All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (2 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[Saintamaniac]

Do you at least recognize the value of being able to say "this concern is clearly baseless and silly . . . we even had the expert at the hearing (record cite) testify that there's no such technology"? That's entirely reasonable to me.

Yes I do see the value in that.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I've certainly been guilty of just reading a blurb and drawing conclusions based on that and in this case this guy wasn't an anti-vaxxer

I do agree with @Saintamaniac that the question could have been clarified and all this coverage would have been avoided

 

[DaveXA]

I've certainly been guilty of just reading a blurb and drawing conclusions based on that and in this case this guy wasn't an anti-vaxxer

I do agree with @Saintamaniac that the question could have been clarified and all this coverage would have been avoided

Comments do get taken out of context all the time tho. And often those clarifications and qualifications are taken out. I don't spend a lot of time trying to qualify every statement I make. I think expecting someone to always qualify or clarify their statements is a bit much. I mean, I understood what he was getting at. It's not really that hard to figure out.

 

[SystemShock]

Maybe he does. But this was a hearing for Orange County board of supervisors to discuss whether to implement vaccine passports for access to certain activities. The hearing had the doctor to testify about that topic and it's entirely reasonable to ask those questions if that's something that they're hearing in the community.

To say it's so stupid that even asking the question is unwarranted is your own judgment - it's not necessarily wrong but it's not the only view. Here's a guy trying to get people vaccinated and when he has an opportunity with an expert he asks the question so that it's on the record.

Problem is, we live in stupid times. Also, every day, even multiple times a day, people see and hear the overwhelming majority of GOP'ers toe the line, push conspiracies, push lies, ask stupid, misleading questions based on those conspiracies and lies in hearings with experts... and as a politician, you have to be aware of this. A simple "my constituents are afraid that microchips are being implanted with the vaccine. For the record, can you tell us if this is true or not"? would have sufficed. Instead, people got yet another GOP'er sounding like he's pushing a right-wing agenda.

And for the record, I am not saying the fallout is OK, and fully agree that we need to go beyond the 30 sec soundbite or the tweet. But we also have to understand, we live in the 30 sec soundbite, tweet times.

Funny thing is, people are chipped already.

 

[DaveXA]

Problem is, we live in stupid times. Also, every day, even multiple times a day, people see and hear the overwhelming majority of GOP'ers toe the line, push conspiracies, push lies, ask stupid, misleading questions based on those conspiracies and lies in hearings with experts... and as a politician, you have to be aware of this. A simple "my constituents are afraid that microchips are being implanted with the vaccine. For the record, can you tell us if this is true or not"? would have sufficed. Instead, people got yet another GOP'er sounding like he's pushing a right-wing agenda.

And for the record, I am not saying the fallout is OK, and fully agree that we need to go beyond the 30 sec soundbite or the tweet. But we also have to understand, we live in the 30 sec soundbite, tweet times.

Funny thing is, people are chipped already.

Indeed. Might as well be with all the tech we carry around.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Trump extremists sacking the Capitol who rail against China shocked when they are tracked because they are all carrying mobile phones made in China.

 

[MT15]

Good news

 

[SystemShock]

Indeed. Might as well be with all the tech we carry around.

Who do you know who doesn't carry a cell phone and a credit/debit card?
That's 2 chips right there. Plus the phone can function as a GPS locator, a listening device, and a video device. And people go places and can't wait to post from where they are to Facebook, Instagram, tweet about it... but oh, no! a microchip in the vaccine...

 

[insidejob]

Who do you know who doesn't carry a cell phone and a credit/debit card?
That's 2 chips right there. Plus the phone can function as a GPS locator, a listening device, and a video device. And people go places and can't wait to post from where they are to Facebook, Instagram, tweet about it... but oh, no! a microchip in the vaccine...

This whole microchip idiocy amazes me because why would the government have waited until the pandemic vaccine to inject a chip into people? Why wouldn't they have been doing it with annual flu shots ever since the technology became available. And while our cells and credit cards, etc., are chipped, I'm almost certain that parents can have their kids injected with a microchip that contains all of their vital statistics medically, their home address, emergency contact and stuff like that. And I don't really see anything wrong with that. Especially if a chipped person is in a life threatening situation where time is of the essence and could die without access to info on that chip.

I'd get one put in me after the car accident I had the day after Christmas on I-10E. Every doctor, nurse, human being who works at UMC in the ICU said they were amazed that I wasn't killed. Luckily, the car following me was a nurse and her boyfriend in town for the holidays and they pulled over and got me out of my burning car with the help of four random strangers and used my phone to call my emergency contact and get them moving to the hospital to answer the questions I was incapable of even comprehending after being knocked out from the impact and basically shattering my left ribcage. If they weren't following me and on the ball, I'd probably be dead right now. Hitting a solid concrete barrier separating I-10E from I-10W at 75 MPH almost head on and then being shot off the opposite side of the interstate into a ditch is one/two hell of an impact(s). If I weren't wearing the seatbelt, I'd be dead. Haven't driven without it once. I just think that people are way too paranoid about microchips. If you ask to have one put inside of yourself, you choose the info - just like you do when you chip your dog or cat.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[Saintman2884]

Comments do get taken out of context all the time tho. And often those clarifications and qualifications are taken out. I don't spend a lot of time trying to qualify every statement I make. I think expecting someone to always qualify or clarify their statements is a bit much. I mean, I understood what he was getting at. It's not really that hard to figure out.

In politics, making sure your messages, quotes, or comments aren't taken out of context is an absolute necessity. That's why so many Congressmen, Senators hire and keep Chiefs off staffs, communication teams, their team's director to re-direct, massage, or clarify quotes or comments made by their top boss at the time and it felt like or sounded good, but once he arrived back to his headquarters, or Congressional or Senate offices, his staff are there waiting to remind him just how bad, misinformed, myopic, or open to misinterpretation his earlier comments were.

A very poorly worded or not well-articulated explanation arguably cost former Labour British PM James Callaghan his job when he came back to a freezing, cold, strike-ridden, ineffective British economy nearly paralyzed by union militancy, controversy over whether or not to use British troops to quell strikers, run basic state-sanctioned industries in its Civil Contingencies Plan. He told reporters as he got off a British Airlines plane that "despite the parochial view of an impending crisis, things werent as bad in the country (UK), as they might appear". Which made him look out of touch, clueless to the difficult hardships many British were facing especially as since he'd been frolicking around in the sun and beach in the Caribbean the week before at a NATO conference. The UK Conservative (Tory) media tore Callaghan apart for his seemingly cluelessness and lack of distinct understanding of the " Winter of Discontent" of 1978/79 with a "Crisis? What Crisis?" retort splattered all over the Sun, Independent, Sunday Times, Times of London.

 

[wardorican]

It was inside.

So weird. They can't even follow Tucker's stupid/mean directions.

 

[wardorican]

That's not "thinking"

 

[wardorican]

Looks like July 1st is when a lot of restrictions will be ending.. better hope vaccination rates stay high.

 

[insidejob]

Looks like July 1st is when a lot of restrictions will be ending.. better hope vaccination rates stay high.

Are they really high though? In LA, only like 33% have been vaccinated while Orleans Parish is winning the race with a mere 40-something%. Didn't they say that to achieve herd immunity, we'd need to get to at least 70% vaccinated across the country? It's pretty much available to anyone who wants it and there isn't even a wait because so many people are refusing it.

 

[Bigdaddysaints]

Will we get to 70%? not anytime soon. But if 50% get vaccinated, the other half most at risk are the ones who refuse to get it, With places like Wal-Greens giving same day vaccinations, if you want the vaccine, you should not have an excuse not to get it. The rest can die out for all i care.. I know you can still get it after being vaccinated, but the rates are lower and the symptoms are less severe.

 

[Saintamaniac]

With places like Wal-Greens giving same day vaccinations, if you want the vaccine, you should not have an excuse not to get it. The rest can die out for all i care.

I'm with you right here. You can't fix stupid. You can only wait for it to hurt itself.

 

[wardorican]

Are they really high though? In LA, only like 33% have been vaccinated while Orleans Parish is winning the race with a mere 40-something%. Didn't they say that to achieve herd immunity, we'd need to get to at least 70% vaccinated across the country? It's pretty much available to anyone who wants it and there isn't even a wait because so many people are refusing it.

On the average we're at a good clip. Yes, some states suck.