Which Side Are You On?

The stock market has settled into a tedious rhythm that could almost make one think there’s nothing interesting going on in the world. Dull nights have been setting the tone for dull days, as occurred on Wednesday. Traders are waiting for news to move the markets, but perhaps all the news that matters, at least for the time being, is already out. So we are left with squabbling along the political fault lines of the pandemic. A Texas hairdresser was jailed for defying the quarantine, and the nation as always has divided roughly in half over the question of whether the state overstepped its bounds. All such convictions and fines are certain to be overturned if these cases ever get heard in an appellate court. If you watch Fox News, you’ve had enough; if CNN/MSNBC, anyone who defies the lockdown is a potential killer. A reasonable assumption is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The fact that this question is unlikely to be settled, even broadly, promises to gnaw on the American psyche for years to come.

  • John Jay May 7, 2020, 2:12 pm

    What you see happening is the social and economic cement of Feudalism beginning to harden.
    The same thing happened as Imperial Rome began to collapse and laws were passed to lock everyone into place, physically, economically, and socially.
    And Roman currency went from gold, to silver, to copper, and finally gold painted leather.

    There are 2095 billionaires in the world that have a lock on the world’s wealth and political power.
    It is a phase transition just like water turning to ice.
    This lock down is just another skirmish line sent out to judge resistance to the transition to Feudalism.

    They will back off soon for a time, then find a new excuse to come back in force.
    Just like our Moses, George Carlin predicted many years ago, but even he gave up at the end of his life.
    You can’t fix stupid, or teach a poodle to play the piano as Ross Perot, another unheeded prophet opined.
    The mob laughed with Carlin, and at Perot.
    It is that simple.

  • Larry D May 7, 2020, 10:18 am

    Ben,
    In Minnesota, where the lockdown on salons and barbershops remains in force…
    A capitol city barber opened his ‘stupid’ barbershop for a day until the gendarmes asked him to close, which he did without fuss. TV reporters documented his use of masks and antiseptic procedures while he trimmed 30 heads. His point was to demonstrate that it could be done, safely, and he explained to the camera that he wasn’t a rich man with the luxury of remaining closed indefinitely.

    That he was a black business owner and governor in his daily blab-a-thon prattled on about how communities of color were disproportionately affected by this pandemic was a bit of irony that even sane folks that can’t tell the difference between crime and commerce might enjoy.

    • Ben May 7, 2020, 6:18 pm

      “His point was to demonstrate that it could be done, safely, and he explained to the camera that he wasn’t a rich man with the luxury of remaining closed indefinitely.”

      Look, I never said that some businesses couldn’t be safely and profitably re-opened. My point was, when some idiot decides to play “mattress girl” (look her up, if you never heard of her) for publicity, I don’t have any pity for them or their fake-A antics, neither of which are in the least helpful.

      Now, getting back to your response…

      One thing for a barber to trim 30 heads. Quite another for a stylist to wash, rinse, style as many heads. One can be done safely and profitably, but I seriously doubt the same can be said of the other. Therefore, when the lock downs are lifted, we’ll find out the virus is also “sexist”!

  • Ben May 7, 2020, 2:12 am

    “Which Side Are You On?”

    Easy: sanity.

    I’m not so obsessed with denial that I think I can re-open my stupid hair salon and fully expect business to be back on track in a couple of months. And I know what the Constitution says, so I’m not trying to be a modern-day George Washington, figuring I’m all about the patriotism, when, in fact, I’m just full of my own excrement (just as lefties always try to pretend we’re still in the pre civil rights world, righties think the king of England still rules over us. Why can’t they both just live in reality, as it is?).

    As for that attention whore, down in Texas: screw her. All she had to do was wait a few lousy days and the lock down would’ve been lifted and she could’ve opened up (God only knows why; not like most people are just itching to go out and pretend all’s well just because of their EMOTIONS over this). But no. “I’ve gotta make m’point!”. So why should I care what happened to her? Is she any different than a dindu that didn’t obey a simple lawful order from a LEO, and got hauled in or shot for it? Not in my sane estimation.

    If I say any more than that, then my response will be longer than the commentary itself. So I’ll stop here. Plenty more to say, though!