I think we need for everybody to take one of those paper strip spit tests every day. They may not be 100% reliable, but if we're doing it every day, it's good enough.

I agree your original post was weak. I too would have attempted to clarify my weak position if I were you; I just would have endeavored to clarify my point rather than add more evidence to the idiot pile.

Also, I'm still not a Democrat no matter how many times dipshits like you post that fabrication. Simple-minded fools tend to fall back on that Party affiliation spew because it's so much easier than developing critical thinking skills. :)

This, JFC! :)

OK, Kick has straightened out the whole Russiagate thing for me.

When the Dems win, Putin had no involvement!

You seem married to the ignorance of a zero-sum game and determined to dumb yourself down... and here you keep claiming to be an economist! It's almost cute.

How could I have been so dumb to miss something that logical?

Right-winger types are painfully slow to "catch on" to sarcasm yet blazingly fast to just make up stupid shit.

Any more questions, just ask. :)

Once again I am way ahead of the rest of you as my expectations from Biden are already at rock bottom.

Yes, Don, you are the definite board champion in the race to the bottom in everything. You vote for yourself and encourage everyone else to do likewise even though it is not possible in the majority of states. You are the king of the political bottom dwellers hanging out on the swamp floor and trolling to be noticed.

And I also have little expectation that CW will be any different than McConnell in the possibility of CW changing his tune and start actually addressing reality.

Yes, Don, you are likewise the board champion of low expectations. Your real problem, bottom feeder, is that CW refuses to give a microphone to your ridiculous delusion that a lone fish like yourself withholding his support is going to get noticed by a politician in a sea of ~160 million other fish willing to engage in the political process.

Wake up. Wise up. Rise up.

Swim toward the light, bottom feeder. :)

I do love it when I discover that you have beaten me to the punch -- and did it so much more ”eloquently” than I could have!

I don't know about that, you are much more eloquent than I, but we are definitely peas and carrots... oh, wait... not carrots... we are peas... but not peas with the little onions... just peas.

(that word means ”bluntly”, right?)

That word "koshka"? Koshka is how they say "cat" in Russia. There is more than one way to skin a koshka... a cat like Mitch.

Take care of yourselves up there. That is an order! :)

But, I'll quickly answer my own question in [25] and supplement it later - maybe in the FTP column ...

I don't think mask mandates, even if most Americans complied with them, along with vaccines, even if they are pretty effective and a good percentage of the population takes them, are anywhere near enough for the US to shut down this virus.

The WHO Director General always says, 'Do it all!' ... and therein lies the real answer to how the US can shut down this virus.

I was listening to one of the WHO virtual press conferences the other day and they were talking about what the successful countries have done to shut down the virus and did they have any common elements that the rest of the world could learn from.

It was a fascinating discussion - nothing we all haven't heard before and the answers are brilliant in their simplicity.

JFC hit on one of those elements that successful countries had going for them - a high level of compliance from their citizens which, of course, went along with a high level of trust in their governments.

Anyway, after I grab some dinner, I'll detail what Dr. Ryan, WHO Health Emergencies Programme Executive Director, had to say about this. I have learned so very much just listening to his very long and detailed answers to reporters' questions ...

It might be a good idea to keep this discussion in this thread instead of taking it over to the FTP column just to keep it all in one place, if that makes sense??

To answer your question [in 25], I would need for you to be a little more specific. Would this vaccine be like a measles vaccine or a flu vaccine? Should I assume that people would actually take it? Would people be able to freely ignore these mask mandates w/o consequence?

Well, let's say the vaccine(s) is 60% to 75% effective (I find it hard to believe that the Pfizer vaccine is 90% effective) and absolutely safe and recommended by all of the reputable scientists. And, let's assume that the vaccination rate is better than the average for vaccines, in general. I don't think that enforcing a mask mandate with penalties is advisable or even doable. It's better to keep trying to persuade people through effective public education campaigns.

So, what do you think? Are mask mandates and vaccines enough to shut down the virus in your country?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCLp7zodUiI

LL&P

LL&P

LL&P

Food fight.

LL&P

1) Doing away with the filibuster and

2) Adding members to the Supreme Court

The current vaccine being talked about, the one that is farthest along, by Pfizer:

1) Needs to be kept or stored at a very low temperature

2) Requires 2 separate doses or shots over time, in order to be effective.

That is going to be distribution both slow and expensive.

Not many people are going to want to take TWO vaccination shots, and not many places have enough fridge space to store that much vaccine.

LL&P

As Trump might say, 'A landslide Electoral victory'...

Trump will need the TARDIS to change this outcome.

LL&P

You seem to be minimizing the fact that hack = steal.

Does overt criminal behavior not concern you?

Regardless of whether or not you believe it affected the result of the election, Russiagate was NOT a big lie right from the start, manufactured by Dems/libs.

vaccines and masks and social distancing will all help, but the main things we need are time and collective will.

And that's not even counting the time when he went on national TV to urge them to do it!

No gawdam wonder he got caught at it. You can't put anything over on those sharp-witted Dems, right?

Your either/or nonsense is nonsense.

Clinton lost for a number of reasons.

* She was a bad choice for the Dems to nominate since the GOP had demonized her for 20 years.
* She is just not a good campaigner.
* Drumpf colluded with Russia.
* Comey
* She's a woman in a woman-hating country.

The fact that there were other factors does not negate the fact that Fat Donny and his crime family colluded with Russia.

How could I have been so dumb to miss something that logical?

You try hard?

Would this vaccine be like a measles vaccine or a flu vaccine? Should I assume that people would actually take it? Would people be able to freely ignore these mask mandates w/o consequence?

When the Reps win, it was all Russia's doing.

When the Dems win, Putin had no involvement!

How could I have been so dumb to miss something that logical?

I do love it when I discover that you have beaten me to the punch -- and did it so much more ”eloquently” than I could have! (that word means ”bluntly”, right?)

-R

Biden... 78,008,805

In case you were wondering, Stucki, this was all part of Donald Trump's calculated plan to throw the election to Joe Biden and then blame Fox News for him being a bigly loser... and executed flawlessly by The Donald a.k.a. Fat Donny. *shakes head*

Could it possibly be that Russiagate was a big lie right from the start, manufactured by Dems/libs frantic to rationalize the fact that they had nominated the only person in the Democrat party capable of losing to the likes of the orange moron?

Sure, old man. Before the election had even taken place, the Democrats forced Donald Trump, Jr. and multiple members of the Trump campaign into having 200+ meetings with agents of Russia and made sure their own computers were hacked by the GRU and the contents then disseminated to the world via multiple cutouts including WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Jerome Corsi, Roger Stone, and others who coordinated with multiple members of the Trump campaign to release the said stolen email... just in case Trump happened to win the election multiple months later.

Are you seriously this damn dumb? Rhetorical question.

So why didn't it work this time? Could it possibly be that Russiagate was a big lie right from the start, manufactured by Dems/libs frantic to rationalize the fact that they had nominated the only person in the Democrat party capable of losing to the likes of the orange moron?

FTFY

The closest case would be WWII, which is a pretty good one. But the war was won by the Allies jointly, rather than being something that the US did. We played the leading role at the end, but the Russians did most of the dying, and the British Commonwealth stood pretty much alone for quite some time while Russia was on the ropes. And our involvement wasn't entirely a matter of Americans coming together, given that there was an isolationist movement strong enough to keep us out until we were actually attacked. And given that a substantial number of Americans, rather than getting to come together, were rounded up and put in internment camps for being of Japanese ancestry.

I'm pretty sure the Republican gains this time were incremental, but over the last decade I think they've been catastrophic.

Of course if we lose Georgia then....

McConnell is the same man who dedicated his party to the goal of making Barack Obama a one-term president, please remember. So why would anyone expect him to change in what will essentially be Obama's third term in office?

I could actually answer that question, but there are multiple reasons why I won't. Suffice it to say, there is more than one way to skin a koshka.

Obama's third term in office? Seriously? All due respect, explain to me why we shouldn't call you out for journalistic laziness with that nugget. A lot has happened since the Obama administration, and we were all here for it... including you. :)

You know, it's like a million ripples that form a wave that can break down the mightiest walls of Republican malfeasance.

But, it really doesn't have to be that way.

Not if Democrats fight like they've never fought before and bring back the lost art of persuasion before it's completely dead.

Democrats have the facts and the interests of the people on their side, after all.

I'll bet that Senator Sherrod Brown knows how to lead the way ... but, it will take ALL Democrats on the same page for the duration.

Who knows, Democrats might just realize a blue wave in 2022. Stranger things have already happened, on a near daily basis.

Precisely.

Which should give Biden and his Democrats all the ammunition they need if they have what it takes to pull the trigger. Ahem.

Okay, enough is enough, already with the 'Obama's third term in office' mantra.

On January 20 will begin Biden's first term in the oval office, thank-you very much!

True.

But, you can try to mobilize enough voters to make the Republicans squirm.

Of course, then you'll have SCOTUS to worry about.

Right, well, nothing is going to be easy. Then again, nothing easy was ever worth doing or something like that. Heh.

I suppose there will be lost of EOs - hopefully, he doesn't make a Broadway production out of it and rather just does a press release or, perhaps, mention it within the confines of a speech or press briefing.

Biden and the Democrats will have to get creative in way never attempted before and go directly to the people.

So, when does the massive public education campaign, for lack of a much better phrase which I can't think up right now but I'll work on it, begin in Georgia wherein every single voter in the state will be presented with arguments in favour of Democrats winning those two seats, arguments that a majority of those voters will find very difficult to ignore and not act upon?

Biden better have a solid plan to deal with Mitch. I believe he does. Biden can play hardball politics with the best of them and he does it while flashing that signature Biden smile. Mitch won't know what hit him.

I think I'm with the conservatives on that one, so ...

I realize this is not a fun thing to contemplate, but it is the reality of the situation. Let's say Democrats do win both Senate races in Georgia, as a best-case scenario. They will then have 50 senators caucusing with them, and with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, they will gain control of the chamber. But this puts them in a situation where any one Democratic senator can upset the applecart with his or her vote.

Yeah? Well, let those progressives just try to upset Biden's applecart. Just let them try!