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It must have been in mainstream media somewhere because I remember the outrage that ‘blue states’ couldn’t get ventilators or PPE in the same way ‘red states’ received it. The governors of blue states had to do some type of favor for tfg if they wanted supplies to keep people alive. It was worse every day for people like me (seniors) to go out in public. I spent all day, every day in my 350 square foot apartment. It seemed that seniors were considered expendable by the administration.

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Here our governor and state legislature a imposed "herd immunity" cure. The Florida Department of Health had commenced an inquiry into the state’s reporting of COVID-19 deaths, after DeSantis asserted that the official reports overstate the number of deaths. According to the report, DeSantis and members of his staff repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the COVID-19 death rates, with his press secretary Fred Piccolo Jr. tweeting: "we can tell you definitively that Florida is counting deaths that were not directly caused by COVID-19.” Mr. Piccolo has also sought to downplay the COVID-19 pandemic in other ways. On one occasion, he erroneously tweeted: “we had one COVID death in Florida yesterday . . yes you read that right. One.” In fact, on the day in question, there were 47 deaths.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and other independent public health experts suggest that Florida’s total death toll from the pandemic is actually understated. Experts noted that Governor DeSantis’ administration has used a COVID-19 infection rate that gives “more weight to negative test” results, and thus skews the results. Governor DeSantis has used the skewed rate to justify reopening schools and businesses. In response to criticism, Mr. Piccolo denied that Governor was attempting to question the official death toll, stating “[n]o one in the administration is trying to cast doubt on the number of COVID deaths, we are trying to get to the facts.”https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/covid-19-data-misrepresented-florida-governor

We had (and still have) an antivax policy. "An analysis completed by KFF in early 2022 estimated that 234,000 of the deaths from covid-19 to that point might have been prevented had the deceased been vaccinated. Thousands of people are still dying from covid-19 each month, but the ratio between infections and deaths has plummeted since vaccines became widely available, in part because of changes to the dominant strains that are circulating. By contrast, there is no evidence the vaccines pose a significant, widespread danger." https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/04/desantis-surgeon-general-vaccine-misinformation/

He's still at it.

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Daniel, this is off topic, but we need to get his out there, there is another diabolical Republican scheme and Biden and the Dems are falling for it.

Any hope of keeping the Republicans out of power, relies on, among other things, the youth vote, and the youth are addicted to Tik Tok, anyone who bans Tik Tok will not get the youth vote guaranteed. Take crack away from an addict and see what happens.

The Republicans hate Tik Tok, because Trump hates Tik Tok for good reason.

Ban Tik Tok and it won't be the Republicans that get the bad rap. It will be Biden

Edit added: Joy Reid brought up a horror scenario. That a right wing billionaire like Musk will buy

Tik Tok, From the frying pay to the fire.

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Right.

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Daniel, I am sure you remember the "Better Dead than Red" of the mid 20th Century, when the Russian nuclear threat was at it's height, and we countered with Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

I've been thinking of that, as we are surrounded, inside the country, with surrender monkey's, and some, maybe most in Government. They sure do inluence Biden, because Putin was obliguely threatening such, causing Biden to hold up supply Ukraine with F=16's and Long range artillery. (And look what that decision as wrought, more destruction of Ukraine and the possibility of a total collapse

Will Shakespeare said "A coward dies a thousand times, before his death".

The Red scare of the 20's to Gorbachev, scared the Plutocrats, the elite, and via their control of the means of communication (the media) that made us afraid, they literally projected their fears into the minds of the public and made us afraid as well.

Communism like Capitalism are economic theories, not political, both work in any political system be it democratic or authoritarian.

The USSR was authoritarian as is Russia today under Putin, and much the same thing is going on, a cozy relationship between Church and state. Under Stalin and successors, the Russian Orthodox Church had a cozy relationship with the Kremlin, via the KGB, whose priests were members and relayed confessions to the KGB there is no doubt in my military mind that they same thing is happening today.

Russia was authoritarian then, it is authoritarian today..

Putin as Hitler was, is so identified with the state that he created that I believe he would self immolate rather than go down.

Question is will his lieutenants join in an act of suicide. I doubt it.

There is a question of the ability of Russian nuclear weapons and ICBM. even being able to work. They aren't like artillery shells, you can store until it is time to use them. And even brass ammunition weakens, corrodes over time, as I found out firing some Korean war M1 Carbine ammunition.

Nuclear warheads and missiles require constant maintance and parts replacements, and it is expensive and requires well trained personnel and a supply chain.

Nuclear weapons are often thought about in terms of uranium and plutonium—i.e., the key components in nuclear weapons. However, these weapons also feature over 100 components that use non-nuclear explosive materials, some of them highly specialized and difficult to produce.

https://www.gao.gov/blog/2019/10/31/creating-explosives-for-nuclear-weapons

Then there are the plutonium pits, which also degrade over time, and since the end of the cold war, we lost the ability to build more,and are trying to ramp up

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/26/us-nuclear-arsenal-plutonium-pits#:~:text=Meanwhile%2C%202%2C000%20miles%20away%2C%20at,that%20are%20a%20vital%20component

And if we have a problem it is 1000 times worse in Russia, with all of their graft and incompetence and poorly trained soldiers and "experts"

Putin is bluffing because he, and every tin horn dictator in the world knows that Americans will shiver and shake and wet their pants and foul their underwear when threatened with nuke.s

I don't think it is a matter of better dead than red or vice versa. Putin may have nothing to lose, but he doesn't have his hands on all of the missile triggers, under ground and under ocean, and it is question of whether they will explode in their silos or subs and if they will even function, after 50 years of dissuse,

Everything mechanical uses gaskets, seals, lubricants of some sort, and after 50 years of disuse they dry out and either don't work or malfunction.

Store a car in a barn for even 20 years, go in and crank it up, first you will have to replace the battery, and if it does crank, the oil has turned to sludge, all of the seals and gaskets have dried out. It might start and run but only for a little while.

The threat of nuclear war is an excuse for doing nothing or surrendering.

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Trump should be tried for crimes against humanity. He and his cohorts are mass murderers.

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They haven't even gotten started yet. We had better keep them out of power at all costs.

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I call him Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump!

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Policies kill. This was a most egregious case and Thom, brilliantly explained here. The racism is fundamental:” Good! Let them die!” I lost a friend who was one of the most staunch and spiritual fellow mothers I’ve ever known. She was an El Salvadorean refugee from American covert war in her country. Of course she encountered only poor food to feed her large family here, but she managed. She never lost faith, though she often felt depressed. The children all went to college. The youngest, whom she almost lost to poor prenatal care, got a Master’s degree. She died of Covid in her home, tended by her eldest daughter and recovered alcoholic husband. How much harder do we have to make peoples lives, due to collective judgement and punishment, and racial hatred? America, wake up. The Trumps are leading us to hell because of their willful blindness. They have taken over the Republican Party. This year, for your immortal soul’s sake, as well as human history’s, vote Democrat.

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author

Mimi, so sorry to hear about your friend…

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Look forward to seeing you again in not distant future. Miss you. Take great hope from hearing you- always. Best to Louise💚☘️

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And to Larry! Btw, I only have your PDA email; could you please drop me an email with your current one! Hope you guys make it to Portland again. Louise says hi and she’s looking forward to reruns!

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The problems in Central America, especially El Salvador, Guatepeor, and Honduras are made in the board rooms of the oligarchs corporations, which use financial, intelligence, economic, military and trade as tools. Starting with the Banana Wars from 1898 to 1934.

There was a failed attempt when Hugo Chavez, had the insane idea that oil in Venezuela belonged to Venezuela and not Exxon Mobil.

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Everything belongs to the billionaires in the world according to them anyway. If you kiss their behind, they may let you live.

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The Tuskegee Experiment strikes again.....

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Wow, yes. I hadn't made the connection. Thanks for the nudge.

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I wrote a Daily Kos essay connecting that to the Nazi "doctors" and their "medical experiments" that I need to update for my Sub Stack.

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Mar 14Liked by Thom Hartmann

Also the WH Taskforce acted as a Homicidal Criminal Syndicate: Instead of boosting supply of equipment and supplies and to triage where limited to where need was greatest and impact could be maximized, Trump/Jared led White House Covid response taskforce had specific policy to pit states and communities against each other to bid up the prices and maximize profit of for-profit suppliers. Used the power of the White House to deliberately increase costs and decrease access to taxpayers, states, local jurisdictions and American people for the benefit of corporate friends.

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author

Amen. I would’ve included that, which is easily documented, but the article was already way too long…

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Worked in an ER throughout the pandemic and was one of the few who didn't contract the virus after repeated exposures because we masked and never let the murderous right-wing propaganda stop our blue state precautions. After even blue states were pressured to give up mandatory masks, I got it 9/23,( tho I still masked, most jumped on the " it's over, we're vaxed " train even where we knew better.)

Masks work, vaccines and hand washing work. The unforgivable part of this is that Trump and his minions politicized this and made caring for and protecting ourselves and our communities, a bad thing. Exposing these selfish, stupid people has to continue until everyone is aware. Thanks for a great article.

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You are quite right.

The only mildly amusing part of that idiocy was how I read stacks and stacks of Facebook pages by anti-vaxxers sneering at COVID in general and vaccines in particular...until they got COVID. According to them, COVID was a fraud, and the vaccines were worse.

Then they wrote frantic Facebook posts from hospital, admitting they were wrong, urging readers to get vaccinated, and begging for "prayer warriors" to save them.

Then came the follow-up post announcing the original poster had died of COVID, thanking everyone for the prayers, and urging people to get those shots....

I just said, "And today's recipient of the Darwin Award is..."

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Typical fine granular reporting by our Thom, but missing the Trump campaign against masking and vaxxing that took 1,000,000+ American lives unnecessarily and is still reverberating today in the idiotic anti-vax community of know nothings like RFK, Jr. and Aaron Rodgers. I am a retired physician and contracted the first of 4 COVID-19 infections in Dec., 2019, while living in a hi-rise apt. bldg. in Madison, WI, which had a large population of Chinese grad students travelling back and forth to their homeland, China. First infection much like a mild flu, but 3 mo's. alter LONG COVID set-in and very nearly killed me when it infected my heart, and was only nearly totally eradicated by 2 Pfizer vaxs in 3-4/2021. Needless to say, I got the heck out Madison and that apt. bldg., moving back to a small city in my native Ohio. The two COVID episodes this now 78yo man has endured, with continued boosters, have been mild, as well as the RSV episode. Down here folks pretty much ignore masking/social distancing, so I lay low when a wave goes through. The 18% vax rate is a direct indicator of the hell that Our Mad King (wannabe) Donald has unleashed on America, ALL of us, not just the poor and people of color. Thanks for your ongoing expose's!

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Greeley, Thom may have missed the Trump campaign against masking and vaxxing, but give him a break, he can't cover all of the evils of the right wing. One has to stop at some point, or else it goes on ad infinitum.

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This post and the intentional genocide for electoral benefit is really at the outer edge of what any educated and decent western mind can readily comprehend.

There has to be equivalent accountability for Kushner, his cohort, and Trump.

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Billionaires for jingoism and citizens united. Billionaires love SCOTUS and Trump.

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Wow, I don't want to believe it, but you make such a compelling case. I can't put anything past the prior administration. Jim Gaffigan had said something along the lines of COVID having brought out the CRAZY in people. It was a CRAZY time and is still CRAZY. I could just never understand how protecting each other became so political. This helps explain it even more.

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Mar 14Liked by Thom Hartmann

Everyone should send Thom Hartmann’s newsletter to the media.

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Careful what you wish for Trump/Kushner. You downplayed Covid, causing MAGA to rail against Fauci, masks and vaccinations.

Then when cases dropped in the Blue States due to masks and vax, deaths INCREASED in Red States, affecting your base.

Too late to try to fix it, you'd already built a base that hated Covid precautions.

Vote BLUE.

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Down here in Arizona we got a governor and attorney general by close margins because the covid killed off so many Republicans.

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Race-wise, the Trump/Kushner Plan Backfired on all Whites (see below), according to the CDC.

So, Jared/Donald's history of boneheaded failure (at pretty much everything, everywhere), continues apace, except a massive success at cadging a boatload of US monies; some 2 Billion worth, from the gruesome sheik himself: Mo' Bone Saw. So, their jackhole history lumbers forth, knocking over priceless antiquities as it goes.

Wait !!! . . . Is that a Ming vase Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber are lurching toward?!!

No. It's only democracy itself.:

===================

Deaths by Race/Ethnicity:

Data from 1,169,615 deaths occurring between January 1, 2020 through January 31, 2024

Race/Ethnicity Percentage of deaths Count of deaths

Hispanic 14.8% 173088

Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native 1.05% 12300

Non-Hispanic Asian 3.14% 36716

Non-Hispanic Black 13.66% 159760

Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.2% 2342

Non-Hispanic White 67.15% 785409

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Trump and Kushner should both be prosecuted for their evil roles in “letting

COVID kill Black and Hispanic people “.

They have manipulated situations to allow COVID to kill the most susceptible population.

A massacre in the numbers they were working hard to set up for people of color to die.

Just like Trumps mentor Putin he also watches people and conspires to let people die.

The Evil common to these two is incomprehensible to most people . Trump must be stopped .

I’d feel better if they were charged for their murders.

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He would say ‘as a president I was immune.’

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Great column Thom Hartmann. Your synopsis of where we were four years ago decimates the GOP talking point. It also nearly writes its own referral fr prosecutions of these crimes against American citizens.

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A thought on accountability. Could the Kush - and his Ivy “colleagues” - be the focus of a class action lawsuit. Yes, Kushy and DJT may be insulated, but his amigos certainly aren’t. The information that would spill out of the case would be memorable, and could lead to further actions against Kushy & Friends. E.g., were any of that posse involved in the Saudi Benefits Scheme? The peeps want to know.

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