Too often, people argue that they want to vote for a person of average ability (or with a track record of making morally-questionable decisions). That reminds me of The Twilight Zone’s spin on the story “Button, Button.” They don’t think about all the consequences of their actions, or believe their choice will really have an impact on their lives.
Just as much as campaign finance needs reform, the traditional way candidates try to connect with voters needs an overhaul, too. Choosing based on a sense of likability and slogans instead of competence and commitment to doing a job well is a common mistake. I wish a there was a way to get voters focused on who would do a better job serving the public and steering the ship of state.
There is a way to create better voters. It’s called good education. Why do you think the Republinazis have spent 30 years trying to destroy the public school systems of this country?
Abbott has always been a tool with the soul of a hyena. He is slobbering anxious to become a player on the national stage and he is trying to prove to the Republinazi party leaders that he is loyal to the party ideology no matter what. He is determined to advance himself and he refuses to allow his progress to be impeded by inconsequential things like the lives of people who were stupid enough to vote for him.
Where human life is actually valued, re-opening in the absence of testing and contact tracing is a net loss for society. The problem is the costs and benefits are not evenly distributed. Early re-opening favors businesses and costs individuals; careful re-opening favors individuals and costs businesses.
This is more of the corporate greed that makes money by privatising profit and assigning costs to others. Repugnant.
A leak like this is also interesting because it speaks to the future lies that will be told. Governors of states opening too soon are going to claim ignorance that it wasn’t safe to do so. This reveals they knew damn well what they were doing- killing grandma to save a McDonalds.
Please choose one of the following:
A. Based on the information we had at the time, re-opening was the best option. Hindsight is 20/20, but, with the same information, I would make the same decision again.
B. There is absolutely no evidence that the death toll would have been lower if we hadn’t reopened. None.
C. We didn’t require business to reopen or require people to go shopping. We allowed them to make their own risk/benefit calculations, to make their own decisions about their lives and livlihoods. That’s what freedom means.
D. Your attempts to assign blame are offensive to the mourning children, spouses, and parents of the heroes who lost their lives in that terrible and unforseeable tragedy.
And after that, it costs businesses, anyway. But that’s, what, like two or three whole weeks later? File it away with sea level rise, decline of birds and insect populations, habitat loss, looming water shortages etc.
