The last few days have brought despair. I feel like I'm witnessing the saddest show in history, an epic tragedy unspooling before our eyes.
Decisions ordinarily made in collaboration have become permanent pissing contests. Open this. Close that. Fuck you. No lives matter.
Who wouldn't like to see some gyms and bars open? I'd gladly go along IF they commit to distancing and wearing masks. But they won't . Masks infringe on their rights to spread infection. And besides, the infection's not that bad. Barely 150,000 dead. Not enough people to justify stifling the economy.
A month ago, I fell from a ladder and hurt my wrist badly. I couldn't tell if it was broken or sprained, so I looked online for everything I could find to figure things out. I learned that ice should be applied, no matter what, and that the situation would be more clear in a few days.
Without covid, I probably would have gone to the doctor and gotten an xray. I didn't do either. My wrist is slowly recovering (still hurts), and I'm wearing a brace I bought online for $16. I'll give it another month before I worry too much.
Anything taken to the extreme carries the risk of danger, including freedom. Most sensible people recognize the need for guardrails to balance freedom with fairness. That's why, for example, we have laws requiring people to wear seat belts. As a society, we've determined it's not fair for the general public and insurance customers to pay the hospital bills of someone who decides he doesn't want to buckle up.
It's been three months since I started counting quarantine days, but who's counting?
From the outset, I was certain we'd be in this for the long haul. But little did I know that a small army of ignorant American greeders would make matters worse by disregarding advice from public health professionals. Topping the list of self-obsessed cult members is Lt. Governor Dan Forest, who debases himself with conspiracy collusion day after day after day. When he's not whining about Governor Cooper, he's hooked up with "Reopen NC," a group of fetishists who want to burn masks to protest government and business policies requiring the face coverings.
Yesterday, we successfully defeated (for now) a bill to open bars in North Carolina. This comes at a time when our state's COVID-19 case numbers are rising, hospitalizations are at record highs, and public health experts say we shouldn't rush to reopen bars.
Democrats won by showing up to vote. I am doing my job as your representative by attending committee meetings, filing bills, and voting on legislation -- all by remote means. To protect our health and the health of others, most of my colleagues are doing that as well.
I've been spending my time deeply exploring what's going on with law enforcement in America. Of the hundred or so articles I've read, however, one stands out for its raw power and comprehensive coverage. It's called Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop and it's a brutal assessment of how bad things are and how much needs to change. I encourage you to read every word.
Some highlights:
American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the pig’s mouth.
...
I believe that if everyone understood how we’re trained and brought up in the profession, it would inform the demands our communities should be making of a new way of community safety. If I tell you how we were made, I hope it will empower you to unmake us.
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