So @Benggaul hasn't said much about West Virginia. We've talked about their governor in the past, not always in glowing terms of recommendation, since he's on the front lines defending Trump, coal mining, and Fallout 76.
Well he wandered in front of the cameras and said
Yeah, I'm not defending this guy at all, but when even someone like him is mourning the effective suicide rate of his people, and saying "don't pull a Joe Rogan people, come on!" you know it's serious.Unfortunately, today we have an overwhelming amount of deaths: 74 people died. Seventy-four more people have died since Wednesday. And they’ll keep dying. That’s all there is to it. We just are going to keep lining the body bags up, and we’re going to line them up and line them up.
At the end of the day, we’re going to do one of two things. We’re going to run to the fire and get vaccinated right now. Or we’re going to pile the body bags up until we reach a point in time to where we have enough people that have natural immunities and enough people that are vaccinated. Now, that’s all there is to it. I would really highly encourage you to get vaccinated.
As per usual, I'm using the NYTimes COVID tracker and it says cases in WV are higher than they've ever been. Hospitalizations and deaths are almost as high as they've ever been. And all three are on an upwards course. At this point, the governor of WV could have literally any alignment other than Chaotic Evil and they'd be front and center saying the same thing, even if the motivations are less "please save your loved ones" and more "you're making me look bad in front of Trump" they'd still say it.
The WV governor has not implemented any DeSantis-like policies like a mask ban or "because we just don't want to" policy, not that I can see. The CDC says every county should be masking up, but to be fair, there's a lot of the country that should say that. WV is not the worst state out there, but it's bad enough.
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Capitol Police refuse to make the same mistake twice.
From what we've seen so far, there aren't nearly enough Jan 6th "oh they were just loving tourists" on site to storm a Denny's, let alone a federal building on high alert. But yeah, I suppose someone could get shot in the foot and blame Antifa.U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said the force has has been working "around the clock for the last several weeks" to ensure there isn't a "repeat" of January 6. Although it's unclear how many protesters will attend, the rally permit is for 700 people, who are expected to show their support for those who have been imprisoned for their involvement in the Capitol riot in January.
Manger said it's "tough to say" whether the threats received ahead of the rally are credible or not, but it would be "foolish not to take the intelligence we have seriously."
"We're not taking any chances," Manger told reporters during a press conference Friday.
The U.S. Capitol Police says it is ready for the Saturday rally, and multiple law enforcement agencies are working with them. Fencing has already gone up around the perimeter of the Capitol, after it was taken down in July. But the National Guard will only be called on if the event is longer than expected and Capitol Police need assistance securing the perimeter. Manger said that he has not asked for the guard to be armed.
"Our request for assistance will be if the event goes longer than we think it'll go, they would be available to help us to secure the area around the Capitol, but if the event comes and goes, there will be no call to them for assistance," Manger said.
Manger said his biggest concern about potential violence is a clash between counter-protesters and protesters.
Oh, and also
Ain't nobody who matters wants a piece of this.Although multiple members of Congress have been invited to the rally, he said he doesn't believe any have accepted.
"To my knowledge, all of them have declined," Manger said.
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Oh wait, I forgot this part:
Now, I'm guessing these online threats are blowhards that won't even be there. But, yeah, that would be a reason law enforcement would take this seriously.As CBS News has previously reported, the Department of Homeland Security informed law enforcement partners they're aware of a "small number of recent online threats of violence" connected to the rally, including "online discussions encouraging violence the day before the rally." According to an intelligence bulletin obtained by CBS News, social media users have discussed storming the U.S. Capitol the Friday evening before the rally.