One thing to watch

If what we've been told for the past three months is accurate, we should expect a huge ramp up in COVID-19 cases in the next two weeks. Let's see how that plays out.

Minneapolis is burning

I don't know anyone who isn't sickened by what the Minneapolis police did to George Floyd. There should be righteous anger about it. However, this isn't righteous. Images from the Daily Mail:

Burn baby burn

Nor is torching an apartment building under construction:

No way to live

Nor is grabbing smokes:

The pause that refreshes

At least the looters are wearing masks, right? That should please Mayor Frey.

Biden in Quintessence

The Scranton WTF Machine strikes again:

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday emphatically defended his ties to the African American community — telling a popular black radio personality that he “ain’t black” if he was still weighing whether to support Biden or President Donald Trump in November’s general election.

The remarks from the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee came during an at-times contentious interview on “The Breakfast Club” that aired Friday morning, during which co-host Charlamagne tha God challenged Biden over his decadeslong record on racial issues and current contemplation of a black, female running mate.

I'm sure the co-host appreciated the tutorial. There's more:

“I’m not acknowledging anybody who is being considered, but I guarantee you, there are multiple black women being considered. Multiple,” Biden said of his search process for a vice presidential nominee.

It was then that an aide to the Biden campaign could be heard interjecting into the conversation, attempting to cut short the interview. “Thank you so much. That’s really our time. I apologize,” the aide said.

“You can't do that to black media!” Charlamagne retored.

“I do that to white media and black media because my wife has to go on at 6 o’clock,” Biden shot back, apparently referring to a subsequent media appearance by Jill Biden, before adding: “Uh oh. I’m in trouble.”

Trouble, trouble that's the name/of Biden's pop-off-a-matic game. He wasn't through:

“Listen, you’ve got to come see us when you come to New York, VP Biden,” Charlamagne said. “It’s a long way until November. We've got more questions.”

“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

A photo of Charlamagne tha God:

Ain't saying

Another step on the road to Torricelliville.

Walz Between Church and State

Our overlords say no Church services with more than 10 people, even in a building as huge as the Cathedral. The bishops say "nuts":

The bishops’ decision to contravene a statewide executive order is the first made by U.S. bishops since the coronavirus pandemic began.

But Minnesota’s bishops said the state’s prohibitions on religious gatherings of more than 10 people does not respect the right to the free exercise of religion.

“It is now permissible for an unspecified number of people to go to shopping malls and enter stores, so long as no more than 50 percent of the occupancy capacity is reached. Big-box stores have hundreds of people inside at any one time, and the number of goods that are being handled and distributed in one store by many people—stock staff, customers, cashiers—is astounding. Workers are present for many hours per day, often in close proximity. There is no state mandate that customers wear masks in those malls or stores, wash their hands consistently, or follow any specific cleaning protocol,” the bishops wrote.

“In these circumstances, and given the well-researched protocols that we have proposed (and that are being followed successfully elsewhere in our nation) how can reason require us any longer to keep our faithful from the Eucharist?”

In response, Governor Walz said the following:

It's on. And it needs to be.

Mr. Lotter, he gone

After four months in position, former New Brighton honcho Dean Lotter gets the pipe in Eureka, CA:

The Eureka City Council at a special meeting Tuesday will accept the resignation of outgoing Eureka City Manger Dean Lotter, who was placed on administrative leave on May 1, after holding the position for just over four months.

Following a national search and rigorous interview process, Lotter was selected to replace retiring City Manager Greg Sparks. In December of last year Lotter and his wife moved to Eureka from New Brighton, Minnesota, where Lotter served as city manager for 13 years.

We aren't likely to get the "why" in this case, at least right away, but his act probably didn't go well out there. He was able to get by with a lot of nonsense because of the Keystone Kop nature of New Brighton politicians, but that act doesn't work everywhere.

This should be obvious, but. . . .

Via Instapundit, the unreliable narrator Peggy Noonan makes the salient point:

It’s not that those in red states don’t think there’s a pandemic. They’ve heard all about it! They realize it will continue, they know they may get sick themselves. But they also figure this way: Hundreds of thousands could die and the American economy taken down, which would mean millions of other casualties, economic ones. Or, hundreds of thousands could die and the American economy is damaged but still stands, in which case there will be fewer economic casualties—fewer bankruptcies and foreclosures, fewer unemployed and ruined.

They’ll take the latter. It’s a loss either way but one loss is worse than the other. They know the politicians and scientists can’t really weigh all this on a scale with any precision because life is a messy thing that doesn’t want to be quantified.

Here’s a generalization based on a lifetime of experience and observation. The working-class people who are pushing back have had harder lives than those now determining their fate. They haven’t had familial or economic ease. No one sent them to Yale. They often come from considerable family dysfunction. This has left them tougher or harder, you choose the word.

It's easy to write checks on other people's accounts. As for the politicians:

Meanwhile some governors are playing into every stereotype of “the overclass.” On Tuesday Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf said in a press briefing that those pushing against the shutdown are cowards. Local officials who “cave in to this coronavirus” will pay a price in state funding. “These folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy. In the middle of a war.” He said he’ll pull state certificates such as liquor licenses for any businesses that open. He must have thought he sounded uncompromising, like Gen. George Patton. He seemed more like Patton slapping the soldier. No sympathy, no respect, only judgment.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called anti-lockdown demonstrations “racist and misogynistic.” She called the entire movement “political.” It was, in part—there have been plenty of Trump signs, and she’s a possible Democratic vice presidential nominee. But the clamor in her state is real, and serious. People are in economic distress and worry that the foundations of their lives are being swept away. How does name-calling help? She might as well have called them “deplorables.” She said the protests may only make the lockdowns last longer, which sounded less like irony than a threat.

Those deplorables elected the Bad Orange Man. And there's an excellent chance they will do it again. Why is that?

When you are reasonable with people and show them respect, they will want to respond in kind. But when they feel those calling the shots are being disrespectful, they will push back hard and rebel even in ways that hurt them.

As a rule, we aren't comfortable talking about class in this country, but the stratification of class is stronger today than it has been a very long time. And our Betters aren't particularly magnanimous.

I am an older fat dude with a horrible family history for heart disease -- if I get the 'rona, it could be very bad for me. But having a third of the country on the dole is going to be a lot worse for all of us. And those who would deign to protect me aren't doing me, or anyone else, any favors. But self-affirmation is a helluva drug.

Unmasking

We are all supposed to wear masks now. But there is also some unmasking going on. Consider this example from a local political favorite:

Sure, that must be it

You might remember Strub, who served one term on the corrupt New Brighton City Council, adding a veneer of sanctimony to the usual money-grubbing that goes on there. Turns out ol' Strub figured out it's more lucrative to work for Gov. Walz, as the linked article informs us:

Not everybody supports the efforts of small businesses to oppose Walz’s months long shutdown. Brian Strub, a member of the governor’s staff, says that efforts by churches to reopen are motivated by greed and will endanger lives.

“Beware of any church suing to reopen, as they may be showing their true colors of caring more about the collection plate than about human life. This [the closures] is #prolife in 2020,” he wrote in a now deleted tweet.

I have been attending Mass online since the clampdown began. I have also been giving online to my parish for years now. As a congregation, we are greatly saddened that we cannot gather together for Mass. My parish is not wealthy, but it's not the money that matters. Except to Strub, who doesn't appear to have the courage of his convictions. You can delete your tweets, sir, but we sensed who you are long ago. Thank you for dropping your mask.

Just a reminder

No matter the emergency or the pretext, the moment a government determines that the life and livelihood or any citizen is "non-essential," tyranny has arrived. And tyranny does not cease until it is forced to cease.

Former Imperious City Employees in the News

Remember Dean Lotter? He was the longtime City Manager for New Brighton, best known for his imperious manner and copious self-regard. He left New Brighton last November for a new job in Eureka, California. Apparently he didn't last long:

A major announcement was made Friday for the city of Eureka.

Eureka City Council said City Manager Dean Lotter is on Administrative Leave.

Effective immediately, City Clerk Pam Powell will assume the role and responsibilities of Acting City Manager, the city said in a press release.

I don't know anything about the current situation or the cultural mores of Eureka, California, but Lotter was much beloved among certain politicos in New Brighton because he was always good for backstopping whatever antics they were undertaking. Maybe Lotter wasn't playing ball, or maybe he played ball too well in Eureka, but he got the pipe from there in a hurry. That's interesting. And with the recent resignation of Mary Burg, there's a fair measure of skulduggery afoot in Lotter's old redoubt, as usual. We're watching the situation and I will have more to say about all that in the coming days.

Evers says, "Balls to ya, Bob Burns"

There is a price to pay for the various lockdowns. Back in my hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin, Bob Burns is paying it:

Bob Burns enters his golf shop on a mobility scooter, his dog Hogan padding ahead of him. The door locks behind him. The lights are off. The parking lot is empty. There’s not a soul on the driving range. The police, in fact, have swung by a few times to make sure Burns is complying with Gov. Tony Evers’ order closing non-essential businesses, extended now to May 26.

Normally, April and May are busy months at Bob Burns Golf. People are itching to hit balls on the range, to get their clubs re-gripped, to purchase the newest equipment, to sign up for lessons.

This year, as we all know, is not normal. Burns owns a stand-alone driving range, one of thousands of businesses statewide shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic. Golf courses opened Friday and motorized carts are allowed starting Wednesday, but driving ranges must remain closed.

His competitors are also open:

Scheels, a huge sporting goods store in Appleton, is open. So are Menards and Walmart and Costco, all of which sell golf equipment.

But the police are checking the doors at Bob Burns Golf, just in case a golfer or two has sneaked onto the range to hit a few balls, not only socially distanced but practically isolated.

“Why pick on me?” Burns says, with more incredulity than anger in his voice. “Who does more for this community and golf? Why pick on me?”

There's more, lots more, at the link, including what Bob Burns has done for golf, in Appleton and beyond. Tony Evers doesn't care about any of that.

Tim Walz could decide to take a different path than Tony Evers. He will announce his decision shortly. There are businesses in Minnesota like the one Bob Burns runs in Wisconsin that will be out of business soon.

Just a reminder

Fear is a selfish emotion, especially when it leads you to demand others make sacrifices on your behalf.

Are You Team Joe?

Join us!

Never mind

I know all about the Borgias

Chill-dren!

Here's Johnny!

You have no idea

You can be, too! Just go to the link and make yer own!

This Is Not America

At the moment, it is. Behold the efforts of local law enforcement in Brighton, Colorado:

While I share skepticism about the overall utility of social distancing, I have made a point of doing so; other than daily walks around the neighborhood and getting a morning cup of coffee at the gas station a few blocks away (which is more about keeping them in business than anything else), I have not been leaving my house much at all. But there are people who cheering this sort of behavior right now -- I see it on my social media feed every damned day.

When we begin the reckoning of this moment, we are going to need to demand answers about behavior like this. But more importantly, we need to consult a mirror to see why we were willing to use the Constitution as we would use a 48-roll jumbo pack of Kirkland toilet paper.

Spreading?

I'm watching where COVID-19 cases are happening. The maps show where we were last week and where we are now:

Next, Wisconsin:

Then, Iowa:

Finally, Illinois:

So, it's spreading. But is it spreading in such a way that commerce should be curtailed and even halted? And remember -- the state shown here with the hardest crackdown is Illinois.

One request

Sure, stay at home, social distance, all that.  But don't be a fucking Stasi about it, mkay? Talk to your neighbors, don't rat them out. If we're going to have a world worth living in once this is over, and it will be over, we are going to have to be decent to one another and calling Tim Walz's hotline is not how you do it.

That is all.

Good news, bad news

The good news? After 14 days my daughter, recently returned from Spain, is out of quarantine with no sign of coronavirus.

The bad news? The state is shut down.

For the record, here is a county-by-county map of cases in Minnesota:

Metro? Yes. Western Minnesota? Not so much

Here's Wisconsin, which is operating under similar, if slightly more strict clampdown rules:

Stay on Highway 8 and you're good

Only 3 counties have a real problem at the moment -- Milwaukee, Dane, and to a much lesser extent Waukesha.

How about our neighbors in Iowa? They aren't currently doing a clampdown.

Not so good in Iowa City and Des Moines, but otherwise?

Then consider our friends in Illinois, now under a far more draconian clampdown thanks to their governor:

Lotta clear spaces here, especially in the southeast

So my question is this -- why are governors imposing one-size-fits-all solutions on their states? I'm assuming we can still ask the question for now in this forum -- not too many blue-check thought police read this feature. When this is all over, I will be curious to see if some of these counties are still free of the virus. If you believe the narrative, a plague is spreading across the land and it's everywhere. And perhaps it is. But I wonder, just a little bit.

A lesson learned, or suspicion confirmed

We'll have time to sort all this out eventually, but one thing has become quite clear -- a lot of people are quite willing to become cheerleaders for the heavy hand of government if they have any fear at all. Mencken said it this way:

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

No, COVID-19 (or the Wuhan coronavirus, if you'd prefer) is not imaginary in the least. But there's no lack of people who are clamoring to be led to safety at the moment. Would that I had more confidence in those who are supposed to be doing the leading. And no, that's not a shot at Trump -- as always, the people you really need to watch are closer to home.

When will this end?

When people get tired of it. Spring is coming and people will want to get out and about. And at some point you're going to start getting less obedience and more questioning of the powers that be, especially about shelter-in-place rules and whatnot.

Might be time for a pool. Take a guess on when the clamps come off and put your guess in the comments.

Back in Business

Career opportunities

We were able to get our daughter out of Spain. Good thing, too, because the crackdown is on:

The Spanish government is poised to declare a 15-day national lockdown on Monday to battle coronavirus.

Under the decree being finalised, people would be allowed out only for emergencies, to buy food, or for work.

With 191 deaths and 6,046 infections, Spain is the worst-hit country in Europe after Italy, which declared a nationwide lockdown on Monday.

I understand the impulse. It may turn out to be right thing to do. But the eagerness of officials throughout the world to crack down, and the cheering they are receiving, should get your antennae up.

Maybe not as dead as we thought, though.

It would have been nice if. . .

. . . the Leader of the Free World had said at the outset of his remarks tonight that his likely useless European travel ban didn’t apply to U.S. citizens. We ended up spending a small fortune on a one-way ticket via London to get our daughter a flight home on the weekend, routing her through England to avoid restrictions that didn’t actually apply to her, so she wouldn’t be stuck in Europe. Sneaking a clarification out an hour after his presentation was, well, horseshit.

I can’t even pretend to defend this. Meanwhile, the trip to Spain I have been waiting to take for 36 freaking years is now likely a sunk cost.

Grrrr.