survived a serious bout of Covid but STILL got his own ass vaccinated. HE wasn’t taking any chances on having developed permanent immunity! Of course, HE doesn’t want to talk about that. Or for anyone else to bring it up. So his conservatives in media pretty much don’t.
People’s ability to resist admitting they made a mistake (and the bigger the mistake the more most resist admitting it even to themselves) on all manner of things. But at some point lots of people can’t deny what they see in their communities and states. And in those red places where vaccination rates have been low but Covid cases have been rising and even in some cases filling hospitals back up they will notice. And while some will say “fake news” many will look at blue states, or the blue parts of blue states and realize that where people are getting vaccinated there aren’t many infections or deaths. And that vaccinated people who get a “breakthrough” infection seldom need hospitalization, much less intensive care. Even fewer DIE.
Just getting them to say (if only to themselves) “Huh. Maybe that Fauci guy knew what he was talking about after all. Out here in “real” Mur-i-cuh I KNOW folks who are getting this things, but folks I know who moved away to those places where everyone gets vaccinated aren’t! Have the politicians and TeeVee folks I’ve been listening to been wrong? Have they (gulp) maybe even been bullshitting me?”
Politicians of all stripes that have the money do their own internal polls. And focus groups. I have a hunch that they’ve already gotten enough data from that, and being privy to their own side’s not-for-public-consumption discussions of strategy realize this shit, as you say might be coming to a head later this year and into next year. Which is at a really, really bad time for them.
With Trump refusing to back down, and instead becoming ever more defiant they are caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Trump has HIS people he wants to win primaries and the cold, calculating types like McConnell and others who know WTF they are doing even if it’s evil want different candidates. Ones who can, like this sudden group of seemingly repentant Republicans who can muddy the waters on this.
I agree with you and others who say the Gov. & Senator from FL, Hannity and others are only trying their mea cupla routine as another way of bullshitting people. To confuse them. To try and provide some sound bites for when the midterm general election season gets to crunch time.
Here’s what could be the fun part. One of the appeals conservative politicians have always had to those idiot assholes that vote against their own best economic interests is that they by god take strong stances! And now we see them practicing being squishy, trying to have it both ways. Or to be more blunt/graphic talking with a forked tongue flicking out past both sides of their ass!
Not exactly the kind of thing that will get them all lathered up to vote.
I’m not saying you’re wrong but it seems like if you’re leaning conservative or full on MAGAt and you’re not vaccinated, a family member dying probably isn’t going to change any calculus you have about anything. That is what I’m seeing out there-it’s certainly that way in MT. It is as if they have a large financial stake in defending this indefensible bull-sh*t. As if getting the vaccine, acting responsibly, and not changing your voting habits would bring about a retributional bolt of lightning down on their heads. They just dig in. That’s what they learned from the orange sh*t-gibbon and the leaders of the G.Q.P. so that’s what they’re doing.
Look, they have already flipped the script on the insurrection. Do you honestly think they will not do so for Covid? They have some time before 2022…
Spike the Covid Variant will be in full swing by election race date.
I have been saying for years that male Rethuglican politicians are the only people in the known universe who willingly cut off a piece of their penis in an attempt to make it longer.
Why is it in every comment section someone finds a way to somehow pivot to penises? And thinks they have made an insightful comment when they do it? Sheesh.
In this case at least, it’s a metaphor. It could have been a nose to spite their face, but a little more vivid.
Well points are deserved here for nuance. They don’t cut off parts of their penile shafts to spite the rest of the remaining appendage, rather they truly do believe that their remaining shaft will somehow lengthen…..eventually. Makes perfect sense when you understand the difference. Anybody got a Band Aid?
It is a way overused metaphor that some people seem to find a way to apply to everything.
Scalise wasn’t even vaccinated until recently. All the Ds in congress are – it’s the Rs who are pretending they’ve always been in favor.
Val Demings took a big gamble giving up a seat to battle an incumbent. I’m behind her all the way – the people of Florida deserve a new Senator just as much as they deserve a new governor.
Just asking (from here in Australia). Isn’t the Sturgis Rally due shortly?
The vaccination rates in Texas mirror the red blue divide. Urban centers like El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas as well as the Democratic leaning counties along the Texas Mexico border all have vaccination rates higher than the 42.9% state average. little louie gohmerts has counties in his district with vaccination rates of 21-30%. Wonder where this variant will spread next, red or blue
I’m still amazed how public the GOP has made their way through the muddy waters to this point, obvious criminal acts and totally ignore every standard practice of our Constitution and rules of law do not apply to Republican do-wrongs …
The coatless Gym Jordan and others are so obviously mindless pigs that would sabotage the whole investigation of Jan.06, given the chance, so booting them was the right thing for our Speaker to do ….
Not only will the anti-Vaxer’s infect each other, the vaccinated who are asymptomatic might infect the anti-Vaxers too. A double whammy. Karma’s a bitch.
Unfortunately for those of us on the left, all Rep Fox viewers are like Drew Barrymore in 50 first dates. They wake up every morning totally forgetting all the B S on Fox the day before. Thats how you get those rioters posing as police officers clashing with those brave patriots Trump wisely sent in to restore order and rescue poor Mike Pense, Trumps nearest and dearest friend???????