[guest post by Dana]

Here are a few news items to chew on. Feel free to share any news items you think might interest readers. Please remember to include links.

First news item

Oh, please, Tucker Carlson, stop embarrassing yourself:

TUCKER CARLSON: …in fact, the official message from the Democratic party is that Donald Trump had it coming.

CUT TO NANCY PELOSI: We all received that news with great sadness. I always pray for the President’s family that they’re safe, and I continue to do so, more intensified. This is tragic. It’s very sad. But it is also something that, again, going into crowds, uh, unmasked, and all the rest. It’s sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen.

TUCKER CARLSON: Brazen invitation. He asked for it. He was dressed provocatively.

Seriously?? He dressed provocatively is the garbage you’re pushing?? What willful dishonesty to ignore that the President has been rolling the dice on this for half a year. He has continually put himself and others at risk when it wasn’t necessary. He has not only refused to mask-up whenever he has been in close contact with people outside of his immediate family members with whom he lives, but he has pooh-poohed masks in general and even mocked and shamed those who have worn them! So, yes, in a sense the President of the United States brazenly invited something like this to happen. Tucker Carlson needs to stop making excuses and blaming Pelosi for something she didn’t do or imply, and let this man straight-up own his own behavior like an adult. I used to think that the Republican Party was all about self-responsibility.

Second news item

Another Republican tests positive:

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed to someone with the virus earlier this week, according to his spokesman, making him the third GOP senator to test positive in 24 hours and threatening the quick confirmation prospects of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Third news item

McConnell before Sen. Johnson’s positive test results::

Just finished a great phone call with @POTUS. He’s in good spirits and we talked business — especially how impressed Senators are with the qualifications of Judge Barrett. Full steam ahead with the fair, thorough, timely process that the nominee, the Court, & the country deserve.

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 2, 2020

Fourth news item

Ford Foundation president takes a bad tumble down the rabbit hole of wokeness:

In a recent interview, I used the term “tone deaf” inappropriately & out of context from its literal definition. I am deeply sorry for using this ableist language & apologize to the millions of people with disabilities and the disability community.

Since becoming the president of the Ford Foundation, we have committed to advancing justice and dignity for all people. Through this process, I have been on my own change journey to learn & understand more about the critical nature of justice and disability.

We are taking steps to center disability in all of our programmatic work to address inequality, our operations & hiring practices, but this is not enough. My use of this phrase as a pejorative was insensitive & undermines our intent to advance disability justice & inclusion.

I am deeply sorry and personally pledge to do better.

Fifth news item

Yet another one:

I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19. I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two. I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.

— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) October 3, 2020

Sixth news item

Prayers and hope:

[A] 13-year-old Nigerian boy, Omar Farouq, has been sentenced by a Sharia court to ten years in prison after reportedly using blasphemous language about Allah in an argument with a friend. Omar Farouq’s lawyer told CNN the punishment goes against the Nigerian constitution and the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of a Child…Piotr Cywinski is director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland… didn’t write a pointed tweet or stern op-ed. He sent an open personal appeal to President Buhari for Omar Farouq to be pardoned.

“However,” he said, “if it turns out that the words of this child absolutely require 120 months of imprisonment, and even you are not able to change that, I suggest that in place of the child, 120 adult volunteers from all over the world — myself personally among them — should each serve a month in a Nigerian prison.”

Seventh news item

Say what??

Matt Gaetz is on Fox arguing that Trump getting COVID is proof that social distancing measures are ultimately futile and we should just continue reopening. pic.twitter.com/KtBA3pDYhF

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) October 3, 2020

“If the President can get this virus, then it tells us a lot about our ability to protect ourselves from it.”

Eighth news item

A sourced timeline of events surrounding Trump:

Question:

If this is how Conley supposedly does "math," does his statement that the president has been "fever-free for 24 hours" actually only mean that he's been fever free since the start of today? https://t.co/ZPBa2T5YVn

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) October 3, 2020

Note:

Who you gonna believe?

Have a good weekend. Stay healthy.

–Dana