As the Coronavirus rampages across the USA, and many states enact so-called “
Stay At Home” orders, there
has been a pushback from some out on the right, what Vice
magazine called “
coronavirus truthers who claim that broad public health measures aren’t needed if personal health provisions … are followed … [those ideas] are showing up … at the anti-lockdown protests that have happened, so far, in 22 states and counting”.
Robert Mercer
Who is involved? “
Anti-vax and medical freedom campaigners … are being joined by a mixed-nuts assortment of right-wing groups—militias, Proud Boys, Alex Jones and his InfoWars crew, [and] slightly more mainstream pro-gun activists”. And their point? “
The nominal point of those protests is calling for the states to allow local businesses to reopen. But not that far under the surface was a strong dose of disease denialism”.
Donald, where's yer hairspray?
There is more. “
Dating back to the 1960s, the right has simply not believed in the value of public or collective action. More of it, though, is a political sleight of hand, meant to turn the total failure of the Trump administration to meaningfully address a public health emergency killing thousands of people every day into a solvable problem”. Do go on.
And look who else in in there somewhere
“
The work of manufacturing and distributing masks and tests and setting up a regime of contact tracing is difficult and risks failure. Denying that doing so is even necessary, and that the crisis can be easily solved by Vitamin C and individual initiative, though, makes government action unnecessary”. And boosts chances of a Trump second term.
Which brings us to the revelation that many of the protests have not been totally spontaneous. After Brian Schwartz of CNBC noted “
Robert Mercer is back in the big money fundraising game for Trump and the RNC after retreating from the spotlight. He gave his first 2020 six figure check to Trump Victory in February. It was a $355,200 contribution, a new filing shows” came more on the former Cambridge Analytica man.
The protests were an Astroturf movement, and Jennifer Cohn revealed “
The Mercers are behind the Astro turf protests. They also funded Cambridge Analytica and are funding its new incarnation, Emerdata. The Mercers are in the Council for National Policy [with] Steve Bannon, KellyAnne [Conway], the DeVos’s, etc”. The protesters are mere useful idiots.
Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress was unimpressed. “
The fact that the Mercers are behind the Astroturf protests - protests that have support in the teens in public polls - needs to be included in every cable segment on their inanity”. A far larger part of the American public supports social distancing and “
Stay At Home”.
The result of the agitation were spelled out by Professor Robert Hockett of the Cornell Law School, contributing to the latest edition of The Covid Report: “
There will simply be no lockdown anymore in the state of Georgia, and I have a terrible feeling that we’re going to see very quickly what a bad idea that was”. More infections. More deaths.
But for Robert Mercer and others invested in the Trump 2020 campaign, they will not have to put themselves in harm’s way. Nor will Trump. Nor will Steve Bannon. Tens of thousands of citizens are going to die a slow and painful death, and they don’t care.
The sickness and cynicism of right-wing politics.
And it’s coming to the UK next.
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"The sickness and cynicism of right wing politics" is already here, Tim. Has been for 40 years, thanks to Thatcher, Major, Bliar, Brown, Cameron, May and Bozo. There's no sign it's going to change any time soon, especially now The Quiff Gang is on Labour's front bench.
ReplyDeleteBritain's apparent fate is to be run by a club of port-and-wine swilling red faced old men in thrall to US gangster economics, clinging to a client state rank in the Nastzi World Order. A country that long ago lost any cultural sense of social morality and collective pride. All of it peddled by media so cowardly craven it would beggar belief if we hadn't actually witnessed it.
One recent economic indicator placed some aspects as the worst since 1709. Much more of this shit and we'll be back to 1640 and all that tragedy brought on. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing, historically speaking, maybe the only way to clean out this filth is to cauterise it in the same way.
Nobody can say it hasn't been coming. It's a slow dry rot of the soul few had the courage to face. Those who did were soon isolated and villified in media campaigns Goebbels would have been proud of.
We are now way beyond the point where the country can be regenerated by mealy mouthed platitudes and the ritual slogans of a broken, corrupt, one party parliamentary system.
Unchecked, at this rate what price a British Pinochet?
It could never happen here?
DeleteThese lockdowns are making life difficult for those who prefer to steal items from empty houses.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 14:14. There making mass shootings difficult too.
ReplyDeleteOk Anonymous at 12.55.
ReplyDeleteCalm down. You've made your point.
I won't shove a stick through the bars of the cage again.
(Not 'til you're better anyway).
"And it’s coming to the UK next". It's already here, Tim. Witness this conversation with (the IEA's) Andrew Lilico and his wilful ignorance/gaslighting/astroturfing despite many attempts to dissuade him from making more of an idiot of himself.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/andrew_lilico/status/1253037106039009282?s=20
Lilico is, at least by his own estimation, one of the leading economic thinkers in the UK and on Brexit. He's among the leading idiots and astroturfers that helped fool more than half of voters on 23rd June 2016.