Coronavirus:

[Rufus T. Firefly]

It was too late back in the middle of January when people were flying in to NYC from China by the thousands and China and (WHO) was keeping it quiet.

Actually, it was pretty obvious that something very bad was happening in China by the last week of Jan. and we never actually stopped anyone from flying in yet.

Trump Tried to stop the flights from China but the only cooperation he got from the idiot democrats was he was a racist and a bigot and they were too busy busy with the impeachment.

Such BS. Nobody stopped him but himself - he had total authority to do it and he failed to use it. Nobody else stopped him at all. This game of blaming everyone else for his failures is past ridiculous.

He barely stopped the direct flights and not even all of those, and delayed action repeatedly. Then they all flew to Europe and then here or to Canada and then here - fool should have grounded all international flights and closed the boarders, but did not have the spine to face the bankers - have to save the economy over the people that make the economy. Failed totally to act at all.

That he's a racist and a bigot just happens to be another failing on record.

And, we still failed to act knowing that something very bad was happening in China by the last week of Jan. He denied it as real and ignored it while 136k now are dead and while the ICU's in AZ, FL, and other states are overflowing.

[HONDO74]

And, we still failed to act knowing that something very bad was happening in China by the last week of Jan. He denied it as real and ignored it while 136k now are dead and while the ICU's in AZ, FL, and other states are overflowing.

And 500,000 have died world wide. Countries with health care systems Superior to the US didn't fair any better than we did.

The rest of the world is having a rise in cases an deaths

[robert.]

Every politician failed. all of them. Everyone should be run out of town and placed on a pike. At this point they have done as well as a kindergarten class. Virus is coming,we don't have enough supplies to handle it. We might have a shortage of hospital beds. OK. Lets eat cookies and watch Cat In The Hat. These lemmings around here will continue to vote the same way. At this point in time we should smash the whole system and start over. Rookies will do just as well in office. It's time to throw out the spoiled milk. No more putting back into the refrigerator. Start over and change the way we do things!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Every politician failed. all of them..... At this point in time we should smash the whole system and start over. Rookies will do just as well in office. It's time to throw out the spoiled milk. No more putting back into the refrigerator. Start over and change the way we do things!

That would take a consensus. And just where would we The People get that?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Every politician failed. all of them. Everyone should be run out of town and placed on a pike.

Waste of a good pike.

At this point they have done as well as a kindergarten class.

No. no they haven't. They've done much worse by maliciously and deliberately failing to act, by lying endlessly, and by providing negative leadership.

These lemmings around here will continue to vote the same way.

Maybe not if they get sick, end up in an ICU on a ventilator.

Rookies will do just as well in office.

No, we have got to do better. But, after watching my HOA meeting via Zoom last night, I seriously doubt that it's possible.

[healey36]

...and then there's the massive bubble in the stock market.

[robert.]

Wait. The bubble is in Disney World and one player snuck out. That negative side of me wants to see pro sports fail. I missed none of it for the last 4 months. I do feel sad for the hot dog vendors. I'm sure the lemmings will jump back into watching.

[chuck]

Massive turnover is not a recipe for sure fired improvement. You want to clean things up, make sure that you have +85% voting. Right now we are lucky to break 55% on major elections and as low as %10-%15 for local ones, e.g. twp supervisor/school board. If you want real change, get involved. Politicians like the current system because they can win with significantly less than a majority. Just get your "core" out.

Another thing that would be useful is to make sure ads are subjected to the same type of scrutiny that other products are, "truth in advertising". Best thing would be to eliminate ads completely but no one is going to go for that. The media would have a collective heart attack if they couldn't rake in all that revenue.

[robert.]

City of Philadelphia put a stop to every public gathering. From now up until march 1.No permits will be issued. No groups of 50 or more. No parades (Thanksgiving New Year) No fans at sporting events. No marathons. No concerts How will they open schools?

[up148]

We have so much to be embarrassed about in this country, its hard to know where to begin and apathy runs so deep, can it ever be corrected. I'm afraid we really aren't "seeing the forest for trees", but I'm just as bewildered as anyone. It just makes you ask "how did we get here and is there any way out"?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

We have so much to be embarrassed about in this country, its hard to know where to begin and apathy runs so deep, can it ever be corrected. I'm afraid we really aren't "seeing the forest for trees", but I'm just as bewildered as anyone. It just makes you ask "how did we get here and is there any way out"?

There was a chance. This virus could have been a unifying event. Instead it's been used to increase divisiveness and conflict.

[up148]

Good choice of words. We used to have "unifying" events in this country and Covid should have been one as well. So, is this more about the "ME" generation, which I feel applies to all ages, not just young people.....and seems to be getting worse for decades. Some have become so self-centered, it's truly just about them and the h*ll with everyone else.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Good choice of words. We used to have "unifying" events in this country and Covid should have been one as well. So, is this more about the "ME" generation, which I feel applies to all ages, not just young people.....and seems to be getting worse for decades. Some have become so self-centered, it's truly just about them and the h*ll with everyone else.

No, this cuts across all generations. I see as many "old" folks denying and running about w/o masks, etc.

But this is really from the top down and could have been a huge leadership opportunity not unlike going to the moon...........or the buck stops here.

[chuck]

Some have become so self-centered, it's truly just about them and the h*ll with everyone else.

More like the "vocal minority". The folks responsible for the mess we are in have no patience or social filters. They don'y see why they should behave any differently. They are truly "All About Me". They have always existed but now thanks to the internet it's possible for them to find each other and set bad examples and "augment" this effect.

The clowns screaming about their rights being infringed upon seem to be oblivious to their responsibilities to the community at large. They see majority rule as absolute and ignore minority rights. Alexis de Tocqueville visited the US just after the war of 1812 and wrote "Democracy in America" based on what he observed. This used to be part of the junior/senior high school curriculum.

The first lesson introduces students to Tocqueville’s thesis about the omnipotence, i.e., the all-powerful character, of the majority in a democracy and his way of developing an argument through well-chosen historical examples.

In the second lesson, students consider the argument that unchecked political power will lead to tyranny. Tocqueville offers two gripping and illuminating examples: mob violence against anti-war journalists in the War of 1812; and the way free blacks are preventing from voting in the Northern states.

In the third lesson, students confront and evaluate Tocqueville’s most shocking claim—that there is less freedom of discussion and independence of mind in America than in Europe, with negative consequences for American character and culture.

The original response to the tyranny of the majority were the rights of the minority. A balancing act of individual rights that counter a possible "tyranny of the majority". This is supposed to be handled by the checks and balances within our constitution but only works if we follow those rules and maintain vigilance over those that seek to pervert them.

The "silent majority" may have been shocked/lulled into silence partially in disbelief that people like this could have gotten as far as they have. Most people do not actually subscribe to this behavior but up till now have felt powerless to stop it. The pendulum is rapidly swinging back and the silent majority isn't as silent as it once was. People are willing to stand in line for hours to vote the flaming a-holes out of office. They are actively shaming people that won't wear masks in public places. They are standing up to the forces that have marginalized large parts of our population.

We can still navigate out of this but not by putting on blinders to lies/bs and ignoring facts because we don't like them. It's going to be hard but we have faced much greater challenges and prevailed.

[HONDO74]

And how does the cancel culture fit in.?