Woman at Johnson County, Kansas commissioners meeting says anyone who votes "yes" on mask mandates will be "tried for crimes against humanity"

That will probably not happen unless they get far far away from Mom and Johnson County and find themselves in a place where reasoning people reside.

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Johnson County, Kansas is one of those special places. The local newspaper reported two days ago " Johnson County pediatrician running for school board is against COVID safety measures" The Doctor Speaks If even the local MDs are delusional what can we expect from the rest of the populace.

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Given her demonstrated grasp of reality, we can’t be sure she actually has children.

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At this point it is legitimately questionable how many kids with parents like this will survive the next year.

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This is really the key. People are quick to write this off as “stupidity” and “mental illness” but it is neither. People like her are (somewhat willing) victims of decades of an organized misinformation campaign from the right. Republicans figured out that truth has a liberal bias, so they’ve been systematically dismantling and undermining all faith in science and institutions that rely on it.

This woman is the product of that effort.

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Thomas Franks Excellent What’s the Matter with Kansas? is an interesting hyper relevant explanation of how this came to be a regular sort of thing, and also -sort of hopefully- how it may be helped. (Spoiler- dems need to pull a hard left turn)

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This is so terrifyingly true. I almost can’t stand to see the popcorn flavored jeers that always accompany another article online about some one like this.

Not that I don’t feel contempt and disgust when listening to her, I definitely feel those things. But I also feel real sadness because I’ve seen a little of the deep iceburg underneath, the long effort and great capital investments made to create as many people like this as possible out of a generation of infants.

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She was just having some difficulties because the person who translated it from the original Russian and posted it to facebook/twitter/parlor doesn’t know English all that well.

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You say that, and I’m sure they are, but have they ever been called out on it? I mean, a school introducing a critical thinking module would be great - and when the fuckwits oppose it and stand outside the school with their placards or attend the school meeting, they could be interviewed on camera, or challenged by the principal: “So, can you tell us the precise reasons why you do not want your children to think?”

ETA Fruitless entertainment though it would be. Sigh.

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Same, and from a practical standpoint, calling her stupid and jeering is actually counterproductive. This is the information equivalent of people who blame litterbugs for plastic in the oceans, instead of the companies that refuse to stop making everything in plastic containers. The problem is the big corporations and political groups (who all got their vaccine of course) intentionally manufacturing this ignorance for their own gain.

We will never solve this problem by jeering at people who have grown up in an information Skinner box and don’t know any better. That’s not to say personal responsibility plays no role. She has the same internet we do and could make better choices about her information, but it’s not nearly as simple as “she’s stupid”. Expecting all the millions of individuals to start ignoring Fox News of their own accord will not solve the problem any more than “Crying Indian [sic]” ads (manufactured by the beverage lobby) for littering solved ocean plastics.

Misinformation is a negative externality just like pollution and we need to start treating it as such. More people are dying from this than ever did from the Love Canal.

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The Texas state GOP party platform for several years explicitly stated that they opposed the teaching of critical thinking skills and anything that would “challenge a child’s fixed beliefs”.

Republicans would never countenance their children learning anything new or useful.

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Hmm - what do they do about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?

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In my fundie dominionist xtian household growing up? Santa refers to saint nicholas, who was catholic, so of the devil. The easter bunny comes from druidic paganism, so it’s of the devil. The tooth fairy is an idol children worship and make sacrifices of bodily parts to. So it’s of the devil.

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Right, but if a child believes in them (and I bet schools do not proscribe all mention of them) are their beliefs challenged?

I mean, if they are challenged (because all three are the devil), then …
If they are not challenged, then …

Oh, hypocrisy in both cases. As you were. Sigh.

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a search for Screen Shot 19 will bring up plenty of results from the usual conspiracy mongers.

Life used to be simpler when my hate was pure. Now that I am beginning to mellow with age, I can’t even unequivocally wish for her to realize her utter stupidity while breathing her last on a respirator with COVID in a hospital bed anymore.

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Don’t worry, others will do it for you. Happy to help. :wink:

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Sadly, yes. Texas, specifically, outlawed the teaching of critical thinking skills on the grounds that “it could cause children to question received wisdom.” And they clearly feel that is a terrible thing.

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I can confirm that I am unable to get through to my local acquaintances in rural Indiana on subjects such as vaccines, masks, etc. because they already know that they are so much smarter than I am and therefore what I think is true is due to my ignorance and gullibility.

The war has to be fought and won further up the food chain. Too many individuals have already been fully inculcated into the ranks.

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Interesting reference and thanks for posting, but I couldn’t help but laugh at this quoted passage:

Not long ago, Kansas would have responded to the current situation by making the bastards pay. This would have been a political certainty, as predictable as what happens when you touch a match to a puddle of gasoline.

The match goes out…

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