The US is incapable of effectively combating the COVID-19 pandemic

[Felya]

I don't know why American conservatives have gotten so pants-on-head stupid about this virus.

Because that how Trump aims to maintain support, as he is fucking up the response to covid. We are at 9/11 times a 1000, but the debate is over wearing masks?

Remember how Trump made up stories about muslims celebrating as the towers were collapsing? Were they also protesting to get their hair did?

[Thestrawman]

Texas Supreme Court rules that a lack of coronavirus immunity doesn't qualify voters for mail-in ballots.

The. Republican. Party. Is. A. Death. Cult.

You forgot the best part, they made the ruling over video conference.

[Edge-]

You forgot the best part, they made the ruling over video conference.

Oh, I know. Irony is fucking dead.

And I'm sure all of them will have valid reasons to vote by mail come November.

"Rules for thee but not for me!"

- - - Updated - - -

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...feel-safe-from

And Republicans are working hard to make sure it stays this way. Missouri's governor is proudly telling people that if they're worried about contracting a potentially deadly virus while packed into voting booths, maybe they just shouldn't vote. Because his state doesn't allow absentee ballots without a formal excuse, and apparently, "There's a fucking global pandemic and I don't want to die of the plague." isn't an excuse.

If nothing else, there may be downstream effects in the 2024/2028 elections if Republicans manage to kill off enough of their voting base with these decisions. So there's that.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/border...documents-show

CBP is seeing confirmed cases of the virus increase considerably recently, following video showing many agents completely ignoring CDC guidelines on best practices for safety.

Even our own law enforcement agencies have trouble following basic fucking rules.

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/calif...b64f10cb09045c

CA county had seen no new cases for a while and began opening up in early May.

They're closing again because cases are starting to pop up.

This is why the continued completely inadequate testing is going to fuck the US over. The US isn't capable of handling this under this administration.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...-says-n1217766

The CDC, in their first press conference in months, confirms that the virus was beginning to spread, undetected, in the US in January.

We were not prepared. We were not even thinking about it.

At the end of February, well over a month after it was spreading undetected, Larry Kudlow was telling media that the virus was contained and almost "airtight" - https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...y-close-to-air

[Drutt]

Just been told by my employer that all of our staff will be back on site next month.

I can do my job 100% effectively while remote (actually, even more effectively since my home office is far more ergonomic than my cube at work), but they want us in the building.

Utterly pointless.

[Elegiac]

Just been told by my employer that all of our staff will be back on site next month.

I can do my job 100% effectively while remote (actually, even more effectively since my home office is far more ergonomic than my cube at work), but they want us in the building.

Utterly pointless.

Turns out the real virus was capitalism.

[Edge-]

https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...-people-2020-5

So, the brilliant solution Republicans have come up with to help out an economy with 40M newly unemployed Americans, which as of April was 14% and will likely be around 20% for May, is...

A payroll tax cut.

Which will do precisely fucking nothing for the millions of Americans out of work. The reliably wrong Stephen Moore called a payroll tax "the biggest job creator" without a hint of irony, because of course the man is so deeply stupid.

[Elegiac]

https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...-people-2020-5

So, the brilliant solution Republicans have come up with to help out an economy with 40M newly unemployed Americans, which as of April was 14% and will likely be around 20% for May, is...

A payroll tax cut.

Which will do precisely fucking nothing for the millions of Americans out of work. The reliably wrong Stephen Moore called a payroll tax "the biggest job creator" without a hint of irony, because of course the man is so deeply stupid.

I mean, they can continue to not address the problem all they like. I'm just not sure the electorate is gonna be so hot on that strategy when November comes around and a whole lot of freshly evicted or impoverished people suddenly find themselves with nothing to do on Election Day.

[Zan15]

Just been told by my employer that all of our staff will be back on site next month.

I can do my job 100% effectively while remote (actually, even more effectively since my home office is far more ergonomic than my cube at work), but they want us in the building.

Utterly pointless.

Mostly just angry leaders who can't work from home.

whenever I got called back into the office from WAH it was because I had a management change somewhere in the chain that hated WAH for that reason