Breaking Fake News Update (v16)

 Fake News Broke on August 28, 2025!

Is there any surprise that we're using the National Guard not only for law enforcement, but also for mundane tasks that would normally be performed by municipal or federal employees? 

• There certainly shouldn't be, given that the National Parks Service, which used to take care of some of these tasks, now has a three or four hands full of employees in DC, compared to a couple of hundred pre-DOGE and pre-One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 
• There certainly shouldn't be, given that DC has seen federal funding slashed by Congress and the administration. 
• There certainly shouldn't be - after all, even FOTUS declared that crime was down 25% in DC this year alone, so no one should be shocked that there isn't a lot for the Guard members from DC and the red states of Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina that gleefully ignore high crime in their own states to stand with FOTUS and start Making Restaurants Safe Again for lobbyists, lawyers and politicians. (Are those distinctions without differences?)

I would think, though, that seeing camo-wearing folks with weapons mulching flowers, picking up trash, and loitering in Union Station would be quite the thing in the US capital, wouldn't you agree?

As always, when fake news breaks, we'll be sure to keep you informed. 

In Case You Missed It (v106)

Last week's posts kicked off with your Sunday School lesson. We were in ABC's 'This Week' classroom with Martha Raddatz, who spoke with Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior advisor to President Biden.  

Most of the conversation was about Biden's Independence Hall address (which none of the broadcast networks carried live), and unity, and division. Here's a snippet of the interview.

Raddatz wondered "How has President Biden bridged the divide? What has he done really to unify this country?" She pointed to a Quinnipiac poll showing that 69% of Democrats and Republicans believe democracy is in danger of collapse, but the Republicans blame Joe Biden and the Democrats blame Donald Trump, and said, "Again, how has Joe Biden helped bridge that divide?"

I had some thoughts on that, as you might imagine; Bottoms gave hers, as well. 

Bottoms spoke of Biden's bipartisanship in passing gun legislation as one example, but reiterated the point of his remarks. 

But it’s also going to take for all of us to stand up to hatred and what the president again continues to say it’s this MAGA agenda. The president has not called out all Republicans. He’s been very specific about this MAGA agenda. And I’ll just remind you the words from Martin Luther King Jr., when he said that it’s not the words of our enemies that we will remember, it’s the silence of our friends. And what the president has said is that mainstream Republicans, Independents, Democrats can all come together. We’ve seen us come together to do what’s right on behalf of the American people. But if people are silent, then the very core of who we are as a country is in danger.

I didn't give Raddatz a whole lotta love for the interview, but 

One thing I will give Raddatz credit for was asking about Dems paying for ads in the primaries that work in favor of MAGA Republicans. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, head of the DCCC, defends it, and the Democratic Governors Association apparently does, too.

In my opinion, it's dumb, and they shouldn't do it. She did say "tens of millions of Democratic groups who have spent money" but I'm pretty sure the meant "Democratic groups which have spent tens of millions of dollars." Bottoms didn't have a good answer for that - maybe because there isn't one.  

It was an odd interview, so much so that I addressed part of it in a Sidebar post that also came out on Sunday. 

Raddatz mentioned an organization, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, when she asked Bottoms about an increase in online hate speech, with lots of comments about how Biden attacked all conservatives and all Republicans, which he specifically did not do, of course. 

I was surprised, though, when I checked the ISD website for the info Raddatz mentioned; there was a blurb about Raddatz saying ISD said there was a surge, but I didn't find anything else about it.

I did, however, find a great deal of information using 'Donald Trump' and 'MAGA' as search keywords.

The ISD has posted about 2020 election violence, and the Big Lie and how it's still a threat, and Dark MAGA and the concerns about the 2024 election. They've talked about how Trump fails to convince his followers  to stop their nonsense, and about QAnon, and Facebook, and more.  I included several links in the post for your reading pleasure.

The general theme of it all? Exactly what President Biden was talking about in his remarks - which make Raddatz's line of questioning even stranger - or even more calculated. 

For your Extra Credit, I listened in on the discussion in the State of the Union classroom, where Dana Bash talked with FEMA Director Deanne Criswell. 

Criswell's in a tough spot, and I felt her answers were mostly about not roiling the waters or stepping on anyone's toes.  About her visit to Jackson, the Mississippi state capital,

She said that FEMA was focused on supporting the state's Emergency Management Agency

...with bringing in safe drinking water, bottled water, supporting their operations, but, more importantly, bringing in our federal partners that can really understand what it's going to take to bring this plant back to full operational capacity.

There was more of that kind of bureaucratic speak,  about "assessments" and things happening "in phases" and the "longer-term and the midterm" and having "a lot more to learn..." 

Eventually, after all of the 'non-answers, Bash said what I've been thinking all along.

It's just I'm listening to you, and I'm sure our viewers are listening and thinking, this is 2022. This is a state capital in the United States of America...a city of more than 150,000 people, without running water for nearly a week. And now, as you're saying, not only are they without safe drinking water, you don't have a timeline for when they're going to have that restored. Americans are lining up for hours in the heat just to get the bottles of water you're talking about. Who's to blame for this?

I included some of the history on the water crisis in Jackson in the post. The one thing that's clear? We are long past the point where governmental gobbledygook is going to solve the problem. 

Your Wondering on Wednesday didn't drop until Thursday morning, due to technical difficulties reporting from my secure undisclosed location, but the wondering hasn't stopped. 

On a more serious note, I'm shaking my head at the thought of the WaPo story that "a document describing a foreign government's military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities" was found in the mess of government property found at Mar-a-Lago. And I can't help wondering what kind of damage this information is going to do to our relationships around the world, regardless of which of country's information it was. Research has shown that our standing in the world was diminished during the Trump administration, but it rebounded quickly after Biden's inauguration; who knows what this will do.

Other wondering was on politicians who run for office but are afraid to debate their opponents. It's both Rs and Ds who are backing away from the traditional face-to-face discussions with their opponents, and I think it's dumb. 

In the post, I talked about Georgia, and Arizona, and Pennsylvania, and yes, New York, noting that

I share the opinion of Phil Boas, who opined

Katie Hobbs should debate. 

She should stick to the issues. Leave the theatrics to her opponent. Paint her vision for Arizona. 

Otherwise, why is she here? 

This is a contest of ideas, and in elections, debate is one of the ways in which we compete. You don’t have to match glib witticisms with your opponent, you can stand as a foil to her erratic ideals and ravings.

Finally, since last week was the first week of school for much of the country, I shared a post on Presidents Speaking to Kids as a #tbt entry. Back when President Obama was in office, there was a lot of concern (from folks who are now, most likely, part of the extreme MAGA folks Biden spoke of) about Obama talking to schoolchildren, which is a presidential tradition. 

The concern? He'd indoctrinate them on black power, or Muslim power, or some other sin that Blacks with funny names would, of course, do to our beautiful little white children, or something like that. I share comments from past presidents, including Ronald Reagan, who chose indoctrination of the white, Christian variety. 

My approach to all of that?

So much for indoctrination. Here's a quiz. The statements below came from either President George Herbert Walker Bush or President Barack Obama. Can you tell which comments belong to which President?

I offered five pairs of comments; can you tell which president made each of them? Give it a try and let me know how you did!

On tap later? What's-his-name's interview with VP Kamala Harris, and cleaning up my drafts folder (again).

Sunday School 9/4/22: Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit, we're turning to CNN's State of the Union classroom, where Dana Bash talked with FEMA Director Deanne Criswell, who was on to talk about the muddy waters in Jackson, MS. She had just returned from a trip to Jackson with Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure director.

She said that FEMA was focused on supporting the state's Emergency Management Agency

...with bringing in safe drinking water, bottled water, supporting their operations, but, more importantly, bringing in our federal partners that can really understand what it's going to take to bring this plant back to full operational capacity.

Bash wondered when they'll have clean drinking water, and Criswell said it was "still too early to tell." EPA was there, and the Army Corps of Engineers; there'll be assessments done and what not, and work is "going to happen in phases." In the near term, in addition to getting bottled water out to folks, 

we're providing temporary measures to help increase the water pressure, so people can at least flush their toilets and use the faucets. The longer term and the midterm about how long it's going to take to actually make it safe to drink, I think that we have a lot more to learn about what it's going to take to get that plant up and running.

Bash said what I've been thinking all along.

It's just I'm listening to you, and I'm sure our viewers are listening and thinking, this is 2022. This is a state capital in the United States of America...a city of more than 150,000 people, without running water for nearly a week. And now, as you're saying, not only are they without safe drinking water, you don't have a timeline for when they're going to have that restored. Americans are lining up for hours in the heat just to get the bottles of water you're talking about. Who's to blame for this?

How does this happen, in America? 

Bash didn't mention, and Criswell didn't talk about all the longstanding water problems - and, if you ask residents, the racism that exacerbates them - in Jackson, which are getting national attention as a result of the current crisis. Here are a few articles touching on those.

From NPR: 

The rituals of boiling water, and the luxury of a bath 

Lifelong resident Halima Olufemi, 45, remembers her great-grandmother and grandmother boiling water. "So much so that we would buy extra jugs and they would always pour the water in," she says. "It was a way of life." 

She's now an activist with the People's Advocacy Institute and has been helping distribute water in this emergency.

So has Danyelle Holmes, with the Mississippi Poor People's Campaign. Thirty years ago, she moved here from Greenwood in the Mississippi Delta to go to college and was told not to drink the water. 

"I've never drank tap water since I've been here in the city of Jackson," Holmes says. "Never."

The city's aging water lines can leak, leading to low pressure and contamination. There have also been broken water and sewage lines. And in 2016 the state's health department warned that it had found lead in the water supply.

And there's this, from the international organization Human Rights Watch:

Some reporting has focused on how extreme flooding, exacerbated by the climate crisis, has overwhelmed Jackson’s water system. While climate emergencies will certainly intensify in years to come, Jackson’s  crisis is a human rights failure decades in the making. State officials warned last week: “The consistent delays in timely maintenance have hampered [the water facility’s] ability to properly respond to the demands placed upon it.” But resource constraints have plagued the city and its water and wastewater system, which had a weeks-long service disruption in 2021 and multiple US Environmental Protection Agency citations for dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into source water. The water and wastewater system requires more money to repair and operate than the city can fund. 

One organizer told Human Rights Watch: “The conservative white power structure in Mississippi has deliberately disinvested in the capitol city of Jackson.” It’s understandable that they would feel that way. Mississippi state has not only failed to fund infrastructure assistance to Jackson, but recently enacted a $524 million income-tax break that has constrained the state budget, including for infrastructure funds. Mississippi is already dependent on federal funds for many government functions and is likely to require much more. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba estimates the cost to repair the systems is nearly $2 billion, while new federal infrastructure dollars to the state total $75 million.

 From the Washington Post: 

Robert Luckett, a Jackson State university history professor, noted that the contrast was stark this past week in places like County Line Road, which separates Jackson from neighboring Ridgeland. One side of the street had water while on the other, homes, hotels and other businesses made do without, setting up portable bathrooms outside. 

“It’s crazy how you can go one block and you go from a town that has none of the issues we have to a town with no water,” Luckett said. 

“This is all rooted in a politics that is based around racial attitudes and a racist history that continues to impact the city and a White leadership of the state who benefits from their suffering,” he said. “They didn’t think it was fair for the city of Jackson to get these resources when their own constituents didn’t have access to the same pot of money.” 

Roger Wicker, one of the state's two Republican US Senators, has been in office since 2007. A search of his press releases shows he's long been a supporter, and often a leader, in getting funding for rural and small community water systems, as well as for bills dealing with fisheries and commercial fishing, Mississippi River dredging and water management, flood control, and trade and commerce-related water infrastructure. I didn't find anything specific to issues with Jackson's sewage spills or lead in the water.

Wicker discussed the current situation in Jackson in a September 1st interview with another CNN anchor, Jim Sciutto. Here's a statement from his press release, 

“This is an emergency. And the American people are seeing this, they’re being very responsive, and we’re going to need additional federal help to salvage the lives, homes, and futures of our major city,” Wicker said. “I have six grandchildren that live inside the city limits in Jackson. This is personal to me, and it’s my capital city.” 

It's personal to everyone, it seems; hopefully, personal enough for something to be done to address all the issues that have plagued Jackson for decades. And if it isn't personal enough,, there's a multi-billion-dollar federal lawsuit over the lead issue to up the interest. 

See you around campus.

Sunday School 5/8/22

A governor, a state official, a member of Congress, and a US Senator walk in to a classroom - well, four classrooms - to talk about abortion. We'll take them in that order.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves talked with Jake Tapper in the State of the Union classroom. Mississippi has a 'trigger law' that will make all abortions illegal, except in cases of rape or where the mother's life is at risk; currently around 3500 abortions are performed annually. 

Reeves said that his state has "started doing the hard work of what a post-Roe-Mississippi will look like," and that if a majority of the SCOTUS justices are going to overturn Roe

we must understand that, while this is a great victory for the pro-life movement, it is not the end. In fact, it is just the beginning. And the beginning is we must show that being pro-life is not just about being anti-abortion. And so, in our state, that -- the work that is being done goes in two directions.

He said they have to do whatever they can to "make it easier on those moms who may be in unwanted pregnancies" and so, 

...I have signed legislation to provide help and resources and money to the 37 pregnancy resource centers that are located in every region of our state. We want to make sure that we get those individuals, ladies and women and expectant mothers, the help that they need from a health care standpoint, but it's not just about the health care. It's about other resources that are available to those moms.

And, the other piece of making things better while forcing women to bear unwanted children is about "the next phase of the pro-life movement."

And what we're trying to do is focus on making adoption easier in Mississippi. We're focusing on improving our foster care system... we're investing in that system over $100 million to improve technology at the Department of Human Services and at our Child Protection Service (CPS).

Tapper gave some grim Mississippi stats: the highest rates of infant mortality and child poverty in the country; no guaranteed paid maternity leave; a rejection of extended paid post-partum care through Medicaid; and a "long-running federal lawsuit" against CPS. He asked why anyone should believe Reeves saying he's concerned about taking care of these babies, or the women. Reeves said he didn't want to hide his state's problem, he wanted to fix them.

It's due in large part to poverty. And so we are focusing every day on fixing the challenges that are before us... when you talk about these young ladies, the best thing we can do for them is to provide and improve educational opportunities for them... We have got to continue to work to provide workforce opportunities, jobs for these individuals. But to do that, they have got to improve the quality of their skills. And we as a state are investing heavily in that.

In 2012, Mississippi was 47th in spending on education; in 2022, the state is ranked 46th; it plans on investing $49M in American Rescue Plan funding in education over the next couple of years. And, the state has only the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Notably,

The 2019 Mississippi Minimum Wage Act, or Senate Bill 2150, aimed to gradually increase the Mississippi minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2022, but this proposal died in committee. In 2021, Mississippi lawmakers continue to debate if and how the state should go about increasing the minimum wage. With Mississippi being the last state to not have a law requiring equal pay for women and men, there is still much discussion to be had.

Seems there's a tough row to hoe there... Maybe taking care of those other things first would make sense? 

Down the hall in the Meet the Press classroom, Michigan's AG Dana Nessel talked with What's-his-name. Her state also has had an abortion ban on the books since 1931; the ban would go into effect when Roe is overturned. Nessel has said she won't enforce that law, but she can't prevent the 83 prosecutors in the state from doing so. She called the law "incredibly draconian and strict," saying it has "virtually no exceptions - no exception for rape, for incest, no exception for medical emergencies." 

Not only that, but there's also a law against selling any drug or combination of drugs "designed expressly for the use of females for the purpose of procuring an abortion," with misdemeanor penalties in play. There's a registry requirement (name of purchaser, date of sale, and the name - and residence - of the prescribing physician.) Nessel also agreed with What's-his-name that even when a woman has a miscarriage, doctors may not want to perform the standards procedures to remove the fetus for fear they could end up in prison. 

To protect female Michiganders of child-bearing age, 

... I think each and every eligible voter in the state should be signing on to the you know, Reproductive Rights for All petition, and then coming to the polls and voting on it in November and voting for every pro-choice Democrat up and down the ticket, whether it's for federal office or for state office.

She'll also fully support lawsuits going to her state's Supreme Court arguing that the right to an abortion is a fundamental right in the Michigan Constitution "under our equal protection clause, under our due process clause...even if the US Supreme Court decides otherwise.  

She'd like to see both a constitutional amendment and a favorable decision from the state Supreme Court.

Let's be clear: women in my state, and in states all over America are going to die because of this position. And I heard the Mississippi governor when you interviewed him, he refused to answer the question of whether or not he would sign a bill completely outlawing the use of birth control. That is not in line at all with how Americans see their rights. And politicians do not belong in our doctor's offices. They don't belong in our bedrooms. And they should not be making these kinds of decisions on behalf of the American public and on behalf of women across America.

Moving south down the hall we meet Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who talked at length with Margaret Brennan in the Face the Nation classroom. Grace has been outspoken about being molested at 14 and raped at 16, and that she's pro-life, with exceptions for rape victims. Mace said the fetal heartbeat bill that South Carolina passed has exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, in part because she told her story.

I felt it was really -- a really important story. A story that's often missed and not told because women are afraid. And you can even see in public comments and on social media when I talk about it, the ways in which that I get attacked for telling that story. And one of the things that I think, you know, partially that's missing in this conversation is that, when you have victims... And it's important for -- for some of us to step forward and tell those stories that are often missed in all of this as well.  

She said she would support Congress passing a bill with those protections, but that what people are missing is that if Roe is overturned, 

it's not an all-out federal ban on abortion, but it puts it back into state legislators and into Congress. You saw Congress a couple of years ago ban late- term abortions, for example. And so, what this does is it puts it back to the states, it puts it back into Congress to deal with and figure out.

They talked about polling; Brennan noted national polling shows "a majority of Americans want to kind of keep the status qu0, but "more than two-thirds of Republicans say abortion should be generally available or available with stricter limits" and wondered if it's a mistake to "just paint this as pro-life, pro-choice?" 

Mace (correctly, I believe), pointed out that "some of the polling is murky, too." It depends on "how you ask the question and who's paying for the polling." And, she gave examples of where we're more liberal on this than they are in Europe, and that it seems, based on some polls, that only 25% - 30% of Americans support abortion without restriction.

Finally, we turn to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who stopped by the This Week with George Stephanopoulos classroom to talk with Martha Raddatz about some of the political aspects of the Alito Draft. You know, things like "Do you believe there should be a litmus test? The Democrats have several candidates who do not support abortion rights." Klobuchar didn't gasp, which is more than I can say for myself. 

Instead, she talked about the Dems being a party where people recognize the difference between their personal beliefs and the rights of women to make their own personal choice. And, she added,

I think what you see in our party, is a party that is clearly pro-choice. It believes that a woman should have a right to make her own reproductive health decision when it comes to abortion. That is a position of our party and I think you see it in primary (after) primary. That matters to our voters, certainly now more than ever.

Next question? Senate Dems are going to push for a vote to codify abortion rights, "but it's almost certainly going to be blocked..." That being the case, Raddatz wondered about the options abortion rights advocates - and Democrats - have. Klobuchar said

If we are not successful, then we go to the ballot box. We march straight to the ballot box. And the women of this country and the men who stand with them will vote like they've never voted before because this is 50 years of rights in a leaked opinion where Justice Alito is literally not just taking us back to the 1950s, he's taking us back to the 1850s. He actually cites the fact that abortion was criminalized back when the 14th Amendment was adopted. And so this is a really extreme thought.

And, Raddatz asked if abortion rights should be "the principal issue for Democrats at the ballot box." The senator said "it will not be the only issue." She mentioned the economy, the president's leadership vis-à-vis Ukraine, preserving our democracy, and the extremism the Rs are showing as issues that matter to voters.

But, clearly, when... especially a new generation of women are looking at this and saying, wait a minute, my mom and my grandma are going to have more rights than I'm going to have going forward? I'm going to have to look at a patchwork of states laws with 15 of them already looking to ban medication abortion, which is what people do online and things like that. They're going to look at this and say, what world do I live in?

So, yes, "it's going to be a major issue going into the fall." 

And the final question from Raddatz: in states where abortion would "almost immediately be banned" if Roe is overturned, polling shows most adults "believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases." Doesn't that mean the laws reflect what the people want?

Klobuchar said, like many people, she thinks 

why should a woman in Texas have different rights and a different future and a different ability to make decisions about her body and her reproductive choices than a woman in Minnesota?

She asked, rhetorically, about putting yourself in someone else's shoes, no matter how hard it might be, and thinking about "a waitress in the middle of Texas who has to make a decision...she's going to quit her job to get on a bus and go 250 miles" to have an abortion.

Those are the kinds of things that are going to be happening. It's especially going to fall on the backs of poor women, women of color. This is just wrong. And that is part of why Justice Blackmun, who is a Republican-appointed justice no less, made that thoughtful decision, looked at the Constitution and said, the right to privacy includes the right for women to make a choice like this.

Four people, all coming from different places, talking about one of the most contention issues we have. 

See you around campus. 

TGIF 3/12/21

Let's flip things around today, and put the good week stuff on top, shall we?

If you're a fan of nature, pretty colors, cardinals, or things that you'll never see with your own two eyes, this story's for you. Folks in Illinois have spotted a "super-rare" yellow cardinal. How rare, you might be wondering? Well, there are only about a dozen of the gorgeous birds in the entire Eastern US and Canada. You can see the gorgeous bird in the link above. 

Have you ever done something for someone else, every day for 591 days? I can honestly say I haven't. But this guy has: he's been picking up trash on a popular hiking trail in California's Eaton Canyon, a couple of buckets full at a time. And what else is cool? He's going to keep picking up trash, on other trails, until he goes to college - and finds a park there to clean up.

And, there's this: last night, as part of his address marking the anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden strongly condemned hate crimes against Asian-Americans. After saying they've been "attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" during the pandemic, he said

They've been forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong. It's un-American, and it must stop.

This is in marked contrast, of course, to Former Guy.

One last bit of good week-iness? Rep. Marcia Fudge was confirmed as HUD Secretary; Judge Merrick Garland was confirmed as Attorney General, and Michael Regan was confirmed as EPA Administrator.

On the bad week side of the ledger?

Florida's Rep. Matt "where's Nestor?" Gaetz and Ohio's Rep. Gym Jordan had a bad week, I think. The American people don't agree with their position on the American Rescue Plan, and neither do Dems in the House majority, who ignored them and passed it anyway. And then - and then - the two of them decided to climb aboard the #FreeBritney movement and ask for an investigation into conservatorships. But then, to make matters worse, an attorney for Britney's father's, (he's the conservator) fired back at the two goofballs in a statement to Fox News, suggesting they don't know what they're talking about. 

My Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, continues to refuse to resign, as calls for him to do that escalate. He called that cancel culture, which I think is a bad idea. Him calling it that, I mean. The latest to pile on? Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. They issued a joint statement calling for him to step down.

Former Guy is in the news again, for the wrong reason again: his acting Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, said Trump's speech on January 6th was responsible for the insurrection. In an interview with VICE on Showtime, Miller said

Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and tried to overrun the Capitol, without the president’s speech? I think it’s pretty much definitive that wouldn’t have happened.

Not only that, but he described his tenure as a "constant drumbeat...of potential illegal, immoral, and unethical activities causing him to "closely examine his ethical, moral and legal red lines." 

Geraldo Rivera toyed with the idea of running for office this week. He was exploring a bid for the US Senate seat held by Rob Portman - he's not running for re-election next year. After a whole 36 hours of what he called a "pondering whirlwind" he decided against it, without giving reason on Twitter. However, on TV, he blamed folks at Fox News who challenged him to decide if he's a journalist or a politician. 'None of the above' wasn't a choice, I guess. 

Actor Matthew McConaughey is sorta maybe kinda seriously considering running for governor of Texas next year, and some folks think that's ridiculous. Like this guy, offering his opinion to CNN.

Let me offer him some friendly advice from someone who has spent decades reporting on my state's government: stay out of Texas politics. McConaughey is exactly what the state does not need — someone with great talent in his chosen profession and no known experience in public office or politics. 

Finally, lots of folks in Jackson Mississippi are entering their fourth consecutive bad week. Remember the storm that froze the Texas windmills? Well, that same storm caused millions of folks in Mississippi's capital to lose power, deal with freezing pipes, and, still, broken water mains. From this NPR piece we learn that

Hundreds of residents in Jackson, Miss., are now in week four of a water crisis. Some in the majority-Black capital city still don't have water after last month's winter storm. Others have to boil their water first. 

When's the water coming back on? No one seems to have the answer.

TGIF, everyone.

Sunday School 3/7/21: Extra Credit

At the end of Sunday School I promised I'd have some of the COVID discussions from yesterday's classrooms, so let's dive in. First up? Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. 

On him relaxing guidelines in his state, Reeves said the people who've been saying for a year to follow the data "now want me, when things are going down, to completely ignore the data." He said he's "less concerned about the number of cases and more concerned about our objective," which has never been to be virus-free. Rather, it's to "ensure we protect the integrity of our health care system" and that anyone who gets the virus gets good care.

And, he said, they are trying to protect both lives and livelihoods, as he ignored Tapper's question about the surge in cases and deaths that happened the last time he lifted the mask mandate. He trusts his citizens to "make good decisions."  Reeves continues to not only recommend people wear masks, he encourages it, saying

If you have not received the vaccination, and you are going into a large crowd, or if you're going out to dinner, I strongly encourage Mississippians and people across the country to wear a mask, because I believe that it does, in fact, reduce the ability of individuals to spread the virus. No question about that, Jake.

Notably, only about 9% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, according to Tapper, but Reeves said they did 28,000 on Friday, and they're doing a lot better now than in the past. 

Dr. Ashish Jha, from Brown University's School of Public Health, is a regular on ABC, and he was in the This Week classroom with Martha Raddatz. She asked him about teachers still not wanting to get back in the classroom. He advocated for teachers being prioritized, and said he believes

most teachers are going to be perfectly willing to go back. It's safe for them. It's safe for the kids. There may always be some outliers. But we have to deal with that. I think there's no question of public health and safety when we think about vaccinated teachers in schools with good policies.

He also questioned states lifting the mask mandates, saying that "is not just about personal choice" and comparing it to impaired driving. 

 -- if I were to drink and get behind the wheel of a car, it's not just a personal choice that I'd be putting my life at risk, I'd be putting other people's lives at risk. That's why we have laws against that kind of behavior. When you wear a mask, you're not just protecting yourself, you're protecting people around you.

He's still optimistic on "what the summer will bring" in terms of getting back to normal; we'll have "plenty of vaccines for everybody and most Americans will have gotten vaccinated" by then. The changes made in Texas, Mississippi and other places can slow that timeline down, and put people at risk of getting infected - and dying.

And given how close we are to the finish line, anybody who gets infected today and dies in three or four weeks is somebody who would have gotten vaccinated a month from now. This is why it's urgent to just keep going for a little bit longer. I think a lot of these restrictions can start coming down later April, certainly by May, but not right now. 

And finally, Chuck Todd talked with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients on Meet the Press. Chuck asked about the difference between "having enough vaccine for every adult American" and getting every adult American a shot. In fact, Chuck asked the question twice, without getting a real answer - the best he got was 

So, our goal is to get as many Americans, all Americans, vaccinated as efficiently and as fast as possible. But I want to emphasize equity and fairness is as important as speed and efficiency.

They also talked about people maybe holding out for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson one. Zients said we have "three safe and very effective vaccines" and that folks should take the first one they're offered, and that the administration is working to ensure even distribution of all three of them.

They also talked about vaccine equity, with Chuck sharing that the most African-American ward in DC, which has the most COVID deaths, is not getting the most vaccines. Zients is aware that type of thing is happening "in too many parts of the country" and it's unacceptable, it's not fair and it's not equitable. 

We need to bring vaccines to people where they are, which is why community health centers are so important. They serve over 30 million Americans. Two-thirds of those that use community health centers live below the poverty line. Sixty percent come from communities of color.

The community health centers, the mobile units, and the pharmacy program are also focused on hard-hit areas. He also said they're working with states on vaccine supply, access issues, and support for folks trying to get signed up.

Many governors and states have improved their access. But we need equal access across the board. We need to fix this problem. We need to hold ourselves accountable to both speed and efficiency, but fairness and equity in the distribution of the vaccine.

See you around campus. Please get vaccinated as soon as you're able, and keep making good decisions about mask-wearing and social distancing.