[guest post by Dana]

I have to say, Trump talking about his ‘protective glow’ is not something that I saw happening:

President Donald Trump declared himself Covid-free on Sunday[.]

Trump has met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria for a safe return from isolation and is no longer at risk of spreading the virus to others, White House physician Sean Conley wrote in a memo Saturday night…

“I beat this crazy, horrible China virus,” Trump claimed in a wide-ranging, 30-minute phone interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

The president also suggested he now has immunity from the virus…Those who have recovered from Covid-19 “have some immunity,” The AP reported last week, “but how much and for how long are big unanswered questions.”

…

“It looks like I’m immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time, maybe a short time,” the president said. “It could be a lifetime. Nobody really knows, but I’m immune.”

“I even feel good by the fact that, you know, the word ‘immunity’ means something,” he added. “Having really a protective glow means something. I think it’s very important to have that. To have that is a very important thing.”

In all of my reading about COVID-19, I don’t recall seeing anything about a Covid-19 protective glow. Perhaps I missed it. But in googling “glow” just now, I thought, well, this is one helluva Trump ‘n Glow six-degrees-of-separation thing happening:

Wrestling!

Suntans!

And of course, the ultimate protective glow!

Here’s Trump’s ultimate Covid protective glowgasm!

Anyway, President Trump, even post-Covid, continues to pat himself on the back for the superb job he believes he has done in managing the pandemic because only 200,000-plus Americans have died:

The president also cited an early estimate that more than 2 million Americans could’ve died if the U.S. government did nothing to combat the virus, suggesting that the fraction of that mass toll of projected deaths was evidence that his administration had done “a phenomenal job.”

“One is too many, but 2.2 million was the prediction as to how many people would die,” Trump said. “We lost 200,000-plus, and, you know, there are those that say we did a phenomenal job. We did a phenomenal job.”

Eh, too bad those 200,000-plus losers didn’t wait around to get their personal, protective glow, am I right??

Note to doubters and naysayers: contrary to your assertions that 200,000-plus Americans have not died and that the number is being intentionally inflated, here is President Trump himself agreeing that 200,000-plus Americans have indeed died from the virus.

Glow, little Glow Worm, glow:

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Something to think about:

They say if you don’t vote you can’t complain. They’re wrong. Complaining is prior to voting. It is deeper and more powerful than voting. It is the original act of politics. Before there was democracy, there was sitting around the campfire complaining about the way the headman allocated the shares of mastodon meat. Bellyaching about the boss is more than a political right. It is a human right.

And so…we are here to complain. The candidates from the major parties are subpar. They display troubling authoritarian tendencies. Their records in office—one long, one short—are underwhelming and frequently self-contradictory. Their actions consistently fail to match their rhetoric. If they agree on one thing, it is that they have the right, and perhaps even the obligation, to tell you what to do in the bedroom and in the boardroom, in the streets and in the sheets. If they agree on a second thing, it is the necessity of spending ever-larger sums of taxed and borrowed money in pursuit of ever-vaguer goals. They helm parties that are similarly compromised and hypocritical.

The fact that many voters in 2020 believe they must nonetheless actively support one of these two deeply flawed characters is a testament to the brokenness of the system that produced them. The fact that those voters feel like they only have two choices in the first place is a criminal failing in a country with such blooming, buzzing diversity in our commercial, social, and cultural lives.

If you currently find yourself in no-man’s-land because you don’t even recognize your political party or feel at home in either major party, you might enjoy this. We really do need to do better.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Pandemic? What pandemic?

The Mayor of Los Angeles tries to stop that which has become inevitable:

As we cheer our @Lakers’ 17th championship, please remember it's still not safe to gather in groups. Let’s honor our city's triumph by protecting others and making sure we don't spread the virus.

Please celebrate safely at home. Do not gather at Staples Center. Thank you!

— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) October 12, 2020

Too little, too late:

Cars trying to get through DTLA near Staples Center. Avoid it if you can! @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/qBKS50gwnX

— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) October 12, 2020

#NOW: Lakers fans are getting rowdy in downtown LA as they celebrate the big win. @abc7chriscristi is overhead and we are live on @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/eC7fpY551D

— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) October 12, 2020

Staples Center @USATODAY @usatodaysports pic.twitter.com/4oO115ycNK

— Harrison (@Harrisonhill__) October 12, 2020

As of Friday:

For the fourth day in a row, Los Angeles County reported more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases, continuing a string of elevated numbers that could further stall efforts to reopen more sectors of the local economy.

The county announced 1,285 new cases Saturday, up from the 1,256 cases reported Friday and the 1,280 announced Thursday. On Wednesday, county health officials reported 1,645 new cases, the highest numbers seen since Aug. 22.

Meanwhile, a Southern California church held an in-person service where a host of pastors and religious leaders campaigned for churches to be allowed to reopen with in-person services in their houses of worship. No masks were being worn nor were any social distancing measures taking place during the event:

“The Church is more than essential – it’s God ordained. It’s time to choose faith over fear. It’s time to honor God over man. It’s time for a Court that will honor and uphold our First Freedom. It’s time for Freedom Sunday.

“Government officials continued to take unconstitutional steps to restrict churches from worshipping, unfairly silence them, and hold them to a different – and even discriminatory – standard. Does it make sense to reopen casinos, tattoo parlors, abortion centers and liquor stores while keeping houses of worship closed? Scripture instructs Christians to honor the government – unless it overstep its authority. With government officials exceeding their constitutional authority, we are left with the clear command in Hebrews 10:25 that believers should be ‘not neglecting to meet together.’

“Christians may be tempted to fear the consequences of meeting, whether of Covid-19 or government penalties. Churches can and should use proper health and safety measures in their services, both as a matter of prudence and out of love for one another. But Christians should not act out of fear. Jesus Christ himself commanded, ‘do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell’ (Matthew 10:28). And so we must stand up and say with the Apostle Peter, ‘We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:29). The time is now,” concluded Perkins.

It should be noted that statewide, churches have been holding in-person services outdoors. Whether in parking lots – drive-in theater-style – or under pop-up shade canopies, worship services are happening.

It really doesn’t seem like there is any sizeable statewide interest in taking all reasonable measures to slow the transmission of the virus.

–Dana