Well, we made it through another week. Even though the Dumb continues to spread, we managed to survive. Something to be cheerful about, I suppose.
I had some Actual Paying Work to do last night, so that kept me up. I still need to do the cutting-and-cleaning part, and since nothing in the News is really grabbing me, we’ll do something small and check back this evening. It strikes as a catch-up kind of day.
Seems the dominant story of the cycle has been the comeback of birtherism from conservatives concerning the Democratic nominee for Vice-President, Kamala Harris. To make sure everyone’s caught up, the idea (which actually started in the bowels of Conservative Twitter hours after the initial announcement) is Harris is ineligible for the office because the President must be a natural-born citizen and the racists’ claim is she is not.
This is, of course, rank bullshit. However, it got some mainstream cred when formerly reputable publication Newsweek published a column by sore loser John Eastman. When challenged, Newsweek’s response was, basically, “We’re not saying she’s an illegal. We’re saying she’s an ‘anchor baby.’ Totally different.” Still racist, though, and bullshit, so give them that. Again, Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, CA, and the Fourteenth Amendment says the argument ends there.
Unfortunately, since we have a racist dickhead for president, Trump felt the need to sound off about this. He said during one of the controlled tantrums he calls a “press conference” that he’d heard this from a “well-respected lawyer.” He himself, however, couldn’t say for sure. Right. Remember all, this isn’t Trump’s first bigoted bullshit rodeo and he’s more than happy to spread around some more. I doubt we’ll see any contrition, but pigs may fly or someone might get ahold of his Twitter account.
This is, of course, an attempt by the moist dipstick to distract us from his attempts to scuttle the U.S. Postal Service so mail-in voting won’t work. This isn’t a new thing with the GOP, as the USPS’s current financial woes come from some bullshit legislation back in 2008 which required them to pay all pensions for the next 75 years. Trump is claiming, without evidence (naturally), that mail-in voting is rife with fraud. The real reason is he knows he’s up against the wall and losing ground to Joe Biden, and the dumb son of a bitch pretty much admitted to it.
Regardless, the government’s stepping up its attempts to stifle voting by removing voting drop boxes in various cities. The word apparently came down from on high and employees themselves have no idea why they’re being told to do this or what the outcome will be. It’s worth remembering that along with choking off voter turnout, the current Postmaster General has beaucoup money invested in mail alternatives. Who knew of all the books Thomas Pynchon wrote, The Crying Of Lot 49 would be the one to pop up into reality.
I know it’s a lot to take in, but don’t be scared. You can keep in mind that the President and the GOP are both indulging in the rankest, cheapest racism and actively trying to take away your right to vote. People underestimate themselves.
Moving on, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is crowing that the reports of COVID-19 infections have dropped 80% over the past week. Granted, this comes after 45 deaths were reported Wednesday, the state’s new record, and overloaded hospitals mean infection reporting is heavily backed up, but we’ll give him this. Might as well, since it’s looking like Mississippi won’t have the bread to make the nut for Trump’s toothless memorandum about states supplying a quarter of the proposed $400 relief check. It’d cost the state over 21 million dollars. Currently, the state puts out around $18 million in welfare and assistance, so well done with that, everyone.
Finally, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Mike Espy has pledged to make health care affordability the center of his campaign to upset current Senator Cindy “Let’s Have a Lynching Party” Hyde-Smith come November. I’ve written over and over about how much crap Mississippi’s health care system is. We’re one of the 12 states that opt out of extending Medicare coverage as a part of the Affordable Care Act because, fuck you, that’s why. Although thanks to a 2012 Supreme Court case, that’s out of the Senate’s hand, Espy has said, if elected, he’ll do all he can to make it right. So, good luck there.
Okay, we made word count. If anything interesting happens before the day’s out, maybe we’ll come back or post a “Special Edition” sort of thing. It’s been an interesting week and god knows what it’ll look like after my nap. As for now, I’ve got work to do. Have a nice weekend and we’ll see you at the Gibberish tomorrow.
Dear Y'all 