Week of 09/27/2021

“Forget About Politics…”
Except It Is All About Politics
– by David Matthews 2

I was taking part in an interesting discussion not too long ago and the talk turned to the COVID global pandemic and all its various variants.

I need to prologue this by saying that I live in a part of the state and country that is very pro-Trump.  I often compare my existence here as a libertarian to being like a gypsy in Germany during the 1930’s and 40’s.  The group I was having this conversation with is dominated by people who hate former President Obama with a flaming passion and are not too happy with the guy in the White House right now.

So the person dominating the group was someone who didn’t really care for things like what is in the media or what the Center for Disease Control has to say when it comes to COVID, but he’s also someone who survived COVID; and, because of that, he’s got personal experience with the virus and what it can do.  He is now someone who pushes hard for people to get vaccinated and to take precautions because of what he went through.

As he’s giving his plea for people to treat this pandemic seriously and to get vaccinated, he says “Put the politics aside on this issue.”

“Put politics aside.”

Think about that.

That’s pretty much an admission that everything you’re hearing about the anti-vax and anti-mask crowd is about politics.  That the resistance to vaccination and to wearing masks and to social distance and even to these horse-brained “alternatives” to vaccinations – and heavy on the “horse” part – has nothing to do with science or reason or logic or medicine.  It has to do with politics.

Because once the group took “politics” out of the discussion, then there was no opposition to doing what is right.  Liberal, conservative, independent, everyone was in agreement.  Everyone agreed that people needed to be vaccinated and to wear masks and social distance when needed.  There was no “muh free-duuums” talk.  There was no “mark of the beast” discussions or “heavy-handed overreach” proclamations.   Everyone knew this was serious.  It wasn’t a joke or a hoax.

It wasn’t the first time that we saw this, either.

A certain narcissist – and you know who I’m referring to – reportedly told famed reporter Bob Woodward that he knew how bad the COVID-19 virus was while he was first telling people that it was a hoax, that it was over-inflated, that it’s going to go away quickly, and it wouldn’t even make it to America… even though it already did.  And he kept on spreading that lie over and over again, even after the economy collapsed and the world shut down for a few weeks, and masks were mandated and people were panicking for a vaccine, or just any kind of cure.  Even after he was infected with COVID and was rushed to the hospital, he kept on spreading the lie about how it really wasn’t that bad.  And then, when he finally told people to get vaccinated, his own adoring base actually booed him!

Let’s get brutally honest here… of all the crimes, both potential and real, that were committed by this certain narcissist and his enablers and followers, this is one of the worst.  That they would politicize a global pandemic that has inflicted and killed millions and still affect us today.  That they would turn people away from doing the right thing and getting vaccinated and wearing masks and social distance when needed.  That they would turn people to take livestock de-wormer and iodine and sanitizers instead of the vaccine.  And for no other reason that politics and to “own the libs”.

Think about how things could have been if this pandemic wasn’t politicized.  Think of the thousands of lives that did not have to be infected and hospitalized.  Men, women, children.  Think of the hospital resources that did not have to be overwhelmed as much as they are now.  All of these variants wouldn’t even exist if we could have masked up and maintained social distance instead of throwing tantrums and crying about “muh free-duuums”.  Never mind about mask or vaccine mandates from the government, if people, groups, and businesses took it upon themselves to do the right thing a year ago and not make this political, this pandemic would be over by now!  We’d all be out and about, mask free, not having to worry about variants or surges like we do now.

But we’re not.  And all because a group of opportunists and media personalities and enablers decided to make this all political, like they do with everything else in the world.

As for the “my freedoms” argument… libertarians have a saying: the freedom of your fist ends right before it reaches my nose.  In that light, your freedom to carry a virus of any variant ends right before it reaches me or anyone else.  Anyone who thinks otherwise has no business calling themselves or be referred to as a “libertarian”.

Yes, we need to put aside politics, for once in our miserable existence, and actually do the right thing when it comes to dealing with this global pandemic.  It should not be about parties or political leanings or who has a “D” or an “R” next to their name or what propaganda network you watch or listen to.  The fact that it is being politicized serves as an indictment on the depravity of that faction of our society.  The same faction that still makes this commentator feel like he’s in 1930’s Germany.

Week of 09/20/2021

 

Californicated Recall
– by David Matthews 2

In 2003, California voters did what was believed to be unthinkable.  They actually recalled their sitting state governor, Gray Davis, and replaced him with bodybuilder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

While the state’s recall process had been in place for almost a century, not one of the recall efforts had been successful before then.  And there were 117 attempts in the past near-century for all levels of state government.  And every California governor starting with Ronald Reagan had at least one recall attempt.  The move to recall Governor Davis, however, was the first to ever succeed.

The recall effort, if it does make it to the ballot phase, is a two-question process.  The first is whether or not to recall the official in question, which, in this case, was Governor Davis.  The second was to choose who would succeed him if he is recalled.  That part was a 27-ring circus with a whopping 135 candidates.  Everyone from seasoned political wannabes to adult film stars and former child actors.  And, of course, the “Terminator”.

The “yes” vote on the recall came as a complete surprise given the history of the effort.  Not as much the choice of replacements.  Everyone knows who Arnold Schwarzenegger is, then and now.  He was married into the famed Kennedy family.  He was the former chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.  He was an action star.  Even a cartoonish supervillain.  Of the 135 names on that ballot, his was the most recognized.  That’s why he became the next governor of California when the “Yes” vote won out.

Now, fast forward eighteen years, and we see history trying to repeat itself.

This time around the governor in question is Gavin Newsom, and this time around the Trump/Q cult wanted to have one of their own to replace him.  Out of the 46 wannabes in this 27-ring circus - including Caitlyn Jenner, the former editor of an adult magazine, YouTube personalities, a model, teachers, realtors, and various software programmers - was radio personality and Trump cultist Larry Elder.

Everyone wanted history to repeat itself, especially the media.  Their daily polls continually pushed the script that Newsom was going to be recalled just like Davis.  And then, when those same daily polls said Newsom was going to prevail, the script kept saying to not trust the polls.  Funny how the media never doubted the polls when they were leaning towards “yes” for recall; only when those same polls began leaning towards “no”.

And yet... when the election came and went and the votes were counted, Governor Newsom keeps his job, and by a very strong majority.  It wasn’t even close.

Why?  Well, there are a few reasons why, none of which are being reported on by the media.

Let’s start with the obvious one... despite the huge maps of counties that the media and the Trump/Q people love to throw about that show California as supposedly “equally divided”, it’s not.  Counties do not vote!  People do!  And there are more voters in those “blue” counties than there are in the “red” and “purple” ones.

Now, you do you really think that those “blue” county voters are going to recall a sitting governor when the person who would most likely prevail is someone seen as a Trump follower?  No.  They’re not.

Larry Elder is no Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Schwarzenegger was not only well-recognized, but he was also well-accepted by a wide group of people.  Elder put his lot with the Trump/Q cult.  That made it a rematch of the 2020 Presidential Election for California.  That made it a referendum of Narcissist Donald Trump.

What you didn’t hear too much about is the reason why this recall was called for versus the 2003 one.

The 2003 recall of Gray Davis was about several factors, most notably concerning the economy.  Davis rode into the Governor’s Mansion on the “Dot-Com Boom”, which was particularly strong in California with Silicon Valley and all sorts of young Internet ventures being built.  But he was still in office when the “boom” turned into a “bust”, and all of those ventures dried up.  Then there were the statewide rolling power outages that Davis was inept and impotent to do anything about.  Outages that we later discovered were intentionally created by the corrupt conglomerate Enron.

Unemployment, power outages, corporate greed, these are things that affect people directly.  If you ride in on a good economy, you’re bound to it if you’re still in office when the economy falls.

What was Newsom being recalled for?  For COVID hypocrisy.  Because after spending time telling people to mask up and social distance and to avoid public gatherings during the height of a global pandemic, he was caught at a fundraiser full of people without a mask.  Damnable?  Absolutely.  But compare that to rolling blackouts and rampant unemployment, which affect people on a personal level, and it’s like trying to remove Newsom for wearing white after Labor Day.

Oh, sure, that’s not the only thing on the recall petition.  You toss in the conservative tantrums of being “taxed too much” and “too many homeless people” and the supposed “lowest quality of life” and the “sin” of giving healthcare to immigrants and the homeless.  “Lowest quality of life” my ass!  You’ve never been to the southeastern part of the country, have you?  But all of that was just add-ons to the COVID hypocrisy.

Funny too, because the faction that desperately wanted Elder to be governor are anti-mask and anti-vaccine, and they’re throwing tantrums for Newsom’s hypocrisy.  Yeah, be mad because Newsom was a hypocrite, but your pearl-clenching is really fake if you’re pushing for what he’s not.

What did Elder in was that he and his campaign tried to play the “Big Lie” Narcissist Trump card, specifically claiming that the results were rigged before the election even happened.  The Narcissist did that before his 2016 win and again during his 2020 loss.  A lie that is still being regurgitated today and now apparently is in the official playbook for the Trump/Q political cult.  It’s only “fair” if they win and it’s always “fraud” if they lose.  Typical fascism.

Let’s get brutally honest here... Governor Newsom kept his job because he wasn’t Gray Davis, because the preferred alternative was not well-liked for that state, and because the circumstances surrounding this recall petition were nothing like they were in 2003.  The reasons given to remove Davis were legitimate and affected people on a personal level.  The reasons given for removing Newsom were petty, hysterical, partisan, and pathetic.

People keep talking about how $300 million was spent on this failed recall.  Yes, taxpayer money was spent on this recall, but so too were the other 118 recalls.  Yes, that money could have been spent on healthcare and the homeless and helping to feed those still hit hard by the pandemic and an economy still trying to come back.  But that’s not the only money spent.

Think about all the campaign contributions given to Elder and the other wannabes.  Every political hack and would-be game-player needed campaign donations for their failed attempt at being governor.  Every political action committee and lobbying group that generated money in their failed attempt to remove Newsom and put their champion in the governor’s mansion.  All the telemarketing calls and junk mailings asking for money.  All the money spent on ads on TV and radio and billboards.  None of that is free, and none of that came from tax money.

And let’s not forget “The Big Lie” playbook.  If Elder didn’t concede, and if the results were close, you know they would have been screaming “audit” and “recount” and “fraud”.  And, again, millions would be generated in donations for “auditing”.  They’re doing it now with the November election.  They would’ve easily done it for California if it wasn’t the blowout that it was.

But don’t worry, folks.  The real governor’s election for California is just next year.  I don’t see Larry Elder or the rest of the 27-ring circus going away anytime soon.  This is just a setback for them.  They’ll be back to do this all over again... sooner than you think.  It’s a pity the voters couldn’t somehow recall the losers from the political field with their “no” vote.

Week of 09/13/2021 - Mental Health Break

The commentator will be taking a mental health break from the column for this week.

He should have a new article next week.

Week of 09/06/2021

A Story About A Cure
– by David Matthews 2

This is a story about two good ol’ boys named Floyd and Boyd.

They’re just regular guys living in the American Southeast.  They’ve been best friends since childhood.  They both married their sweethearts, got good jobs, raised their kids okay, made good lives.  They weren’t “smart” but they’d both say they know enough.

So one day Floyd sees Boyd looking depressed.  Floyd asks Boyd what’s wrong.

“Got back from the doctor’s,” Boyd said.  “He says I got cancer.”

“No way!” exclaimed Floyd.  “Durn it, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” Boyd says, “doc says he’s got to plan out this regimen of drugs and radiation that’ll make me lose my hair and all, and I’ll lose a lot of weight, but that I might just survive.”

Floyd waives his hand dismissively.  “Hooey!  Doctors don’t know what they’re talking about!  I had cancer once.”

Boyd was surprised.  “You?  You had cancer?”

“Heck yeah,” Floyd said.  “And I beat it too!  You know how?  I had this special cure my doc told me about.  Didn’t need no drugs or radiation.  He said I just needed to take this every day and I’d be cured.  Sure ‘nuf, no more cancer.”

Boyd’s face turned to optimism.  “You remember what that cure was?”

Floyd said he’d get the formula to him.  Sure enough, the next day, Floyd handed Boyd a shopping list of things.

“Now just mash them up like the instructions say,” said Floyd, “and you take that every day no matter what, an’ you’ll be cured in no time!”

“Okay,” Boyd replied.

“You gotta make sure you don’t let the doc fill your head with that junk about drugs and radiation,” Floyd said.  “This will work!  Trust me.”

Boyd took the list over to his wife.  She was a good woman who loved her husband, but she also wasn’t an idiot.  She was skeptical of Floyd’s cure.  But, she loved her husband, and Boyd told her that Floyd would spin a yarn about anything, but the one thing he wouldn’t lie about was his health.  So if Floyd says this stuff cured his cancer, then that’s enough for Boyd.

For the first few weeks, Boyd took the cure every single day like Floyd said, and Boyd sure felt good.  He felt really good!  His doctor wasn’t happy about the cure, but Boyd insisted on it, just like his friend told him to.  No drugs, no radiation, just this cure every single day.

It didn’t taste good.  It was rather bitter.  Sometimes it made Boyd sick to his stomach, sometimes it would be all he could take, but he still took it every single day, just like Floyd said.

As it so happens, Floyd’s job required him to travel for long stretches of time.  He’d go to conventions and trade shows, hype his product and make some sales, and go from city to city before coming home.  This time around was no exception.  He was out for nearly two months.

When Floyd came home, though, he learned that his best friend had just died in the hospital and the funeral service was the next day.  He got dressed up, then joined his wife as they paid their respects at the funeral.  Boyd’s wife was sad and bitter.  But she kept it to herself during the funeral, just doing everything she can like a good widow would to keep things together as they put her husband into the ground.

Afterward, at the wake, Floyd was able to talk to Boyd’s wife and ask what happened.  With tears running down her face, she told Floyd what happened after he left.

“He did everything you said he needed to do,” she said.  “You told him ‘no doctors’ and ‘no drugs’ and ‘no radiation’, and he did that!  But he still got sicker and sicker!  Finally we had to take him to the hospital, and the doctors there said that the cancer was everywhere, and maybe if we took him to the doctors early, he’d be alive today.  But he still took that cure of yours every single day!  Every single day!  Even when the doctors said it wouldn’t help him at all and that it was actually making him even sicker, Boyd still insisted, and he told me to keep giving him it no matter what.  I even had to go to court to stop the doctors from overruling Boyd, because he believed that this would cure him.”

Floyd was dumbfounded.  “But it should have helped him.  It cured my cancer.”

At that moment Floyd’s wife hit Floyd’s arm hard repeatedly.

“Floyd!  You dumb sum-beotch!  You told Boyd you had cancer?”

“Heck yeah,” Floyd said to his wife.  “You were there!  You know I had it!  And we cured it!”

Floyd’s wife hit his arm hard again with even more force.

“Floyd,” his wife said with anger in her eyes, “you had *cataracts*!  Not cancer!  And this stuff didn’t cure you of it.  You were taking it to stop your diarrhea.”

Floyd looked at his wife with a dumbfounded expression and then asked, “Are you sure it was that?”

Let’s get brutally honest here... sometimes stupidity and blind trust in the wrong things can kill you.  Friends may have some good advice, but if your friend isn’t a doctor, then you really shouldn’t be trusting him on things that are contrary to what doctors are telling you about your health.  That is especially true when it comes to so-called “cures” being touted by politicians and media personalities in lieu of sound medical advice.

Friends don’t give friends snake oil cures.