When McConnell, a polio survivor, heard the shit from Siri, he responded: “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” he said. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”
One of my college friends was the Polio Poster Child for Dyer County TN. She wore a heavy brace and carried two aluminum crutches. She was the first female software engineer hired by Esystems, earned her PhD in math, her MA in counseling, and bred Persian cats. Her parents were told she would never walk (nearly killed me walking in Rome) and would be intellectually challenged. She was sent home in elementary school when she threatened the kids bullying her boyfriend with her crutches. Let’s send Mr. Siri to chat with her….
Never thought I'd have a good word to say about McConnell, but-- like Mike Pence-- he's having his One Good Moment. I'm grateful to him for speaking up.
After causing all this shit in the first place, seeking to amass more power. He knew that yhe orange turd was guilty as hell and could have let the inpeachment go through. He killed it, and now is responsible for getting the rest of us killed. Fuck that ugly turtle.
I mostly agree with you, Mr. Rideout. Addison McConnell was determined to advance the power of his Party and look where it has landed us..
However, like Darth Vader who still a few molecules of good left in him, ol' Turtleface has a few sparks of decency left. Let him speak his truth to power.
But, Judith, I don't trust Mitch! Even though this is the perfect stance for him to take. I can hear him saying in republithug speak " Mr. Kennedy has assured me that blah, blah, blah...🤮"
I'm reminded of course of Susan Collins re Brett Kavanagh 🤮😤 Just really cynical these days😵💫
Sounds good to me, Linda!! I went to school with a girl who contracted polio at age 3. She too, used aluminum or steel braces and crutches while also being confined to a wheelchair. One hand was paralyzed. She received her masters degree, married, had a kid, and divorced. Unfortunately, she passed away but not before she accomplished many things others said she couldn’t.
I don't ever want to hear the nonsense that "this is not who we are". This is very much who we are and always have been and probably always will be - clinically insane, stupid, pig-ignorant, vicious, bigoted, mouth-breathing, knuckle-walking morons who routinely vote against their own interests because they think that only the people they hate will suffer. By the time they figure out that Trump has screwed them, it will be too late, and they'll probably just blame everything on the Democrats or immigrants or aliens or Obama anyway.
No, Linda, it's not who "we" are. It's who "they" are: the evil, vicious, bigoted, t-rump-worshipping monsters who came out in force to vote for their lord and master. Please don't lump those of us who voted for Harris with those barely-human creatures who adore t-RUMP.
I voted for Harris. I'm 74 and have been a Democrat and have voted for Democrats for as long as I can remember. I have been fighting for social justice for over 50 years and I am exhausted and embittered at the state of this country. I'm not lumping us with those barbarians, but there are a hell of a lot of them and they are now in control from top to bottom. We have a hell of a battle on our hands, and I don't expect to live to see the end of it. I have seen this horror coming for a long time and am enraged at the failure of the Democratic Party to so much as recognize what was happening. They still refuse to admit that we are confronted with fascism and are busily groveling any chance they get (see Fetterman, Clyburn, et al.).
Thank you. I've spent my life in a state of rage at injustice and cruelty and I ain't going to stop now. I'm too old to care what anyone thinks. I'm too poor and too old to leave this benighted hellhole so I guess I'm stuck here for the duration. It just makes me ill to watch everyone falling in line. Good Germans, all of them.
Yea, Linda, you are absolutely correct! I am a year younger than you but have fought the same injustices as you for over 50 years. Parents were Holocaust survivors and husband, a Vietnam vet. The people who couldn’t get off their fucking ass to vote have given us the chaos which will ensue. Well they will find out how horrible things will be and we will too.
Thank-you ,Linda, for your activism and your votes. I too worked very hard for Harris/Walz and was devastated by the election results. I am slowly getting some of my moxie back but it is still hard to fathom the damage being done.Frankly I am tired of living in 2 to 4 year increments for change.A lot of us may not have many of those years ahead of us. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Something has gotta give.
Yep...I have voted Dem ever since I was old enough to vote. I started to be alarmed at the attitude of the DNC way back when Bill and Hillary Clinton, fresh from the Democratic Leadership Council, embraced big money donors and neoliberalism. Obama, too, was an alumnus of the DLC. The Dem leadership dropped their former base like hot potatoes and lost their voice and purpose in the chase for money to fund ever bigger and better campaign war chests.
GETTING (BIG & DARK) MONEY OUT OF POLITICS will be our hardest struggle.
No need to rely on the 2024 voting results -- U.S. history tells the tale about who "we" are, and it's not pretty. Yes, there are some bright spots, about which we endlessly crow, but Ron DeSantis et al. aren't the only ones in denial about who we are.
They are us as we are them as we are all citizens of the US.
As reactions to this current mess will show us, those watching from afar will certainly see us all as one. When they say, "What is the problem with those people?" they mean us, not just the ignorant knuckle draggers or the droves of small minded fools or those infected with insatiable greed.
We are all one citizenry and one way or another we've all been part of how we got here. Bad on all of us for that as we're about to take a huge dangerous leap in the wrong direction on the path of this experiment in democracy.
I couldn't convince one maga relative to change their vote, but my daughter's partner confronted his Dad about the moral values that he had taught him as his son, and that he couldn't understand how he could betray his values and vote for Trump. His Dad changed his vote.
Yes it is who "we" are, if "we" includes most white middle-class-and-up straight people. Others have been screaming since at least the onset of the Reagan administration, but most white middle-class-and-up straight people were doing pretty OK so we didn't hear much from them until Trump was elected the first time.
They don't outnumber 2 to 1. That would be 100 to 50.
The 2024 vote margin is less than 1.5% now. 49.78% to 48.23%, That is not anywhere close to 2-to-1. Not even in the same galaxy.
Where does 2 to 1 come from? The bureau of Alex Jone's butt?
We are several hundred years PAST time to rid ourselves of this "electoral college" scam which was invented to marginalize slave votes.
The electoral college was created before there were practical light bulbs. People read by candlelight in 1887.
The Electoral college was invented out of thin brain cells in 1887. Light bulbs that worked, five years later in1893, when A.C. current lit up the Chicago World's Fair.
And goddamn it for making me do math at 21: -ficking-30 at night.
Except this time it looks like they managed to rig the system to win even the popular vote. Dems keep moving to the right. There is no “center”, there’s only rich & not rich not. Unfortunately too many “not rich” think that kicking certain minorities even lower, they’ll be accepted into the rich society. Having said that, it’s true that often Dems don’t give us much to work with, nor fight for the few good things they do.
That, I believe, is an old wrestling term. I was one, and in boxing, your trainer threw in the towel. If one was on the wrestling mat and it was all over, you cried "Uncle!"
Right. Supreme Court decisions have far-reaching consequences. What has saddened me about this Supreme Court is that they have failed to foresee the consequences of decisions such as Citizens United or Loper Bright or even worse that they did foresee the consequences and intended them.
I am old enough to remember polio and the fear that spread through communities as children got sick. I remember putting my dime allowance into the March of Dimes collection box to fund research for a vaccine and lining up in elementary school to receive the Salk vaccine on a sugar cube.
I also remember the many polio survivors who flocked to the University of South Florida in Tampa when it opened in 1960. The campus was the first to be designed for complete handicapped access. The entrances to all buildings were designed with no steps, by sloping the grounds to rise toward the entrance, so the normal step up wasn’t needed to keep the rain out. All multi-story buildings had elevators. So students in wheelchairs, on crutches or with leg braces had independent access. After about five years, the handicapped student population dramatically decreased. Yay for vaccines!
I remember getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube when I was about 5 or 6. A friend of mine had polio, spent almost a year in a hospital, and ended up with a permanent limp. These savages want to kill everyone for some perverted reason I can't begin to fathom.
They don't give a damn. They think they will be in power permanently and are incredibly arrogant. They will attempt to ensure that there will be no more elections. This is the Fourth Reich and they are in the saddle.
Same happened to my mother. Our parents made damn sure we all got the sugar cube and every other vaccine as it came along because they had lived through the era of those diseases.
To steal from RBG, "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." Same goes for vaccines.
Yes. I have read that polio survivors often have trouble with a resurgence of the disease later in life. Like chicken pox, polio hides in the nerve cells as long as you live.
This. I also have a friend in the same situation. The polio virus remains in one's body, even after recovery. Relapses in your 60's and beyond are common.
I remember the sugar cube, when I was maybe 6 or 7. All the kids were lined up in elementary school. Early in the morning. Parents might have been with us. I had little idea at the time what it was all about -- kids were always being given jabs for something or another in those days, I hated going to the doctor's! Looking back now, I understand it all. I still hate getting a shot but I will do it and I can't believe what has happened to this country and its appalling level of willful ignorance and denial.
No one refused to get a polio vaccine when the Salk vaccine, and later the Sabin vaccine, were introduced. If these idiot anti-vaxxers had lived through the years when the only vaccine available was for smallpox, they would be first in line for any vaccine available. Did they ever stop to ask why smallpox was eradicated, or why kids today aren’t terrified of contracting polio?
Not enough history is being taught and reading comprehension is probably as low as it has ever been in this country. I just do not get this pride of ignorance that has overrun this country.
There has always been a streak of resentment running through the minds of "reg'lar folks" against educated people but the benefits of education have always been so clear that those who resent education have been suppressed. No longer, I guess.
We retain no memory of the times when whooping cough, smallpox and the influenza epidemic of 1918 were deadly illnesses ( the "Spanish Flu" was later identified as an H1N1virus--a variation of avian flu, folks. We just voted to give TFFG another chance to kill us all with another, even more deadly pandemic).
A side note here: WWI was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 16 million people. The "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918 (a variation of avian flu, remember) infected over 500 million people--a THIRD of the world's population at that time. it killed an estimated 50 MILLION people.
Something I discovered while looking up "Spanish Flu' was a few facts about the "world's worst plague ever" which was the bubonic plague or, more dramatically, "The Black Death".
It has never been completely eradicated and there is no vaccine or cure. The only reason it hasn't swept over our population centers is that we have a better understanding of what it is and how it is transmitted....but in 1300's the disease killed 50% of Europe's population (which made workers very valuable and contributed to breaking the grip of the church and feudalism on the continent.)
Just think of what such an outbreak could do in the science-denying areas of the U.S.!!!
If you want a tangible example of how RFK Jr's "medical expertise" plays out in the real world just look at what happened after he spread his anti-vaxx advice in Samoa:
Actually we do still use leeches Linda. With a more acceptable name “Medical Leeches”. They are used in reconstructive microsurgery to prevent blood from pooling and clotting in the tiny vessels thereby preserving blood flow for repair and healing. Leeches have an anticoagulant in their saliva that is released and it does its work. However, they are not used for bloodletting like the old days. If that isn’t enough let me tell you about Medical Maggots that are used on necrotic wounds. They can save an extremity by consuming the necrotic tissue and preserving the heathy tissue. And these are used in major medical centers. I am a firm believer in science having been in the Medical field for 38 years and vaccines are effective, safe and lifesaving. So we have to do whatever we can to keep Bobby brainworm and his sidekick as far away from Health and Human Services as possible.
Just a little side-note: My dad was born in Poland in a city that is now part of the Ukraine. He told me about how the doctors used leeches on their bodies. I was thoroughly grossed out!
Oh my…I’m feeling a trifle lightheaded right now…i knew about Medical leeches but not maggots! RFK, Jr has as much right being in charge of anything to do with health as Donnie Demento’s favorite doctor, Hannibal Lecter.
I can imagine that Europe, Canada and other nations will deny entry to Americans if this monstrous activity happens…even people who show proof of inoculations will be suspect of carrying viruses that can sicken thousands…tourists will not come to America for fear of being exposed to goodness knows what…we will become pariahs in more ways than one.
We're in Wonderland...up is down and down is up. That we are facing this level of ignorance, no, madness, in this country is hard to fathom. Dems have let the insane right wing take over all facets of society, frog in warm water slowly, over the last 50 years. I knew when 'the gov't is coming to help you' bullshitter Raygun was elected we were at the edge of a precipice. And it's been downhill ever since. Old guard Dem politicians don't have the savvy, the balls, the energy to fight back against the spin machine r/w media/corporations/billionaires/super pacs - and CU - have built. They have gerrymandered house seats, brainwashed the gullible and steamrolled Dems. Either we get smart, get bold, get young blood in leadership positions or we might as well just bend over and kiss our asses goodbye b/c there will be MAGA governments from here on out and P25 as the law of the land. We need to kick corporate dark money to the curb and get back our New Deal cred or we will permanently lose the working class, unions, that supported Dems and their New Deal policies. At the least we need to take back the House in 26 and we won't do that unless we force Dem leadership to confront the problems they have created with 'go along to get along' attitudes - where the hell has it gotten us? and they were all re-elected to their leadership positions they failed to use to it's advantage. Why should young voters show up to the polls - they have only old fossils to voter for that don't represent their interests or values - they don't represent mine, either. Something has got to change or this country won't survive Donvict and his remora as a democracy we recognize.
I think that the first step on the road should be to have Ben Wikler of Wisconsin as the Chair of the DNC. He would shift the party toward being much more able to combat Repuglican strategies than the very nice and idealistic current leaders.
Growing up in England during and after WWII, I remember all too well the ravages of polio before the Salk vaccine became available. A close childhood friend fell victim, and spent her life in an iron lung. We cannot return to those terrifying days. In my recent, later, years I have undergone several joint replacements. Each time, as I lay on the operating table and the anesthesiologist and surgeon leaned over me, I felt, on the one hand, that I was putting my life in the hands of essentially strangers, and at the same time felt such gratitude for the care and experience they represented. They gave me what they had — knowledge, expertise, excellent training, grounded in solid, verifiable science. The idea of these impending crackpot, ignorant, dangerous people taking over the country’s health protocols is beyond terrifying. May there be 3 Republican senators with spines to resist!
Regrettably, there isn't a procedure for injecting courage into spines (and if there were, would United Healthcare cover it?). Growing up in Chicago duing those Before Salk years, I remember absolutely the fear of polio that gripped the city and my family. Our societal memory of the horrific danger of polio has faded that much in what? 70 years? But why should we be surprised? How dare you (the government reprersenting you) tell me to wear a mask during the height of Covid? To take Kris Kristofferson's lyrics a full step into the abyss, or Styx, "freedom's just another word for 'fuck you.'"
Everyone, call your Senators to tell them to reject RFK, Gabbard, Patel, and Hegseth for Trump's cabinet. These four horrible people have no business making life-and-death decisions for us or the US.
Please call your Senators - they need to hear from thousands of us, even ones who oppose these nominees, and especially those who are ready to capitulate - again - to Trump. It only takes a minute to call to either speak w/ a staffer or leave a voice message. You'll feel better for speaking up. How will they know what you want if you don't tell them?
I'm absolutely horrified by the attitude of RFK jr and Trump. My father had polio in the 1918 epidemic and was paralyzed on his entire left side for six months at age four. He recovered, but permanent damage was done to his left ventricle, and as a result he died ten years earlier than is common in his family. The Salk vaccine was invented in 1953 and tested on 1.6 million people in the US and Canada. It was released to the general public in 1955. As a result I know no one in my generation (I was born in 1951) who had polio. The same can't be said for earlier generations or other nations, like India. RFK Jr. is FUCKING IDIOT! Hopefully, he won't be approved.
Lucian, In your last paragraph, please don't overlook the Orange Monster's mis-mangement of the covid epidemic in which 1.2 million US residents died. Casting doubt on masking up, social distancing - and attacking the scientists at the CDC - and suggesting injecting bleach. I think he and RFK, Jr are pretty well matched.
When I broke a femur in January the quality of my hospital experience was like yours. A last-minute MRI proved to my surgeon he needed to merely pin my hip, not replace it as X-rays had suggested he should. I didn't notice any brands. I was also a witness. My first roommate and I were in no condition to socialize and we exchanged only Good mornings. Her undiagnosed distress was g-i, and I listened to her doctor tell her she couldn't be having the symptoms she was describing to him. That did not relieve her misery. The morning I was to be transfered to a rehab hospital (the hospital where the UHC CEO was taken) my roommate was scheduled for an early multi-MD exam. As I was being wheeled out, we met in the hall on our respective gurneys. She was jubilant. She had ulcers. I told her I'd been hearing for years of doctors refusing to believe what black patients told them. Now I had been in the room to see and hear it. That pleased her too. It was a brief, intimate experience with a stranger I'll never forget. Although hers apparently ended favorably, not all treatment is equal.
You can’t make this stuff up. Brainworms have gotten to RFK and the MAGA brainworm has infected half the country. I imagine a disembodied voice saying,
When McConnell, a polio survivor, heard the shit from Siri, he responded: “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” he said. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”
One of my college friends was the Polio Poster Child for Dyer County TN. She wore a heavy brace and carried two aluminum crutches. She was the first female software engineer hired by Esystems, earned her PhD in math, her MA in counseling, and bred Persian cats. Her parents were told she would never walk (nearly killed me walking in Rome) and would be intellectually challenged. She was sent home in elementary school when she threatened the kids bullying her boyfriend with her crutches. Let’s send Mr. Siri to chat with her….
Never thought I'd have a good word to say about McConnell, but-- like Mike Pence-- he's having his One Good Moment. I'm grateful to him for speaking up.
After causing all this shit in the first place, seeking to amass more power. He knew that yhe orange turd was guilty as hell and could have let the inpeachment go through. He killed it, and now is responsible for getting the rest of us killed. Fuck that ugly turtle.
I mostly agree with you, Mr. Rideout. Addison McConnell was determined to advance the power of his Party and look where it has landed us..
However, like Darth Vader who still a few molecules of good left in him, ol' Turtleface has a few sparks of decency left. Let him speak his truth to power.
Maybe, but how do you thank the fireman for peeing on the fire he started in the first place? Not me.
But, Judith, I don't trust Mitch! Even though this is the perfect stance for him to take. I can hear him saying in republithug speak " Mr. Kennedy has assured me that blah, blah, blah...🤮"
I'm reminded of course of Susan Collins re Brett Kavanagh 🤮😤 Just really cynical these days😵💫
Sounds good to me, Linda!! I went to school with a girl who contracted polio at age 3. She too, used aluminum or steel braces and crutches while also being confined to a wheelchair. One hand was paralyzed. She received her masters degree, married, had a kid, and divorced. Unfortunately, she passed away but not before she accomplished many things others said she couldn’t.
The survivors were tough and determined. I am grateful for their lives. ♥️
I don't ever want to hear the nonsense that "this is not who we are". This is very much who we are and always have been and probably always will be - clinically insane, stupid, pig-ignorant, vicious, bigoted, mouth-breathing, knuckle-walking morons who routinely vote against their own interests because they think that only the people they hate will suffer. By the time they figure out that Trump has screwed them, it will be too late, and they'll probably just blame everything on the Democrats or immigrants or aliens or Obama anyway.
No, Linda, it's not who "we" are. It's who "they" are: the evil, vicious, bigoted, t-rump-worshipping monsters who came out in force to vote for their lord and master. Please don't lump those of us who voted for Harris with those barely-human creatures who adore t-RUMP.
I voted for Harris. I'm 74 and have been a Democrat and have voted for Democrats for as long as I can remember. I have been fighting for social justice for over 50 years and I am exhausted and embittered at the state of this country. I'm not lumping us with those barbarians, but there are a hell of a lot of them and they are now in control from top to bottom. We have a hell of a battle on our hands, and I don't expect to live to see the end of it. I have seen this horror coming for a long time and am enraged at the failure of the Democratic Party to so much as recognize what was happening. They still refuse to admit that we are confronted with fascism and are busily groveling any chance they get (see Fetterman, Clyburn, et al.).
100% A+.
Love the passion and you are right on target.
Thank you. I've spent my life in a state of rage at injustice and cruelty and I ain't going to stop now. I'm too old to care what anyone thinks. I'm too poor and too old to leave this benighted hellhole so I guess I'm stuck here for the duration. It just makes me ill to watch everyone falling in line. Good Germans, all of them.
Yea, Linda, you are absolutely correct! I am a year younger than you but have fought the same injustices as you for over 50 years. Parents were Holocaust survivors and husband, a Vietnam vet. The people who couldn’t get off their fucking ass to vote have given us the chaos which will ensue. Well they will find out how horrible things will be and we will too.
Thank-you ,Linda, for your activism and your votes. I too worked very hard for Harris/Walz and was devastated by the election results. I am slowly getting some of my moxie back but it is still hard to fathom the damage being done.Frankly I am tired of living in 2 to 4 year increments for change.A lot of us may not have many of those years ahead of us. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Something has gotta give.
Same here, Victoria. But the worse is yet to come. The orange traitor has told his followers, 'you'll never have to vote again'.
That is what we are up against now.
Yep...I have voted Dem ever since I was old enough to vote. I started to be alarmed at the attitude of the DNC way back when Bill and Hillary Clinton, fresh from the Democratic Leadership Council, embraced big money donors and neoliberalism. Obama, too, was an alumnus of the DLC. The Dem leadership dropped their former base like hot potatoes and lost their voice and purpose in the chase for money to fund ever bigger and better campaign war chests.
GETTING (BIG & DARK) MONEY OUT OF POLITICS will be our hardest struggle.
The cliche' is, "this is not who we are". That's the point here.
As a collective, based on the 2024 voting results / electoral 'college', it IS
'who we are' As far as the world is concerned and for the practical purposes. WE ARE Dumpty and Dumpty is US.
No need to rely on the 2024 voting results -- U.S. history tells the tale about who "we" are, and it's not pretty. Yes, there are some bright spots, about which we endlessly crow, but Ron DeSantis et al. aren't the only ones in denial about who we are.
They are us as we are them as we are all citizens of the US.
As reactions to this current mess will show us, those watching from afar will certainly see us all as one. When they say, "What is the problem with those people?" they mean us, not just the ignorant knuckle draggers or the droves of small minded fools or those infected with insatiable greed.
We are all one citizenry and one way or another we've all been part of how we got here. Bad on all of us for that as we're about to take a huge dangerous leap in the wrong direction on the path of this experiment in democracy.
I couldn't convince one maga relative to change their vote, but my daughter's partner confronted his Dad about the moral values that he had taught him as his son, and that he couldn't understand how he could betray his values and vote for Trump. His Dad changed his vote.
Yes it is who "we" are, if "we" includes most white middle-class-and-up straight people. Others have been screaming since at least the onset of the Reagan administration, but most white middle-class-and-up straight people were doing pretty OK so we didn't hear much from them until Trump was elected the first time.
Global “we”, yes. Us “we”, no. Sadly, “they” outnumber us 2-1
They don't outnumber 2 to 1. That would be 100 to 50.
The 2024 vote margin is less than 1.5% now. 49.78% to 48.23%, That is not anywhere close to 2-to-1. Not even in the same galaxy.
Where does 2 to 1 come from? The bureau of Alex Jone's butt?
We are several hundred years PAST time to rid ourselves of this "electoral college" scam which was invented to marginalize slave votes.
The electoral college was created before there were practical light bulbs. People read by candlelight in 1887.
The Electoral college was invented out of thin brain cells in 1887. Light bulbs that worked, five years later in1893, when A.C. current lit up the Chicago World's Fair.
And goddamn it for making me do math at 21: -ficking-30 at night.
Except this time it looks like they managed to rig the system to win even the popular vote. Dems keep moving to the right. There is no “center”, there’s only rich & not rich not. Unfortunately too many “not rich” think that kicking certain minorities even lower, they’ll be accepted into the rich society. Having said that, it’s true that often Dems don’t give us much to work with, nor fight for the few good things they do.
Vote suppression.( Purges, disinformation)
I was counting the people that didn’t vote as part of the “not us”.
The Unforgivable 13 million. Yes.
No they don't. They're just obnoxiously loud.
We've entered a new Dark Ages, where "research" on the internet trumps real expertise. Kennedy's father and uncle would be appalled.
Make that uncles.
That, I believe, is an old wrestling term. I was one, and in boxing, your trainer threw in the towel. If one was on the wrestling mat and it was all over, you cried "Uncle!"
In that context? Is father a wrestling term too?
Reference 1984 Supreme court decision, "Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc."
And how it was reversed in the Extreme Court, Loper v. Raimondo, 2023:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf
Right. Supreme Court decisions have far-reaching consequences. What has saddened me about this Supreme Court is that they have failed to foresee the consequences of decisions such as Citizens United or Loper Bright or even worse that they did foresee the consequences and intended them.
Absolutely... The Scotus wants all of this and the so called conservatives on the court are most likely very happy with the results so far
I am old enough to remember polio and the fear that spread through communities as children got sick. I remember putting my dime allowance into the March of Dimes collection box to fund research for a vaccine and lining up in elementary school to receive the Salk vaccine on a sugar cube.
I also remember the many polio survivors who flocked to the University of South Florida in Tampa when it opened in 1960. The campus was the first to be designed for complete handicapped access. The entrances to all buildings were designed with no steps, by sloping the grounds to rise toward the entrance, so the normal step up wasn’t needed to keep the rain out. All multi-story buildings had elevators. So students in wheelchairs, on crutches or with leg braces had independent access. After about five years, the handicapped student population dramatically decreased. Yay for vaccines!
I remember getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube when I was about 5 or 6. A friend of mine had polio, spent almost a year in a hospital, and ended up with a permanent limp. These savages want to kill everyone for some perverted reason I can't begin to fathom.
I have a friend who had polio in the 1950's, and now some 70+ years later, HAS HAD A RELAPSE.
He's back in a wheelchair! After a career as a father, husband, electrician and race car builder.
These idiots have no clue what they are messing with.
They don't give a damn. They think they will be in power permanently and are incredibly arrogant. They will attempt to ensure that there will be no more elections. This is the Fourth Reich and they are in the saddle.
Same happened to my mother. Our parents made damn sure we all got the sugar cube and every other vaccine as it came along because they had lived through the era of those diseases.
To steal from RBG, "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." Same goes for vaccines.
Yes. I have read that polio survivors often have trouble with a resurgence of the disease later in life. Like chicken pox, polio hides in the nerve cells as long as you live.
This. I also have a friend in the same situation. The polio virus remains in one's body, even after recovery. Relapses in your 60's and beyond are common.
Yep
Believe that Salk was the injectable vaccine, Sabin was the sugar cube
I remember the sugar cube, when I was maybe 6 or 7. All the kids were lined up in elementary school. Early in the morning. Parents might have been with us. I had little idea at the time what it was all about -- kids were always being given jabs for something or another in those days, I hated going to the doctor's! Looking back now, I understand it all. I still hate getting a shot but I will do it and I can't believe what has happened to this country and its appalling level of willful ignorance and denial.
No one refused to get a polio vaccine when the Salk vaccine, and later the Sabin vaccine, were introduced. If these idiot anti-vaxxers had lived through the years when the only vaccine available was for smallpox, they would be first in line for any vaccine available. Did they ever stop to ask why smallpox was eradicated, or why kids today aren’t terrified of contracting polio?
Not enough history is being taught and reading comprehension is probably as low as it has ever been in this country. I just do not get this pride of ignorance that has overrun this country.
There has always been a streak of resentment running through the minds of "reg'lar folks" against educated people but the benefits of education have always been so clear that those who resent education have been suppressed. No longer, I guess.
We retain no memory of the times when whooping cough, smallpox and the influenza epidemic of 1918 were deadly illnesses ( the "Spanish Flu" was later identified as an H1N1virus--a variation of avian flu, folks. We just voted to give TFFG another chance to kill us all with another, even more deadly pandemic).
A side note here: WWI was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 16 million people. The "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918 (a variation of avian flu, remember) infected over 500 million people--a THIRD of the world's population at that time. it killed an estimated 50 MILLION people.
And it began at Ft. Riley, Ks. among US soldiers in training for WWI. These soldiers spread it to Europe.
This should be a warning.
Something I discovered while looking up "Spanish Flu' was a few facts about the "world's worst plague ever" which was the bubonic plague or, more dramatically, "The Black Death".
It has never been completely eradicated and there is no vaccine or cure. The only reason it hasn't swept over our population centers is that we have a better understanding of what it is and how it is transmitted....but in 1300's the disease killed 50% of Europe's population (which made workers very valuable and contributed to breaking the grip of the church and feudalism on the continent.)
Just think of what such an outbreak could do in the science-denying areas of the U.S.!!!
They don't care
If you want a tangible example of how RFK Jr's "medical expertise" plays out in the real world just look at what happened after he spread his anti-vaxx advice in Samoa:
https://www.protectourcare.org/experts-say-deadly-samoan-measles-outbreak-caused-by-rfk-jr-s-disaster-visit/
Pretty soon we'll be back to bloodletting and using poultices to ward off evil vapors. Thank goodness my "kids" are now adults and fully vaccinated!
Burning witches can't be far behind.
Only if they weigh the same as ducks.
That sounds like Fake Science to me!! Some sort of illegal Gravity Law might be need to be abolished by dear leader!
What, no leeches?
Actually we do still use leeches Linda. With a more acceptable name “Medical Leeches”. They are used in reconstructive microsurgery to prevent blood from pooling and clotting in the tiny vessels thereby preserving blood flow for repair and healing. Leeches have an anticoagulant in their saliva that is released and it does its work. However, they are not used for bloodletting like the old days. If that isn’t enough let me tell you about Medical Maggots that are used on necrotic wounds. They can save an extremity by consuming the necrotic tissue and preserving the heathy tissue. And these are used in major medical centers. I am a firm believer in science having been in the Medical field for 38 years and vaccines are effective, safe and lifesaving. So we have to do whatever we can to keep Bobby brainworm and his sidekick as far away from Health and Human Services as possible.
Appreciate the detail Karen RN.
Bobby, Jr. is a leach.
Just a little side-note: My dad was born in Poland in a city that is now part of the Ukraine. He told me about how the doctors used leeches on their bodies. I was thoroughly grossed out!
Oh my…I’m feeling a trifle lightheaded right now…i knew about Medical leeches but not maggots! RFK, Jr has as much right being in charge of anything to do with health as Donnie Demento’s favorite doctor, Hannibal Lecter.
I can imagine that Europe, Canada and other nations will deny entry to Americans if this monstrous activity happens…even people who show proof of inoculations will be suspect of carrying viruses that can sicken thousands…tourists will not come to America for fear of being exposed to goodness knows what…we will become pariahs in more ways than one.
Which would be no more than we deserve for electing these monsters. Actions, and elections, have consequences, folks.
Is this not the definition of madness?
We're in Wonderland...up is down and down is up. That we are facing this level of ignorance, no, madness, in this country is hard to fathom. Dems have let the insane right wing take over all facets of society, frog in warm water slowly, over the last 50 years. I knew when 'the gov't is coming to help you' bullshitter Raygun was elected we were at the edge of a precipice. And it's been downhill ever since. Old guard Dem politicians don't have the savvy, the balls, the energy to fight back against the spin machine r/w media/corporations/billionaires/super pacs - and CU - have built. They have gerrymandered house seats, brainwashed the gullible and steamrolled Dems. Either we get smart, get bold, get young blood in leadership positions or we might as well just bend over and kiss our asses goodbye b/c there will be MAGA governments from here on out and P25 as the law of the land. We need to kick corporate dark money to the curb and get back our New Deal cred or we will permanently lose the working class, unions, that supported Dems and their New Deal policies. At the least we need to take back the House in 26 and we won't do that unless we force Dem leadership to confront the problems they have created with 'go along to get along' attitudes - where the hell has it gotten us? and they were all re-elected to their leadership positions they failed to use to it's advantage. Why should young voters show up to the polls - they have only old fossils to voter for that don't represent their interests or values - they don't represent mine, either. Something has got to change or this country won't survive Donvict and his remora as a democracy we recognize.
I think that the first step on the road should be to have Ben Wikler of Wisconsin as the Chair of the DNC. He would shift the party toward being much more able to combat Repuglican strategies than the very nice and idealistic current leaders.
Growing up in England during and after WWII, I remember all too well the ravages of polio before the Salk vaccine became available. A close childhood friend fell victim, and spent her life in an iron lung. We cannot return to those terrifying days. In my recent, later, years I have undergone several joint replacements. Each time, as I lay on the operating table and the anesthesiologist and surgeon leaned over me, I felt, on the one hand, that I was putting my life in the hands of essentially strangers, and at the same time felt such gratitude for the care and experience they represented. They gave me what they had — knowledge, expertise, excellent training, grounded in solid, verifiable science. The idea of these impending crackpot, ignorant, dangerous people taking over the country’s health protocols is beyond terrifying. May there be 3 Republican senators with spines to resist!
Regrettably, there isn't a procedure for injecting courage into spines (and if there were, would United Healthcare cover it?). Growing up in Chicago duing those Before Salk years, I remember absolutely the fear of polio that gripped the city and my family. Our societal memory of the horrific danger of polio has faded that much in what? 70 years? But why should we be surprised? How dare you (the government reprersenting you) tell me to wear a mask during the height of Covid? To take Kris Kristofferson's lyrics a full step into the abyss, or Styx, "freedom's just another word for 'fuck you.'"
Everyone, call your Senators to tell them to reject RFK, Gabbard, Patel, and Hegseth for Trump's cabinet. These four horrible people have no business making life-and-death decisions for us or the US.
Please call your Senators - they need to hear from thousands of us, even ones who oppose these nominees, and especially those who are ready to capitulate - again - to Trump. It only takes a minute to call to either speak w/ a staffer or leave a voice message. You'll feel better for speaking up. How will they know what you want if you don't tell them?
I'm absolutely horrified by the attitude of RFK jr and Trump. My father had polio in the 1918 epidemic and was paralyzed on his entire left side for six months at age four. He recovered, but permanent damage was done to his left ventricle, and as a result he died ten years earlier than is common in his family. The Salk vaccine was invented in 1953 and tested on 1.6 million people in the US and Canada. It was released to the general public in 1955. As a result I know no one in my generation (I was born in 1951) who had polio. The same can't be said for earlier generations or other nations, like India. RFK Jr. is FUCKING IDIOT! Hopefully, he won't be approved.
Lucian, In your last paragraph, please don't overlook the Orange Monster's mis-mangement of the covid epidemic in which 1.2 million US residents died. Casting doubt on masking up, social distancing - and attacking the scientists at the CDC - and suggesting injecting bleach. I think he and RFK, Jr are pretty well matched.
When I broke a femur in January the quality of my hospital experience was like yours. A last-minute MRI proved to my surgeon he needed to merely pin my hip, not replace it as X-rays had suggested he should. I didn't notice any brands. I was also a witness. My first roommate and I were in no condition to socialize and we exchanged only Good mornings. Her undiagnosed distress was g-i, and I listened to her doctor tell her she couldn't be having the symptoms she was describing to him. That did not relieve her misery. The morning I was to be transfered to a rehab hospital (the hospital where the UHC CEO was taken) my roommate was scheduled for an early multi-MD exam. As I was being wheeled out, we met in the hall on our respective gurneys. She was jubilant. She had ulcers. I told her I'd been hearing for years of doctors refusing to believe what black patients told them. Now I had been in the room to see and hear it. That pleased her too. It was a brief, intimate experience with a stranger I'll never forget. Although hers apparently ended favorably, not all treatment is equal.
You can’t make this stuff up. Brainworms have gotten to RFK and the MAGA brainworm has infected half the country. I imagine a disembodied voice saying,
« Siri, what are vaccines for? »
Why do these people have a death wish?
They want us to die. They think they're immune and that horse paste will protect them.
Sigh.
They are too stupid and ignorant to realize that they are complicit in their own degradation.
He’s helping to set the stage for Muskrat’s mass extinction event.