Just totally disgusted. A friend called and told me he has a break-thru Covid, that ...

[marble falls]

... his whole family was vaxxed and now has Covid: he, his mother, dad and grandmother.

His mother is going to be given the infusion this morning, I do not know how they are going too treat his invalid 90yr old Grand mom or his diabetic and very ill dad.

He went to an Octoberfest in Fredricksburg (Trumpsville) with two unvaxxed friends. They have Covid.

I've been in a car with him once to grab a coffee, once in the last month, this last Sunday.

Between deniers and liars, I couldn't hate living in Texas more.

Did I mention, I started a part time job? I've notified them and they said to come in masked - I wear one of the 12 good fabric ones I have that totally go from the top of the nose and under my chin. Three layers of hi grade quilting fabric with a coffee filter almost all the time.

The hospitals out here are all crammed with Covid - 90+% unvaxxed.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. This is not from the government, these are folks who bought into Reagan's big lie: government is ineffective and unnecessary - if this were true, why do they fight so hard to run it? If voting was useless, why are they fighting so hard to stop it? If it were trully useless, they'd be ENCOURAGING us to vote!!!!

Vote like our lives depend on it, because our lives really do depend on it.

[viva la]

1. The monoclonal antibodies are supposed to help early in the illness

Also as a preventative for the immunocompromised.
https://slate.com/technology/2021/10/immunocompromised-pandemic-monoclonal-antibodies-prophylactic-use.html

[marble falls]

2. this has all happened since this morning, his mom is a nurse and she's managing this thing ...

but thanks for the link it had information I wanted to know!

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. I'm in Austin today.

Saw on the local news that your silly governor wants to write into law that businesses can’t require masks to be worn on their own property. Is that legal?

Last month I drove halfway across the country and back, and didn’t see as many non maskers as I’ve seen every hour in Texas.

At some point, doesn’t it start to seem like they want you dead?

[carpetbagger]

5. We know they want us dead.

They tried to run our Congressional candidate off the road, and the cops did nothing.

[marble falls]

6. It'll get kicked out and ignored, just like in Florida ...

... he knows these shit laws are not going to stand, and he doesn't care. Either way, he feels a win.

He can't run again, but he, just like DiSantis, want to be President. If his crap passes and stands, he runs on his record. If the Courts strike them, he runs on look what I tried to do for Texas and the Democracts ruined everything the "people" wanted.

He's an ethically challanged Pos.

[LeftInTX]

20. He's running again. No term limits in Texas.

Also, he's adding the vaccine mandate ban to the Special Session agenda.

[marble falls]

24. I understood there were two term limits, but he's also said he isn't running again. Otherwise ..

the rest still stands.

[LeftInTX]

29. No term limits and he's got a $50 million war chest. He's running

He's fighting his Republican challengers.

We had Perry for 10 plus years due to no term limits.

[wnylib]

27. Makes me wonder if they have

investments in health care facilities and want the insurance income. Or the opportunity to sue people who can't pay. But I'd think that model wouldn't work well because treatment involves costs as well as insurance income.

So it must be that they just want the chaos of the pandemic to reflect badly on Biden and Dems in general.

[Skittles]

86. Abbott is anti-choice and pro-Covid

sick fucker

[atreides1]

98. Well

According to current Texas employment laws...an employer can fire an employee for any reason...if the boss says you need to get a sot and you don't...the boss can fire you!

Basically unless the legislature revokes the current employment laws, which will likely piss off a lot of employers, this isn't going to fly...just an opinion of someone who has only visited Texas and couldn't wait to get the f**k out!!!

[carpetbagger]

4. Hill Country loves their covid.

I'm pretty sick of living like a hermit out in Kerrville. Got my booster last week, so hopefully that'll give me enough protection to grab a bite to eat during the off-hours, but this is getting old.

[marble falls]

7. I miss going out, but we are eating much better than ever at home.

[ananda]

8. My nephew got breakthrough Covid too.

The vaccine worked though, just a short mild case.

[Raven123]

9. 4 vaccinated people in 1 family with COVID-19 is alarming to me.

[marble falls]

12. Me, too. His dad has Diabetis and kidney issues, grandma is bedridden and 91 with end of life ...

... medical issues. Delta? Mu?

It also could be he's lying out of shame, but I've pushed the question at him hard and he insists he's vaxxed.

I have been misled by my students at the art classes I teach. I've only opened six to eight weeks total over two periods in the last almost two years. I was led to believe everyone took it serious and about a month ago, one died of covid, one's husband has covid and is self treating with horse dewormer. Out of eight only one had been vaxxed. And various other family members of students have been infected, too.

My neighbor lied to me about it, causing me to have to put off medical treatment over VA about it.

I know longer trust anyone about it. It certainly brings home the need for a vaxx passport.

[Maru Kitteh]

91. It's somewhat common. You don't mask or distance from family, by and large.

So you have increased time together, no masking, lots of talking, laughing, hugging. Usually indoors.

VERY high viral load is passed and poof! Everybody has COVID.

[Maraya1969]

10. Do you think he is lying about them all being vaxxed? I'm beginning to think

anti-vaxxers are now saying anyone that gets Covid was vaxxed just because they want people to believe that the vax doesn't work.

[marble falls]

18. It's crazy. We've stayed away from church for two years. When my wife masked up to say ...

... goodbye to a retiring choir leader, she did not stay for the reception. The woman next to her in choir in her late eighties got it. There were at least eight or so more at the reception who got it and there have been several deaths since. There are people still on ventilators. This happened in late July.

I am so angry my hands are shaking typing this.

[mahina]

74. How horrible

💔💔💔

[ShazzieB]

85. I don't blame you for being angry.

What y'all are going through in Texas and other red states with psycho governors is maddening and so, SO wrong.

[marble falls]

104. Another winter like this Feb will be bad enough to change the Governor's seat. If we weren't ...

... in our seventies, each with a parent in their 90s, I'da hitched up the mules and wagon years ago.

[Wingus Dingus]

30. I suspect that too. I also think some people, when they get Covid, immediately

say they were vaccinated so they look blameless. I also think people lie and say they were vaccinated so no one pressures them to wear masks. In general, I think people are liars, always sizing up situations to see what story/lie gives them the best advantage at the moment. I have a pretty dim view of humanity lately.

[yonder]

41. That's exactly what the pro-ignorants do.

By doing everything they can do to validate a belief with whatever it takes.

They love claiming government doesn't work while doing everything they can to ensure that it doesn't - defunding, electing people to deconstruct it, hiring unqualified people to run it and so on....

[oldsoftie]

100. I know damn well SOME of them do that.

Just like these sites that post videos of tons of people talking about their "horrible experience" with the vaccines; no vetting at all i'm sure. Just like the VAERS system; no way to know how many reported incidents on there are false.

[NJCher]

13. why?

why do they fight so hard to run it?

IMO, they don't run it. They just steal from it and sort of let the bureaucrats do the rest, within limits of their tax $$ grabs.

So sorry to hear this, marble falls. Should never have happened.

[LaMouffette]

14. Marble Falls and other fed-up Texan Democrats: Please move up here to Montana! We need you!

We moved to Montana from Austin many years ago. At first, I missed Austin desperately and almost moved back to Texas, but fortunately stuck it out. Now I love Montana, but there are waaaaay too many Republican Trump humpers here.

It was tolerable when we had Democratic governors like Steve Bullock and Brian Schweitzer. They were both amazing! Strong, intelligent, caring leaders. But now we have Gianforte, who is truly horrid. Thank God we still have Jon Tester in the Senate, but who knows if he'll be able to keep his Senate seat next election, the way things are going around here. We need more Dems and we need them now!

So yes, I strongly encourage all Dems from Texas and elsewhere to move to Montana, post haste!

The winters are not as bad as people might imagine, the outdoor recreation activities are limitless (two national parks!), and college towns Missoula and Bozeman are Democratic havens (although I'd encourage you to move to a "red" county nearby one of these two cities to help counteract the Republican population).

It's hard to pull up stakes and move to an entirely different state, but just think it over! Thanks!

[marble falls]

19. Is there a pocket of more moderate winter anywhere a good VA hospital? I'd love to help put ...

Democrat back in office!

[LaMouffette]

54. It looks like the largest VA hospital is right by Helena, MT: Fort Harrison VA Medical Center

and there are VA clinics sprinkled around the state, including in Missoula, Bozeman, Hamilton.

Helena, the state capital, leans conservative, but their current mayor is a refugee from Liberia, which gives me hope for Helena!

As far as weather, I just googled "which part of montana has the best weather" and a lot of good sources came up if you'd like to do some research. Western Montana tends to be a bit milder than Eastern Montana, especially the central western part. Great Falls tends to be quite windy. The Seeley-Swan Valley gets more snow than the Missoula and Bitterroot Valley regions.

And we would love your help getting more Dems in office!

[marble falls]

72. Montana is one state we never looked at, we looked at Oregon, took tooo long and a year later ...

... property values shot through the roof.

[mbusby]

46. Another sixth generation Texan...

...we moved out the end of last year and are now in a suburb of Denver. It feels so good to have a democratic governor.

[hamsterjill]

49. Good for you!!

I bet it did feel good! Hopefully one day for me.

[LaMouffette]

57. I envy you! I hope we can get rid of Gianforte next time he's up for election.

[Random Boomer]

52. My sympathies

I'm only fourth-generation Texan. My great-grandfather moved to Texas by in the mid 1800s (actually, he was on his way to California, but his pregnant wife went into labor, so they stopped just outside of Tyler and put down stakes).

I left Texas just after college, back in the 70s, which is quite ironic looking back now. It was actually a less-insane place to live then than it is now. We had Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, and Molly Ivins.

[LaMouffette]

55. Property values are going up a lot, especially around Missoula, Whitefish, Bozeman, and the

area around Yellowstone, but if you don't mind looking a bit further away from the most populated areas, I think there is still affordable property to be found. We're certainly not at California prices, yet, but we're headed that direction.

I hope you can give Montana a shot in a few years!

[DENVERPOPS]

60. I have noticed

an unusually large number of Texas license plates all over Denver area the past three months or so.

[SheltieLover]

15. I hope everyone is OK!

People do not realize that Delta is easily transmitted outdoors (per Dr. Eric Ding's Twitter & several studies he has posted about).

So sorry to hear this.

[gldstwmn]

87. Following Dr. Ding now. Thanks for the heads up on him.

[SheltieLover]

95. Yw!

[drexelkathy]

16. So the entire family tested positive?

After one person went to a concert, was vaccinated and wore a mask?

Something sounds fishy.

[marble falls]

21. What's fishy? When he called me this morning and he gave me his details I pushed him very hard ...

... on his and his families' vaxx status. VERY hard, I was in a car with him on Sunday and I have immuno issues.

But like I mentioned above: if I was lied to about about the vaxx, it was not the only or will it be the last time.

It's made me absolutely loathe living here. The only people I know are vaxxed here without any doubt in my mind are my wife, myself, my Mil, and Sil.

[drexelkathy]

23. I'm not doubting that they had the vaccine

But did every single one of them go and get a Covid test? That's what I don't necessarily believe...that they have ALL gone and gotten a Covid test and are all positive for Covid.

[marble falls]

28. And I've run into it here a lot. An awful lot. we're old and I've been fighting cancer for eight ...

... yikes - longer - since 2012, we seriously stayed quarrantined until August, but we're about to do it again.

[Ms. Toad]

34. Delta is extremely contagious, and breakthrough cases are common -

despite the study out of Los Angelos from the spring/summer which people misconstrued as meaning breakthrough cases were rare.

My employee (vaccinated, and one of the most careful people I know) started showing symptoms on a Saturday. Her entire family was tested on Monday or Tuesday. All 5 were positive. She originally thought her children brought it home from school, but based on timing of her husband's and children's symptoms, she brought it home to them from work (where everyone wears a mask), a single weekly shopping trip (unknown, some unmasked exposure), or her parents (who aren't sick). That's the extent of her exposure.

As to the entire family testing positive - once one gets it, this thing is so contagious that everyone is going to get it in most families. My employee started isolating, but too late - she thought her early symptoms were allergies. Even after she started isolating she took turns on night shift for their chronically ill daughter. That was enough to infect the entire family.

I'm one of the few people who mask at home at all. When a member of my family has been exposed, I wear a mask at home (including for sleeping). During the most contagious periods I sleep separate from my spouse. That may not be enough **when** she contracts it. (Yes, I'm expecting it. She treats her mask as a magic talisman that she wears around her neck more than over her face.)

Based on my personal experience, I see nothing fishy at all about this story - more people need to hear it and understand the reality of COVID.

[MyMission]

90. Well said

I was thinking the same as I read the comments.

And I'll add that vaccinated people can also be asymptomatic and spread it.
And several here on DU have reported breakthrough infections.

People mistakenly believe the vaccine will prevent them from catching it.
It's still out there, circulating and mutating. It might be time to double mask again.

[oldsoftie]

102. Covid isnt going away. We're just going to have to learn more about it & vax.

Its silly to even try to go for "zero covid" because of the way the virus works. I'v been vaccinated along with my family and, as far as i know, all my closest friends. I still wash my hands 100x a day & usually wear a mask among crowds. But the days of locking everyone up at home are over. It just wont work & is totally impractical here. Look at NZ; they did total lockdowns several times and STILL got more cases. And they're an ISLAND.
Odds are good that if you do catch it & you're vaccinated, you wont end up in the hospital. And i believe that the vaccines will be improved as this does on.

[hamsterjill]

17. Yes. Our very lives depend on it.

Here’s what I learned this morning, and it’s enough to piss me off royally.

A coworker’s relative has tested positive. He lives in another city. He’s not vaccinated and believes that COVID is not anything to worry about. He’s only feeling a little tired at this point and (get this!!!!) he’s on his way to the grocery store to stock up in case he gets sick and can’t go out.

This!!! This, people, this is why the pandemic won’t stop. Why we must continue to mask and distance and wash and never let up. This!

Because selfish people don’t give a damn about who they infect, and you or I could be standing next to this asshole in the store not knowing that he KNOWS he is contagious yet just doesn’t care.

[marble falls]

22. Discribes the attitude here to a T.

[Evolve Dammit]

37. Great example of the deplorables. Don't give a shit about anyone except themselves. How many

will he infect stocking up. Probably hit other stores too...

[hamsterjill]

43. Yep. Exactly.

The cashier at the grocery store means nothing to him. The other customers there mean nothing to him. The little girl in the cart seat that can’t be vaccinated means nothing to him. The guy bagging his groceries means nothing to him.

All he cares about is himself. His comfort and his convenience. Tell me there’s not some other way he could get some supplies. Surely a friend? A church? A city resource?

But this is the mindset of Trumpers. Whether it be COVID, the economy, abortion, you name it. They think they’re special and they do not give a damn about the rest of us.

[Evolve Dammit]

51. I think it even goes beyond that to actual hatred. That's even worse. 40 years of RW radio and Fox

[hamsterjill]

79. Well, I'm a Christian.

I’m a believer, but I’m not one of “those”. I know the ones to which you refer and in my mind, they are poor excuses. I fail every day.

But the ones who twist the words and pick and choose to turn the teachings into whatever they want.

Yes, I’m sure he’s one of those - which makes it all the more reprehensible. As I mentioned in another post - the little girl that is a toddler sitting in the cart in the grocery store. Too young to be vaccinated. This person puts her in jeopardy. I could never do that.

[crimycarny]

48. +1000

The big argument I hear from those refusing vax is to throw back in my face "Why do you care? If your vaxxed you're supposedly protected so why do you care if I'm vaxxed?". The concept of thinking of someone other than themselves is completely foreign to them.

I try to explain it's not only about ME, it's about everyone else too. It's about hospitals completely filled, about healthcare workers at their breaking point. THEY.DON'T.CARE.

[Ziggysmom]

76. My goodness! Why not have home delivery dropped at your door - no touch?

Why go out and risk spreading it to innocent folks?

My daughter says, "Man, if Kevin Bacon tests positive we’re all fucked!"

[multigraincracker]

25. I don't ever want to go back for a visit to

SW Arkansas.

[GulfCoast66]

92. I was just there in early July for a family reunion.

Surprisingly my entire family except for a few were vaccinated. They weren’t invited. Most are republican voters. But the few real nuts did not get an invite.

This was before Delta got going and things were looking better.

It’s a pretty bleak place when you live in Central Florida. But they know no different.

[Ms. Toad]

26. Let me guess . . . you weren't wearing a mask in the car because you were both vaccinated.

Or, at a minimum, your friend was not wearing his mask at least when he went with his friends to Octoberfest, and possibly not with you, because he was vaccinated.

So - not only vote, but act as if you weren't vaccinated. Take all the same precautions. I've been sounding that alarm since the CDC said to toss the masks.

My employee and all of her family (2 vaccinated adults and 3 unvaccinated children) got COVID about 3 weeks ago. She has just been exposed, again, by another faculty member who has a habit of "forgetting" his mask - especially on dashes to the bathroom where we have Trump toilets (ones that require excessive flushing and spreading around of fecal-associated COVID particles). He is vaccinated, and just before he came down with COVID he had gotten his booster.

The standard rule for vaccinated individuals is that it is OK to continue to circulate if you are wearing a mask. Obviously, that isn't sufficient, any more than the vaccination was sufficient when the CDC also said to toss the masks. My employee was almost certainly exposed at work - where she (and everyone she comes into contact with) is masked. Personally, when I am told I am exposed, I isolate until I can test negative ~4 days after exposure. Not everyone has that luxury - so a well-fitted triple layer mask is probably reasonable to protect others.

[marble falls]

31. Yes, though I put mine on at the window when we picked up the ice tea.

[Ms. Toad]

35. With delta, it only takes a matter of seconds (especially in a small closed environment)

Hope you don't get it - or, if you do, you get a really light case and get super-immunity from it!

[louis-t]

33. The only thing I don't believe is that they are all

"vaxxed". I doubt very much they are. I know anti-vaxxers who have had the virus, go on and on about how sick they were for 3 weeks, still won't get vaxxed, and claim they know someone who got the vaccine and "died the next day".

[Ms. Toad]

36. Vaccines are not an impenetrable shield against delta.

Without much thought at all, I can name 2 dozen vaccinated individuals who have had breakthrogh cases. If I spent much time thinking about it, it would be a lot more.

With the increased R0 (8, rather than 1 or so), and the decreased effectiveness of the vaccines, they are (at best) about 40% effective - compared to the protection they offered early on.

[louis-t]

39. But the chances of all 4 vaxxed in the same household getting it?

Doesn't sound very likely.

[herding cats]

42. It sounds as if the dad and grandmother have serious health issues.

Which along with age have been said to possibly lead to lower immune responses to the virus. Being elderly alone lowers your immune system, add in cancer treatment, etc., and the response is even lower.

[Random Boomer]

56. Why would you say that?

People in the same household are breathing the same air ALL THE TIME. They are laughing, talking, hugging. These are the people MOST likely to get any illness from each other, not less.

[louis-t]

61. If they are all supposedly vaccinated, doesn't seem likely

that virus would break through all of them. That's why I said most likely they were not all vaccinated.

[Jakes Progress]

89. You do not understand how the vaccine works.

Now you make a statement so someone on DU can say that you are not telling there truth.

[Ms. Toad]

62. Why?

Both vaccinated adults in my employee's household got it.

If you are living unmasked in your house with someone with COVID (becaus you believe yourself to be safe since you are both vaccinated), it is far MORE likely than if each of the 4 independently contracted it outside of the house (as long as they are also masking).

Once COVID invades a houselhold, it is far more likely that everyone will get it than that it will remain isolated in the single person who brought it in. That's just the nature of livingi in a household together. People, by and large, do not treat their family as sources of disease, and drop their guard around them.

I'm one of very few I know (perhaps the only) who actually does mask at home when my spouse or daughter interact with people outside the home unmasked.

[louis-t]

64. Before vaccinations, a nurse I know got it, her husband got it

but only one of her kids got it. Statistically, if you are vaccinated, you have only 5 % chance of getting it from infected person.

[Ms. Toad]

67. Your statistics are extremely out of date.

Those statistics come from the initial vaccine testing, applied only to the mRNA vaccines, and only to the original variant of COVID.

With the increased R0, and the decreased effectiveness of the vaccine against delta, your chances of getting the delta variant are about 40% for the same exposure that gave you a 5% chance with earlier variants. The risk with J&J is far higher.

Increased exposure viral load (i.e. extended expsoure by living, sharing a bathroom, sharing a bedroom with family members) bumps it up even more.

[louis-t]

45. And by the way, I know a lot of people. I don't know anyone

who has had breakthrough. Everyone I know who has had it (about 80 people) were not vaccinated. I know 6 people who have died from it, the last being a mother and son who died in May.

[Ms. Toad]

65. You are lucky then.

And two things might also be happening -

First - your friends might have the same attitude that you seem to that vaccines are a magic shield and may be ignoring COVID symptoms because they believe they can't have COVID.

The most recent exposures I've had (as in the contact tracers told me I've been exposed and, in most cases, the individuals also contacted me) were from vaccinated individuals who were sure it was just a headache (1) just a cold (2), just allergies (2), or a reaction to the vaccine (1). All but one of those has been in the last 3 weeks. All, without exception, were sure it was not COVID becuase they were vaccinated. Most of them are employees or students, so I know their status (vaccination and symptoms) via contact tracing or because they told me. Each of them was only tested because they were told they could not return to work/school until they were tested. They were gobsmacked when their results came back positive.

Second - they may not be telling you they have COVID.

[louis-t]

68. I agree there is some delay in finding out who has had it.

I just found out another couple I know (diehard repugs) had it earlier this year. There was a breakout in my company in February of this year right before vaccinations were common. Since then, I only know one guy that got it in June. He was not vaccinated.

[Ms. Toad]

69. Since the last week of August, I know

3 members of the faculty/staff
10 students
5 family members of faculty/staff
2 family members of students
2 members of my extended family
7 members of my parent's retirement community (they survived without a single case until sometime in September)

Of those I know the vaccination status of 22. 15 were vaccinated, 3 were unvaccinated children, 2 were anti-vaxxer adults, 1 unvaccinated adult (posture toward vaccinations unknown))

[oldsoftie]

101. I do. But all were minor cases. Which would likely have been different w/o the vax

[MzRappy]

88. So dang sad

To complain and whine about how bad Covid is yet gamble you won’t get it again, and therefore masks are forgotten or not ever worn.

[marble falls]

105. So dang sad you didn't read the whole post. I'm not whining or complaining: I am angry ...

... and I am fighting to save my life.

I don't have time to hang around the library.

[BeckyDem]

38. So sorry to hear this, hope you stay well with no breakthroughs.

My daughter lives in Austin, so I know how you feel!

[herding cats]

40. At this point, unless I drove them to get their vax I don't trust they have it.

People are talking out of both sides of their mouths right now. Want to hangout with a vaxxed person, you're fully vaxxed. Want to hangout with your anti-vax buds, that stuff is poison!

Having said that I do know, personally, some people who had breakthrough cases. In this case it sounds like dad and grandma might be in the portion of people who didn't get a robust immune response due to their health. Which is all the more reason to be extra careful and not expose yourself knowingly to unvaxxed people if you have folks in that category in your life.

Your friend was foolish and I do hope things work out for them well in the end. I'm seeing too many cases when they don't recently.

I just lost my 53 year old neighbor behind me to covid a couple of weeks ago. One of the nicest guys you'd ever meet, but he bought into the 'unknowns' claptrap about the vaccine and didn't get it. His peer group caught it and survived except for an elderly family member with previous health issues. They're all shocked my neighbor died after being vented for 6 weeks. I know another person who has been on a vent since August 5 or 6th. He's a transplant patient who was vaxxed (maybe? Who knows anymore.) but was around family who weren't unmasked.

You have your booster, right? Mask up around everyone and make them do the same if your in close proximity. Beyond that there's little we can do to protect ourselves. Stay safe out there.

[marble falls]

81. Had covid (my primary care physician says: over a week in the hospital and about three months...

getting past the cough and tiredness in November 2019), Moderna shots and booster, quarantined and wear the mask seriously, especially inside stores.

I've had three close calls now and I am sick and tired of the unvaxxed pushing my luck.!!!

[herding cats]

94. I hear you. It's overwhelming.

Our region is rife with ant-vaccine people. I've also had a possible contact this most recent wave. I couldn't see my grandchildren or daughter until I'd tested negative (5 days post exposure) and 7 more days symptom negative. One of my littles is high risk. Not to mention so am I high risk. I've had my 3 Moderna full octane vaccines. Hopefully, I'm rock solid right now. My high risk little is only 3 and not vaccinated. Her young life has been extremely restricted by this virus and the A-hole jerks who keep making her life smaller than it should be do not care. It makes me so angry.

Even our pro vaccine brethren are starved for normalcy again, and subject to the pressure of their peers here. They're screwing up and putting us all at risk. That's how I was potentially exposed this round. Not unlike you.

I'm so over all of this. I feel you. I don't doubt you're doing all the right and proper precautions, it's not those like us who are exposing people to this virus.

My heart to you and your wife. Being here is truly tough right now.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

44. omg "nowhere to run nowhere to hide" perfect phrase!!

Handling of covid by Abbott here and the ignorance and lack of empathy that has been exhibited before our eyes has just magnified my dislike of living in a red state. Can not wait to get out.

On the other hand,. The feds should be warning people three times a day NOT to be around unvaxed without a mask!!!! Or better yet avoid them completely if you can. I know many can't

[Bear Creek]

47. Has there been

A report on the vaccines which ones have had the most break through cases?

[hamsterjill]

82. I'd like to know this as well.

I’ve seen nothing ever that answers this question.

[LisaL]

93. Yep.

The link below has numbers for Delaware but it's consistent with numbers from other states.
J&J (at one dose) has the most breakthroughs, followed by Pfizer, then Moderna.
https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/covid-breakthrough-cases-vaccine-delaware-moderna-20210915.html

[SleeplessinSoCal]

50. You nailed it! "Reagan's big lie"

"Reagan's big lie: government is ineffective and unnecessary - if this were true, why do they fight so hard to run it?"

This should be the Democratic moto in 2022.

[LittleGirl]

53. They forget the "We The People" part

That means WE need to participate!

[Maggiemayhem]

58. Your friend went to Octoberfest with two unvaccinated friends

who now have Covid?

[marble falls]

70. Exactly. And if I'd known he had, I'd have stayed away from him for a couple of weeks, like I ...

... like I did this summer when I found he went to karaoke and shot pool at the tap house downtown.

[calimary]

59. You nailed it. All bad roads lead back to reagan.

That’s where the new era - in which short-sightedness and greed and selfishness are regarded as VIRTUES - was born.

He was one of the most damaging figures in the 20th century. And all because he could sell it SOOOOOO well, so compellingly, and unfortunately, so effectively. He was the Ultimate Salesman. And he sold lots of wrong things and wrong ideas. But he sure knew HOW to sell them.

[marble falls]

73. If you want to read a beautiful nominating speech, read Reagan's Goldwater speech from the ...

... '64 GOP convention. the man was a natural born propagandist. He knew how to fire up knee-jerk rubes.

[calimary]

84. All I ever saw when reagan appeared on camera was SLICK SALESMAN.

Almost as though he was wearing a sign with that labeling around his neck.

[marble falls]

103. Other than movies, I didn't really know who he was. I had problems (as a 15yr old yet) ...

... with actors running for office. And here he's only speaking for Barry Goldwater. He was a great propagandist. He managed to make the good economy seem a bad thing and people like this 15 yr old and 16 yr old Hillary Clinton bought into it. Fortunately, LBJ landslid Goldwater out any office after that.

My point is, I couldn't stand Reagan after he transitioned from propagandist to Gov California. I think that speech is what made Reagan governor of CA.

By '66, LBJ was not liberal enough for me. The war became a useless morass in my mind and if I have ever held a knee jerk issue - the war was one for me. Not enough that if LBJ had run for re-election to have voted for Nixon over LBJ, but very close.

Reagan by this time was just a jerk, by '80, the devil incarnate.

GOP politics has always been about image and perception, and the DNC politics about issues and conditions.

[progressoid]

63. Texas, Tennessee, Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, Florida, Georgia, etc. etc. etc.

[lonely bird]

66. A breakthrough infection killed my cousin

She was vaccinated, wore a mask and didn’t go out much. Unfortunately she had heart problems. She was 77.

[marble falls]

71. We're right at that age, too. I've have health issues, I don't want to go out with Covid.

[ecstatic]

77. Sorry for your loss. Stay safe. nt

[jaxexpat]

75. "This is not from the government, these are folks who bought into Reagan's big lie"

Possibly the most profound and succinct statement of sublime truth I've heard in a while.

[Grasswire2]

80. Just heard that a totally vaxxed brother of someone I know (he's in TX)...

....has just been put on a ventilator.

Knowing the odds are very poor for him, but I did not say so.

TX must be some special kind of hell hole w/Covid. The hospitals are slammed.

[JudyM]

83. The Reidout is covering TX issues right now.

Abominable.

So sorry for all you folks, wishing you the best.

[eppur_se_muova]

96. Disappointed to learn that Fred'burg is Trumpsville. Always thought that area was historically ...

... more liberal than the rest of Texas, being home of the "Latin farmers" and all. Some towns in that area are named after early feminists and other activists.

[rdking647]

97. hard core trump country

they county its in went for TFG 80-20

[LeftInTX]

99. I have never heard it as home of "Latin farmers"...It's historically German

Maybe there were a few Tejanos who had early land grants, but the Germans settled and developed the area by 1850. The Germans were anti-slavery and more liberal, but that was 175 years ago.

Historically the Edwards Plateau was not good for farming due to rocky soil. Germans were mostly into cattle and angora goats etc.
There are some wineries in the area and wildflower farms, but water is finite. I get the impression the economy is tourist oriented.

Their state rep is the Gay Hitler guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Biedermann