An EverTrumper and a life long Democrat walk into a hospital.

Without going into details, suffice to say I have a nasty fatal disease. About a month ago I fell and couldn't get up. Called my doctor who told me to get to the ER. Called 911 and got an ambulance ride the the hospital where my doctor was doing rounds. I was COVID-19 clear, so was admitted. Most hospital rooms house two patients each. So, here I am, a life-long Democrat, who won't allow a gun in my home sharing a room with an ever-trumper who quintessential gun-nut. We got to talking, quickly recognized that politics was not a good topic, but we managed to chat a lot, reminiscing over the good old days. He had been career military, I had been a computer geek. (He was a bit of a BSer as many of his stories were obviously exaggerated.) One afternoon one of the head nurses, who happened to have come from Africa, ended up in a three way conversation that lasted about half an hour, talking about theology and discovered that we all three of us, the BSer, the African Nurse, and me, the computer geek with the Protestant Minister father all agreed on just about every point of Christianity. Absolutely amazing. My roomie's wife had recently died in the middle of a divorce proceeding. He had two storage sheds one of which some of his kids were trying to raid. Since the wife had died before the divorce the kids were NOT entitled, so he was in the process of clearing out the 2nd storage shed, getting rid of stuff that he didn't want the kids to get. About a day or two before he was released, he found a top of the line adjustable hospital bed and offered it to me free of charge, and one that he would deliver to me. The only stipulation being that when the bed was no longer needed, I would pass it along to someone else at no charge and with the same stipulation.

Just an interesting story of an EverTrumper and almost pacifist life long Democrat sharing a hospital room and getting along and more or less respecting each others POV.

Just a note from Kentucky.

I've mentioned before that the Mrs. and I aren't leaving home very often (maybe once or twice a month) these days, no matter the whether the rules are being relaxed or not, since I am one of those old farts who is 'compromised'.

The KY primary is coming up and there is no way I'm going to risk my life by going to the High School gym where several precincts vote. So, I checked with the County Clerk's Office about who can qualify for an absentee ballot. Turns out you Google 'ky absentee ballot' which asks you what county you live in, you click on your county and it takes you to the home page of your county clerk. One more click and you are in the 'application for absentee ballot'. Fill out the form and you are done. And then...

You get a page that says they will mail you your ballot. Then, and here's the one that almost knocked me over. There is a statement saying something to the effect that "due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we suggest that ALL voters apply for an absentee ballot"

Y'know, KY may not be quite as backward as you seem to think sometimes.

Keep your TRUMPANZEE FEELINGS TO YOURSELF THERE IS NO INTEREST HERE

(Found on another site and posted in full by permission of author.)

Keep your TRUMPANZEE FEELINGS TO YOURSELF THERE IS NO INTEREST HERE

Thank you, President Trump, for Making America Great Again! First, for the little things, too often overlooked in this age of fake news and alternative facts. You've taught our children to call people derogatory names. You've taught our children to blame others for their own actions. You've taught our children to avoid taking personal responsibility for anything. You've turned demeaning those who don't agree with you into an art form and brought back bullying after all those nambypambys tried to suppress it. You've forced many parents to consider parental filters for televised presidential addresses. But many people don't know that that's not all the greatness you have given us.

You've reversed the small steps that we'd made over many decades in fighting racism and intolerance, exacerbating the worst aspects of our nature as tribal animals. After all, there are good people on the white supremacy side, too. Oh, and you've brought back the nationalism movement of the 1930's and combined it with the McCarthy era paranoia of the 40's and 50's. I love medleys, but that's a very impressive accomplishment!

Furthermore, thank you for reversing forward-thinking environmental rules meant to address the long term health of our planet, in favor of short term gains in the stock market. You certainly improved unemployment! (Until recently) there were far more low-paying second jobs that people could get to supplement their primary low-paying jobs. So they could pay their rent! Or maybe get health insurance. But certainly not both. (Those people are so disrespectful!) And it worked! (Until recently) the stock market was booming, built on the backs of those unappreciative people and the poorer health of the planet for future generations.

I especially liked the relaxing of ivory import restrictions. Now Junior can shoot some more elephants! (I hope he gave you the tail he cut off with his pocket knife.)

And you kept your promise! You drained the swamp of previous administrations' lobbyists, replacing them with your own lobbyists. Putting an ex-coal lobbyist in charge of the EPA was brilliant! That'll show those people who want clean air. Ungrateful bastards.

And I especially liked that you drained the swamp of many highly qualified team members, even though you hired them! I'm eagerly anticipating the firing of HHS Inspector General Grimm, who has had a brilliant career since 1999 and was appointed this past January, (that means under your administration, many people don't know that), but who made the mistake of doing her job and compiling a survey of undersupplied hospitals that Jon Karl explained to you at your latest, "react to questions like a third grader," press conference.

I also gotta admit that you've done a great job of making sure that anyone from your administration that is allowed to speak in public can efficiently recite the words, "Under President Trump's leadership." That's nine syllables! Well done.

Oh and finally, thank you so much for treating the impending pandemic so lightly as to not alarm your citizens, or more importantly, the stock market. Through your great leadership, we've learned that by merely denying something, it can't actually hurt us! We had the most warning of anyone on the planet. We saw it coming. We watched it spread across the world, getting closer and closer by the day. We watched South Korea react quickly and efficiently. It blindsided the world! But since you assured us that you had it under control, that it would soon go away magically, that we only had 15 cases and would soon go down to 1 or 2, Covid-19 never got here and churches are still full in the South!

And right now, as Bill Gates warns that we need to be planning and building the factories and capabilities to manufacture billions of doses of vaccine when it is finally synthesized, I'm confident that you are leading the charge to do just that. Because "billions" is a really big number–a lot of zeros. Not many people know that. Because once we DO have a vaccine, we don't want to face a shortage, do we? That would be bad. Really, really bad.

Thank you, President Trump. Everything you've done has been beautiful. Perfect-it's-perfect beautiful! Better than anyone has ever done. Other countries are calling, saying, "how did you do that?" You've done the most ever in history. And that's a long time. History is. But what do I know? I'm not a doctor. But what do we have to lose? Everyone says that. Many, many people are saying that.

And finally, thank you for making things so much easier for ME. For my entire life, I've struggled with who to vote for: Carter? Reagan? Bush? Perot? Obama? Romney? I gave them all a check mark. I've expended so much energy over the years wading through the noise, investigating, trying hard to pick out the very best person. And that was the same for state and local elections! It was always a time-consuming effort. But you've eliminated that chore for this one time, right-leaning centrist! Thanks to your strong leadership, (see, I said it!) I'll never have to spend time thinking and researching again. Because I'll never cast a vote for a Republican again. At any level. Period. Ain't America Great?

Just a question for y'all about Social Security and Stimulus Checks.

Is there anyone out there whose only income is Social Security and who has actually received a stimulus check? Do we get a stimulus check if our only income is SS?

I haven't been able to get a satisfactory answer on the net but thought that maybe someone on DU might have an answer.

Thanks in advance.

Mayor Gabe Brown - Walton, KY. Righteous rant on Facebook.

Walton, KY is in Boon County. (Which happens to be the next county over from where we live.) He's a bit 'plain spoken'. He posted the following on Facebook:

Listen up dipshits and sensible people. I might not have the best bedside manor. I might not put you at ease like the Governor does, but I don’t care. You need to realize that this is a serious ordeal. In fact, it’s a big f**cking deal. Stay at home.

I didn’t give you information to induce panic. I gave you information, so that you’d be informed.

Maybe, just maybe, I am privy to information that you aren’t. I’m sorry for being the gossiping Mayor. I’m tired of Covid-19 conference calls. I take 3 a day, plus one extra on the weekend with Kenton County. If you don’t like what I’m telling you, then go buy some toilet paper.

I pray every night that the State, County and region that I love with all of my heart will stop doing nonsensical things. Treat this seriously. If you don’t, then screw you (f#ck you is what I want to say, but I can’t).

This will pass. Take it seriously. It is here. Act like you have the virus and don’t spread it to other people. I have no doubt that it hasn’t already been here, but testing had been limited. More cases are coming. If you ignore this problem, the worst thing that could happen is that your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles could die.

Be responsible. If you don’t, then screw you.

Warmest regards,

Mayor Gabe Brown

Believe it or not, Kentucky has been doing reasonably well at flattening the curve.

The Mrs. and I are very much 'staying at home'. We have't left the house in about two weeks, except I made a run to the grocery to get some meds. I stayed in the car and my grandson went in.

We are both in our early 70's and I managed to get diagnosed with something called 'Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis' which in normal English means 'We don't have any idea why you got this but you are developing scar tissue on your lungs'. Of course scar tissue doesn't stretch, so my breathing is compromised. I'm lucky in that I have a fantastic Pulmonologist who I see. The times between visits can be anywhere between a few weeks and a few months, depending on how I am doing. I had a visit scheduled for this coming Thursday. Got a call on Friday. Don't come in. Well, the last place I want to be is in a room full of old folks with pulmonary problems. But we are in the middle of diddling my meds. But, we are going to do an E-visit. That is video computer to computer. We'll skip the blood work this time around, but I will get my Doctor visit, we'll discuss how I am doing, how the meds are working, do we need to make any changes, etc.

There are 4 large hospitals run by one Health Care Co within about 15 miles of where I live, plus a number of Dr's offices. At least the folks up here in Northern KY are listening to our Governor. Yeah, there are still a number of idiots buying all the TP and fresh meat they can get their hands on, and Home Depot sold out of home freezers within two days of the Gov ordering the closing of non-essential businesses, but on the whole most folks seem to be doing their best to 'flatten the curve'. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep out of the way of this nasty little bug, since I know that if I get it there is about a 95%+ chance it will kill me.

Interesting comparison between a (R) Governor and a (D) one.

A comparison in number of confirmed cases of people with the corona virus in KY (with a Democrat as Governor and TN with a Republican as Governor.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EToyuCJWAAMlxcD?format=jpg&name=medium

(I guess direct link is broken again, or maybe it is just me. Click on the link above to see the chart.)

Just got my latest 'Margaret and Helen'

The full Margaret & Helen:

https://margaretandhelen.com/2020/03/18/margaret-and-helen-introduce-the-covid19-quarantini-its-strong-enough-to-make-you-think-obama-is-still-president-and-knock-you-on-your-ass-from-6-feet-away-socialdistancing/



Here's a nice recap of of our pResident's response:

December 31: Health officials in Wuhan, China, post a notice about investigating a pneumonia outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges that it “was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause.”

January 14: Two cases of Coranavirus (COVID19) reported in the US.

January 21: Dr. Nancy Messonnier, a senior CDC official handling the response to respiratory diseases, tells reporters, “We do expect additional cases in the United States and globally.”

January 22: Trump says he isn’t worried that the outbreak could turn into a global pandemic, “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

January 24: Trump posts his first of many misleading tweets about the coronavirus. He praises the Chinese government for its “transparency” handling the outbreak and says, “it will all work out well.”

January 25: The WHO says there are more than 1,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

January 31: Two weeks after the first reported cases in the US, Trump administration declares a public health emergency in the United States because of the coronavirus and blocks foreigners who visited China from entering the country.

February 1: The WHO says there are more than 10,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

February 6: The WHO says there are more than 25,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

February 7: Trump tweets that China “will be successful” in stopping the coronavirus, “especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone.”

February 10: At a political rally in New Hampshire, Trump mentions the coronavirus and says it “looks like, by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”

February 14: One month since first reported cases in US

February 15: The WHO says there are more than 50,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

February 19: The WHO says there are more than 75,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

February 24: Trump tweets, “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.”

February 25: Messonnier, the CDC official, says it is inevitable that the coronavirus will spread in the US and that Americans need to prepare for disruptions to their daily lives.

February 25: Trump tells reporters during his trip to India that the virus is “a problem that’s going to go away.”

February 26: At a White House press conference, Trump contradicts the assessment from the CDC that the virus will definitely spread throughout the US. Trump says, “I don’t think it’s inevitable. I think that there’s a chance that it could get worse, a chance it could get fairly substantially worse, but nothing’s inevitable.”

February 27: The WHO says there are more than 82,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

February 28: At another political rally Trump tells supporters, “The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. They're politicizing it.” Then Trump called the coronavirus “their new hoax.”

February 29: Health officials in Washington state announce the first coronavirus death inside the United States. Forty-six (46) days after the first reported cases in the US, Trump conceded that “additional cases in the United States are likely.”

March 5: Vice President and Chief Brown Noser Mike Pence admits we don't have enough tests.
March 6: Trump lies (again) and says "Anyone who wants a test, can get a test."

March 14: Two months since first reported cases in the US.

March 18: Sixty-four (64) days after the first reported cases in the US and we are still asking “Where are the tests?”

KY man tests positive, refuses to self-quarantine.

A Kentucky man tested positive for the Coronavirus and refused to self quarantine. Thankfully we managed to get a Democrat as Governor this time around. There is a rather obscure statute and Gov Beshear found it. There is now a sheriff's deputy posted outside the man's home. Who wants to bet this idiot is a Trump-Humper?

https://twitter.com/BGPolitics/status/1238924773431926784


https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=8774

Cuccinelli rwefuses to quit.

After a federal judge ruled in a rare Sunday decision that Ken Cuccinelli — the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security — was illegally appointed to his position, the partisan Trump appointee has said that he will refuse to leave his post despite the court ruling.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued a 55-page decision yesterday that concluded that “Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed to serve as the acting Director of USCIS” and, even more crucially, determined that the policies that the improperly appointed acting Director mandated regarding the treatment of asylum seekers “must be set aside.”

Judge Moss based his decision on the evidence that the appointment of the former Virginia Attorney General and failed candidate for governor of that state did not meet the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

Cuccinelli told Fox and Friends today that he would simply ignore the judge’s decision while appealing the ruling.