Just Another Monday Reads: End of the Line for the Deplorables

Folk Tales Tiger, jeremy Yong

Good Day Sky Dancers!

I’ve been considering searching for old episodes of Mr. Rogers that the girls and I used to watch back in the appropriate age range day just because I always remembered feeling so good just knowing some one like him was around.  I used to even sneak watches at him when I was a teenager during the Nixon Years.   He was fairly new to PBS but wow, it was so nice to see a kind and gentle man. Anyway, we now have TikTok and Nick Cho who is @yourKoreanDad.  I’m going to start out with this before we have to take another trip on the Trump Crazy Train because every one needs a good daily dose of a kind and gentle man,

Also, please enjoy these selections of Korean art!

And, have a lot of love and fun with your Korean dad!  We all need something after over four years of Trumpist Terrorism!

Feel a little better now?

Good, cause today we’ve got a few deplorables to highlight.  The first one is Quarterback Tom Brady who demonstrates peak performance deplorable behavior with this “Tom Brady purchased a multi-million-dollar boat after company received $960K PPP loan.”

Heading into this season, Tom Brady signed a two-year, $50 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a deal that was signed about a week after the coronavirus pandemic forced sports to essentially shut down in the country.

And those ensuing months would prove to be a challenging time for the U.S. as nearly 300,000 people have died along with millions of COVID-19 cases and jobs lost. To help counteract the economic impact, congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to assist businesses during the crisis.

Well, Brady’s own company, TB12, was among the businesses to receive a PPP loan — a loan of $960,000 — but you probably won’t be surprised to see that the Bucs quarterback hasn’t exactly struggled financially.

According to a report from TMZ, Brady recently purchased a multi-million-dollar, custom boat that was delivered to him in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Thursday. The 40-foot boat was named “Viva a Vida” after Gisele’s environmental initiative.

Ship-jangsaeng
the Twelve “Ten Symbols of Longevity”

I’m not sure why he felt the need for the government to subsidize his business while he’s getting paid like that but you know, that’s just what deplorables do these days.

Then, there are these deplorables who showed up Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s house late Saturday while she and her son were finishing up their Holiday Decorations.  What was the purpose of this neighborhood visit?  Well, in typical deplorable style it included death threats and the usual horrible taunts plus guns.  Lots of gun toting and lots of rage by the usual set of deplorable white men.

Portrait of Kang Io by Yi Jaegwan (1783–1837).

This is from Michigan Live and yesterday: “Armed protesters rally outside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s home.”  I wouldn’t exactly call this a protest, however.

About 20-30 protesters, some open-carrying guns, gathered outside Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s home Saturday night to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s win in Michigan, police said.

Officers responded to a public disturbance around 9:50 p.m., Dec. 5 outside of Benson’s Detroit residence, said the Michigan State Police. Some of the protesters carried weapons, police said, and the crowd dispersed once officers arrived. No protesters were arrested, police said. Detroit police were called to the scene, as well.

Protesters posted two livestream videos of the rally, which showed people chanting for election audits and to “Stop the steal.” At least one individual shouted “you’re murderers” in the videos, according to a joint statement by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

The rally was a threat against not only Benson and her family, but also Michigan voters, Benson said in a statement.

“The demands made outside my home were unambiguous, loud and threatening,” she said in the release. “They targeted me in my role as Michigan’s Chief Election Officer. But the threats of those gathered weren’t actually aimed at me – or any other elected officials in this state. They were aimed at the voters.”

She noted in the release that she and her 4-year-old son were decorating the house for Christmas when the protesters arrived.

So, if this is true, I’ve got to find a new new for the Deplorable-in Chief. Alyana Treena of Axios reports this: “President Trump is considering a made-for-TV grand finale: a White House departure on Marine One and final Air Force One flight to Florida for a political rally opposite Joe Biden’s inauguration, sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios.”

The big picture: The Trump talk could create a split-screen moment: the outgoing president addressing a roaring crowd in an airport hangar while the incoming leader is sworn in before a socially distanced audience outside the Capitol, as NBC News first reported.

• Immediately announcing he is running for re-election in 2024 would set up four years of Trump playing Biden’s critic-in-chief.

• The visual also would embody the vast difference in the two leaders’ approaches to the pandemic.

• And flying off from the South Lawn before landing in Florida would let Trump escape protests, the normal pleasantries of welcoming the incoming president to the White House — and sitting there while Biden takes the oath of office.

Well, look who is hospitalized with the Corona Virus?

*Of course, he’s getting great care!

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and the face of his longshot legal challenges to overturn the presidential election results, has been hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19.

The 76-year-old former New York mayor was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Giuliani appeared to confirm his positive diagnosis, hours after it was announced on Twitter by Trump, by tweeting that he’s “getting great care and feeling good.”

There have been no additional details provided about his condition, and it is unclear when Giuliani received a positive test for Covid-19. He and his spokeswoman have not responded to CNN’s requests for comment.

This story comes from Stephanie Ruhle whose entire family has tested positive.

One of the people who did take my call seriously, the woman who cuts my hair, canceled her Thanksgiving, took her kids out of school, stopped going to work and made no money for nearly two weeks. Her test, which she spent three hours waiting to get, came back eight days later. It was negative. But how many people can put their lives, livelihoods and jobs on hold just to do the right thing?

Hourly wage workers are going to work sick because they can’t afford not to work. Many of their employers are ignoring the symptoms, because they are trying to keep business alive.

Testing remains a challenge — and there are no consequences for people who don’t self-isolate while they wait several days just to get results, especially if they have no or minimal symptoms.

And then there are people who may know they are spreading the coronavirus and simply don’t care. Any of these scenarios is possible, because there is no comprehensive national containment plan.

So, I’m still scheduled to teach in a classroom with about 35 people with no windows on Saturday because that’s what some of the most vocal students wanted to do.  My grad assistant Rose will be there too. This is happening as Mayor Cantrell has announced that she will tighten restrictions again if this week’s numbers don’t improve.

I think it’s pretty obvious to most of us by now that Trump and his Trumpists don’t give a damn about any one but themselves.

Oh, and there’s rumors that Bill Barr is bailing early.  Good Riddance to the lot of them!  I would like to live in a world where never have to hear a word about any of them again unless it has to do with a pending jail term.

Take care this week!  Be safe!  We care and love you here our beloved community!  We just got to hang in here for a few more months and then ride the change!

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?