Shot in the Dark

Our Ruling Class, And Alternate History

It was June 3, 1942.

It was six months since a surprise attack had gutted the US Pacific Fleet. And as the US scrambled to bring its industrial might to bear, Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto began the next move – a bid to invade and seize Midway Island, a key stopping point in prewar air travel, slated to be turned into a vital forward base.

But as the Japanese fleet bore down on Midway, the Americans pelted them with paper masks, saving the day.

No, really. Ask Jay Inslee.

https://twitter.com/GovInslee/status/1313601761995702272

Dumber than Maureen Dowd?

No. Just dumb in a different way.

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Mitch Berg

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27 responses to “Our Ruling Class, And Alternate History”

  1. Maximum Overlord Avatar
    Maximum Overlord

    What Inslee is doing with his tweet is worse than it appears. He is trying to convince people that face coverings have a kind of magic that will prevent you from getting covid.

  2. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    My response to that was “so they’re highly powerful but vulnerable and need a herd of cruisers and destroyers to keep them from being sunk while re-arming the planes?”

  3. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    I tried wearing an aircraft carrier. It doesn’t work.

  4. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    MO, that’s been going on for some time now. The widespread weak-tea atheism, especially among our urban citizens, is fertile soil for Chesterston’s adage, “When a man stops believing in God, he doesn’t believe in nothing, he believes in anything.”

  5. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    Virus completely unharmed by Trump infection.

  6. MacArthur Wheeler Avatar
    MacArthur Wheeler

    emery, back hoeing ‘massas’ field again with some regurgitated Michael Moore “humor”

  7. golfdoc50 Avatar
    golfdoc50

    Stupid is as stupid does when it comes to the governor of Washington. I wish to address the weaponization of “science.” Just because a person with a doctorate works for the government, it doesn’t follow that he is any better a scientist than others in the field. I accept that wearing a respirator mask when in close contact with sick patients or in a virology lab will protect an individual from contracting a disease. It does not follow from that that mass use of cloth face coverings reduces the spread of a respiratory illness. There’s at least one study of which I’m aware that failed to show a benefit in reducing spread of influenza. I believe significant harm can result from accepting hypotheses as fact and using the power of government to compel individuals to submit. My favorite example is the psychology experiment in which participants delivered increasingly powerful electric shocks to other subjects when they gave an undesired response. It was rigged of course, but the tortured “victims” produced realistic screams that largely fell on deaf ears.

  8. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    What all the lefties and “science believers” forget, is that all science involves physics. Right now, physics says the bat flu science is wrong.

  9. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    It’s rather telling that the usual characters on here defending this increasingly unhinged president seem to be a lot quieter.

  10. Maximum Overlord Avatar
    Maximum Overlord

    Rutherford is said to have divided science into physics and “stamp collecting.”
    If you carry on with the metaphor, then much of modern science consists of theorizing about stamp collecting.
    Rutherford was right. Physics describe the mechanics of the natural world, how much charge does an electron carry, for example.
    The stamp collecting part of science involves much more value judgments. Why do we collect fossils instead of random rocks? Why do we obsessively monitor the composition of gasses in the atmosphere?

  11. Maximum Overlord Avatar
    Maximum Overlord

    Emery is dreaming. SITD has never been home to people defending Trump.
    Attacking your insipid comments is not defending Trump.

  12. Emery Avatar
    Emery

    ^^Another Trump fluffer…

  13. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    And another thread turned into shit by a trollbot.

  14. MacArthur Wheeler Avatar
    MacArthur Wheeler

    Emery
    did massa promise you an extra portion today?
    Working for your extra chitlins are you?

  15. Paddyboy Avatar
    Paddyboy

    So, first, Trump IS part of the ruling class, you know, the Sheldon Adelson’s of the world… his niece said it plainly, he believes there correctly is a ruling class (of which he is a part) and everyone else – people there to serve him and that ruling class – and if they suffer negative impacts, really of any form – he doesn’t care.

    I am never surprised at how hard you will twist to push the story into something it both isn’t and what you focus on is so trivial as to be immaterial. What Jay Inslee says is hardly earth-shatteringly important. What DJT says, by contrast, saying Covid isn’t that bad, is less lethal than the Flu, and the like, by contrast is FAR more meaningful because many people, a great number of whom are exceedingly ignorant and easily lead around by the nose by the man who thinks what happens to them doesn’t matter – well they listen and trust him – despite the fact that he got care they could never afford – and despite the fact that he’s lied, over and over again, about the seriousness of this disease.

    I offer to you a letter penned by a doctor who was instrumental in controlling the smallpox outbreaks in Africa and India in the 1960’s. When India pursued “herd immunity” this man pushed back and working with our current CDC head, got India to seek to control the disease instead.

    https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7222830/Foege-Letter.pdf

    His letter rather perfectly crystalizes what has gone wrong, the lies and lack of leadership from DJT that has lead to tens of thousands of needless deaths and could lead to tens of thousands more…

    And YOU worry about comparisons with aircraft carriers. Inslee is trying to make a simple point, one you willfully push into another context, the point is masks are vital to slowing the spread of the virus – they are PROTECTION we must use and must have – if you feel his allegory is inartful, ok, but your reply is 10,000 times less responsible.

  16. Paddyboy Avatar
    Paddyboy

    BTW, here’s a story on Trump’s tax shenanigans… some drainer of the swamp…

    Oh, and about that ruling class thing… well, yeah.. not so much, unless you mean Trump… Look at the size of that house, it’s Downton Abbey. And that is one of THREEE very large houses he owns for personal use. That’s not class envy, it’s pointing out he IS that ruling class..oh and he has that all after failing four times in business… but hey, the tax code isn’t designed to protect the plutocrats you defend so staunchly, is it? Nahh…

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-got-a-21-million-tax-break-for-saving-the-forest-outside-his-ny-mansion-now-the-deal-is-under-investigation/2020/10/07/de84c1ba-ff6b-11ea-830c-a160b331ca62_story.html

    BTW, a different report came out yesterday saying that for the first time in history, the richest 50 American families control more wealth than the poorest 146 Million… ruling class, thy name is GOP – please tell us again how they need to be insulated from taxes and regulation – so they can pay $750 in federal income taxes while taking $21M write-offs…. yet, it’s the Democrats who are that class and who defend them? Sure.. sure they are, sure we do…

    That’s why the Dems keep proposing increasing taxes on the super wealthy. I guess those Dems are pretty stupid, biting the hand that feeds them so often.. or maybe it’s that it’s YOU and the right-wing sycophant’s who defend the rich and seek to cut their taxes and trowel out garbage about economic “freedom”, all in an effort to insulate the rich from paying in proportion to how they benefit. it’s YOU who defend this broken system and this ruling class, Mitch.

    Wanna try to project some more flaws on others?

  17. Loren Avatar
    Loren

    The state’s own Department of Health data. Second chart down on https: //www .health .state .mn .us/ diseases /coronavirus/ situation.htm l#cases1 (remove spaces for working link) shows cumulative cases in the state. Without looking at the dates across the bottom, determine when mask usage became mandated by looking for the decrease in rate of new cases.

    I’ll wait.

    OK, now look for the 7/25 date area on the chart. Even knowing the date the mandate went into effect, it is impossible to see any change in rate of new cases.

    Empirically, for Minnesota, masks have no discernible effect.

  18. Maximum Overlord Avatar
    Maximum Overlord

    But you are forgetting about the magic effect of obedience, Loren!

  19. Maximum Overlord Avatar
    Maximum Overlord

    Masks & social distancing are the new unobtanium. First it was ventilators, then it was testing. Now it is obedience by the people. This ties in with a vaccine (the ultimate unobtanium), because our leaders say that, no matter the toll in deaths and ruined lives, face coverings and social distancing, and absolute control over economic activity, will have to continue until a vaccine has been developed & big pharm has made it’s billions.
    And no democratic debate! None! One man rule by decree is the only thing that can save us!

  20. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    It’s rather telling that the usual characters on here defending this increasingly unhinged president seem to be a lot quieter.

    No, they’re just ignoring you.

  21. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    Paddywhacker, India did pursue herd immunity. They did it with smallpox inoculation, a technology known since the 1800s in Europe and since the 1500s in portions of Asia. And that source? It’s put together like a ransom letter, which suggests some things of significant importance were cut. Maybe try some actual evidence, evidence that admits the significance of sending COVID patients back into nursing homes, and evidence that admits that people will tend to use masks as a “face condom” to “justify” going into more dangerous situations.

  22. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    Did the p-boy ever follow-up on those Republicans trying to kidnap Gov Whitmer of MI? I’m sure the follow-up is around here somewhere.

  23. In The Mailbox: 10.09.20 : The Other McCain

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  24. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    It’s remarkable to me how easily a glib phrase can bring logical thought to a halt.

    “We need to flatten the curve.” Therefore, we must wear masks to slow the spread of the virus.

    Which means we KNOW the virus will spread, we EXPECT everybody to get it at which point we’ll achieve herd immunity, just not right now.

    Why wait?

  25. Pete Strunk Avatar
    Pete Strunk

    Padded cell boi is exhibiting the extreme triggering that Trump has caused by strutting right through his bat flu, like a man.

    They’ve thrown everything they have at him, and Trump is still strutting. He’ll be strutting for the next 4 years, and they know it. It’s all too much for them.

    The weak, estrogen filled manlets he represents will still be wearing those ridiculous little paper maskies, soggy with their bitter tears, years after we have gotten a vaccine, and achieved herd immunity. It’s comforting, like feeding at their dad’s breasts.

    They do not realize it’s the mark of shame.

  26. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    Wuhan Bat Flu is making a resurgence in Europe. I guess we should blame Trump.

  27. Night Writer Avatar
    Night Writer

    Bike – that’s the ticket!

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