BeckyDem

BeckyDem's Journal

October 3, 2020

Matthew Chapman@fawfulfan: Jesus. Ron Johnson got his #COVID19 results while on his way to an Ozauke

https://twitter.com/fawfulfan/status/1312483440680337408

After testing positive for COVID-19, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said his view on mask mandates hasn’t changed, as Wisconsin Republican leaders have voiced their support for striking down the state’s order requiring face coverings be worn.

The Oshkosh Republican, who announced Saturday morning he had tested positive for the virus the previous day, instead touted “individual responsibility,” saying while he believes masks can help mitigate the risk, they’re “certainly not a cure-all.”

Johnson, who is at least the third Republican U.S. senator to have contracted the coronavirus recently, said he was tested on his way to the Ozaukee County Republican Party Oktoberfest Dinner in Mequon on Friday night.

Wisconsin officials warn of dire COVID-19 scenario as cases spike, flu season nears
But he still attended the event, saying he wore his mask until he spoke and stayed "at least 12 feet from anybody as [he was] speaking." He said he quickly left the dinner after his remarks.

Asked whether he was told to self-quarantine after getting tested, Johnson said there was “no reason to do so.”

“I’m not sick,” he said. “I have no symptoms. I certainly didn’t anticipate testing positive, so there was no reason to quarantine.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends those who are tested should isolate at home pending results, as well as follow the advice of one’s health care provider.

The latest news comes after a tumultuous week in which President Donald Trump, who had planned two campaign rallies in Wisconsin this weekend, tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized. But at the state level, top Republicans who control the Legislature filed a motion backing a lawsuit that aims to get rid of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate, which expires Nov. 21.

Conservative firm seeks to overturn latest public health declaration, Wisconsin mask mandate
COVID-19 cases are surging in Wisconsin, with the state breaking daily records for new cases and deaths in recent days.

Johnson, who said he's not experiencing any symptoms and has not received any medical treatment tied to his diagnosis, also seemed unconcerned about how he was exposed to the virus, saying he suspected it originated from his chief of staff last month.

“I don’t blame anybody for this. We have a pandemic with a contagious disease,” he said, adding later: “To me, I don’t care where I might have got it from.”

Johnson said he got tested after hearing on a conference call Friday that fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah contracted the virus.

Despite the cases, Johnson said he believed Republican senators are “doing a pretty good job” of taking the pandemic seriously, noting that people are wearing masks inside and “definitely doing the social distancing.”

“I’ll let other people convey their judgments in terms of ‘Have we done a good enough job?’ but I think we’re being responsible. I believe I certainly have been,” he said.

https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/after-testing-positive-for-covid-19-ron-johnson-says-hes-still-against-mask-mandates/article_779c1b9f-e725-55cf-944c-03122be174e7.html

The party that will spread Covid -19 that can kill you, the party that will destroy unions, what's left of them, the party that will destroy the ACA. But yea, wish them well when they're sick.

October 3, 2020

Trump's America:Unprecedented:ICE is launching billboards in Pennsylvania with faces of immigrants

https://twitter.com/Haleaziz/status/1312129595118743553

FUCK Trump.

Biden/Harris 2020

October 2, 2020

GOP Wingnut Can't Understand Why Republicans Keep Getting COVID-19

( These people are hopeless. )

DeAnna Lorraine wonders, "Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent Democrats have had the virus but the list of Republicans goes on and on?"

By Ed Scarce

DeAnna Lorraine is a conservative nutjob who ran in Nancy Pelosi's district this year and finished with 3.4% of the vote. Apparently, her brand of the crazy was not that compelling in CA-12. A few weeks ago she opined, "We need more young people like Kyle Rittenhouse and less like Greta Thunberg."

Jeez, I wonder why so many Republicans keep getting infected with COVID-19. I can't think of any reason for it, can you?

Excerpt:
former GOP congressional candidate in California has claimed that the Democrats deliberately infected President Donald Trump with COVID when the microphone and podium were set up for the president at Tuesday's presidential debate.

DeAnna Lorraine, who is also conservative commentator, tweeted her statement providing no evidence to support her claims on early Friday morning.

The president announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday evening and would sequester themselves in the White House.

Both were tested after Trump confirmed that Hope Hicks, a top aide who travelled with Trump to numerous events this week including the presidential debate, had a positive result in her test for the illness.

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/10/former-gop-candidate-wonders-why

October 2, 2020

Suddenly, Everything Has Changed in Congress

The prospect of a delayed Supreme Court fight and coronavirus relief is on the table.

BY DAVID DAYEN

OCTOBER 2, 2020

As we get more indications that the Amy Coney Barrett nomination announcement was a superspreader event, with numerous officials who attended—the president and his wife, Hope Hicks, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, and Fr. John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame—all announcing positive tests in the last 24 hours, the two biggest items on the legislative calendar have been radically transformed.

Yesterday, there was a resignation of an inevitable march to confirming Barrett before the election. Now, there’s a significant question as to whether you can legitimately hold a confirmation hearing or a floor vote when so much of the upper echelon of the Republican Party is compromised. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein just released a joint statement calling it “premature” to commit to a hearing date of October 12, a week from Monday, “when we do not know the full extent of potential exposure stemming from the president’s infection and before the White House puts in place a contact tracing plan to prevent further spread of the disease.”

They’re absolutely right, though poor planning and reckless disregard for human life has been a hallmark of the modern Republican Party. Still, there is a chance that this could delay the Barrett nomination. Unlike the House, the Senate has no rule in place for proxy voting, so if Sen. Lee is quarantining at home, he cannot vote on anything. You wouldn’t need that many senators out on the Republican side to literally not have the votes for Barrett, especially if Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stick to their vows to not vote affirmatively for a Supreme Court nominee so close to the election. A couple more senators get sick and there’s no majority for Barrett, though of course Lee could recover in time for a vote at the end of the month.

On the other outstanding issue—coronavirus-related economic relief—there’s been a presumed opening. Speaker Pelosi remarked on MSNBC today, “This kind of changes the dynamic because here they see the reality of what we have been saying all along—this is a vicious virus.” But it seems like the newfound leverage for a deal between Democrats and the White House has its origins in Trump’s slippage in the polls. He wants to fork over money to the public to buy votes, and Democrats want to protect millions of people from financial ruin, so there’s a chance for a deal again, where there wasn’t before.

https://prospect.org/politics/suddenly-everything-has-changed-in-congress/

( Fingers crossed )

October 1, 2020

Conservative hoaxers face charges over false voter robocalls

By RYAN J. FOLEY
an hour ago

Two notorious conservative operatives were charged Thursday with felonies in connection with false robocalls that aimed to dissuade residents in Detroit and other U.S. cities from voting by mail, Michigan’s attorney general announced.

Jacob Wohl, 22, and Jack Burkman, 54, each face four felony counts in Detroit, including conspiring to intimidate voters in violation of election law and using a computer to commit crimes, Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

The calls falsely warned residents in majority-Black Detroit and urban areas in at least four other states that voting by mail in the Nov. 3 election could subject people to arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination, Nessel said.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-technology-arrests-michigan-voting-rights-e0d49155dc8f347b1347cf779fd43812?utm_medium=AP_Politics&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter

October 1, 2020