Update no.956

Update from the Sunland

No.956

4.5.20 – 10.5.20

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

            To all,

            The follow-up news items:

-- Attorney General Barr decided to drop all charges against General Flynn [792]—his rationale: there was no basis for the counter-intelligence investigation.  I have one question to ask: has he ever read the Special Counsel’s Report?  Flynn pleaded guilty to the charges of lying to federal investigators.  What Barr has done is publicly state that lying to federal investigators is not a crime; he has de facto rewritten the law.  The next step for Barr will be revoking the Special Counsel’s Report, attempting to erase it from history.  All of this just to feed the monumental ego of his boss—the Bully-in-Chief (AKA the BIC).

-- This week offered up a few more random observations of the on-going COVID19 crisis [946]:

1.  The BIC persists in flaunting his rules-are-for-you-not-for me policy even as the virus moves closer and closer to him.  One of the BIC’s military valets and the vice president’s press secretary tested positive inside the White House.  His ‘what me worry’ public persona will not alter the path of the virus.  So what does the BIC do?  He directs every person who works in the White House to be tested every day for the virus.  It must be nice to be king.  Anyway, he is doing for his staff what the rest of us want to be done for us.  I was taught as a young midshipman and officer of Marines that the troops eat first, then the officers.  The BIC never learned that important lesson of leadership.  But, the BIC still refuses to wear a mask or gloves.

2.  We are witnessing growing similarities between the economic consequences of the COVID19 pandemic and the Great Depression of the 1930s.  We see across the country in large population centers very long lines of citizens and automobiles to unemployed people to collect food to survive.  Today’s food lines are reminiscent of the soup lines of the Great Depression 90 years ago.  We should all remember these days.  This is what happens when the government is late in testing, identifying, and isolating infected individuals with a highly transmissible virus.

3.  On Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered a Churchill-esque national broadcast speech that seemed far more sober, balanced and inspiring than we have ever received from the BIC in three and a half years.  The UK was late to the response as the U.S. was, and they are suffering the consequences as well.  At least the prime minister is trying to set a better example for his citizens.

            A friend and regular contributor to this humble Blog opened a separate discussion about the protesters against stay-at-home dicta in the states.  I chose to include my response since it seemed relevant to this forum as well.

            I wrote:

I think you will find that the president’s invocation of the Stafford Act [PL 100-707; 102 Stat. 4689; 23.Nov.1988] on 13.March, gave him enormous authority to take action with the force of law.  The states have enacted similar emergency declaration laws that again carry the weight of law within the respective states.  I am not aware of those state and federal laws being challenged in the courts, and perhaps, that is where we are headed.

Physically resisting LE is never a high yield proposition.  My point remains do not put LE in that position; the police are an instrument of the state.  Resisting LE on the streets is NOT the proper place for such conduct.  A court of law is.  I hold very little sympathy for street resisters.

            For the most part, I have felt Governor Douglas Anthony ‘Doug’ Ducey of Arizona was doing a net positive job in handling and leading our state through the COVID19 crisis.  He seemed to have a good balance between the often-opposing forces involved in the various aspects of the problem.  All that changed on Wednesday, the day after the BIC arrived in Phoenix for a photographic opportunity at the local Honeywell plant that had quickly converted from its normal business to producing N95 high-end masks.  Of course, the BIC tours the plant and the supposedly sterile assembly room without a mask or gloves.  Further, the BIC stopped to talk to workers who were all wearing masks and gloves.  The following day with COVID19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths still rising in Arizona, the governor appeared hell-bent on bowing down to his hero—the BIC.  He summarily dismissed the Arizona State University and University of Arizona working group modeling COVID19 and associated economic impact on the state.  Whether accurate or not, the image left with We, the People, is ignorance is preferred to facts, knowledge, and reason.  Ducey’s performance took a major dive this week.  We do NOT need a BIC-wannabe in this state.

            When I do leave the sanctuary of our home out of necessity, I notice most people wearing masks over their nose and mouth.  Fewer wear gloves, but there are some who wear gloves, as well, like me.  I am not particularly keen on wearing a mask and gloves, but I do it out of respect for others around me.  The facemask and gloves are not for my protection, they are to reassure others that I respect their safety and I am doing my part to protect them.  This crisis is not about me; it is all about us.

            I learned a new term this week—malignant narcissism.  How apropos for the fellow in the Oval Office we affectionately refer to as the BIC.  For a man who has suffered the malady all of his life, there is no hope of treating or reforming him.  They can only hope the rest of us have is to quarantine him from doing more damage to this once grand republic and We, the People.  There is always hope.  The election is getting closer by the day—VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

            The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported 20.5 million jobs were lost in April alone, 33 million since the crisis began, and the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7% – the worst since the Great Depression.  April was the first full month of job losses under the COVID19 lockdown.  The administration also warned that the May unemployment numbers are likely to be worse before they turn around as the state governments attempt to open the throttle on the economy.

            This next section is simply a trip through a little known chapter of history for those who might share some fascination with such things.

            In researching a section for a future book, I was led to reading a nearly century-old novel and the prevalent judicial pronouncement regarding the book.  History is a magnificent endeavor.

            In 1928, David Herbert ‘D.H.’ Lawrence (1885 –1930) published the third version of his novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” in a private printing in Florence, Italy.  The book tells the story of an adulterous love affair between an upper-class woman and a working-class man.  That subject alone was sufficient to cause significant ripples in the pond of sensibility and acceptability of the day.  However, it was Lawrence’s use of explicit language in describing sex scenes and his use of un-publishable four-letter words that got the book immediately banned in many countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.  In 1959, Grove Press, Inc. published the unexpurgated manuscript. Postmaster of the City of New York Robert Keaton ‘Bob’ Christenberry immediately filed suit to block the distribution of the book as a violation of 18 USC §1461 – Mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter, and having the book declared obscene.  The law of 1959/60 stated: “Every obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article . . . is declared to be non-mailable matter and shall not be conveyed in the mails or delivered from any post office or by any letter carrier.”  It is interesting (and perhaps relevant today) to note that Christenberry was the Republican nominee in the 1957 election for mayor of New York City and was resoundingly defeated by a 3-to-1 margin, and then the man who beat him in the election nominated him to his position.  The district court rejected Christenberry’s claim.  A three-judge panel of the 2^nd Circuit of the Court of Appeals decided the case—Grove Press, Inc. v. Christenberry [2CCA no. 182, Docket 25861 (1960); 276 F.2d 433 (2d Cir. 1960)].  Judge Moore concluded, “We agree with the court below in believing and holding that definitions of obscenity consistent with modern intellectual standards and morals neither require nor permit such a restriction.”

            The book and the court case represent a classic confrontation with respect to specifically "contemporary community standards" and more broadly morality laws as dicta to the population as a whole.  Morality laws seek ignorance over judgment and freedom of choice.  One group, who possesses sufficient political power can and does impose its standards, its will, on not just the majority but all citizens; the consequence of those actions is to deny freedom of choice to all citizens.  The proponents argue citizens are incapable of making decisions for themselves; the state must decide what is proper, reasonable, and acceptable.  To me, the book and the case reflect the far broader issue of morality laws and freedom of choice that we have been clawing back word by word, and more significantly, at least to me, they echo my rebellion against the oppression of the moral projectionists.

            Comments and contributions from Update no.955:

“[T]hanks for your update-do you know I never knew you were not a fan of your BIC! Sorry about that.

“It’s as well there are citizens like yourself willing to put their critical views forward when the situation so demands. What the hell is wrong with your leader?  He obviously has a very severe condition that should rule him out to hold the position of immense power that he currently does.  Why do the American people tolerate his offensive unthinking behaviour?  I know November approaches I also know that he has a slim chance of continuing this behaviour for another session…so I agree VOTE VOTE VOTE.. for the peace and love of our entire planet.”

My reply:

            LOL  Yep, I make no bones about it.  I’ve never been a fan of his.  He has been an unrepentant, worthless, snake-oil salesman all of his adult life.  It will take many years to fully appreciate the depth of damage he has done to this once-great republic, and more years than that to recover.

            Good Q: my opinion, he was spoiled as a child, and as a consequence, he never grew up.  He does not possess common societal traits like humility, compassion, empathy, or honesty.  He likes to justify his incessant lying as ‘truthful hyperbole.’  When in reality, his lying is neither—neither truthful nor hyperbole; it is outright lying.  Yet, the strict constructionists will tell us it cannot be lying if he does not know he is spewing falsehoods.  So, as long as he believes in his rationale, i.e., ‘truthful hyperbole,’ I imagine he believes he is telling the truth.  His whole ‘fake news’ spiel is just exactly consistent with his behavior, i.e., I am right; I have never been wrong; therefore, you must be wrong, thus fake.  It is an interesting circular firing squad logic.  He has been that way all of his life.  He is incapable of change.  And, worse, a minority elected him to be president despite his obvious and glaring personality flaws and aberrant abnormalities.

            Re: why do we tolerate his “offensive, unthinking behavior”?  Simple answer: we have no choice.  There is no constitutional means of recall, as there is in many states.  Our only choice is to vote in the quadrennial election coming up on November 3^rd.  Yet, if the vote is close, I fear he will contrive some emergency to reject the election and remain in office until a ‘proper’ election can be conducted.  We need a massive, overwhelming vote—all 50 states and a net 10-20 million votes against him.  It needs to be an embarrassing and humiliating defeat—unequivocal.  I do not underestimate the power of his believers—they vote.  No matter what happens in the election, I hold no hope he will go gracefully into the good night.

            I still believe . . . this too shall pass.  His end cannot come too soon.

Comment to the Blog:

“Politicians and their appointees are supposed to be guiding us through the virus crisis. That’s not working at all.  The problem is that the response is costing more lives than the actual virus.  The appropriate response involves large-scale testing and tracking, personal protective equipment for all parties, and ventilators.  We’re not doing that.  We’re doing ‘stay home’ orders.  (Threatening people as the experts are doing is lousy marketing, too. No professional would seek compliance that way.)

“The large numbers of new cases are coming from jails, prisons, and nursing facilities, and that fact is not being addressed except in the nursing homes.  Do infectious disease specialists realize that most prisoners are eventually released?

“Meanwhile, the attempted shutdown of society is causing massive non-virus trouble. One facet of this is the increase in fatal overdoses.  The coroner here in Franklin County, Ohio, states that fatal overdoses are up 50% from January to April 15.  We had 28 fatal ODs from the past Friday to Saturday night.  Just before the lock-down, we had about 4 to 6 within that time period.  Most of those dead people are results of the shutdown, not of the virus.  That’s not nearly all. Domestic violence is spiking, and that’s only reported cases.  Mental health issues are increasing too.  Those are results of the shutdown, not of the virus.  For the future, economic crashes have long-documented human costs as well, and this one is already severe.

“I’m annoyed with those self-righteous tirades about people not following the instructions.  It’s human nature that they won’t get good long-term compliance with prohibitions on gatherings.  Humans are the most social species ever.  Get used to it. Masks that serve an anti-virus purpose (per all those experts) are in short supply.  We’re encouraged to donate the good ones, but I’m keeping mine because I need them for my asthma.  I wear home-grown ones in public places because I’m afraid of incidents with people who are in panic mode.”

My response to the Blog:

            Oh my, you got that right in spades.  The BIC could not care less about the welfare of We, the People – Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burns.  He displays no traits of good leadership that I can detect.  The BIC refuses to acknowledge broad-scale testing.  He has zero interest in facts or knowledge.  He only cares about his hunches, his self-image, his perception of anything.  He has no conscience, thus, for him, he has no qualms whatsoever encouraging the protesters to open the economy.  After all, he will blame any second wave spike in infections on the Chinese, on the governors, on the mayors, on everyone, and anything other than himself.  The only thing I will give him credit for being is a consummate, worthless, snake-oil salesman.  He is really good at that.  He has sold millions of American citizens that his snake-oil has cured them of all their ills from insomnia to cancer.  They believe!  Worse, his believers attack the scientists who are trying mightily to get the truth to We, the People.

            I agree with your assessment of the personal costs associated with the shutdown.  If anything, I think those personal costs are seriously understated.  Yet, I cannot see an alternative.  We were not prepared.  We are still not prepared to deal with broad-scale infections.  The shutdown appears to have done what it was intended to do, i.e., avoid saturation of our limited capacity health care system.  I fear the BIC’s recklessness on restarting the economy prematurely may well fulfill that fear.

            As a general rule, I agree with you.  Prohibition is not a viable approach in any free society.  I do not see the current rules as prohibition.  To me, it is common sense.  A mask and latex gloves are simply respect for our fellow citizens.  This virus is a contact virus.  It is highly transmissible.  We must each do our part to break that chain of transmission.  I’ve absolutely no problem with returning the economy to full throttle today, as long as everyone respects their obligation to break the chain of transmission.  I think masks & gloves should be required for public places and venues at least until we have a broadly available, effective vaccine and the infection rate is tested and confirmed to be near zero.  We could tolerate infections as long as hospitalizations and fatalities are zero.  As I have stated many times, the issue is our medical treatment capacity.  I can protect myself from infection, but I cannot stop treatment saturation that might ultimately kill me.  I am an old man and expendable to those idiots protesting without protections.  I’ve got no problem with people infecting themselves and suffering; their choice.  But I deeply care about those people taking away the treatment capacity of our health care system.  I simply do not see how a mask + latex gloves affect our ability to socialize, to spend money, to do all the other things that a productive economy does.

 . . . Round two:

“The emphasis on testing has only begun, and we shall see what happens.  I'll remind you and all the panicky people that government officials' reliance on the numbers they have now will not serve them well due to the poor quality of that data.  Also, the masks that would have a medical purpose are supposed to be donated to ‘front line’ workers.  The cloth masks, including the ones I use, are to avoid triggering those Americans who are buying into the panic.  I'm not paying attention to latex gloves at the moment, but they are not readily available as far as I know.  In any case, they are too uncomfortable to wear with any regularity.”

 . . . my response to round two:

            Yes, exactly!  Testing is like flight instruments for a pilot.  They both provide essential information (facts) needed to act properly given the conditions.  That is the reality the BIC fails to recognize or acknowledge.  To him, ignorance is bliss; I don’t need no stinkin’ numbers; he believes his gut is more reliable.  USG officials are doing the best they can with the very limited information they have available.  Something is better than nothing; and, any action is better than inaction.

            I do not agree with you regarding masks.  Even a flimsy cloth mask can and does attenuate a sneeze, a cough, and the simple spittle of speech.

            Fortunately, I use latex gloves for a variety of home purposes and had a nearly full box when this crisis began.  Absent latex gloves and gloves would be like a cloth mask—something is better than nothing.

            This is another area where the federal government is failing.  They deserve credit for stimulating companies like Honeywell to produce masks, but they are way, way behind in supporting the needs of We, the People.  Plus, the Honeywell masks are N95 type that will go to medical professionals (and rightly so).  I’ve seen no indication the USG is directing companies to produce common masks for the rest of us.

            The USG is failing in many respects.  They remain reactionary rather than proactive that means they are behind from the get-go.  They pit the states against each other in common tasks.  They produce guidelines to follow and the BIC thumbs his nose at those guidelines.  The BIC contradicts the medical professionals continuously adding confusion to the whole situation.

            I do not like wearing a mask and gloves either.  Yes, they are irritating.  I did not like carrying a 50 lb. pack for 7-10 days on field patrols, either, but it was necessary for survival.  Similar to an oxygen mask, G-suit, or pressure suit for high altitude flight.  I see our present choices as: 1.) wear mask & gloves when public movement is necessary, and 2.) don’t go in public spaces (order in, most grocery stores have the service).  These requirements will be necessary until: A.) an effective vaccine is broadly available, B.) general, broad, swift, reliable testing is generally and broadly available across the nation, C.) the infection, hospitalization & death rates are well below the treatment capacity threshold, and D.) proper public precautions are universally observed.  Each of us must do our part.

 . . . Round three:

“I'm not talking about myself or you when I discuss human nature in this situation.  I'm a true introvert.  I don't like spending time in large groups in any case, and I wear a mask when I'm in indoor public spaces as discussed.  People in general, however, are not so inclined.  Many simply won't comply.  All the rhetoric about manly sacrifice and all the official threats won't change that.  Also, plenty of people, including me, don't buy into the idea that we're getting accurate numbers from any source.  Good luck.  I'm going to ride my bicycle, take long walks, and attend recovery meetings via Zoom. Not for fear of the virus, but for fear of the government.”

 . . . my response to round three:

            Ahso.  I misunderstood your words.  My apologies.

            Yes, I agree.  We are steeped in freedom—choice, movement, speech, religion, et al.  Restrictions on any one or a combination of those freedoms is not generally accepted.  That is precisely why the president plays such a crucial role in any national emergency situation—war, economic collapse, medical crisis, natural disaster, et al.  His role is a mobilize the nation like a coxswain to stroke together for the common good.  The BIC has failed miserably in that role, but that is not a news flash.  He is also not the first president to fail in that role.  The greatest recent example might be Bush 43, who sought to fight a war on the cheap and failed to mobilize the nation to that purpose.  There are others.  To me, as I suspect you are saying as well, the confusion among our citizens is quite understandable, e.g., wear a mask, but it’s just not for me.  The message he has sent to We, the People, is abide by the rules if you feel like it, but I support you if you don’t want to do it.  He says to the states: you must do this or that, but you are on your own to go find the tools you need.  Fortunately, governors in many states are rising to fill the void left by the paucity of leadership at the federal level, e.g., Cuomo in New York, Newsom in California, DeWine in Ohio, and others.  Then, we have other governors who are acting in the BIC’s model, e.g., DeSantis in Florida, Kemp in Georgia.  I do agree with your assessment.  Our greatest strength is our freedom, and concomitantly, our greatest vulnerability is our freedom.  Putin’s Russian security services have learned quite well how to exploit our freedom.  The paucity of federal leadership in this crisis is amplifying our vulnerability, i.e., it’s every man for himself.  Despite my criticism of the BIC, I believe the medical professionals are correct, and I am doing my best to follow their guidelines; I ignore the BIC—he is of no (zero) value in this crisis.

 . . . Round four:

“I would put the issue less in terms of governance and more in human behavior.  Young people party.  Given the opportunity in any form, large numbers will attend sports or other entertainment events.  That applies across the millennia and under any form of government.  I don't believe stricter statements would improve the situation with masks.  (It doesn't help that Dr. Fauci and our state officials in New York and Ohio are dramatic enough to seem a little crazy, though.)  Some people just won't do it, regardless of how it's phrased.  I have no issue with that because the masks in question might block dust and even some bacteria, but this virus is 0.2 microns in size.  Cloth masks just don't stop that.”

 . . . my response to round four:

            I would agree with all of that with a couple of complementary comments.  Herd mentality is very powerful even in a free society.  Some citizens do not have the intellectual capacity to understand the consequences of their actions on the greater community, or they simply do not care; they think in very individual, selfish terms . . . quite like the BIC, who reinforces such conduct with his behavior and words.  Second, I do not dispute your representation of some of the mask facts regarding protection.  However, I think you miss the most obvious.  Even a porous cloth mask will and does attenuate an individual’s sneeze, cough, or spittle, making the spread of the contagion less broad.  A cloth mask is not the answer, but it helps.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)