by Bess Levin
Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are feeling deeply frustrated. Frustrated that life still isn’t back to normal. Frustrated that they still can’t plan for the future. And frustrated, mostly, with the individuals in this country who still, even after the deaths of more than 666,000 people in the United States, won’t take the virus seriously or do the one thing that we know will help stop it in its tracks, i.e. get vaccinated. And we don’t mean frustrated in the way where you’re like, Oh, that’s kind of annoying but what are you gonna do? But wherein you want to grab these people by the shoulders and yell, “Christ on a crutch, what the hell is wrong with you?!” and then tape their mouths shut when they start talking about how they are still doing their “research” into the vaccines.
One of those extremely frustrated people is President Joe Biden, who last week at the White House exasperatedly noted that “despite having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months, free vaccines have been available at 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot,” and then asked, “What more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see? We’ve made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient. The vaccine has FDA approval, over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and the refusal has cost all of us.”
And another one is Pope Francis, who, like Biden, can’t figure out WTF is wrong with these anti-vaxxers. Per the Associated Press:
Speaking to reporters, Francis seemed to suggest that Burke, like others who have been hospitalized or died for no good reason, was what the bible refers to as a “f–king idiot.”
Pope Francis says vaccine deniers are creating division within the College of Cardinals and that one of them has been hospitalized with COVID.
"The ironies of life," he says. pic.twitter.com/a8ZCB8Ie2R
— The Recount (@therecount) September 15, 2021
Francis also brought up the fact that anti-vaxxers have vaccines to thank for not having to worry about things like polio anymore. “It’s a bit strange, because humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines,” Francis said, noting that for decades, children have been vaccinated against measles, mumps, and polio, “and no one said anything.”
Previously, the Vatican has said that it is “morally acceptable” for Catholics to get vaccinated against COVID-19, including ones based on research that use cells from aborted fetuses. In January, the pope declared that not getting vaccines known to be safe and effective is “suicidal denialism.”
Surprise: Virtually all of Fox News is vaccinated
And not only that, the right-wing network, whose hosts peddle anti-vaccine programming nightly, is taking a harsher line on testing than the president they claim is a COVID-19 dictator. Funny how that worked out! Per The Guardian:
“Today’s news from Fox News follows a trend we’re seeing across the country: vaccination and testing requirements work,” a White House spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday, adding: “We are glad they have stepped up to protect their workforce and strengthen the economy, and we encourage them to convey to their audience that these types of practices will protect their employees, their communities, and the economy.”
How’s Greg Abbott’s pledge to “eliminate rapists” from the state of Texas going?
You’ll never believe it but it appears that he’s not even trying, and may have just said it to get people off his back about the barbaric law he signed banning abortion at six weeks with no exceptions. Per CNN:
According to statistics from the Texas Department of Public Safety shared by CNN, as of August 2021, there were 5,298 untested sexual assault kits, including 1,716 kits within the DPS crime-lab system, in addition to 3,582 kits that remain with law enforcement agencies across the state that have not submitted.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department made an emergency request to a federal judge in Austin to immediately block enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which has effectively banned abortion at six weeks, which is really more like two weeks if you’re lucky. In its request, the DOJ wrote that the law has “gravely and irreparably impaired women’s ability to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion across the State,” adding that clinics in neighboring states are receiving “panicked calls” from Texas patients and seeing a huge spike in patients under 18, sexual assault survivors, older patients, and cases that involve serious fetal anomalies.
Elsewhere!
Tax Hikes to Pay for Biden Agenda Approved by House Panel (Bloomberg)
FBI director faces new scrutiny over investigation of Brett Kavanaugh (Guardian)
California’s recall election confirmed everything that is wrong with today’s Republican Party (Washington Post)
U.S. Capitol Police request D.C. National Guard assistance ahead of September 18 right-wing rally (CNN)
Over 100 Economists Urge U.S. Congress to Invest in Child Care (Bloomberg)
IPOs Popping En Masse Is Latest Stage of Equity Euphoria (Bloomberg)
Federal judge denies Trump’s request to stop E. Jean Carroll lawsuit from moving forward (CNN)
Bonkers South Carolina Crime Saga Has Taken Another Bonkers Twist (Intelligencer)
The safe house of “El Chapo” is now a lottery prize (Insider)
Always knew which side of the fence the PoP (Prince of Pedophiles) would be on. If he interpreted a biblical concept to mean “f*cking idiot” it must be what it means… since he’s god’s human representative. He must have been wearing his Dagon fish hat instead of the white kippa, otherwise it wouldn’t be official. What a fucking pig… he’s on “the list”.