Among other things that we learn in this video form Chris Hayes is that Mississippi now has the highest rate of COVID deaths per capita in the country – I’m old enough to remember when life forms like Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao were crowing about how much those accursed blue states had mismanaged their COVID response, and we just collectively said “just you wait,” and look where we are now...
...and Beau gives us some important context on health care workers (not just nurses) in Indiana quitting because they allegedly refused to get the vaccine – 125 employees refused to provide information as to whether or not they were vaccinated, so apparently they were let go...
...and this Now This clip tells us about UN Secretary-General António Guterres slamming the billionaire space race and COVID-19 vaccine inequity... ‘We passed the science test, but we are getting an F in Ethics’ indeed...
...and John and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tell us about this special ed assistant named Lauren Pefferle who apparently was protesting a vaccine mandate for her state of Oregon (and apparently this Newburg, OR place has a problem with nutty, disgusting race behavior...can’t blame anybody below the Mason Dixon line for this...when the #@$! are people going to get it through their heads that WEARING BLACKFACE IS A PLAINLY TERRIBLE THING TO DO??!!!)...
...and Ari Melber talks about Dems needing to get angry against the unvaccinated, within certain parameters I realize (and not the biggest fan of Howard Stern, but he’s exactly right...I would argue that we’ve been coddling about 25-30 percent of this country, who continue to be utterly wrong on everything, for far too damn long, and look where we’ve ended up as a result )...
Update 9/22/21: I realize Congressional Dems are stuck in this whole sausage-making exercise when it comes to the infrastructure bill, but they would do well to pay attention to the main reason Gavin Newsom defeated the recall effort in California so handily. And that was because the people of his state overwhelmingly approved of his handling of the COVID pandemic.
Hey Dems, this is political gold! And here is how you use it.
Pass a bill in the House that federally overrules all local ordinances anywhere in the country against mask mandates and vaccinations. It likely won’t get through the Senate because it will probably need 60 votes (unless the Senate Dems find the fortitude to tell the parliamentarian to hit the bricks, like the Republicans once did). And it also probably won’t get a single Republican yes vote in the House either. And yes, the screaming and caterwauling in the wingnutosphere will be off the charts for sure. Too bad!
Draw the battle lines as starkly as you can on this issue...”The Dems want to protect your kids, and the Republicans don’t.” Try letting the other side deal with THAT heading into the midterms.
Try playing some goddamn offense for a change!
Update 9/23/21: And add this to the steaming pile of fail from the "party of Lincoln."
...and in non-COVID news, Farron Cousins discusses a Politico story telling us that FL Repugs knew their BS “voting fraud” nonsense was all about sticking it to the Democrats, which we also knew of course, but this just makes it official...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about “white privilege” playing a role in the utterly awful story of Gabby Petito (not against her of course, but against women of other ancestry/ethnicity who might not get the same coverage...I’ve read some people online who have opined that the boyfriend will turn up dead somewhere, and I have a feeling that will turn out to be right...normally I try to stay away from stories like this because they’re a little “out of my lane,” and what matters is doing what we can to protect young women like Petito, though tragically it’s too late for her)...
...and this may be a little "out of my lane" too, but I'm taking a shot anyway...yesterday I included a musical selection with sports in mind (the Muhammad Ali doc by Ken Burns in particular), and I’d like to keep that theme once more. However, when it comes to pro sports, I intend to go from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous.
I’ve tried to steer clear of all of the stuff involving Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers because I was hoping Simmons would come to his senses as the team approached training camp, but it seems that he’s bound and determined to never play for the franchise again, the utterly stoo-pid millions of dollars he makes to play the game of professional basketball notwithstanding (here).
I guess “Baby Ben” got his fee fees hurt because he utterly disappeared in the NBA playoff series between the Sixers and the Atlanta Hawks earlier this year and was quite rightly blasted for it. This was the series the Sixers lost in seven games, with Joel Embiid basically dragging around a busted leg and trying to will the team to victory (with Embiid embodying all of the grit, courage and talent that the team was waiting for Simmons to show, along with this alleged, mythical three-point jump shot of his – it was actually a blessing that the Sixers lost because Milwaukee, the eventual NBA champions, would have destroyed them).
Here is what I hope the Sixers do about Simmons...absolutely nothing. As long as he’s under contract, let Simmons sit and stew and pout while his career passes him by. Even in the through-the-looking-glass world of pro sports salaries, I cannot imagine the entitlement of someone like Simmons, who apparently expects every aspect of perceived reality to revolve around him. And once more, for a guy who was under contract to get paid millions of dollars to put a ball through a hoop.
I’ve read comments comparing Simmons to Carson Wentz, formerly the Eagles quarterback. Yes, there was more than a little pouting by Wentz after he was benched for Jalen Hurts, but I think there are two important differences: 1) Injuries did play a factor with Wentz, though he totally lost control of the Eagles offense too, and 2) Wentz played a pivotal role in the Eagles’ incredible run that won them the Super Bowl in 2018, going 11-2 before suffering an ACL injury. So basically, Wentz helped deliver the championship, something Simmons can only dream of at this point. And while I don’t wish to see Wentz successful against the Eagles (and you KNOW, the way sports drama often plays out, that the two will face each other one day), I’m fine if Wentz does well against other teams (though apparently he has to get over another injury first).
So yeah, this song goes out to Simmons (and to think, the Sixers once had their “power trio” of Embiid, Simmons and Jimmy Butler and very nearly beat Toronto when the Raptors went on to win their own title, but the team didn’t renew Butler’s contract...heckuva job, Elton Brand!).
Update 10/11/21: Yeah, I guess missing too many paychecks would do the trick, wouldn't it? (here).
Update 1 10/20/21: God, what a head case (here).
Update 2 10/20/21: At what point should we start blaming the Sixers for not knowing what was really up with this guy before they drafted him (here)?
Update 10/21/21: Words from a man who knows and who helped get it done in 2018 (here).
Update 11/24/21: OK, I’m seeing some stories online that Simmons is dealing with mental health issues. I would never try to make light of that or trivialize it. I hope he gets the help he needs; that of course is more important than sports.
But as far as I’m concerned, Simmons and just about every other pro athlete (and certainly when it comes to the NBA) make absolutely STOO-PID money, and part of the price for that is a visible public profile and the responsibility to perform your sport at the highest possible level when it counts the most. And Simmons failed to do that against Atlanta in the playoffs (again, while teammate Joel Embiid showed a ton of courage and fortitude playing through an injury), so Simmons had better expect a measure of scorn.
Yes, again, if Simmons needs professional help, I hope he gets it and takes whatever time he needs to straighten himself out. But he’d better not think all is forgiven either. And I’m sorry if that’s harsh, but as far as I’m concerned, that comes with his job.
Update 3/10/22: Incredibly late on this I know (there have been just a couple of other more important stories at the moment), but I think the Sixers played this whole mess pretty well the way they did to get James Harden, though, to be honest, I hated to see them get rid of Seth Curry, but at least they didn’t move Matisse Thybulle or Tyrese Maxey...Baby Ben returns to the WTF Center tonight, so we’ll see what happens (more here)...and of course, the Sixers ended up getting smoked and Simmons didn't even play.
Update 4/25/22: New team, same old "Baby Ben" (here).
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