Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Endus]

Remember how we were talking about how there weren't any real reasons that religions should get a waiver from the vaccine mandate? well ....
U.S. judge blocks N.Y. vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

bleh ...

Religious freedoms aren't without limits. Public health is one such limit. You're largely free to not get the vaccine, but that freedom does not amount to permission to ignore public health requirements. In this case, of a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, that seems pretty clear. If your job has a desk-work option, maybe that can work, especially if it's work-from-home. Otherwise, I'm not saying you should be fired, but you've made a choice that makes it impossible for you to safely work. So indefinite suspension until the pandemic is passed.

Religious freedoms require accommodations, where accommodations are feasible. They're not a free pass. For instance, if you're a Sikh construction worker, and your headdress interferes with wearing proper safety equipment, you're either going to have to give up that headdress or find an equivalent that can work with it or modify that headdress to work with existing equipment. A much tighter turban probably works fine with a hardhat, but you can't claim a religious freedom exemption to work on-site without a hardhat. You see this with police, too; turbans often get approved in place of regular uniform headwear because the headwear doesn't serve a practical purpose, but if your job requires wearing a respirator on the regular, you can't have wear a full beard unless there's a version available that allows for that and still seals up properly.

While workplaces have to try and work with people to find those accommodations, accommodations are not a way around a necessary requirement, nor even a compromise. They're finding a way to meet that practical requirement and the religious needs, if possible, and if it's not, your religious freedoms don't apply; you can take the job and voluntarily set those objections aside, or you can find a different job.

I'm 100% in favor of accommodations, where possible. In this case, that would amount to having unvaccinated staff spend the entire day in hazmat gear to prevent them contaminating any location in the building, with a separate dressing area/showers/etc outside the building for them to gear up before entry. Anything short of that is a concession against the interests of public health, which shouldn't be acceptable.

[swiftowner]

Hoo boy.

1) Pfizer used mRNA tech, which in turn, does not use aborted cell tissue. Get that one.
2) The MMR vaccine was developed using aborted cell tech, so, you've already shot up with it. Have fun with that. Oh, and shingles.
3) The Pope personally and specifically said it was okay, and his word is God's word on earth.
4) And the Vatican is making everyone get vaccinated.

AFAIK none of the COVID vaccines use aborted cell tissue. It’s a fake attempt at an excuse. Some of the vaccines used fetal cell lines in their development/testing; however, fetal cell lines are not aborted fetal tissue.

[Breccia]

AFAIK none of the COVID vaccines use aborted cell tissue

They don't. More details here.

[swiftowner]

They don't. More details here.

Right so religious exemption based on a vaccine using aborted fetus tissue is just bullshit. It’s the same argument my grandmother was using, and after I explained it to her, and explained that even the pope said it was OK to get vaccinated, she got vaccinated, thankfully.

[Edge-]

https://www.citizensforethics.org/re...w-allegations/

So the ethics complaint against Pompeo when he was SoState has been unredacted and...ooph. Claims include...

Unauthorized use of government funds and resources (which we've known)

False statements, including to the Office of the Legal Advisor

Misuse of funds and staff includion violations of the Hatch Act

Directions not to use email, avoid speaking with Department lawyers, or put things down in writing to avoid FOIA requests

Verbally abusive behavior directed towards staff by both Pompeo and his wife

And as a reminder:

A new memo shows that the OIG’s Office of Investigations closed its case file on the whistleblower complaint in July 2020 — just weeks after former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was fired at Pompeo’s request. The case closing memo does not specify who made the decision or why it was made. It says only that, on “July 15, 2020, a decision was made that the [OIG’s Office of Evaluations and Special Projects] would continue this administrative investigation without the need for further support from [the Office of Investigations]. This matter is closed to file.”

IG was fired, investigation was closed up with no conclusion, not even one clearing Pompeo.

Pompeo is a corrupt, fat piece of shit.

[Kaleredar]

Correct. But they are a branch of Christianity publicly opposed to abortion, possibly the most.

Mmm I don't know about that. Evangelicals are very heavily anti-choice, and I'd say the main line GOP fundamental Christians fall more in the realm of evangelicals/extremely fundamentalist protestants than into Catholicism proper.

Hell, the evangelicals generally really dislike Catholics. They wouldn't give two figs about what the Pope said. Anti-catholic sentiments among the fundamentalist Christians is still definitely a thing.

[Ivanstone]

Mmm I don't know about that. Evangelicals are very heavily anti-choice, and I'd say the main line GOP fundamental Christians fall more in the realm of evangelicals/extremely fundamentalist protestants than into Catholicism proper.

Hell, the evangelicals generally really dislike Catholics. They wouldn't give two figs about what the Pope said. Anti-catholic sentiments among the fundamentalist Christians is still definitely a thing.

They agree with Catholics when it’s useful for them to agree. Same thing with Judaism. They’ll loudly proclaim to be pro-Jewish but their actual anti-Semitic tendencies will often leak out when they think no ones looking.

[Benggaul]

Hey, who ordered the depressing statistic?

Since the Pandemic Began, 1 in 500 Americans Have Died of COVID-19

Oh, and it's likely much worse since conservative estimates are that the US has actually passed 1 million deaths but they've been vastly underreported nationwide.

Soooooooo many of those were preventable, too, or would have been had Trump and his administration not spent the better part of a year willfully downplaying the severity of the pandemic and standing in the way of life-saving precautions.

[D Luniz]

They agree with Catholics when it’s useful for them to agree. Same thing with Judaism. They’ll loudly proclaim to be pro-Jewish but their actual anti-Semitic tendencies will often leak out when they think no ones looking.

they are just pro-Israel, for the sake of the armageddon prophecy. Thats why they can pass anti-Jewish conspiracies while going on about Israel's right to exist.
it is no different than being pro-birth, yet being against neo-natal care, post-partum depression monitoring, ChiP maternity leave, etc, etc.

Only caring about trees because they want firewood for the BBQ next week.

[Breccia]

ince the Pandemic Began, 1 in 500 Americans Have Died of COVID-19

Incidentally, even though Florida did their best to kill themselves, with 49,251 total deaths and their population, they're only slightly higher than the national average.

[Gorsameth]

Incidentally, even though Florida did their best to kill themselves, with 49,251 total deaths and their population, they're only slightly higher than the national average.

I imagine it helps that people go to Florida on vacation, catch it and then die in their home state ><

[Breccia]

I imagine it helps that people go to Florida on vacation, catch it and then die in their home state ><

Valid.

Also @Benggaul and half the forums know Florida, more than most, is lying about their death count. And I don't just mean their recent experiments with time travel.

[PhaelixWW]

Incidentally, even though Florida did their best to kill themselves, with 49,251 total deaths and their population, they're only slightly higher than the national average.

On that note, sadly, the US is back to 2000+ deaths a day.

[Benggaul]

On that note, sadly, the US is back to 2000+ deaths a day.

Helped by Texas posting another 400+. Fuck Texas.

[PhaelixWW]

Helped by Texas posting another 400+. Fuck Texas.

Yeah, their 7-day is set to jump another 21 points today, from 281 to 302. At this rate, they're going to pass their record of 345 in no time.

[Benggaul]

Yeah, their 7-day is set to jump another 21 points today, from 281 to 302. At this rate, they're going to pass their record of 345 in no time.

Their cases have been down recently--though still far, far too high--so maybe they'll turn the corner on deaths soon, but yeah if they don't pass their record they'll be pretty damned close.

[Breccia]

On that note, sadly, the US is back to 2000+ deaths a day.

Fuck, the NYTimes says the rolling average is 1888. I'd been looking at specific states for so long I forgot to check the country.

- - - Updated - - -

Today in Lack Of Self Awareness theater: Tucker Carlson asking why Democrats don't do more to discourage rage mobs made out of Trump supporters.

No, really. It's fucking insane.

- - - Updated - - -

Another member of the murderous insurrection pleads guilty.

Jason Dolan, a 44-year-old Florida resident, appeared in court Wednesday to admit to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. He said during the hearing that he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify if needed.

Innnnnnnnteresting.

[Orange Joe]

Today in Lack Of Self Awareness theater: Tucker Carlson asking why Democrats don't do more to discourage rage mobs made out of Trump supporters.

No, really. It's fucking insane.

While I don't disagree with you. "today" is stretching it a bit :P

[Benggaul]

Federal judge denies Trump's request to stop E. Jean Carroll lawsuit from moving forward

Guess things are more difficult when you don't have your own personal Justice Department to shield you.

District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday entered a minute entry on the court docket indicating that he was denying Trump's request for a "stay" of his ruling last year, which rejected Trump's effort to substitute the Justice Department as the defendant -- a move that would essentially kill the lawsuit.

Judge Kaplan's sudden decision revives the case, which has been on hold for nearly a year while Trump and the Department of Justice pursued an appeal. The ruling could pave the way for Carroll's attorneys to pursue subpoenas for documents, records and a DNA sample from the former President to prove her claims of sexual assault.

Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Trump has denied the claims, saying Carroll wasn't his type and that she fabricated the allegation to boost sales of her book. Carroll sued Trump for defamation.

Unfortunately he'll still be able to appeal, but his means of escape are slowly shutting one by one.

- - - Updated - - -

While I don't disagree with you. "today" is stretching it a bit :P

They didn't say Tucker said that today. Just that that's what's in the programming for today's episode.

[Breccia]

While I don't disagree with you. "today" is stretching it a bit

They didn't say Tucker said that today. Just that that's what's in the programming for today's episode.

Yeah, I could have been more clear. I shoved that up here between pulls.

- - - Updated - - -

A conservative group filed an ethics complaint, claiming that Ocasio-Cortez either bought a ticket with campaign funds, or accepted it as a gift, and either one is an ethics violation.

I mean, this was a theater ticket, not something understandable like a $130,000 whore

"Wait, do they know for a fact she didn't just buy it with her own money?"

No. They're just projecting.