All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (5 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?

 

[Farb]

Racist 'dog whistle' = left conspiracy theory. If you don't think China is laughing at us, your an idiot. One of the most racist dictatorships in the world and we are so quick to worry about their feelings.

And everyone needs to take a breath on this whole China thing and ask what Lebron James do? He would shut up about China, there is alot of business in china and we are all misinformed and uneducated on this situation. Ask Daryl Morey.

 

[Beach Friends]

Racist 'dog whistle' = left conspiracy theory. If you don't think China is laughing at us, your an idiot. One of the most racist dictatorships in the world and we are so quick to worry about their feelings.

And everyone needs to take a breath on this whole China thing and ask what Lebron James do? He would shut up about China, there is alot of business in china and we are all misinformed and uneducated on this situation. Ask Daryl Morey.

It's crazy, the left sees Russia as some great threat to the U.S. but thinks that the China threat is not real.

Russia might be if they could, but they lack the power China has.

China thinks long term and Chinese dominance is definitely their gameplan.

 

[Saintamaniac]

Racist 'dog whistle' = left conspiracy theory. If you don't think China is laughing at us, your an idiot. One of the most racist dictatorships in the world and we are so quick to worry about their feelings.

And everyone needs to take a breath on this whole China thing and ask what Lebron James do? He would shut up about China, there is alot of business in china and we are all misinformed and uneducated on this situation. Ask Daryl Morey.

If you think China is alone at laughing at the US then you're an idiot. If you think they just started laughing at the US, you're an idiot. If you think they are only laughing about our piss poor response to this pandemic then you're an idiot. The world has been laughing at us for the last 3 years. And they are laughing at us in amazement of what one dumbass in charge can do.

You think they are really concerned about what trump or anybody else is calling this? They are playing trump and he falls right for it. China has their problem under control. If it wasn't for the fact that our economy tanking impacts them, they'd be rolling on the floor laughing their arses off. The only idiots out there are the ones who continue to believe anything that this administration is putting out there. In the same manner I expected the sun to come up this morning, I expected trump to do exactly what he's been doing with this pandemic; lie and be incredibly incompetent.

 

[SaintForLife]

So, when is the invocation of emergency powers permissible? Congress has vested the president with this authority when a threat to the security and public health of any part of the United States is sufficiently grave to warrant a federal response. In our constitutional system, there are certain situations and categories of activity that automatically trigger federal authority. Most prominent among these are foreign relations, foreign incursions, border security, and matters related to foreign commerce, as well as commerce between the states - which, obviously, may be impacted by foreign commerce.

Consequently, the origination of the virus in China and its transcontinental spread across the globe are highly relevant. They rationalize the president's authority to address the emergency with Washington's awesome resources. As President Trump put it in his letter this weekend:

"Only the Federal Government can provide the necessary coordination to address a pandemic of this national size and scope caused by a pathogen introduced into our country. It is the preeminent responsibility of the Federal Government to take action to stem a nationwide pandemic that has its origins abroad, which implicates its authority to regulate matters related to interstate matters and foreign commerce and to conduct the foreign relations of the United States."

Moreover, the president's letter elaborates, Congress has explicitly authorized the chief executive, in an emergency, "to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States or possessions, or from one State or possession into any other State or possession."

Not only did history and common sense justify the administration (among others) in noting the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus. Doing so was a legal necessity if the imperative of federal support for beleaguered state governments was to be fulfilled.

Trump called it the 'Wuhan coronavirus' for a legal — and commonsensical — reason

The Democratic narrative is now that Trump is ill-informed and unsuited to manage a health emergency.

thehill.com

 

[samiam5211]

Racist 'dog whistle' = left conspiracy theory. If you don't think China is laughing at us, your an idiot. One of the most racist dictatorships in the world and we are so quick to worry about their feelings.

And everyone needs to take a breath on this whole China thing and ask what Lebron James do? He would shut up about China, there is alot of business in china and we are all misinformed and uneducated on this situation. Ask Daryl Morey.

When you say China is laughing at us, who exactly do you mean? (not YOU, the generic “you”)

Do you think the people in China who were the first victims of the virus are laughing?

How do you think those people feel about it being called a Chinese virus?

We should all be demanding that the President stop childishly calling it a Chinese virus. It is stupid and short sighted.

He should be calling on the Chinese government to provide desperately needed medical supplies during this time, not alienating them.

 

[GMRfellowtraveller]

So for about 4-5 days the R side has been fairly quiet- now y’all are swarming over ‘Chinese virus’

Seems both weird and a bit calculated

 

[TaylorB]

I

I think you are incorrect, at least with regards to Tucker. He has been sounding the alarm on China well before the virus was around. He's not a fan of the Chinese government and who can argue that there is not good reason for that.

He has been very consistent on drawing attention to that nation's treatment of Muslims, their treatment of Hong Kong protestors, their influence on American companies, the lack of freedom of speech in that nation and how American companies have acquiesced in that suppression, and the list goes on.

Notably, he was pointing out that the United States is far too dependent on China for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, particularly antibiotics before any of this occurred. And he was spot on.

Furthermore, when I hear someone lumping Tucker and Hannity together with respect to coverage of Trump and the GOP I know they probably are just making that assumption based on the fact they are on the same network. Tucker shows a lot more independence than one who is unfamiliar with his show might think. He's certainly not going to go Don Lemon in his coverage, but I have seen him hit Republicans without mercy.

BTW, his show airs Monday through Friday at 7:00pm CST.

I've watched Tucker's show, as I promised you back in January I would. The shows I watched (circa 1/22, during impeachment) were styled more like a nightly entertainment show like Trevor Noah's or Colbert's shows -- where he spliced together clips and mocked them -- than an informative news show. Many of the clips were mocking Democrats of color for what he was demonstrating as being extreme on race relations, which his viewers were implored to assume were representative of the entire "left" or "liberals." I've seen enough of his show to know that getting his viewers wound up about how ridiculous "the left" is over race relations is a big selling point for him. The fact that his show is viewed by many as informational, as opposed to entertainment, explains why I don't rely on TV -- from any political persuasion -- as a primary source of information.

In my post you responded to in saying I'm "incorrect" about Tucker, the only thing I said about Tucker is that part of his brand is magnifying division regarding race issues, which is true. I don't doubt that he's otherwise been critical of the Chinese government for a long time, and it's true that his coverage of coronavirus is not comparable to Hannity's and/or others on Fox in that he did not minimize the threat like they did. I was specifically not lumping Tucker with the other Fox personalities and rather chose to name him individually because he uses the racial division tactic more than anyone else that came to mind among those promoting the "Chinese Virus" controversy. And I had no idea until I literally just googled it the extent to which Tucker is making the "Chinese Virus" issue a crusade of his -- but of course, I'm not surprised.

There is a viewpoint that his broader game is getting his base of viewers riled up about social issues -- race, LGBTQ, immigration, etc. -- so they are too distracted to care that what the politicians they support are doing, including enacting fiscal policies that benefit corporations at the expense of the middle and lower class. Of course I can't say for sure whether that's true. But I think about all the people out there watching Tucker's segment on "Chinese Virus" who undoubtedly spent a good bit of their night being angry at the idea of "libs" thinking it's racist, and I wonder how many of those same people are about to lose their job and/or don't have access to testing and/or don't have or can't afford healthcare. I wonder if any of them are thinking back to Trump's big to-do about cutting healthcare regulations and CDC funding with a big stack of printed out regulations behind him, or if any of them know how much of the money from the 2018 tax bill that was supposed to trickle down to them from corporations actually went to stock buy-backs?

It may not be as sinister or complicated as what I just said; I have no idea, it's just what it looks like to me. What Tucker's motivations are -- helping Trump, helping Rs, ratings, etc. -- I really don't know. The point I'm making in my post -- which is clear as day to me -- is that the purpose of the "Chinese Virus" "controversy" is to distract from what's going on. We should feel certain that's at least why Trump is doing it. I mean, here we are still talking about something that should have nothing to do with the pandemic and how we respond to it. Is it because it really matters, or because it gives "how's-your-401k guy" a reason to come out of hiding?

 

[not2rich]

So for about 4-5 days the R side has been fairly quiet- now y’all are swarming over ‘Chinese virus’

Seems both weird and a bit calculated

Now that the "overreaction" and "hoax" narratives are over, it's time to shift to a new strategy to deflect blame:

The ‘Chinese Virus’ Is a Test. Don’t Fail It.

You should be more offended by Trump’s incompetence than by his attempt to racialize the pandemic.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Beach Friends]

I've watched Tucker's show, as I promised you back in January I would. The shows I watched (circa 1/22, during impeachment) were styled more like a nightly entertainment show like Trevor Noah's or Colbert's shows -- where he spliced together clips and mocked them -- than an informative news show. Many of the clips were mocking Democrats of color for what he was demonstrating as being extreme on race relations, which his viewers were implored to assume were representative of the entire "left" or "liberals." I've seen enough of his show to know that getting his viewers wound up about how ridiculous "the left" is over race relations is a big selling point for him. The fact that his show is viewed by many as informational, as opposed to entertainment, explains why I don't rely on TV -- from any political persuasion -- as a primary source of information.

In my post you responded to in saying I'm "incorrect" about Tucker, the only thing I said about Tucker is that part of his brand is magnifying division regarding race issues, which is true. I don't doubt that he's otherwise been critical of the Chinese government for a long time, and it's true that his coverage of coronavirus is not comparable to Hannity's and/or others on Fox in that he did not minimize the threat like they did. I was specifically not lumping Tucker with the other Fox personalities and rather chose to name him individually because he uses the racial division tactic more than anyone else that came to mind among those promoting the "Chinese Virus" controversy. And I had no idea until I literally just googled it the extent to which Tucker is making the "Chinese Virus" issue a crusade of his -- but of course, I'm not surprised.

There is a viewpoint that his broader game is getting his base of viewers riled up about social issues -- race, LGBTQ, immigration, etc. -- so they are too distracted to care that what the politicians they support are doing, including enacting fiscal policies that benefit corporations at the expense of the middle and lower class. Of course I can't say for sure whether that's true. But I think about all the people out there watching Tucker's segment on "Chinese Virus" who undoubtedly spent a good bit of their night being angry at the idea of "libs" thinking it's racist, and I wonder how many of those same people are about to lose their job and/or don't have access to testing and/or don't have or can't afford healthcare. I wonder if any of them are thinking back to Trump's big to-do about cutting healthcare regulations and CDC funding with a big stack of printed out regulations behind him, or if any of them know how much of the money from the 2018 tax bill that was supposed to trickle down to them from corporations actually went to stock buy-backs?

It may not be as sinister or complicated as what I just said; I have no idea, it's just what it looks like to me. What Tucker's motivations are -- helping Trump, helping Rs, ratings, etc. -- I really don't know. The point I'm making in my post -- which is clear as day to me -- is that the purpose of the "Chinese Virus" "controversy" is to distract from what's going on. We should feel certain that's at least why Trump is doing it. I mean, here we are still talking about something that should have nothing to do with the pandemic and how we respond to it. Is it because it really matters, or because it gives "how's-your-401k guy" a reason to come out of hiding?

Yeah, we disagree. Particularly on the point where you declared that his purpose is to encourage division among racial lines. I see his purpose as being just the opposite.

 

[coldseat]

Just my personal opinion, I don't read Trump's insistence on calling this the "Chinese virus" as intentionally racist. But it is a deflection technique playing on xenophobic tendencies to remind all of his followers that this isn't his fault. The fact that Steven Miller had so much input into the speech he gave last week in his west wing address is all the proof that's needed on that. And Trump continues to do it to reinforce that belief.

There's no reason to keep calling it the Chinese or Wuhan virus at this point as it lacks any purpose other than to stoke xenophobic blame and hate/anger. When it was more regional at first it made sense, but now that it's global and has a scientific designation, that is what should be used in official communications from all government official.

He should be calling on the Chinese government to provide desperately needed medical supplies during this time, not alienating them.

I don't think that should really be our position as a country. We can accept help from any country of course (including China), but we should be focused on ramping up production of these items here in the US in the short term. I think that's already happening. And for the future, we need to be sure that we have sufficient strategic reserves and capacity to ramp up production for any items that our in our national interest in times of crisis and that we don't fully control the means of production for.

 

[Farb]

When you say China is laughing at us, who exactly do you mean? (not YOU, the generic “you”)

Do you think the people in China who were the first victims of the virus are laughing?

How do you think those people feel about it being called a Chinese virus?

We should all be demanding that the President stop childishly calling it a Chinese virus. It is stupid and short sighted.

He should be calling on the Chinese government to provide desperately needed medical supplies during this time, not alienating them.

When I say China is laughing at us, I mean China is laughing at us.

I really don't care how someone in China feels about what I call a virus. Do you think they care if I get in my feels when they say something bad about my country?

We should be demanding our government do something to help to its citizens and not care what we call something because the asshats that set this out in the world will get their feelings hurt. Good. They should feel shirt about it. And if this goes to hell in a hand basket, I want the global community to hit China with all kinds of sanctions and crush their economy and their government. You all know they would do the exact same. They already are.

 

[Farb]

I don't think that should really be our position as a country. We can accept help from any country of course (including China), but we should be focused on ramping up production of these items here in the US in the short term. I think that's already happening. And for the future, we need to be sure that we have sufficient strategic reserves and capacity to ramp up production for any items that our in our national interest in times of crisis and that we don't fully control the means of production for.

This.

I also think we need to figure out how this happened and severally punish any and all politicians and especially their family members that used this to make money. Not just hurt their feelings, even though we all know how devastating this can be.

 

[samiam5211]

When I say China is laughing at us, I mean China is laughing at us.

I really don't care how someone in China feels about what I call a virus. Do you think they care if I get in my feels when they say something bad about my country?

We should be demanding our government do something to help to its citizens and not care what we call something because the asshats that set this out in the world will get their feelings hurt. Good. They should feel shirt about it. And if this goes to hell in a hand basket, I want the global community to hit China with all kinds of sanctions and crush their economy and their government. You all know they would do the exact same. They already are.

A country cannot laugh.

We should all care whether or not our words are assisting a foreign government in convincing their people we see them as an enemy.

The line between tough and stupid isn’t really a fine one. Let’s try not to do things that put us on the stupid side of that range.

 

[samiam5211]

Just my personal opinion, I don't read Trump's insistence on calling this the "Chinese virus" as intentionally racist. But it is a deflection technique playing on xenophobic tendencies to remind all of his followers that this isn't his fault. The fact that Steven Miller had so much input into the speech he gave last week in his west wing address is all the proof that's needed on that. And Trump continues to do it to reinforce that belief.

There's no reason to keep calling it the Chinese or Wuhan virus at this point as it lacks any purpose other than to stoke xenophobic blame and hate/anger. When it was more regional at first it made sense, but now that it's global and has a scientific designation, that is what should be used in official communications from all government official.



I don't think that should really be our position as a country. We can accept help from any country of course (including China), but we should be focused on ramping up production of these items here in the US in the short term. I think that's already happening. And for the future, we need to be sure that we have sufficient strategic reserves and capacity to ramp up production for any items that our in our national interest in times of crisis and that we don't fully control the means of production for.

I think that in the short term we should be calling for assistance anywhere that can provide it.

In the long term I think we should be reassessing the things we need made here v/s what we can afford to have made cheap, and the economy that we will have to rebuild anyway should be structured with that at the top of our minds.

 

[Farb]

A country cannot laugh.

We should all care whether or not our words are assisting a foreign government in convincing their people we see them as an enemy.

The line between tough and stupid isn’t really a fine one. Let’s try not to do things that put us on the stupid side of that range.

Can people laugh? Do people make up a country? Then a country can laugh.
I get it though, you want to make sure we separate the Chinese people in the system from their communist government. Do you think they make the difference know in their propaganda?

China is the enemy regardless of what the politicians that are making millions off of China tell us.
The people that live in China are good people but they allow the existence of a very bad and evil government and we (USA) are too blame as well for their rise in power/evil. All of this should be a wake up call and a call for a major course correction.

 

[samiam5211]

Can people laugh? Do people make up a country? Then a country can laugh.
I get it though, you want to make sure we separate the Chinese people in the system from their communist government. Do you think they make the difference know in their propaganda?

China is the enemy regardless of what the politicians that are making millions off of China tell us.
The people that live in China are good people but they allow the existence of a very bad and evil government and we (USA) are too blame as well for their rise in power/evil. All of this should be a wake up call and a call for a major course correction.

The people of China are not our enemy. We should care most of all about making sure they don't think we are.

 

[Farb]

The people of China are not our enemy. We should care most of all about making sure they don't think we are.

Yeah, that should be the most important thing on our minds as our businesses crumble, people are facing bankruptcy, people can't visit loved one, people are dying, and our civilization is changing by force and not voluntarily but yeah, we all need to be sure that the Chinese people don't get their feeling hurt.

 

[Farb]

If you think China is alone at laughing at the US then you're an idiot. If you think they just started laughing at the US, you're an idiot. If you think they are only laughing about our piss poor response to this pandemic then you're an idiot. The world has been laughing at us for the last 3 years. And they are laughing at us in amazement of what one dumbass in charge can do.

You think they are really concerned about what trump or anybody else is calling this? They are playing trump and he falls right for it. China has their problem under control. If it wasn't for the fact that our economy tanking impacts them, they'd be rolling on the floor laughing their arses off. The only idiots out there are the ones who continue to believe anything that this administration is putting out there. In the same manner I expected the sun to come up this morning, I expected trump to do exactly what he's been doing with this pandemic; lie and be incredibly incompetent.

Thats a whole lot of "I don't like Trump/Trump Bad".
Are you telling me that people and government around the world don't like Trump? Thats carzy. Who knew?