Airhead, yo-yo . . . | Tom Camfield

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There are about 100 synonyms from which to choose on line, but “Moron“ is pretty generally defined as “a very stupid person.”

“Make no mistake” tweeted Kevin McCarthy, top Republican in the House, “the threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state.”

When asked by reporters about McCarthy’s assertion that the return of the mandate was “not based on science,” Nancy Pelosi said, “He’s such a moron.”

At her weekly press conference later, the speaker did not repeat her disparaging characterization. “I said earlier in my comments, science, science, science and science,” Pelosi said. “On almost every subject you can name, science is the answer, whether it’s the climate crisis, whether it’s a health crisis, whether it’s our preeminence in the world of technology, science, science, science, science. To say that wearing a mask is not based on science, I think, is not wise, and that was my comment.”

McCathy said Saturday that should he become speaker, he would struggle to resist striking Pelosi with the gavel that comes with the job. "It will be hard not to hit her with it but I will bang it down," McCarthy said,

ANOTHER NOTE IN PASSING: July 26 New York Times — The vaccines effectively prevent severe illness and death. Yet nearly half the population remains unvaccinated and unprotected. About 30% of adults have not received even a single dose, and the percentage is much higher in some parts of the country. America is one of the few countries with enough vaccines at its disposal to protect every resident — and yet it has the highest rates of vaccine hesitance or refusal of any nation except Russia.

AND ANOTHER NOTE: “Let’s be clear: My job as a Congresswoman is to turn your cries for justice and bold change into legislation that transforms lives and livelihoods for the better. What my job is NOT is to put the interests of corporations over those of working people and families. — Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

MEANWHILE, Take the blind stupidity of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who went on Fox News recently to attack crime in “big Democratic cities and states,” then suggested it was not a problem in South Carolina because of all the guns. He suggested that South Carolina (where the "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws provide legal protection to shoot people in many situations) kept its crime rates down because people were deterred by all the gun owners. 

It also was a Republican (Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee) who tweeted in response: “Umm Senator perhaps you should speak with your State Law Enforcement Division before jawboning about South Carolina shooting people as a deterrence to violent crime: The murder rate went up around 25% in 2020; aggravated assault went up around 9% in 2020.”

Meanwhile, a HuffPost headline read: “Ex-Trump Official Warns Unvaccinated Exactly What To Expect From Delta Variant” and the story said “Adm. Brett Giroir also had a message for people who think they’re protected with natural immunity from a previous infection . . . Adm. Brett Giroir, the Trump White House’s COVID-19 testing czar, on Friday spelled out what unvaccinated people should expect from the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus.

“’If you are not vaccinated and if you have not had COVID before, you’re going to get the delta variant,’ Giroir told CNN’s Chris Cuomo." As Cuomo later explained: “On average, one person will transmit this to nine people, unlike the original virus, which got transmitted to two or three.”

Giroir expressed concern over people relying on natural immunity from a previous infection as their sole protection from the disease. “Natural immunity is real and it provides protection, but there is more and more accumulated evidence that that immunity wanes and it’s not so good against delta.”

“So I’m very concerned and I do support the recommendations that even if you had COVID, you need to get vaccinated as well,” he added of the shots proven to safely and effectively curb transmission and prevent serious illness.

Giroir’s comments came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in internal documents of a change in “the war” against COVID-19 because of the highly infectious delta variant that’s spread nationwide.

So yes. Perhaps this will help to illustrate that some Republicans are concerned more with the plight of the American people than with self-oriented goals and comforts of the Trump gang.