Has COVID caused the left to tip its hand too soon?
I’ve been somewhat puzzled by the extreme reaction of the leftist governors to COVID.
Don’t get me wrong; I think I understand what’s behind it: some combination of extreme eagerness to control the peons under their rule, and exploitation and drumming up of fear in the populace. Let’s not forget, also, that they think/hope that tanking the economy will help them as well, both by causing people to blame Trump (or at least make him lose bragging rights to the booming economy we had just a short while ago) and by increasing government dependency. And they also know they have the wind of fawning MSM coverage at their backs.
Then why am I puzzled? Because I think what many of them are doing is so stifling, arbitrary, stupid, nasty, and pervasive that it’s causing a backlash even in blue states. How widespread that backlash will become is anyone’s guess.
Barack Obama was no genius, although I’ve always contended he’s a smart guy. But he was a genius at one thing: hiding his leftism behind a soothing facade, and calibrating his moves. Obama knew how much the populace could take. He was elected without the people knowing much about him, but it was his re-election that was his triumph. And I think the only reason Hillary wasn’t elected after him was that her personality was so off-putting. And even then, she nearly did it, so although there was a backlash to Obama (which at least in part accounted for Trump’s election), it wasn’t anywhere near as large as I would have hoped.
But these governors don’t share Obama’s skill at knowing how much their constituents will tolerate. At least, I think they run that risk. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the appetite of states such as Michigan and New York for leftist tyranny is almost limitless. If so, however, it would be a recent phenomenon for Michigan. Before Whitmer, Michigan had a Republican governor. Even New York had a Republican governor as recently as 2006 (Pataki).
Could it happen again? Have people woken up?
I don’t want to make too much of news like this from Virginia, but at least it’s in the right direction:
Staunton, a usually reliable Democratic stronghold in the conservative Shenandoah Valley, went surprisingly Republican in Tuesday’s City Council elections.
The slate of Andrea Oakes, Mark Robertson, Amy Darby and Steve Claffey took the four seats up for grabs in the 2020 local election, giving the Queen City a conservative majority for the first time in recent memory…
How unlikely was this conservative sweep? Hillary Clinton won Staunton in the 2016 presidential election, Barack Obama had won the city in the previous two election cycles, and Democrat Jennifer Lewis pulled 56.5 percent of the vote in her 2018 Sixth District congressional race against Republican Ben Cline, who eventually swept to victory, winning 59.7 percent of the vote district-wide.
Amongst your reasons why Dem Govs all went so quickly to the deep end, let’s add the phenomenon of “hive mind”. If one Dem Gov does it, the others are expected to follow suit.
Not a lot of independent thought, not a lot of introspection going on in those minds.
The appetite of leftists in other states for leftist tyranny is also almost limitless. In Colorado (not, traditionally, leftist), Hickenlooper (who announces his pronouns on Twitter as He/Him/His and recently expressed his sadness at the death of Michael Brown, who brought about his own demise in Ferguson) has received the support of Stacey Abrams and, as the former governor, is likely to win his bid for the Senate.
It’s not easy to “think” your way out of a mass psychosis, which is what’s been happening—with the MSCM fanning the flames and day-in, day-out providing an endless supply of psychedelics.
We’re not talking just about “wokeness”, but of a much larger phenomenon that’s based on fueling intense hatred and contempt 24/7 for those with whom you don’t agree politically. And then reinforcing it with ever more creative lies, spin and innuendo.
I think the only way to wrench oneself out of—to wake up from—such an all-encompassing hypnotic trance is, unfortunately, disaster.
Impending doom—or a palpable brush with it—has, in the past, been know (if not always) to sober up at least some of the people.
(The big question therefore is, how many, if any, will sober up this time around?)
It could happen, especially if there are enough left-of-center people with consciences who might be able to ask themselves—-once the incredible corruption and criminality of the Obama regime is exposed—“What the hell happened to me? What could I possibly have been thinking? How could this have happened?…”
(Of course, it’s entirely possible that the dream is a feeble one, and that I’m the one who’s suffering from “psychosis….”)
It’s not just governors. I was amazed last week to see a TV report on the Nassau county commissioner announcing that she was opening public tennis courts. In typical leftist fashion she made the TV announcement on a court standing at a podium. She then laid out her requirements: only every other court may be used; no doubles games, only singles, And it was the final stunner which shows how truly clueless she is: all players must have their own balls, and then with a straight face she said, “players can only touch their own balls”. I was ROTFLMAO. So stupid, and so out of touch, and a petty tyrant.
It’s social media. Seriously. People focus on the epistemic closure aspect of the social media bubble but overlook there is no past or future on social media, just the all important NOW. I mean, how many times have people tried to grandstand politically or morally and had old Twitter posts thrown back in their face where they either espoused the opposite position or were guilty of the very behavior they now condemn?
When you focus only on the problem in front of you with no reference to the past and no plan for the future, you feel the need to do everything immediately without regard for the consequences.
Mike
physicsguy:
Maybe she specializes in very deadpan humor.
Cause that’s very funny.
Indeed it is the immediacy—the instantaneity—together with the ephemerality of social media that, along with undermining the ability to focus on anything for an extended period of time, has been the great accelerator of madness on a massive scale.
Soma with a violent, irrational, impatient edge.
I saw that tennis announcement. Hysterically funny! There are lots of people around the country who resent being told they can’t go to religious services and can’t go to the gym. I can’t believe these governors can’t see how bad this looks to their voters.
I still want to know, here in NC, if our health officials or governor ordered the release of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes. If we had any real news reporters here, we’d be finding out. Of total COVID-19 reported deaths, 62% are in nursing homes.
I think what many of them are doing is so stifling, arbitrary, stupid, nasty, and pervasive that it’s causing a backlash even in blue states.
I think this is spot on.
The left is very adept at lying and very dependent upon that ability to lie. Their problem now is that they can’t quite lie hard enough to adequately deceive the public about an event that literally everyone is experiencing in some way, and thus necessarily everyone has some personal experience with it. Of course they retain the ability to fool some of the people all of the time, but that ability may have finally fallen below some critical threshold.
For example, I would have thought they would have had no difficulty retaining that House Seat in California that the GOP just regained, but I was wrong. Perhaps they just saw no need to crank up the vote fraud machine for a mere special election, but maybe they incorrectly thought there was no need.
Perhaps because of this phenomena:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZQG9cwKbct2LtmL3p/evaporative-cooling-of-group-beliefs
Paraphrasing into the present context, as the left has degenerated into what is, objectively, miserable failure, the less committed and most rational believers have departed. This has left- ha ha- the movement staffed by deranged radicals who don’t really grasp how extreme they’ve become, because they never have to hear saner people laugh at them, because they’ve chased them all out. Eventually, they become completely divorced from actually reality, and cease to be primarily influenced by it.
As an example, I present the governor of Michigan, commonly referred to by her victims as Wretched Twitmer. Pray for us, if you can do so without getting sent to prison.
“I can’t believe these governors can’t see how bad this looks to their voters.” – Kate
On the nursing home fiascoes, NY’s governor Cuomo wants to blame it all on Trump. I’m sure you are all surprised.
https://www.redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2020/05/21/elise-stefanik-shuts-down-gov-cuomos-pathetic-attempt-to-blame-trump-for-ny-nursing-home-crisis/
Vaughn comments on the election shocker at Red State; must be channeling Neo:
https://www.redstate.com/elizabeth-vaughn/2020/05/21/republicans-in-deep-blue-virginia-city-just-flipped-3-incumbent-city-council-seats/
“What it does tell us is there will be tremendous voter engagement in November on both sides of the aisle. And we just might see a backlash against the graceless and unwelcome Democratic overreach of the last few months.”
Remember that when California 25 was flipped a few weeks back the final flip 54 to 45 advantage Repubs.
Also “surprising.”
The governor’s of Michigan and Minnesota are still enforcing their edict that nursing homes have to accept confirmed Covid-19 patients released from hospitals.
Several democrat governors allow up to 10 people to gather at liquor stores, marijuana stores and P.P. abortion clinics but not at church services…
Minn. Gov. Walz allows up to 50 people in restaurants but regardless of size of church, only 10 people. Evidently, he has yet to realize that “man does not live by bread alone”…
All the GOP has to do is run political ads highlighting these facts. Along with contrasting FL and NY nursing home deaths.
In enforcing those nursing home policies, Cuomo, Whitmer, Waltz, etc. are arguably guilty of, at the least involuntary manslaughter, depraved indifference and criminal negligence.
GOP political ads pointing out these factual assertions would/will be devastating at the ballot box.
“Minn. Gov. Walz allows up to 50 people in restaurants but regardless of size of church, only 10 people.”
Dems using this opportunity to “stick it” to Christians is, IMO, notable. In several cases they seem to have gone our of their way to show their disdain.
Humans are hilarious. Especially when they panic and lose their heads, running around as chickens with their heads cut off.
This mass hysteria problem has always caused the entirety of humanity, to hunt down the messengers of the divine, including the sons of god, which also includes Yeshua of Nazareth. They can’t even save themselves from humanity, let alone save humanity from humanity.
Then later the descendants of Romans say this guy died for us. Technically, it should be “died because of us”. Or even more accurate, died because the dark Bhaal took over Yasharel and Yasharel goaded the clueless Romans into doing the deed. Then the blood guilt just gets passed around with all kinds of organized religions making up excuses about it 2000 years later.
This might explain why humanity killed one child of god… that does not explain why humans and Americans today are engaged in sex trafficking of children however. Nor does it explain all the other children of god humanity has killed.
Did people really think they could do all these things without any backlash or negative consequences?
Related (on COVID_19):
“Why do some COVID-19 patients infect many others, whereas most don’t spread the virus at all?”
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/374778/
Xennady said:
“Their problem now is that they can’t quite lie hard enough to adequately deceive the public about an event that literally everyone is experiencing in some way, and thus necessarily everyone has some personal experience with it.”
That’s a really good observation.
Kate said, (In a different thread I believe):
“I can’t believe these governors can’t see how bad this looks to their voters.”
In the case of Cuomo, he doesn’t really care. NYC and its surroundings are his voters. Albany and Buffalo, too. Outside of that, he doesn’t care one bit because its the City et.al. who decides everything in NYS. He’s also made it clear he hates us. And the press is busy propping him up and helping him deflect blame for his actions to the Bad Orange Man.
My only hope, as far as NYC goes, is that Xennady’s observation proves true. That enough people have experienced this BS and his lies to not be fooled by the press’ press.
This does seem to be a kind of mass psychosis. I’m reminded of the extreme efforts involved in deprogramming cult members with no guarantee of success…
Maybe there are character traits, such as wanting to be perceived as humanitarians and being controlling know-it-alls, are what cause people to prefer leftism?
For example, apart from everything else at the moment, leftist environmentalists in my area are freaking about various common, non native plants. They are demanding they be banned and ripped out of all yards, root and branch, to save the children and the planet.
Additionally, all mowing must cease and desist immediately. Only monsters, who hate the children and the planet, have lawns.
Geoffrey Britain on May 21, 2020 at 9:11 pm said:
All the GOP has to do is run political ads highlighting these facts. Along with contrasting FL and NY nursing home deaths.
In enforcing those nursing home policies, Cuomo, Whitmer, Waltz, etc. are arguably guilty of, at the least involuntary manslaughter, depraved indifference and criminal negligence.” –
* * *
I was thinking along the lines of “wrongful death” which IIRC is a civil, not criminal charge. Much easier to get a conviction, I would think.
Some government entities may be sued, depending on State law.
This is the kind of liability that has encouraged businesses to abide by government rules, guidelines, edicts and orders, and that invoking the DPA sometimes can forestall.
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Wrongful+Death
If a person is killed because of the wrongful conduct of a person or persons, the decedent’s heirs and other beneficiaries may file a wrongful death action against those responsible for the decedent’s death. This area of Tort Law is governed by statute. Wrongful death statutes vary from state to state, but in general they define who may sue for wrongful death and what, if any, limits may be applied to an award of damages.
Originally, wrongful death statutes were created to provide financial support for widows and orphans and to motivate people to exercise care to prevent injuries. A wrongful death action is separate and apart from criminal charges, and neither proceeding affects nor controls the other. This means that a defendant acquitted of murder may be sued in a civil action by the victim’s family for wrongful death.
An action for wrongful death may be brought for either an intentional or unintentional act that causes an injury that results in death. A blow to the head during an altercation that later results in death is an injury that is intentionally caused. The driver of an automobile who unintentionally causes the death of another in an accident may be held liable for Negligence. An individual who, in violation of local law, neglects to enclose a swimming pool in his yard can be held liable for the omission or failure to act if a child is attracted to the pool and subsequently drowns.
Advice from Saturday Morning TV for dealing with the lock-down-disaster (and ObamaGate) perpetrators.
https://i2.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2020/05/lessons-1.jpg?w=659&ssl=1
Fractal Rabbit on May 22, 2020 at 10:43 am said:
Xennady said:
“Their problem now is that they can’t quite lie hard enough to adequately deceive the public about an event that literally everyone is experiencing in some way, and thus necessarily everyone has some personal experience with it.”
That’s a really good observation.
* * *
Or, as Lincoln once said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
I am starting to suspect, however, that you can fool all of the people a lot of the time.