Sunday’s Forum

FILED UNDER: Open Forum
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Teve says:

    @DrAndrewThaler

    In retrospect, hiding all the microchips in Horse Dewormer was a stroke of genius.

    15
  2. OzarkHillbilly says:

    An Oklahoma doctor has said overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which many believe without evidence can prevent or cure Covid-19, are helping cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services struggling to cope with the resurgent pandemic.

    Ivermectin is used to kill internal and external parasites in livestock animals and, in smaller doses, in humans.

    “There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous,” Dr Jason McElyea, a family doctor in Sallisaw, told KFOR, an Oklahoma TV station. “The [emergency rooms] are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated. Ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don’t have any, that’s it. If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.”

    1
  3. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I’ve no doubt this is within the realm of possibility. but the doctor hasn’t worked in an ER for two months, and the hospital he cited as having difficulties says this isn’t happening.

    6
  4. charon says:

    https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1434380417688289283

    2) Seriously. Masking & quarantining are in the Bible folks— “Anyone with such a defining disease must… cover the lower part of their face. As long as they have the disease… they must live alone, they must live outside the camp” ~ Leviticus 13:45-46.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-fxYqQWYAEE99N?format=jpg&name=medium

    Some people are pretty selective which parts of Leviticus work for them.

    (Reading down the thread a bit farther, the above pertains to leprosy, which actually is an airborne disease. But, by analogy …).

    4
  5. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @CSK: Yes, I read the article.

  6. Teve says:

    @charon: Leviticus consists entirely of two sentences, “Queers are So Gross EWWWWWWW. They should go back where they came from.”

    2
  7. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    http://www.rollingstone.com printed the full statement by the hospital system. It really doesn’t help matters for McElyea to be making these kind of claims.

    4
  8. de stijl says:

    @Teve:

    Also, shellfish is bad. And pork is really, really bad.

    Women during that time of the month must go to a special area / encampment, etc. It is bizarrely specific, Leviticus.

    During college I palled around with a bunch of folks from south St. Paul proper where there was a relatively small but substantive Jewish presence. Initially as a friend of their friend, but later as just friends.

    I grew up in south Minneapolis and St. Paul was figuratively the dark side of the moon. 6 miles away and a million miles away.

    As a group it was uniformly secular on the whole but with interesting ties and connections to practiced Judaism. They were all Reform if they went to temple at all or ever. When their parents made them go for special events mostly.

    Many / most ignored Leviticus altogether or had an internal version of asterisk carve outs. Justified or not was not my business. It worked for them as individuals.

    At the same time I hung out with a lot of Iranians / Persians whose parents fled Iran with the fall of the Shah. (This was early 80s.)

    They, too, had a similar and practical understanding of Shia Islam proscribed behavior and came up with a structure that suited them. Alcohol use was the most commonly flouted rule. Again, not my business.

    It was all very fascinating to me. I had the perception and forethought to keep my reactions to myself.

    2
  9. charon says:

    https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1434369063896113154

    The JCVI decision to me highlights a lot of what’s been wrong about UK thinking for a long time. Uncertainties in evidence have often been used to justify inaction. The truth is there is always uncertainty. But uncertainty in evidence does not mean uncertainty in policy. A thread

    1
  10. Teve says:

    @q_review

    there’s something a liiitle bit funny about how John Mulaney started hanging out with Pete Davidson and joked like “I’m gonna show him how we celebrities can live quiet, boring lives of sobriety” and like 4 months later he enters rehab, divorces his wife, & knocks up Olivia Munn

    1
  11. Jim Brown 32 says:

    Regarding the Supreme Court Abortion bounty discussion yesterday:

    Just more evidence that conservatives have decided America is too small for them and the liberals. This is unfortunate because it means the options for restoring our politics to a reasonable balance are mostly bad. Confrontation of some degree is inevitable. Team Red mostly views Team Blue as a threat to America itself. From their view, the Country is too small for the 2 of you.

    The sad part is, we were placed on this road because an entertainment syndicate saw hyper division as a profit center and imperiled the future of America for nothing more than dollars.

    My concern is that people that care about our future are busy watching the puppet show and not exposing and pressuring the puppet masters. Hannity, Carlson, O’Reilly, etc are marionettes… the hand pulling the strings are the real Centers of Gravity here.

    We have an old saying in asymmetric warfare: The best way to control the opposition is to BE the opposition. Meaning, the play is not to tangle with the true believers and opportunists. You have to get upstream and get control of the puppet strings…. not to convince Republicans to be pot smoking. Atheist hippies–like Michael Reynolds– but keep them within the lanes of Loyal Opposition.

    At this point Im not even sure the Murdoch family holds the puppet strings…but if they do… THEY (and other Major campaign funders) need to feel the pressure–both financially and socially. The longer this can is kicked down the road the more intense the inevitable confrontational will be.

    6
  12. Slugger says:

    I watched part of two college football games yesterday. Bizarre!! Everyone in the stadium rocking the home team colors. Every play for gain greeted with ecstatic jubilation; every loss evoked gnashing of teeth. It is just a football game; isn’t it? No one will care about the outcome in a month. Stay calm and read a little from a textbook.
    Perhaps, I just don’t get it.

    3
  13. de stijl says:

    @Slugger:

    I totally agree.

    Except for college hockey which is weirdly super important to me. NHL hockey can fuck off, thank you very much. I even watch D3 game highlights regularly ffs It’s weird.

    1
  14. CSK says:

    @Slugger:
    Were they southern or midwestern colleges?

  15. de stijl says:

    @de stijl:

    Persian food is way better than Jewish food imo.

    Tahdig (crispy rice) was a life changing discovery. Latkes can kiss my butt.

    2
  16. Teve says:

    Trumpers let’s get this party Started

    Brazillian Viper Venom May Fight Coronavirus

    BRB going to Winn-Dixie for Orville Redenbacher Extra Movie Theater Butter (peels new Pirelli P4 tires)

    1
  17. Teve says:

    @de stijl: i still remember the first place i had Manakish and Labneh.

    1
  18. Mister Bluster says:

    Go Dawgs!
    SIU defeats SEMO 47-21 in War for the Wheel
    The game is now known as the “War for the Wheel” in reference to the ship’s wheel trophy which goes to the winner.

  19. Mister Bluster says:

    My mom: “Why do you watch football? All they do is run and fall down!”

    Beulah Esther Brown
    1920-2008
    RIP

    3
  20. gVOR08 says:

    @Jim Brown 32:

    At this point Im not even sure the Murdoch family holds the puppet strings…but if they do… THEY (and other Major campaign funders) need to feel the pressure–both financially and socially.

    I entirely agree. But how? Charles Koch should be living in fear of a lynch mob. But he isn’t.

    1
  21. gVOR08 says:

    @Slugger: I see politics as very much like sports, except that it actually matters who wins. If the average middle class white guy spent half the time he spends on sports on history and current events instead we’d live in a better world. Or not, if he watched FOX.

  22. Michael Reynolds says:

    Many long years ago I had a blog. There were subsections, one of which was called, Incoherent Rage. Yesterday I had an experience that sent me back to a post I wrote in IR. I re-post it here because dammit, someone’s gotta say it.

    I have a personal note for the driver of the gray mini-van at Hardee’s drive-thru this morning. (Oh, you know who you are.) Dear van driver: you don’t spend five minutes perusing the goddamned menu. It’s fucking Hardees, it’s not Alain fucking Ducasse. It’s not Charlie fucking Trotter. This is not the French Laundry or Citronelle or fucking Taillevent, this is fucking Hardees. It’s all fatty, gummy, oversalted goo, what the fuck are you holding out for? You figure if you look long enough you’ll find a goddamned omelet aux fine herbes? You think Combo #9 is poached eggs on toasted brioche topped with creme fraiche and a dollop of beluga? It’s all crap, you imbecile, it’s all the same, just pick your heart atttack and move the fuck on.

    Here is the rule: you have PRECISELY eight seconds to place an order for one person. You get an additional five seconds for each additional order. This is not optional. I am telling you. This is now the law. Eight seconds for one person, thirteen seconds for two, up to the maximum of twenty-three seconds for four people. More than four people? Park, and go into the fucking restaurant because seriously, honest-to-God, I can, by straining every nerve in my body, give you twenty-three seconds.. But that’s it. At twenty-four seconds I deploy the horn. Twenty-six seconds you get the angry bald man gesticulating in your rear view mirror. At thirty seconds I can no longer be responsible for my actions.

    And by the way, have your goddamned money ready. Yes, of course I know that the fast food speaker box told you it would cost “hrs hnnh nn hihnhee hen.” I understand that it’s hard to figure out the precise dollar amount when you’re dealing with an employee who sounds like a Spanish stroke victim talking with an eight inch kielbasa in her mouth, but that’s no excuse. If it’s one person, pull out a five. Two people, have a ten spot ready. More, then go with a twenty. And if it’s more than twenty bucks, man, you need to sit down and take a good hard look at your sad fucking life.

    Do not, repeat, DO NOT use a credit card. I am serious about this. Let me explain something, you thoughtless van-sitting s.o.b., there is a moral imperative that binds all of civilization together. There have been many theories on this, stretching back to Plato. Every philospher has weighed in on the question of what, precisely, we owe our fellow human beings. How are we to hold civilization together? Some, when facing this question, ask What Would Jesus Do?

    Well, I’ll tell you what Jesus would do: he’d have his fucking money out. And he wouldn’t be pulling out his fucking Mastercard unless he was looking to give Mel Gibson material for a sequel. If you know what I mean. So, rather than ask, What Would Jesus Do, (WWJD) I want all of you out there on the great highway of life to ask, Am I In Michael’s Way. AIIMW. There’s your damned moral imperative, you inconsiderate, van-driving barnyard animal. If we all live the AIIMW ethic, we have civilization. Without it? Screaming bald guys. Nothing but screaming bald guys.

    Thank you.

    Raise the dollar amounts and make it Rick’s, my nearest drive-thru, and it’s as true and timely today as it was 15 years ago.

    5
  23. Teve says:

    @Michael Reynolds:

    I have a personal note for the driver of the gray mini-van at Hardee’s drive-thru this morning. (Oh, you know who you are.) Dear van driver: you don’t spend five minutes perusing the goddamned menu. It’s fucking Hardees, it’s not Alain fucking Ducasse. It’s not Charlie fucking Trotter. This is not the French Laundry or Citronelle or fucking Taillevent, this is fucking Hardees.

    Hey it’s not that dude’s fault that the Hardee’s menu is really cluttered and it took him a long time to realize they weren’t offering a prix fixe at the moment.

    2
  24. Gustopher says:

    @gVOR08:

    I entirely agree. But how? Charles Koch should be living in fear of a lynch mob. But he isn’t.

    That just means he’ll be surprised, and doesn’t have enough security.

    The lynch mob should be white, male, and wearing expensive suits, otherwise he’ll get wind of it before long. Compare the 2000 Brooks Brothers Riot with the 2020 BLM protests.

    Ideally the lynch mob would be include a Rolls Royce, so when his Rolls slows down to ask for some Grey Pupon the mob can swarm him.

    2
  25. Teve says:

    @andrewsolender

    11 House Republicans send letters to 13 telecom companies vowing to “pursue all legal remedies” if they comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s records request.

    “Please be advised that the undersigned do not consent to the release of confidential call records or data,” it concludes.

    They…don’t sound unafraid.

    6
  26. Teve says:

    @Teve: One of the letters these Trumper congresspersons sent was to

    Ms. Marissa Mayer
    President and CEO
    Yahoo! Inc.

    Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.

    “These guys could fuck up a baked potato.”

    1
  27. Jax says:

    I haz a new earworm….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYTNcTfi3lo

    Stupid banjo’s are always getting me right in the earhole and never leaving. 😛

    2
  28. de stijl says:

    @Michael Reynolds:

    I goddamn love Hardee’s.

    Arby’s too. Not the curly fries though – they are almost never deep fried properly and are too mushy. Straight up roast beef on a bun with two packets of Arby’s sauce a half packet of Horsey sauce.

    1
  29. Mikey says:

    @Teve:

    Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.

    “These guys could fuck up a baked potato.”

    One that was directed at me as a young Airman still very wet-behind-the-ears:

    “Mikey, you couldn’t pour piss out of your boot if the directions were stamped on the heel.”

    1
  30. de stijl says:

    @Teve:

    I now have a crazed hankering for mutton and lamb.

  31. dazedandconfused says:

    @de stijl:
    The sandwiches unavoidably suck due to the regs on meat temp preventing them from doing roast beef the way God had intended. However the one thing they got right is the baked potato. Sooo much better than fries.

  32. Jim Brown 32 says:

    @gVOR08: He stays below the Radar and his personal and business life is disconnected from his political activities. Ultimately the family business has to have dependencies. Whatever they are they can be put under pressure–Im sure Koch industries is not totally insulated from doing business with people that support responsible politics.

  33. Mister Bluster says:

    Former Marine wearing body armor fatally shoots four people, including baby in mother’s arms, Florida sheriff says.
    “We just know we had a madman with a lot of guns that shot and killed innocent people,” Polk County (Florida) Sheriff Grady Judd said.
    Riley was employed by ESS Global Corp as a body guard and to provide security, Judd said. He has a concealed weapon’s license and virtually no criminal history.

    A good guy with a gun?

  34. Jax says:

    So just so you all know WHY I’m on a musical odyssey, it’s because I’m on a tractor 10-12 hours a day with nothing but muuuuuusic.

    Check this one out. My hot take was “Well, this is kinda bauhaus, kinda hillbilly…..OH MY GOD, is that a KAZOO!!!” 😛

    I give you….The Dad Horse Experience.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6yYhcX6D8

  35. Jax says:

    And then….some more Josh Morningstar. 😛

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6yYhcX6D8

    “Syracuse Shwag”, say it ain’t so, my friends!

  36. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Jax: Not enough variety in the song to make an earworm for me. But the banjo player was pretty good.

  37. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @de stijl: If you ever saw what Arby’s roast beef looked like before it was roasted, you’d never eat it again. To this day, I amazed that what goes into the roasting pan comes out as roast beef. It’s a genuine miracle of food science–but I don’t mean that in a good way.