COVID-19 Pandemic
Doctors and charlatans
There is a new blog post entitled, “Free speech, COVID-19, and responsibility.”
Michaeleen Doucleff, “A second version of omicron is spreading. Here’s why scientists are on alert,” National Public Radio, January 27, 2022, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/01/27/1076123109/new-covid-variant-omicron-ba-2
Paula Reed Ward, “District court in Pittsburgh split on school masking, issue likely to be decided by appellate court,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 27, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/district-court-in-pittsburgh-split-on-school-masking-issue-likely-to-be-decided-by-appellate-court/
Police White supremacist gangs
John Archibald, “Brookside police patrolled social media, threatening town’s critics,” AL.com, January 27, 2022, https://www.al.com/news/2022/01/brookside-police-patrolled-social-media-threatening-towns-critics.html
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Donald Trump is receiving pushback from Trumpists for his endorsement in a Tennessee race, where he seems to have passed over a more loyal candidate.[1] It is further evidence—we should also count the pushback he’s received for pro-vaccination comments he’s made[2]—that Trump does not control Trumpism.[3]
Apparently, some experts think the seditious conspiracy charges against Oath Keepers are relatively strong. What I see in their arguments, however, is conspiracy.[4] This does not touch Jeannie Gersen’s argument about motivation, that the Oath Keepers may in fact have sought to uphold the law as they perceived it.[5]
FiveThirtyEight, “Is Trump’s Hold On The GOP Still Strong?” January 26, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-trumps-hold-on-the-gop-still-strong/
Alex Isenstadt, “Trump faces MAGA revolt over endorsement,” Politico, January 27, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/27/trump-maga-revolt-endorsement-00003050
Nick Robins-Early, “Seditious conspiracy is rarely proven. The Oath Keepers trial is a litmus test,” Guardian, January 28, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/28/seditious-conspiracy-charges-trial-oath-keepers-us-court
Right-wing dictatorship
Apparently, the state constitution must be amended to permit no-excuse mail-in balloting.[6]
Angela Couloumbis, “State court finds Pennsylvania’s mail voting law unconstitutional, with appeal likely,” Spotlight PA, January 28, 2022, https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2022/01/pennsylvania-mail-voting-unconstitutional-supreme-court-appeal/
Pittsburgh
I don’t think I even realized there was a bridge where one collapsed.[7] I cross over others that I do see and that scare me more every day: “Allegheny County is home to more structurally deficient bridges than any other county in the country, [Michael] Lamb said.”[8]
As it happens, I had an order in that area Friday evening. Parts of South Braddock Avenue were still closed with Columbia Gas crews on the scene.
Ed Blazina et al., “‘A boom, then a monster sound’: 10 hurt after bridge over Pittsburgh’s Frick Park collapses,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 28, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/01/28/pittsburgh-bridge-collapse-forbes-braddock-avenue-point-breeze-squirrel-hill/stories/202201280075
Brian C. Rittmeyer, Megan Guza, and Jason Cato, “10 injured in bridge collapse in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 28, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/frick-park-bridge-collapses-natural-gas-smell-in-area/
- [1]Alex Isenstadt, “Trump faces MAGA revolt over endorsement,” Politico, January 27, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/27/trump-maga-revolt-endorsement-00003050↩
- [2]Jill Colvin, “Trump reveals he got COVID-19 booster shot; crowd boos him,” Associated Press, December 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-donald-trump-coronavirus-vaccine-74abcd4e6833835f5df445fe2142e22b; Guardian, “Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine,” August 22, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/22/donald-trump-rally-alabama-covid-vaccine; Olafimihan Oshin, “Trump pushes back on Candace Owens: ‘People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,’” Hill, December 23, 2021, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/587079-trump-pushes-back-on-candace-owens-people-arent-dying; Aila Slisco, “75 Percent of Unvaxxed Trump Voters Vow to Never Get Jab After Ex-President’s Urging: Poll,” Newsweek, December 24, 2021, https://www.newsweek.com/poll-unvaccinated-trump-voters-1663065; Peter Weber, “Candace Owens claims Trump supports COVID vaccines because he’s ‘old’ and ‘came from a time before TV,’” Week, December 27, 2022, https://theweek.com/donald-trump/1008423/candace-owens-claims-trump-supports-covid-vaccines-because-hes-old-and-came↩
- [3]David Benfell, “Trumpism, Donald Trump, the January 6 coup attempt, and a smoking gun that may never be found,” Not Housebroken, December 19, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/12/14/trumpism-donald-trump-the-january-6-coup-attempt-and-a-smoking-gun-that-may-never-be-found/↩
- [4]Nick Robins-Early, “Seditious conspiracy is rarely proven. The Oath Keepers trial is a litmus test,” Guardian, January 28, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/28/seditious-conspiracy-charges-trial-oath-keepers-us-court↩
- [5]Jeannie Suk Gersen, “The Case Against the Oath Keepers,” New Yorker, January 21, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-case-against-the-oath-keepers↩
- [6]Angela Couloumbis, “State court finds Pennsylvania’s mail voting law unconstitutional, with appeal likely,” Spotlight PA, January 28, 2022, https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2022/01/pennsylvania-mail-voting-unconstitutional-supreme-court-appeal/↩
- [7]Ed Blazina et al., “‘A boom, then a monster sound’: 10 hurt after bridge over Pittsburgh’s Frick Park collapses,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 28, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/01/28/pittsburgh-bridge-collapse-forbes-braddock-avenue-point-breeze-squirrel-hill/stories/202201280075↩
- [8]Brian C. Rittmeyer, Megan Guza, and Jason Cato, “10 injured in bridge collapse in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 28, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/frick-park-bridge-collapses-natural-gas-smell-in-area/↩