Trump's Death Cult Explained

[Uncle Sparky]

You missed the biggest enemy for many (probably not quite most) Americans in the 20th century - those uppity descendants from slaves. Currently the GOP (and historically the Democrats) are doing everything they can to deny the vote to Black Americans whose families have been in the US longer than a lot of the bigots.

[Dauphin]

Americans like a good enemy and bigotry from the dawn of it's existence. Be it fellow citizens - Irish, Italians, Black, Hispanic, Catholic, Muslim, etc. Heck the original Puritans left England for the New World because they wanted religious freedom - but the freedom they wanted was to be intolerant, and they wanted to practice their bigotry freely. Ok oversimplified but my point remains even if you quibble the exact presentation.

In the past century the enemy has been the Nazis, the Commies, the Japanese, South East Asians in general, the Hippies, civil rights activists, Iranian terrorists, etc

Osama succeeded in giving a bloody nose, but he didn't change America. That beast has always been there.

Us and them tribalism is strong. Growing up I was taught the melting pot idea. Seemed a bit nonsense to me given the fissures in the society.

[Ted Striker]

Osama Bin Laden WON the War on Terror

And Donald Trump is his greatest living legacy

Americans living scared and retaliating on others who had nothing to do with it basically handed him the victory by doing everything he had hoped for by changing our lifestyle and agreeing with his politics of hatred and bigotry.

But hey, a bunch of fat oligarchs got paid so I guess they're happy too.

https://www.thenation.com/article/po...n-laden/tnamp/

[Uncle Sparky]

what did you guys do to lockdown?

So I did post the main government link that has all the details, if you want to peruse it over the next few days. If you want about a 5 minute summery, here you go!

From my perspective: By the end of February, we knew COVID was coming, and all levels of government were (more or less) working in sync with the medical community and each other. (We do get a daily barrage of American news though). Toronto was a hot spot for SARS about 10 years ago, so we had an idea what to expect. I work in the entertainment/event industry (mostly with four venues and three festivals.). By the end of February we had written a short spiel we'd have each staff supervisor read out, letting staff know what the current situation was regarding the nights events. Staff were allowed to wear masks and gloves, but not required to. Audience members could also wear masks and gloves, but not required to. We had hand sanitizers at all doorways and in several other points in all venues. Food service remained unchanged at this point. We would also let staff know how far in advance we could guarantee work... so early in March on a Tuesday we might say, "All events until Sunday should take place as usual. Please check your e-mails daily."

Around March 11 (Wednesday) , the Government announced the lockdown was to begin on the following Monday. True North cancelled the events for that weekend (Disney on Ice... I had two very long days scheduled). MTC had a show scheduled to close on March 15. Closing performance went ahead, as planned. The cast and crew that were in rehearsal for the next show were let go. At that point, all events for March were cancelled or postponed. I was unemployed.

That Monday (March 17), all travel in and out of the province was restricted. Anyone entering Manitoba, by any means, was required to self isolate upon entering the province for 14 days. While this was largely unenforceable, most people I know of complied, and some people who didn't were outed by friends and family. (A cousin of mine who married into a very conservative political powerhouse family 50 years ago, helped turn in a neighbour of theirs who broke the rules... so in Canada health safety was a non partisan issue). People who broke the rules were subjected to fines and possible arrest... as far as I know, one person was fined in Manitoba.

On March 17, all non essential stores, bars, restaurants, sports facilities, etc., etc., were closed. Restaurants doing delivery/ take out only could open if they had a plan in place that allowed social distancing. Grocers, pharmacies, etc. also had to have plans in place that allowed social distancing - including having enhanced cleaning (shopping carts were mandatory/ they were washed down between uses). There had to be hand washing/sanitizing stations at all entrances. Most large stores only used one entrance, and used a second door as an exit to facilitate social distancing and group flow. Most store had one way isles, plastic screening surrounding cashiers, and decals on the floor as to where you would line up in a social distancing way. All stores also had enhanced security... if you didn't like the rules, you could go somewhere else. A lot of the grocery chains already had delivery services: many people used these.

All stores, no matter how large, were restricted as to how many customers they could have at one time. Most stores restricted shopping to one family member only... of course this wouldn't apply to parents with kids. The smart stores actually scheduled special times (usually early morning) for seniors only shopping. Some had special late night shopping for emergency responders/hospital staff etc. Shopping malls were closed. Schools were closed. Businesses that could have staff work from home did so. The liquor store in my nearby shopping mall was opened. To access it, you had to give security your name, address and phone number. Once you'd done that, you could enter that part of the mall, where a tobacconist , a health food/supplement store, a diagnostic clinic, and a coffee counter were allowed to stay open. I went over for a coffee almost every day. There were no places to sit or congregate. To access the pharmacy in the same mall, you had to go out the door you came in and walk to the outside pharmacy door. Same with the grocery store at the mall... different store, different entrance.

And people did this. For about 3 months. The food inspectors (and other seconded civil servants) were out in force to make sure none of the businesses were cheating. They'd usually issue a warning if it was a minor infraction... but could go up to $5,000 fine (per infraction) or loss of business license. I know of only one $5,000 fine, and no one was completely closed down.

I know perfectly healthy, normal people who stayed in their houses or apartments for several weeks, having food delivered rarely venturing to their own yards. When I went out, I always carried a mask with me... I only wore it four times, when social distancing was problematic. Manitoba is almost back to normal, and I still carry it with me.

Abraham Lincoln used to give sheep enemas for fun. I've thrown that in to see if anyone actually reads this.
The mask thing really has me puzzled... you can print things on masks. I have 5 masks... 3 of them have logos of sports teams I'm affiliated with. Those ones sold for about $20 each, and the Winnipeg Jets ones sold out quickly. Trump thinks he's a sh!t hot businessman? MAGA facemasks worn and promoted by all his staff, or every civil servant and the 64,000,000 idiots who voted for him... Someone could have made a hu-u-u-uge amount of money on that. You'd think the world greatest businessman got an MBA from Trump University.

Anyway, like I said things are getting back to normal here. Most stores are reopened with social distancing rules still in place. Restaurants and bars have reopened. Buffets have moved to 'cafeteria style' service. There are still restrictions on the size of events, with more people being allowed at outdoor events than indoor events. Movie theatres and live theatres have yet to reopen in Manitoba, although we've had a few 'pop up' drive in theatres. Summer fairs and festivals, indoor or outdoor are cancelled. My life (big theatre and sports events) is still postponed indefinitely.

A couple of weeks ago, travel restrictions were eased so that people from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Northwestern Ontario can now enter Manitoba without isolating for 14 days (provided they haven't traveled internationally). Regular polling has shown about 80+% of Canadians don't want the US/Canada border reopened until things are under control in the states. This is a bipartisan issue here.

Anyway, congratulations if you have read this far. I really don't want hundreds of thousands of Americans to die, but Americans have to stop listening to Trump and his idiocracy. Wash your hand. Avoid crowds. If you need to be in a crowd were a mask. Good luck.

[Kidlicious]

No one should be forced to wear pants. Fascism!

This is already an established norm. No politics envolved.

[Dauphin]

Even nudists are wearing masks.

[giblets]

No one should be forced to wear pants. Fascism!

[Kidlicious]

I see the mask issue as a function of cancel culture rather than that of individuals worried about spreading the virus. In cancel culture rules are created to cancel individuals. Not all individuals that break these rules are canceled. Some people are privileged, and others are targets. You can see this clearly by the way the media and Democrats treat both the BLM and lockdown protests. The BLM protesters are lauded as heroic and the lockdown protesters were condemned as all kinds of bad things, even white supremacists. That's the language of social justice.

So that's why I think it's fascistic. The seatbelt issue is a bit different because we didn't live in cancel culture then. But I would say it's just a different kind of fascism.

[Kidlicious]

How are they not?

Ted Striker thinks they help until he gets pulled over by the police and given a ticket.

[Ted Striker]

Excellent analogy Berzerker. Interestingly enough the seat belt laws were fought against for years and years until people realized they were helpful.

[Ted Striker]

He's a smart guy, he knows the difference, better than most Americans. Nice side-channel troll attempt though.

[Berzerker]

are seat belt laws fascist?

[-Jrabbit]

Excellent real-world example.

[Kidlicious]

What's "right wing media?" That's not what he said. He said American media.

And I'm against mandatory mask laws. No healthy people should be forced to wear a mask. That's fascist.

[Ted Striker]

I guess you could say, the leadership is doing it too:

"Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, is filing a lawsuit against Atlanta’s Democratic mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her coronavirus response. The lawsuit seeks to block Bottoms from enforcing a citywide mask mandate requiring people to wear face masks in public and challenges the mayor’s decision to return to “phase one” of the city’s reopening plan as cases surged."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/jul/16/coronavirus-us-covid-donald-trump-anthony-fauci-joe-biden-live-updates