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CSotD: Happy New Year, if you can find one

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Mike Peterson December 31, 2020 1 minute 4 comments

Can’t accuse Tim Campbell (WPWG) of sugar-coating things.

Granted, we’ve got vaccines now, but even if everyone got them, it would be late spring before we could safely unmask. And given the number of delusional nitwits amongst us, it probably won’t happen that quickly.

I was looking around the grocery store the other day. We’re polite people and don’t have a lot of militant anti-maskers, and I thought, “What if this is the default?”

That is, I remember when people smoked in the store. In fact, I remember when it stopped. The store posted a sign saying “No smoking” and someone wrote underneath, “You sell cigarettes!”

Someone else wrote under that, “They also sell toilet paper.”

How often do you see someone light up in a store?

What if wearing masks became a similarly accepted part of going out in public?

In any case, we’d better figure on wearing the damn things for a few more months until we see how the war between science and stupidity plays out.

But betting against stupidity has rarely paid off, even before “stupid” became a marketable trait.

And, by yompin’ yiminy, stupidity has never had such a powerful patron, as Clay Bennett (CTFP) points out.

You can go back to yesterday for more detailed insights about Mitch.

But a fair amount of his power is based on feeding the paranoia and foolishness of the Deplorables, and, as noted, their ranks have swelled to the point of having made the 2020 elections competitive, though common sense scored the victory.

Not that stupidity is conceding. And paranoid foolishness has rarely had such powerful allies. The Bulwark offers a readable, interesting takedown on things that will inform and depress you.

First of all, it points out, we can indeed afford to help families with that $2,000 Mitch is so determined not to shell out.

And then, to drive home how much dishonesty is being put forward, Jonathan Last notes an accusation, put forward by the Rasmussen polling firm and promoted by the President of the United States, which is that Georgia Sec’y of State Brad Raffensberger, who recently reported no voter fraud there, has a conflict of interest in that his brother Ron is chief technical officer for the controversial Chinese tech firm, Hauwei.

Which would be one helluva conflict of interest indeed.

Except that the two men are not related.

Which is pretty funny, except that feeding lies to those most vulnerable to them is not a game.

Whatever happened in Nashville (yes, we’re still sorting it out), our Republican governor here in New Hampshire has cancelled his public inauguration because armed protesters have surrounded his home and threatened his family.

I don’t mind if masks become part of daily life, but we’ve got to find a way to crack down on public figures who stir up the crazies.

Which brings us to this

Juxtaposition of the Day

(Nate Beeler – Counterpoint)

(Rob Rogers – Ind)

There’s no reason to think that the Republicans are going to make a fresh start in the new government or, for that matter, that Donald Trump is going to slink off to Florida and go into a well-earned retirement.

Back in 2013, former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindall faced the party’s defeat by saying they needed to “stop being the stupid party.” But, as the Intelligencer pointed out in 2018, Jindall has reversed direction and is urging the party to become more stupid, saying, “Trump’s style is part of his substance. His most loyal supporters back him because of, not despite, his brash behavior.”

No reason to pick on Jindall, except that an aide to this footnote-to-history just died of Covid after winning election to the House of Representatives on a mask-free platform of opening up the economy despite the pandemic.

Ron White says “You can’t fix stupid,” but apparently the coronavirus can make a dent in it.

But even that is not going to dissuade the GOP from supporting insane conspiracy theories, and Rep. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has announced plans to contest the Electoral College results on January 6.

His coup won’t succeed, but seeing how many other legislators are willing to support the attempt may prove depressing.

Paul Berge (Ind) gets a laugh for this one, but the parade of loonies only emphasizes the fact that changing the calendar is going to change little else.

We’re in serious trouble, and the pandemic may be the least of it.

Meanwhile, over on the Funny Pages

Glenn McCoy is hardly a libtard, but this Flying McCoys (AMS) doesn’t predict much change on the horizon beyond the date, either.

And if you enjoy gallows humor, click through to read the rest of this Matt Bors (Daily Kos) piece, which may be accurate but is very, very dark.

I liked it a lot, but, then, I’m not in a very optimistic place.

Perhaps you would prefer this

Juxtaposition of the Day #2

(Macanudo – KFS)

(Half Full – Tribune)

Yesterday, I saw a man and woman meet outside a diner and hug with great affection, as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and, on one hand, I hoped they were both virus-free, but, on the other, I thought about how sad it is that such things are rare and how much I miss them.

So I like Macanudo’s vague and somewhat long-term commitment to leaving this current morass behind us. He’s not saying it ends at midnight, only that we need it to end, and that it’s been a long, tough, lonely year.

And Maria Scrivan finds things to celebrate, which is not a complete antidote to the misery of this year but ain’t chopped liver, either. My own puppy was planned before all hell broke loose, but, thanks to quarantine, she’s got a lot of friends her own age.

Filling in the Radio Patrol gap

They’ve lost a week’s worth of Vintage Radio Patrol strips at Comics Kingdom, but don’t despair: Here’s what Sgt. Pat’s friends would be missing:

Happy New Year Anyway

I’ve run this before. It’s still relevant, but only as long as we’re still here.