In Case You Missed It (v38)

This has been a challenging day, as  I've been without my computer for over 12 hours, and not really able to respond to what I was seeing when browsing news and social media sites, and without being able to off you both of our usual Sunday features.

So, Sunday School and any Extra Credit that catches my eye will come tomorrow. But, I can offer you your week in review, in case you missed anything last week.

First up? Sunday School, and Dana Bash's interview with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) on CNN' State of the Union. In addition to talking about masks (he trusts the American people to do the right thing, silly man), voting by mail (Florida can do it, because they do it right), and church services (We have a Bill of Rights here, you know), they talked about funding for states to help with pandemic costs and what not. Bash pointed out that red-state Florida receives $25B more in programs than it sends to Washington in taxes, whereas blue-state NY pays $22B more in taxes than it receives in programs.  Here's how Scott talked about that.

Well, first off, the -- the government of New York has never sent a dime while I have been up there in D.C. to the federal government. They don't do it. What happens is, their citizens, while they're working in New York, pay into Social Security and Medicare. And they get sick and tired of all the taxes up there and move to Florida and receive those benefits. That's not the government of New York sending a dime to the federal government. So, that's exactly what's happened. That is -- that has nothing to do reality.

We moved on to a Sunday School Extra Credit entry, which included Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) talking about race, and Papa Joe Biden's "you ain't black" comment and about potentially being Biden's veep. Let's look at the race question, and whether Demings though the comment was out of line.

...look, the vice president went on the show. I'm so glad he did, because these are the conversations that we really need to be having. And one of the things I said in a statement on Friday was that, look, we know we have some serious issues that we're dealing with in this country. And if we're going to be able to address them effectively, then we have got to hold everybody accountable, even those that we do support.

Look, the vice president shouldn't have said it. He apologized for it. But I really think the gall and the nerve of president Trump to try to use this in his campaign, he who has, since day one, done everything within his power, of course supported by his enablers, to divide this country, particularly along racial lines?

And then it was time for some Ranting and Raving about the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and about white privilege. Here's how I ended the post.

If you think it's OK that George Floyd and the others are dead at the hands of the police, you can't think it's OK that I'm still here. 

If you think it's OK that I'm still here, then you can't think it's OK that George Floyd and the others aren't. 

You can't have it both ways: Wish me dead, or be angry that they are. 

Continuing the discussion about race, last week's Wondering on Wednesday brought us examples of black people doing things that white folks like me just 'do' without having people call the police on us, or question our 'right' to do things - work out, ask someone to leash a dog, and so on.  And then, there was a police officer in Louisiana who was fired for making racist comments on Facebook, and the police chief's really low 'higher standard" comments.

He was fired, Aucoin was, for making comments that were "not suitable for a police officer to put up on Facebook," said Chief Joshua Hardy. And, "the department is moving forward and making sure this will never happen again" and the social media policy has been updated and officers have been notified about that.

But here's something else Chief Hardy said.

We're held to a higher standard than normal civilians, so you got to watch what you do, you got to watch what you say. You can't just go and post anything you want on social media.

What?  Huh?

We had another Email of the Week, in which I took excerpts from several Dems, including a former president and some of the people who wanted to be the next president, but won't be. My take on all of it?

Every day Trump has the stage alone is a day wasted. Every Sunday with no Dems in the classrooms is an educational opportunity wasted. Every time a talking head is talking about who's going to be Papa Joe's VP, instead of talking about why Trump has to be defeated, is a vote wasted. 

All of them need to become scrappy kids from Scranton, and they have to do it quickly.

I closed the week out on Saturday with a Trump in Transition entry, which was really just four of the president's tweets about protests at the White House. I was disgusted with the joy and anticipation he showed as he salivated on what would happen if protestors breached the fence. And here's how I interpreted what he was saying.

"I watched the protests. I could have been in danger

from the people I was chosen to lead."

"I was saved by virile young men."

"I could have been a virile young man,

but for the bone spurs." 

It was a rough week, for sure, and now you're up to ate with the veritable pastiche. 

See you tomorrow morning for Sunday School, and get ready for what's apt to be another long and difficult week.  

Trump in Transition (v45)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the president of the United States. 

Hear his voice as you read his tweets,

talking about 'frisky' protesters, 

vicious dogs, ominous weapons, and

changing front lines of young Secret Service agents

 ready to 'practice' on protesters outside America's house.

He is SO full of himself.

Himself is SO full of crap.

I guess this is him adding a chapter 

his personal war story,

like the one in which he equated 

staying safe from sexually transmitted diseases 

as being equal to the sacrifice 

made by over 58,000 men and women 

wearing American uniforms.

"I watched the protests. I could have been in danger

from the people I was chosen to lead."

"I was saved by virile young men."

"I could have been a virile young man,

but for the bone spurs."

   

He is an embarrassment to our country, 

and to everything America stands for. 

I am a patriotic American.

He makes me sick.

He is Not My President - 

Not Now, Not Ever. 

#NPMNNNE

#MAGAMA

Email of the Week (v19)

This week, I'm going to pull from several different emails, none of which are from Papa Joe Biden, the only remaining candidate for the Dem nomination. 

First, from California Sen. Kamala Harris:

It is more clear than ever that Donald Trump does not have the best interest of the American people in mind. And with him calling the shots from the Oval Office, that is a horrifying reality.

In the middle of a global pandemic, Trump and his administration went out of their way to stop people from exercising their right to vote and continue to wage a war against the Affordable Care Act -- threatening to strip millions of their health insurance. These actions are unconscionable. We cannot tolerate this reckless behavior any longer. 

And, from Mayor Pete:

I've long said that, regardless of who becomes the Democratic Party's nominee, I would do everything in my power to ensure that we have a Democratic president come January. I'm proud to support Joe Biden as that nominee.

The COVID-19 crisis has made two things very clear: It has never been more important to defeat Donald Trump in November, and leadership at the state and local level matters a great deal to our nation’s health and safety.

We need to elect Joe Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot, and I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure we do just that. 

I ran for president to unify our party, defeat Donald Trump, and usher in a new kind of politics defined by bringing people together. Let me be clear: It will take all of us to build a strong Democratic Party capable of getting that done. The challenges we will face will be steep, which is why I'm calling on you to sign up to hear how best to remain a part of the work ahead. 

And, from Barack Obama:

The crisis we face underscores the necessity for real leadership in the White House. I know from firsthand experience that Joe is up for the job. Joe’s optimism and vision for America will get this country back on track and restore the soul of this nation, as he likes to say.

But Sue, we should never for a moment assume that getting him back to the White House will be easy. So I’m doing everything I can to make sure that Joe will have the resources he needs to win on November 3rd. And what he raises right now in these early months will determine whether or not he has the resources he needs for those final, difficult months.

For decades, Joe brought change to Washington, but Washington never changed him. Because Joe Biden is simply put, a unifier. It’s who he is, it’s who he has been since he was a scrappy kid from Scranton. He brings everyone to the table; it’s what he was raised to do...

More importantly, he understands what people are going through right now. He’s walked in our shoes. As a kid, he had to leave Scranton while his dad changed jobs to keep his family afloat. As a single dad, he took the train to and from Washington to tuck his own boys in at night. He knows that life can shatter with a single phone call, and that’s why he’s always made decisions with people going through their toughest times in mind.

I can’t wait to get out there and campaign for Joe. I’m going to roll up my sleeves and get to work every day for his campaign. 

Honestly, I wish Harris had been able to stay in the race longer, and that Mayor Pete had been able to stay in longer. 

And that Barack was doing more, and not waiting. And that all of them were doing more.

Expanding the bench, getting Republicans out of office, all of that makes sense. But I want the fight against Trump to be going on now. Sleeves up, gloves off, bringing it to him, rather than waiting for him to bring it to them. 

Every day Trump has the stage alone is a day wasted. Every Sunday with no Dems in the classrooms is an educational opportunity wasted. Every time a talking head is talking about who's going to be Papa Joe's VP, instead of talking about why Trump has to be defeated, is a vote wasted. 

All of them need to become scrappy kids from Scranton, and they have to do it quickly.

Wondering on Wednesday (v208)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I don't even know where to start tonight's wondering. Or maybe, it's that I don't know where to stop wondering, so that I can put thoughts on paper. I'll give it a try.

Earlier today, I did some quiet, seething, emotionally draining Ranting and Raving about my particular white privilege, and how that compares to the inhumanity and lack of privilege experienced by blacks and other people of color in America. 

I honestly wonder if anyone will read that, and see themselves or their friends or their children and the sketchy or borderline things they got away with, and wonder why others don't get away with the same things? 

And I wonder whether people will think twice about the victim-blaming (because people who die worse than dogs under the knee or in a chokehold or by the bullet in the back or the front from a police officer's gun are victims, not criminals guilty of capital crimes) and maybe try and picture themselves in that person's shoes, and try and tell themselves it's OK? 

And I wonder what it must be like, for example, to be these guys, entrepreneurs working out in the gym in their key-access-only building, only to be challenged whether they belong there by a white guy?  Or to be a black man who likes to jog?  Here's what James Ravenell II, the founder of Black Runners Connection, had to say about his preferred "meditation" in this day and in this time. 

I know, unfortunately, that my blackness represents a threat to many people... we don't have the benefit of people thinking that we're just doing a normal thing... I can't really remember a time where I was not thinking about myself as a potential threat in the minds of other people.... We are all exhausted. We just want to live. We're not thinking about doing anything to anyone. Our blackness, it's not a threat to anyone but here we are, again and again and again. 

Think about that... Wonder about having that be your life, and tell me you'd be OK with that. Wait - no, don't tell me you'd be OK with that, tell me how that makes you feel about yourself, and how you feel about people who make you feel like that - because I have no intuitive understanding of what that feels like. I've never had to have any understanding, intuitive or otherwise, of what that feels like.

And challenge yourself about how you might be contributing to that, by your actions or your inaction, and wonder how you might do things differently...

I can't help wondering about this incident, either.  Steven Aucoin, a (now former) police officer in Kaplan, LA posted comments on a Facebook live feed lamenting the fact that the coronavirus didn't kill enough black people. According to the article linked above,

Aucoin’s comments, which were shown in a screenshot of the live stream, were in response to another user who described the coronavirus as the “virus that was created to kill all the BLACKS is death.” The officer clearly responded with two statements, “Well it didn’t work.” And directly under that comment he then said, “How unfortunate.”

He was fired, Aucoin was, for making comments that were "not suitable for a police officer to put up on Facebook," said Chief Joshua Hardy. And, "the department is moving forward and making sure this will never happen again" and the social media policy has been updated and officers have been notified about that.

But here's something else Chief Hardy said.

We're held to a higher standard than normal civilians, so you got to watch what you do, you got to watch what you say. You can't just go and post anything you want on social media.

What?  Huh?

What about "Officer Aucoin's comments are unacceptable for someone who is paid to protect and serve the residents of Kaplan, and we cannot and will not have someone on our police force who espouses those views." Where's that statement? Nowhere to be found, it seems - just don't post the online. What on earth is the 'higher standard" they're being held to, I wonder?

More than anything, I wonder if this will ever stop, or if we'll just continue to be this America?

Ranting and Raving (v6): If You Think This is OK...

I want to scream.

We watch another heartbreaking video of a black man being killed, having the life squeezed out of him under the knee of a white police officer, and we watch the comments coming in saying all of the standard stuff - if he hadn't resisted, if he hadn't have done something illegal, if he had only listened to the police, if he only... if he only... if he if he if he if he if he only...

If you think this is all the fault of George Floyd - say his name, say it out loud - George Floyd - if you think this is HIS fault, if only he hadn't (fill in the blank), if only he had (fill in the blank), then you think these things are OK, too.

• Me, dying under the knee of a police officer, for shoplifting a $5 ring from a gift shop on a school trip in the 7th grade (peer pressure is a wonderful thing, isn't it?); 
• Me, being shot in the back by a police officer, for running (along with several friends) when we were discovered under-aged drinking on a nature trail in the woods behind an elementary school;
• Me, being shot repeatedly in the chest after stumbling arm-in-arm with the "'love of my life that week" off a bench and towards a police officer who was yelling at us for smoking pot and violating the open container law in a Wisconsin park after hours? (And is a goat-skin bag an even an open container?) 

And yet, here I am, decades later. 

Still here. 

Still living. 

Still breathing. 

Still remembering these and countless other crazy things I did that I'll likely never share. 

Is it because I'm lucky that I didn't run into any of the police officers who have been involved in - and most, absolved of - the murders of black men? 

Maybe; obviously, every black man who has an encounter with the police does not die as a result of the interaction. Only way too many of them do.

But the other reason I'm still here, still living, still breathing, still remembering, is because I am a white female, not a black man. Of that, I have absolutely NO doubt. 

I have the privilege of being allowed to live, when I commit minor violations of the law. 

A significant number of people - fellow citizens, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and total strangers don't have that privilege.

George Floyd did not have that privilege. Eric Garner did not have that privilege. Philando Castile did not have that privilege. Amadou Diallo did not have that privilege. And dozens and dozens of other black men - and a lesser number of black women - did not have that privilege, and are dead because of it. 

They are dead because capital punishment is handed out not by a court of law, but by police officers. 

If you think it's OK that George Floyd and the others are dead at the hands of the police, you can't think it's OK that I'm still here. 

If you think it's OK that I'm still here, then you can't think it's OK that George Floyd and the others aren't. 

You can't have it both ways: Wish me dead, or be angry that they are. 

Sunday School Extra Credit 5/24/20

As I wrapped up this week's Sunday School entry, I forgot that Monday was a no-school day, so apologies for threatening you with an Extra Credit post I didn't deliver on the holiday.

Assuming you're all ready to dive back in after a day of contemplation  and remembrance, barbecues and beach parties, and ugly tweeting, here's your Extra Credit, with Dana Bash's unfortunately very short interview with Florida's Rep. Val Demings on CNN's State of the Union, and Chris Wallace talking with nursing home and long-term care executive Mark Parkinson on Fox News Sunday.

Bash's conversation with Demings,which was unfortunately shortened due to technical difficulties, started out with a question on theme parks, some of which are in the representative's district, and whether Demings was comfortable with the parks reopening. Demings talked about how "strategic, methodical, very thoughtful" the parks have been, how they've been collaborating with the public health folks and local leaders "to make sure that they are doing this right." And while she thinks "they're being smart about it,"

...let me say this. I am concerned, because we know that this virus is not yet under control, and it will not be until we have a vaccine. And we don't know when that will be, regardless of some of the reports that we hear coming out of the White House. But we just need to be vigilant and do what we need to do to keep people safe.

Moving quickly to the main 2020 campaign news, Bash asked about Papa Joe's "cavalier" comment about black voters who choose Trump over him. In a conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, Biden said 

You got more questions. But I tell anyone, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.

The collective cringe was felt around the country, even as Biden tried to explain away the comment in the interview by touting his record, and even after he apologized. Bash wondered what Deming thought of the comment, asking if it was "out of line."   

...look, the vice president went on the show. I'm so glad he did, because these are the conversations that we really need to be having. And one of the things I said in a statement on Friday was that, look, we know we have some serious issues that we're dealing with in this country. And if we're going to be able to address them effectively, then we have got to hold everybody accountable, even those that we do support.

Look, the vice president shouldn't have said it. He apologized for it. But I really think the gall and the nerve of President Trump to try to use this in his campaign, he who has, since day one, done everything within his power, of course supported by his enablers, to divide this country, particularly along racial lines?

Look, let's talk about race, because we definitely need to. We need -- we see it in housing. We see it in voting rights. We see it in health care. We see it in education. Mr. President, let's do have a serious conversation about race in America. And how about working for all people that you are supposed to represent, not just the privileged few?

But the vice president apologized for it. He engaged in the conversation. I'm glad he did. There will be more, as you heard, the invitation to come to New York. And so we look forward to sitting down together, working on some of America's toughest issues. And race is one of them.

And, before the ran out of time, Bash asked if Demings wanted to be vice president. 

What I want to do is continue to work hard to serve the American people. Look, I have chosen tough jobs in my lifetime, a social worker working with broken children, a law enforcement officer, 27 years, the chief of police, and now as a member of Congress, trying to do things right to support the American people. 

I want to do whatever job I can to continue to push this country in the right direction and make sure that America lives up to its promise for future generations.

She's on the short list, we hear, and there is a great deal of interest in seeing him choose a woman of color, although there's also apparently growing interest in Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, according to other reports. I'll have more on all of that in an upcoming post.

Moving on to another hot topic - coronavirus and nursing homes - Chris Wallace dove right in with Parkinson, president and CEO of the ACHA and the NACL (he was previously governor of Kansas). Referencing a NY Times study that found more than a third of all US COVID-19 deaths have been in nursing homes and long-term care facilities (including patients and workers), he wondered what there was, other than the vulnerability of the population, that might explain this. 

Parkinson talked about the tragedy, calling it "almost unspeakable" for folks who have devoted their lives to taking care of the elderly. And, he pointed to "one very unique feature (of) this virus," that asymptomatic people have it, and spread it. Early on, when they didn't know about that,

we have visitors coming into our buildings, we had staff members in our buildings closely interacting with residents, as they need to, to take care of them, and we were unwittingly spreading the virus within the communities.Once the academic community and doctors figured out that you could be asymptomatic and carry it, it was too late for a lot of people.

And, he said, they didn't have the tests to know who had the virus. There was good news, though, he said; "we're now in recovery," and HHS had just allocated $5B which is "going to allow us to recover and really make this better."

Wallace noted a new report just out from the GAO, which found that 82% of nursing homes - over 13,000 of them - had been previously cited for infection control issues. And so, he asked, "didn't your facilities have a problem in this particular area long before the pandemic hit?"

Parkinson was quick to point out that "we have a real flawed survey system," including encouraging surveyors to find issues. He also noted that 99% of the deficiencies were not severe, or did not affect patient safety, and or were paperwork issues. And, he noted, this is not a normal infection issue; under normal circumstances, "infection control is symptom-related."

...we are adjusting our behavior, and that is why we're starting to see recovery and people actually getting better. Visitors are no longer allowed to come into building. Every interaction patients and staff now have masks on. Patients, residents are not eating together in the same room, they're eating privately in our own rooms so that now that we understand the very vicious nature of this virus, we're able to control it much better.

The topic shifted to what happened here in NY, where my Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo directed nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients, in accordance with CDC guidelines, to alleviate anticipated hospital capacity issues. Wallace wondered if Cuomo had a choice, or if he had to follow the guidelines.Parkinson said that, at the time Cuomo made his initial decision, he was relying on data showing that NY hospitals were going to be overwhelmed with COVID patients, but there actually was plenty of capacity.

They didn't need to be discharged to nursing homes. In hindsight, it was an error. And to Governor Cuomo's credit, he has now reversed that policy. Fortunately, we were able to convince most of the other governors across the country to not institute that policy. And I think that's part of the reason that we're starting to see recovery.

Wallace pressed that Cuomo had a choice, saying "He didn't have to follow the CDC guidance anyway" and I'm sure that elevated him at least a little bit in the eyes of the president, who has ignored CDC guidance literally from Day One, and who has been complaining about Wallace and other Foxers not toeing the company line.

Parkinson suggested Cuomo would say, in hindsight, that it was an error, but one based on "incomplete and inaccurate information." Everyone was too concerned with hospitals being overrun, and nursing homes were left out of consideration.

Our residents were not a high priority for testing. We weren't given the equipment that we needed. You know, there needs to be some accountability for all of these people that were making these fantastic estimates that the entire hospital system across the country was going to be overrun. It wasn't, and there are consequences...unfortunately, nursing home residents were one of the consequences.

(Cuomo, of course, didn't say that - instead, he deflected to the facilities, saying any of them could have called the NYSDOH and said they couldn't take the patient; in fact, he said they had an obligation to do so.)

Echoing what Parkinson said about asymptomatic folk potentially infecting people, and the result "as you've locked down, is we've seen these terrible scenes where, for their own good, residents are kept away from their families at some of them get very sick, some of them pass away and their families can't be with them when that happens," Wallace wondered about reopening, and asked "under what restriction so that the families can be together but you're not endangering the lives of  - of all the patients inside these facilities?"

Parkinson talked about how they've offered FaceTime and "all sorts of other alternatives," but agreed there's "just no alternative to being together," and that keeping COVID down in the communities where the facilities are is "the most important thing."

If we spiked back up in COVID cases though, we're going to end up with more COVID in nursing homes. So issue one is, let's keep COVID down in the communities. Issue two is, let's get adequate testing so that we can get a test for every staff member, every resident. And then, ideally, if we could get on-site testing throughout the summer so that when people come and they get a test, we know that they're COVID-free, that would be the ideal. But we do recognize it's extremely important to get these folks back with their families.

Yes, it is. I can't really even imagine how painful, how heartbreaking it must be, to be outside looking in and finding out that you've lost a loved one, with no chance to say goodbye. 

That's your Extra Credit for this week. Stay safe, wash your hands, wear your mask and, I'd say, don't go in a pool with three hundred of your closest strangers. But maybe that last part is just me. 

Sunday School 5/24/2020

What a bright and cheerful Sunday this was, at least in my neck of the woods.  I hope it was the same where you are, and that you're ready now to knuckle down and get some schoolwork done.

I visited the CNN State of the Union classroom today, to hear from two Floridians. Alas, I've only got one of them: Republican Senator Rick Scott, who was quite chatty today. Bash started by asking Scott what his message was for Floridians about masks.

... - well, look, if you're walking by yourself on the beach somewhere, probably, you don't have to. But if you're - if you're close to anybody, you ought to be - you ought to wear a mask. If you go into a grocery store, you ought to wear a mask. So, yes, I - I mean, you ought to - look, we have to social distance. We have to wear a mask. We have to open our economy. We have to do it safely. So, absolutely, should you be wearing a mask? Is it fun? No, they're hot. But yet we have to do it.

Bash compared that statement to one Scott made on an appearance on Fox during the week, where he said "We all understand social distancing. Quit telling us how to lead our lives." And she asked him, "So, now you're saying that people should wear masks?"

Oh, I - no, well, I think they should, but it's a choice you get to make. I mean, I grew up - I grew up in a family. My mom had a 11th-grade education. My adopted dad had a sixth-grade education. They were still smart. And we don't need people telling us how to lead our lives every day.

He said he believes people ought to wear masks, they ought to social distance, but we don't need the president, governor, and local officials telling us how to live our lives. And, he said, "I trust the American public, I think they're going to make good decisions."  Bash was curious, noting that his first answer "suggested that you also understand, as a leader, it is important to lead by example...correct?"

But I think - I think you're right, lead by example. I had four hurricanes. So I went out and I talked people into the problem. I said, here's - here's what's happening. We're going to have nine foot of storm surge. We're going to have this much rain. We're going to have this much wind, so you need to prepare yourself. And so - and they did, because people are smart. They want to - they want to stay alive. They want to take care of their families. I trust the American public to make good decisions.

I guess he must not have heard about all of the people making bad decisions...

Bash shifted to the president's statement that houses of worship are 'essential' and that he'd override governors who didn't allow them to open today. Her first question was whether Scott would be comfortable going to church himself.

Absolutely. First off, it doesn't matter what a governor says or the president or any local leaders. We have the Bill of Rights. We have a right to worship. We have a right to get together and respect -- and we need to respect people's religion. And so, if you want to go to your church, I believe people are going to do it safely. I believe they're going to social distance. I believe they're going to wear masks if they're close. But we should allow people to do what they want to do. They have a right to their religion...

She asked if he was saying if churches and other institutions feel that it's "their right to do something" they can choose to not follow guidelines, or not follow laws. 

No. I mean, first off, the church I go to, they're - they're social distancing. People are wearing masks. And I think it's the right thing to do. But do I believe that the government - that the government should be telling us what to do? Do I believe the government -- government can tell us we don't have a right to worship? I don't believe they can. I believe I have - I have - I have - all Floridians, all Americans have a Bill of Rights.

He said if people weren't comfortable going to church, they'll still have the option of the internet, or watching on TV. But in the end,

This is America. We have rights in this country. We have the Bill of Rights. Follow it.

Next topic? Voting by mail, which the president has said will lead to "total election fraud. Bash wondered if Scorr agrees with Trump.  Scott said he's always wanted people to vote, "100% participation, 0% fraud," he said. And Florida has "figured out how to do it in a safe manner."

Now, I think what a lot of the Democrats want to do is do only mail-in ballots. And I don't think that's right. I think -- I think you -- if -- as long as you can do it safely, as long as you can make sure there's no fraud, we ought to be able to do absentee ballots like we do it in Florida.

He says it can be done - following and enforcing the laws, setting them up right in the first place - and you can have absentee or mail-in voting without fraud. And he again said the Dems want only mail-in ballots, vs. Florida where you can vote absentee, vote early, or vote on election day, the latter being "clearly the safest."

Scott had a lot to say about blue state governors, saying that a lot of them never did the hard work, never cut spending, never balanced their budgets, they borrowed money, and so on. He attacked my Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo, saying NY's budget is almost double Florida's, because "he doesn't want to cut anything. He - he's involved in every liberal thing there is. And then he wants Florida taxpayers to bail him out."

So -- and, by the way, what have we already done for them? We have given them $50 billion for their Medicaid program. We don't know yet if their Medicaid program costs went up. We gave them $30 billion for their higher education and K-12. We don't know if their costs went up. We gave them money through FEMA. We have given them other direct grants through other federal agencies, a total of $270 billion. And we have lent them - we have - we're - we have a plan to lend them $500 billion. That's over - that's over a trillion dollars. I mean, give me a break.

Bash referenced a Rockefeller Institute study which found that Florida receives $25B more in programs than it pays in taxes, while New York pays $22B more in taxes than it receives in programs. 

Well, first off, the -- the government of New York has never sent a dime while I have been up there in D.C. to the federal government. They don't do it. What happens is, their citizens, while they're working in New York, pay into Social Security and Medicare. And they get sick and tired of all the taxes up there and move to Florida and receive those benefits. That's not the government of New York sending a dime to the federal government. So, that's exactly what's happened. That is -- that has nothing to do reality.

Um, really, Senator? Do you even know where the government's money comes from? Bash had to tell him that all of the money they're talking about is taxpayer money, not government money. Good lord, talk about having "nothing to do with reality" - does Scott even have a clue?

Well, that's exactly right. What -- what Andrew Cuomo and other governors want to do is, they want the federal government to tax citizens in other states, because they probably can't tax -- raise the taxes anymore because they have seen -- they're seeing what's happening. All this money is moving out of their states to places like Florida, because their people are sick and tired of their taxes, their regulation, their unfunded pensions.

It would seem that Florida's pension plan is underfunded by around $22B, and hasn't been fully funded since 2008. Scott was governor from 2011 - 2019; I wonder why he didn't mention that?

And it's not just New York. Scott attacked New Jersey, too. And California. And Illinois.

They won't watch their budget every year. I did that. It's a pain in the rear to watch what you have to do. But you know what? Every family does it. Every business does it. They have to live within their means. But these -- these governors, they don't. They just borrow more money every year...

Next, they moved to China, the new restrictions on Hong Kong, and of course the whole coronavirus thing. Scott said that the most effective thing we can do is buy American, and "never buy another thing made in communist China" - it would be bigger than all of our sanctions or anything else we try to do, although he says we should add sanctions, block their students from coming here to go to school, and more. And, he said, "they steal our jobs, our technology." 

And he said "this election, a lot is going to be about, one, who's going to be tougher on China." Biden, he said, hasn't been tough on China, and Trump has.

I think it's also going to be about capitalism and socialism. And, clearly, Donald Trump clearly believes in capitalism more than Joe Biden ever has.

Which is funny, because you know how the Chinese got to 'steal' our jobs and start making all of those products for American companies? It happened because our great American companies with their capitalist executives and capitalist boards and capitalist investors sold out American workers and American families and American towns and cities, that's how. It's because we - US and us - gave them our jobs, not because China stole them.

And, of course, Scott's comment was also funny since Biden, the last man standing, is the least progressive and least 'socialist' of any of the Dem contenders.

"Bye-bye. Have a good day," said Scott as he signed off.  And somewhere, I swear, a "bye, Felicia" rang out.

 See you around the virtual campus. Keep washing your hands, covering your face, and keeping your distance.

We'll catch up with Rep. Demings in tomorrow's Extra Credit.

In Case You Missed It (v37)

Gather around, children and adults - it's snippets and links time!

The week started with a couple of interviews with administration folks - Peter Navarro and Alex Azar, the HHS secretary who I was pretty sure would have been removed long before now, since everything that's been bad about the federal government's response to the virus is Azar's fault. 

But, here's still around, and I recapped his conversation with Margaret Brennan in this week's Sunday School post. Much of their conversation was about coronavirus vaccines and the administration's efforts to get one or more of them before the end of the year, come hell or high water, and whether we would have enough for all 328 million of us.

Brennan honed in on Azar's 'hundreds of millions of doses" and said that's not the same as saying hundreds of millions of vaccines ready to be administered, and reminded him he had sad "the entire American population could receive vaccines by January" and asked him to clarify. 

...We have hundreds of millions of people. So three hundred million is the goal, and by January that we would set, whether by one or multiple vaccine candidates to be able to have. Let's - let's focus our energies on actually getting those vaccines developed at this point.

How are we going to get there?  Well,

Azar said that there were 100 vaccine candidates to start with, and now that's down to 14, and 

...we're going to keep narrowing that down to maybe four or five, six, that we really place the big financial bets behind and drive on. And we might actually have multiple vaccines, some appropriate for different populations and different settings as we see the data get generated here. 

In our Sunday School Extra Credit entry,  Jake Tapper interviews California's Gov. Gavin Newsom, They covered a lot of ground, including a discussion about the state's $54B deficit and whether that stems from the pandemic, or from other issues. Newsome was clear: it's pandemic related. 

The gov talked about the $25B surplus they had a year ago, and that they've been "managing our budget effectively, efficiently, paying down our long-term obligations" and other good news, and then the virus hit.

It's not about bailing out blue states, as some have suggested.

It's social responsibility, at a time when states - not just California - large and small, across this country, cities and counties, large and small, all across the country are facing unprecedented budgetary stress. It is incumbent upon the federal government to help these states through this difficult time.

Another salient point he made came about when they were talking about the Multiple Inflammatory Syndrome that's striking children, but actually applies across the board. 

Those that claim we know what we know about this pandemic, it was 90 days ago no one even knew the word COVID, let alone what corona actually meant... we have to be humbled by what we don't know, and we have to be open to argument, interested in evidence. You cannot be ideological about this disease, and nor -- forgive me for belaboring -- can we be naive.

Honestly, it was refreshing to hear him, after what we put up with in the other classrooms. 

This week's Wondering on Wednesday had some really nice stories of amazing generosity, that show us at our best, and a couple of stories that show us at our worst - with our racism and bigotry on display both in the Ahmaud Arbery case, and in how Asian-Americans are being treated in the age of COVID-19.  

We are, of course, all too familiar with how poorly African-Americans are treated. On the latter issue of our bad behavior, I highlighted a WaPo article on how there's been an increase in racist behavior and attitudes towards Asian-Americans, including front-line healthcare workers who are fighting to save lives every day.  

In case you're wondering where this might be coming from, here are some possibilities:

• the president's rhetoric, including his insistence on referring to the Chinese virus;

• a White House official referring to "the Kung Flu" when talking with a Chinese-American reporter;

• Peter Navarro saying that China 'seeded' the virus around the world, even as he pretended he wasn't saying they did anything deliberate, and

• Senator Ben Sasse, (R-KS) referring to thugs in China in a bizarre on-line commencement address.

Yep. That's us - Making America Great Again, right?

On Thursday, I did another Email of the Week entry, even though the emails from the Dems have slowed down considerably, other than from the plethora of different Papa Joe Biden accounts. Really, only one of his weekly emails - his newsletter - includes much of anything other than an ask for money. This week (although it wasn't the winner), I included an answer to a question looking for "any words for those of us grieving" the loss of a neighbor from COVID-19. The question, from a woman in Iowa, noted that they're "certainly aren't hearing any empathy from the current president."

In part, here's what he said.

To those who have lost someone to COVID-19, I know you feel like there’s a black hole in your chest, and you’re being sucked into it. I know you’re frightened and you’re scared, and you don’t know what to do. All I can tell you is that it will take time. But in time, you will find, it will happen that you will think of that son, daughter, husband, wife, mother, father, grandparent, friend, neighbor, that you lost, and you’re gonna get a smile on your lips before you get a tear in your eye. And that’s when you know you’re gonna make it. And I’ve found, in my experience, the way to get there is finding a purpose. Purpose will drive you. Purpose will help you feel like you can control your life again.

Last night, I was not feeling 'new words' all that much, and went looking through the archives to see what was on my mind in past years on May 23rd. I found a Wondering on Wednesday post from two years ago that prompted me to sit down at the Update Desk,

This one's relevant as we watch the Ahmaud Arbery story continue to unfold, even though the updated involved the police, not vigilantes. From the original 2018 post:

How, I wonder - how can it be possible that a person who is parked across two handicapped spaces in an empty drug store parking lot at 2AM ends up Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants? In 2018? In an American city?

Well, it happens, you and I both know, because the guy who chose to park badly is black. He's black, he's young, he's wearing a chain, and did I mention he's black? It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. It's shameful.

And from the update,

I didn't mention in that post that the gentleman who was Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants was Sterling Brown, at the time a rookie for the Milwaukee Bucks NBA franchise.

I didn't mention it because it doesn't matter whether it's a famous young black man, an infamous young black man, or just a plain old ordinary young black man, does it?

It shouldn't happen, and it keeps happening. And it happens to others - Latinos, and Asian-Americans, and gays, and trans people, and Muslims and anyone else who doesn't look 'like us' or love 'like us' or pray 'like us' or think 'like us.'  We need more 'thinking' and less 'like us-ing' it would seem.

So, there you have it -- your veritable pastiche for the week that was.  I'll be back later with today's Sunday School, after what I hope will be a productive day in the garden.

The Update Desk: Wondering... (v133)

Two years ago - May 23, 2018 - I published my 133rd Wondering on Wednesday post. The bulk of it had to do with sports, and ratings, and protests during the national anthem. And it included what was, at that time, a very painful bit of wondering to close out the post.

Wondering so exhausting, I'm -- well, I'm exhausted. And sick. And sick tired of this stuff.

How, I wonder - how can it be possible that a person who is parked across two handicapped spaces in an empty drug store parking lot at 2AM ends up Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants? In 2018? In an American city?

Well, it happens, you and I both know, because the guy who chose to park badly is black. He's black, he's young, he's wearing a chain, and did I mention he's black? It's ridiculous. It's embarrassing. It's shameful.

I didn't mention in that post that the gentleman who was Tased, screamed at, put on the ground, arrested for being physically aggressive, scratched and bruised by four police officers and two police sergeants was Sterling Brown, at the time a rookie for the Milwaukee Bucks NBA franchise.

According to this WaPo article, which was linked in my original post, Brown issued a statement after the incident that said, in part.

Black men shouldn’t have to have their guard up and instantly be on the defensive when seeing a police officer, but it’s our reality and a real problem. There must be mutual respect and both sides have to figure out how to accomplish this.

There are no easy solutions to this problem, but there are strides that can be made to create change. I will do my part in helping to prevent similar incidents from happening to the minority community in the future.

And now, it seems, there's an update on this from a few months ago, that I missed. 

Brown, who's the son of a Chicago-area policeman, sued the city of Milwaukee in June of 2018 and eventually rejected an offer to settle everything for $400,000, saying that it wasn't about the money. Speaking at the Racine Correctional Institution, where his team played a game and spoke with inmates, he said

Right now, it's a long process, it's still ongoing. They tried to throw a few dollar amounts at me just to get me to shut up, and I really couldn't take it because I'm doing it for myself anymore, I'm doing it for everybody else around.

Later, he told ESPN, 

They tried to get me to settle for it. I feel like it was just a slap in the face, and I can't go into too many details, but there's other things that we're trying to push. The money is not the biggest concern. It's not a priority for me. It's the other things involved, so we're going to keep fighting.

There's going to be more to come on this one, it seems. I'll try to pay more attention. And I'll stick by how I ended the original post two years ago.

And so I have to ask, does anyone really wonder why athletes protest during the national anthem?

Email of the Week (v18)

I had a bit of a hard time choosing the latest Email of the Week honoree.

I mean, I had a boatload of options from The Biden Family of Email Addresses (Biden HQ, Joe Biden, JoeBiden.com, Biden for President, Joe Biden HQ, Biden 2020, Joe Biden 2020, Team Joe), and I had two or three from the NRA urging me to act quickly to claim my free gift, which is not a gun, by the way - as well as at least one each from Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang.

As was the case throughout the campaign, most of the Biden emails asked me for money, without giving me much in return, other than his weekly newsletter. This week, Joe answered a question from a woman in Iowa; take a look.

Question from Judy in Iowa: We lost our neighbor recently to COVID-19, it’s been really hard on the whole community. Do you have any words for those of us grieving? We certainly aren’t hearing any empathy from the current president.

To those who have lost someone to COVID-19, I know you feel like there’s a black hole in your chest, and you’re being sucked into it. I know you’re frightened and you’re scared, and you don’t know what to do. All I can tell you is that it will take time. But in time, you will find, it will happen that you will think of that son, daughter, husband, wife, mother, father, grandparent, friend, neighbor, that you lost, and you’re gonna get a smile on your lips before you get a tear in your eye. And that’s when you know you’re gonna make it. And I’ve found, in my experience, the way to get there is finding a purpose. Purpose will drive you. Purpose will help you feel like you can control your life again.

And the purpose will be, for many of us after this, what do we do to make life better? How do we make life better for other people? How could we have avoided what happened here? What are we going to do for the first responders who risked their lives and how are we going to make sure that after this they get a fair deal for their sacrifice? And the time will come to fight for this new purpose and for each other.

But in the meantime, your lost family member, neighbor, friend, is with you. They are in your soul, they are part of who you are. And you will get through this, and you will find purpose, and you will help so many people. I promise.

He clearly answered this better than the president did in his interview with David Muir a bit ago, don't you think?

The winner this week, though, was not Joe Biden himself - it was an email from Bloomberg Philanthropies, talking about Joe, and sharing Joe's message. I don't know about you, but I seem to find I like other people talking about Papa Joe better than I like Papa Joe talking about himself.

Take a look.

WATCH: Vice President Joe      Biden Speaks to City Leaders  https://youtu.be/13EfD0Iz42k Friend, Cities and towns, not the White House, are taking the lead in the fight to protect Americans from COVID-19. That's why Mike has been bringing together mayors and local leaders for virtual convenings each week, to connect with experts and share public health and economic solutions. Our most recent virtual convening was joined by Vice President Joe        Biden, who shared a message of hope for the days ahead: Share the Vice President's message of hope The Vice President also commended the leadership happening at the local level -- where the fates of people and communities aren't  determined by partisan politics: Share the Vice President's message on local leadership Right now, we need leadership that will respond to this crisis by relying on facts, broad-scale action, and compassion. We hope you will watch Vice President Biden's remarks and share his messages on the path forward with your networks. Thanks. Bloomberg Philanthropies

Wondering on Wednesday (v207)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Let's dive in, shall we, to the wondering?

How long did you think it would take for the obligatory 'young black man interacting with authorities' videos to surface in the Ahmaud Arbery case? There was no wondering, at all, whether or not there would be one - there's always at least one right? And, of course, in the other cases, just as in this case, there is zero relevance - ZERO - between whatever happened in the video (in this case, more than two years ago) and what happened this past February when an alleged attempted citizen's arrest went so horribly wrong and Arbery ended up dead, with pictures of his lifeless body shared on social media by a family member of the men accused of Arbery's murder.  Do we even have to wonder if there are more pictures and videos that have been shared? 

The new video is interesting, in one aspect: how quickly the second police officer on the scene pulled, aimed and fired his Taser at Arbery; it didn't work, for some reason. And I have to wonder, if we had a young white man in exactly the same situation, would the Taser have been reached for so quickly? Would the police even gone to investigate, performed a 'I'm not searching, I'm just looking' check of the young man's body? I know how I'd answer that question, and probably the only way I'll be convinced otherwise is if the police release videos demonstrating their actions are consistent. 

Let's see, what else do we have tonight? 

I wonder if there's anyone who would be even remotely surprised to learn that Asian-American health care workers (and others) are facing rising hostility during in the age of coronavirus? According to a report in the Washington Post

Across the country, Asian American health-care workers have reported a rise in bigoted incidents. The racial hostility has left Asian Americans, who represent 6 percent of the U.S. population but 18 percent of the country’s physicians and 10 percent of its nurse practitioners, in a painful position on the front lines of the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Some covid-19 patients refuse to be treated by them. And when doctors and nurses leave the hospital, they face increasing harassment in their daily lives, too.

Asian Americans have experienced a sharp increase in racist verbal abuse and physical attacks during the pandemic, with the FBI warning of a potential surge in hate crimes against Asians as the coronavirus death toll mounts and stay-at-home orders are lifted.

In case you're wondering where this might be coming from, here are some possibilities:

• the president's rhetoric, including his insistence on referring to the Chinese virus;
• a White House official referring to "the Kung Flu" when talking with a Chinese-American reporter;
• Peter Navarro saying that China 'seeded' the virus around the world, even as he pretended he wasn't saying they did anything deliberate, and
• Senator Ben Sasse, (R-KS) referring to thugs in China in a bizarre on-line commencement address.

Yep. That's us - Making America Great Again, right?

Actually, we are making America great - the generic but universal kind of making our country great, not the political capitalized letter way, and we show that in so many ways. Here are just a few.

• The PBS Newshour had a story a while back that I've been meaning to share. Tucker Nichols, an artist in San Rafael, CA, paints flowers for people who are sick, and sends the paintings to them. He also paints flowers for all kinds of people collectively, which you can find here. I was reminded of the wonder of art, how it moves the artist and the viewer, and helps both, even if they didn't realize they needed any help at all.
• And then there's this New Hampshire family, and I have to tell you this one brought me to tears, so consider yourself warned. Unable to visit their patriarch, who was hospitalized with COVID-19, members of the family showed up each day, and from outside, showed their love.  Nurses started taping notes on the window for the family, eventually having to leave the note that no one wanted to see: "He's at peace." What happened after that is the kind of thing that makes us great in the most wonderful way.

Finally, I'll end on a personal note, I broke my local social distancing rules this week. My husband and I have been following them religiously, since March: staying home for the most part, only going out on our designated days, and covering our faces when we're out in public once that became a rule. 

During March and April, we delivered groceries to my mom, we'd pick up her mail if needed, and the whole time, we kept our distance. In May, I released her from 'house arrest' once she had masks of her own, and now she can make quick trips to the grocery story herself. But even on Mother's Day, we stopped by, dropped off a plant, and left after less than a half hour of six-feet-apart conversation. 

This past Sunday, we went out to take care of her lawn. Masks on, social distancing in place, and then, I saw my moment. I told her to look the other way, and I leaned in and gave her a quick sideways hug - the first one she'd had in two months. 

Was it worth it, breaking the rules?  I didn't wonder for a minute - it surely was.