It looks like Covid is adapting. The latest flavor Omicron, seems to be a little less dangerous but able to spread more. We have passed 800,000 dead and still increasing the death toll every day. The pandemic is far from over. In the best case, we still have a year or more to go. It has already changed our economy, the great resignation, work from home and inflation. It will be interesting to watch how this evolves over the next few years. One thing is for sure, there is no going back. The economy will be permanently altered by the covid pandemic. So will our politics.
I think covid cost Trump the election. The usual trend of the opposition party retaking the house and senate may not happen this time. Trump's power over the Republicans seems to be slowly starting to crack. The January 6th fiasco is going to take down a lot of people and it looks like the Donald will spend his last years trying to stay out of jail and or not being sued into oblivion. And the Republicans in many states are literally killing their supporters in large numbers by ignoring health experts, opening everything early, getting rid of mask requirements and slowing vaccination rates (to say nothing of insane gun laws, deregulation of everything and right to work). In close elections, yes, it will matter. "I won the 2020 election!!!'" on repeat and culture wars that do nothing to improve people's lives should not be a path to victory. The Republicans only offer three things, deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy and fear, mostly fear. It should be a walk over for the Democrats but they are inept, weak and un-unified. Still, I'm more optimistic for their chances than I was a few short months ago. It will take a solid defeat of Republicans in 2022 to finally break the Trump spell. They will still be assholes but maybe they will start to bring actual ideas to the table and not want to overthrow our democracy (what's left of it).
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I like guns, own some and enjoy an afternoon at the range as much as anyone. I've been around guns since childhood. I even helped a few friends learn basic gun safety stuff. I also remember when the NRA actually promoted guns, hunting and outdoors as a hobby, not a political fetish. They were big on promoting gun safety. Our enjoyment, respect and sunny afternoons at the range with firearms have morphed into an unrecognizable, dark monster.
I was hoping for some kind of action on gun violence / school shootings from the Democrats. If there has been any, I missed it. I know this is a complicated, divisive and ingrained issue. Even after Sandy Hook and still nothing? Any other type of gunman, and we would have bombed, invaded and completely leveled three countries by now. But a white guy middle class lunatic, crickets... We get crickets from our politicians. What are some things that could be done?
Joey brings a gun to school, maybe mommy and daddy go to jail a year or two. There, they can brush up on firearms safety and storage. Sue the living shit out of a few manufacturers /sellers. Then, the might get onboard with a little sensible regulation. End "Gunshows." I loved them as a kid. They just creep me out now, a strange mix of guns, fear, doom and a death cult. Gone are the cool old rifles, revolvers, calvary sabers and cowboy stuff. Go now and you can see rows and rows of AR-15's-10's, AK-47's, semi-auto shot guns among limitless semi-auto pistols. Gone are the beautiful wood finishes, now replaced with a sea of polymer. Peppered in among all this are NRA propaganda booths, at least one or two yahoos selling Nazi stuff and a few others selling survival gear. Gunshow rant over. But to just do nothing?? Unacceptable.
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Tornados in December? Yeah, a rare one or two, gonna happen. A massive multi-state outbreak with this monster as the main attraction? And then this? Yeah, we can watch the usual circle-jerk of is this one event climate change related? Yes, no, maybe, not sure and so on and so on, around and around we go. Something is going on and it is not good. How many storm related events will be the magic number or tipping point where we finally decide, "Yeah, maybe we should so something?" Working on climate change could power a massive economic boom.
Everything from windmill production to planting trees to greener transportation systems to better food production all require work. How many millions of jobs could we create? I think we could revitalize dying towns all across the country! We could have a new golden age of prosperity! But let's not forget about changing attitudes about frivolous consumption. I still think that's the heart of the issue.
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