I went to the store tonight to get some fancy food for an anniversary dinner I’m making my wife and me. Maybe a third of the customers were wearing masks, and half the employees (who are required to wear masks) did not have them on at all or did not cover their noses.
As I was perusing the ribeyes, some dude with no mask on had no patience to wait for me, but didn’t say anything or even clear his throat (I would have jumped out of the way and waited). He just leaned right over my shoulder to grab a steak, practically nuzzling me on the ear in the process!
Then as I drove home, literally no one on the road had their lights on, despite it being pretty dark, with grey skies and driving rain. And to top it all off, as I pulled into my garage I heard Chris Hayes on MSNBC (via SiriusXM) reporting that the Trump administration is blocking CDC officials from testifying before a committee on school openings! FFS
LOL, no. I believe I’ve frequently mentioned that I appreciate Bill Maher’s unusual willingness to say just this on TV. But there are certain times it irks me more than others. Also, I have in the past taken a certain pride in Minnesotans being much less moronic than people in other places I’ve lived, but they’re not backing it up lately.
I was totally nonplussed (in the classic sense) and froze up, didn’t say anything. By ten seconds later I wished I had, but the moment had passed to do so without it being really awkward.
I’m in Moorhead, Minnesota. I’m not sure about those exact stats, but I clicked on a graphic the other day that said in a gathering of 100 people in my county, there’s a 77% chance someone has Covid. In Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located, it’s only a little higher, 81% chance.
^ Under rated comment. Even though I totally empathize with the OP, this conclusion is inescapable. I’m left to also conclude that this current crop of adults ( 30-60?) must have had a significantly higher percentage of Truly Shitty Parents who did not raise them at all…
than I ever would have suspected possible.
I just think it’s odd that the people who were worried in 2008 that Obama’s brownshirts were going to round up everyone’s kids and send them to FEMA camps are strangely silent (or supportive) of unidentified federal employees apprehending people in Portland.
Huh. it’s almost like “freedom loving Americans” are perfectly OK with tyranny so long as the tyrant is on their side.
Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Remember the insane claims that Walmarts were being prepared as detention centers? If Obama had done the same, or for that matter Bill Clinton post-Waco/Ruby Ridge, the usual suspects would have gone apeshit.
In fairness, on the National Review Editors podcast, of the three panelists only Rich Lowry was supportive of what they were doing, excusing it on the basis that federal buildings were under threat and that these agents couldn’t use their real names or marked vehicles because it would put them in danger. But the others said that although it would obviously be easier for cops in general, if they could operate in the shadows that way, there’s something un-American about it.
One theory they mentioned but then kind of dismissed as hyperbolic, which hadn’t even occurred to me, was that Trump is doing a dry run to use federal agents to intimidate people around mail-in voting somehow. I’m not sure how that would work, exactly, but it did kind of raise the hairs on the back of my neck so I hope all the armies of election lawyers James Carville has promised are going to be vigilant. One thing I find comforting is that I just don’t believe a lot of people in federal law enforcement really want Trump to be around past January 20.
ETA: I sent a complaint to the management of Hornbacher’s (the local supermarket chain) about the lack of masks, and although I surprisingly didn’t hear back from them, I saw a couple days later that they announced they would soon be requiring all customers to wear masks. Probably a total coincidence, but maybe my complaint helped nudge things a bit. Either way, I was very glad to hear it.
