Monday, July 26, 2021

It’s hard to believe that we’re starting the last week of July, that we’re closer to 2022 than 2020. I’m not sure what to make of that except it always makes watching old science fiction or Mad Max post-apocalypse rip-off movies amusing as hell. Yes, the dystopian future where everyone with a Twitter account is an expert in virology or Constitutional law. Somehow, leather-clad S&M perverts wasting gas doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

Anyway, let’s get to work. I touched on this yesterday, but Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger is joining the House Select Committee to find out just how things went down on January 6 for the Great American Temper Tantrum. His choosing has been speculated since House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pitched a fit after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nixed two GOP choices for being irrational fruitcakes. In a fit of pique, McCarthy pulled all his appointees, leaving him with no voice on the panel, in a move almost as savvy politically as the initial deep-sixing of the proposed bipartisan committee that would’ve gone outside Congress.

Kinzinger joins fellow GOP apostate Liz Cheney of Colorado as the two Republicans on the committee, meaning that it is both bipartisan and reaches a quorum. Pelosi’s basically told McCarthy to go screw and they’ll proceed as they like. For his part, the Minority Leader is trying to threatened Kinzinger and Cheney with censure and is doubting their conservative bona fides, calling both “Pelosi Republicans.” Wingnut lunatic Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia took a moment out of her busy legislative schedule to make an official statement calling Kinzinger a “traitor.”

I’ve noted this a number of times, but both Kinzinger and Cheney have among the most conservative voting records in the House and have only joined Pelosi on the most bipartisan of bills. They’re also telling McCarthy to go screw but it is possible this will hurt their reelection chances. That being said, both have pulled in beaucoup donations on this and will no doubt get if not the last laugh, then at least a smug chuckle before all is said and done.

The last victim of the Surfside condo collapse last month has been identified. Fifty-four-year-old Estelle Hedaya was the last identified body from the June 24 collapse, her brother told the Associated Press yesterday. Ironically, she was good friends with another of the last identified victims, 58-year-old Linda March. Workers from the Miami-Dade County Fire & Rescue left the scene Friday, saying a total of 98 people died in the collapse. From what they can gather, none of the victims survived the initial collapse.

Forensic investigators are still trying to figure out why the collapse happened and there’s some discussion on what to do with the site. Several lawsuits have been filed over the collapse and the judge presiding over them leans towards letting it be sold at value. It’s worth about $100 million, though there’s some conflict over where there should be another building or a monument to the victims.

Finally, Mississippi recorded over 3,600 new cases of COVID-19 from Friday through to Sunday. Seventy-two of those cases were in nursing homes and six deaths were recorded. This represents a logarithmic increase from the initial slowdown earlier in the year. All this can be chalked up to the Delta variant running loose among the Magnolia State’s unvaccinated, who make up 70% of the population. So well done, everyone.

Across the country, we’re seeing city governments and businesses taking a harder line on vaccinations. Mandatory vaccine mandates are popping up for city workers in New York City and California, as well as the Veterans Administration. The Mayo Clinic is also calling for mandatory vaccinations for staff, among other hospitals, and the U.S. will not rescind out-of-country travel restrictions. This is also being attributed to the Delta variant.

Again, well done, everyone.