coronavirus
Lindsey Graham's Pandemic Sunday Show Idiocy
It's your Sunday Rundown!
March 30, 2020 09:58 AM
Greetings, Wonkers, time for your rundown of all the terrible things that happened on the Sunday shows.
We begin with Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo," which had South Carolina senator and brett Kavanaugh defender (never forget) Lindsey Graham on to talk about the stimulus passed by Congress. But it was when Bartiromo brought up Nancy Pelosi that Graham got the vapors:
Sen. Graham pins Pelosi's attack on Trump as 'shameful, disgusting' www.youtube.com
BARTIROMO: Well take us behind the curtain to tell us how this all shook out, Senator, because Nancy Pelosi said she did jujitsu on this relief bill...
GRAHAM: Right.
BARTIROMO: ... to get it where it needs to be.
GRAHAM: Yes.
BARTIROMO: And this morning, this weekend, she is saying that the president is fiddling around while people are dying, Senator.
GRAHAM: No, what she said, she's blaming the president of the United States for people dying because of the way he's led the country. That's the most shameful, disgusting statement by any politician in modern history. Let me tell you, we have seen the best of America from our citizens helping each other, delivering groceries, having special shopping hours for senior citizens. She's the first politician to blame another politician for people dying. This is the same speaker of the House who held up the bill in the Senate for days because she wanted same-day voting, she wanted carbon neutrality for the airlines, she wanted $75 million for the endowment for the humanities, and $25 million for the Kennedy Center. She is the one that held up the package in the Senate for days to get the Green New Deal put in a recovery package. So it's the most shameful, disgusting thing I have heard yet. And it needs to stop.
Mind you that Lindsey Graham has been in Congress through Terri Schiavo, Brett Kavanaugh and Dennis Hastert. But the kicker of hypocritical bullshit is Graham's "disgust" at blaming a politician for people dying like THIS motherfucker never heard of Benghazi and how Republicans blamed Hillary Clinton ("another politician") for "people dying" there.
<p>
So much so, that it reminds me of my favorite Susan Rice clip of all time:<br>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1186746457711403011" id="twitter-embed-1186746457711403011" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1186746457711403011&created_ts=1571777378.0&screen_name=PodSaveAmerica&text=%22He%27s+a+piece+of+shit.%22+%E2%80%94+%40AmbassadorRice+on+Lindsey+Graham%0A%0AHear+the+rest+of+her+interview+on+tomorrow%27s%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FIarYqwO6YP&id=1186746457711403011&name=Pod+Save+America" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="b5f2cc90ccb93fd9d9280c0dcdbfaa86"></iframe>
</p><p>
Bartiromo brought up a great point, and and Graham had to concede:
</p><blockquote>
<strong>BARTIROMO</strong>: Well, you agreed to send $25 million to the Kennedy Center. You put that in a so-called relief bill, right? <br>
<br>
<strong>GRAHAM</strong>: Yes, because she wouldn't let the -- yes, so, she put a gun to our head and said, we will not get this through the House until you put $25 million for the Kennedy Center.
</blockquote><p>
Sounds like you got "jujitsu-ed", Graham.<br>
</p><p>
Next we go to NBC's "Meet The Press," where Chuck Todd sometimes, by accident, stumbles into journalism. Todd had on Dr. Deborah Birx of Trump's Coronavirus task force to ask a few questions about the current state of our pandemic and what we should expect for the next few weeks. When Todd asked about state governments not being able to get the equipment they need, Birx hinted at a claim that would become much bigger later that day:
</p><blockquote>
<strong>BIRX</strong>:
I think at this moment we're asking every single governor and every single mayor to prepare like New York is preparing now. Know where every hospital is, public, private. Know where every one of your surgical centers are. […].Know where every piece of equipment is in the state.
</blockquote><p>
This talking point seems to put the burden on medical equipment/supplies on states somehow not inventorying, instead of, as
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/desperate-for-medical-equipment-states-encounter-a-beleaguered-national-stockpile/2020/03/28/1f4f9a0a-6f82-11ea-aa80-c2470c6b2034_story.html">reported by the <em>Washington Post</em>,</a> the unusual way the federal goverment has been fulfilling states' requests for supplies:<br>
</p><blockquote>
Anecdotally, there are wide differences, and they do not appear to follow discernible political or geographic lines. Democratic-leaning Massachusetts, which has had a serious outbreak in Boston, has received 17 percent of the protective gear it requested, according to state leaders. Maine requested a half-million<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/10/face-mask-shortage-prompts-cdc-loosen-coronavirus-guidance/?tid=lk_inline_manual_17&itid=lk_inline_manual_17" target="_blank" title="www.washingtonpost.com"> N95 specialized protective masks </a>and received 25,558 — about 5 percent of what it sought. The shipment delivered to Colorado — 49,000 N95 masks, 115,000 surgical masks and other supplies — would be "enough for only one full day of statewide operations," Rep. Scott R. Tipton (R-Colo.) told the White House in a letter several days ago. [...]<br>
<br>
Florida has been an exception in its dealings with the stockpile: The state submitted a request on March 11 for 430,000 surgical masks, 180,000 N95 respirators, 82,000 face shields and 238,000 gloves, among other supplies — and received a shipment with everything three days later, according to figures from the state's Division of Emergency Management. It received an identical shipment on March 23, according to the division, and is awaiting a third.</blockquote><p>
Jesus yikes! It almost looks like he's letting people suffer just because they live in states that didn't vote for him. Seems like that should be a pretty gigantic scandal.
</p><p>
Birx was then asked about Trump's arbitrary
<a href="https://www.wonkette.com/easter-bunny-trump-gonna-put-surprise-in-americas-easter-basket-it-is-coronavirus" target="_blank">Easter deadline</a> to remove social distancing guidelines, which has now predictably been <a href="https://www.wonkette.com/shocking-looks-like-were-not-gonna-be-done-with-covid-19-before-easter" target="_blank">extended/tossed out the window,</a> and the answers were sketchy:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3aaad6e9a3466330280aafe2699667c0"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RWA3g33eyew?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Full Birx: Every Metro Should 'Assume' An Outbreak Like New York | Meet The Press | NBC News</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWA3g33eyew" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>
<br>
</p><blockquote>
<strong>BIRX</strong>:
What I wanted to be very clear on is every metro area should assume that they could have an outbreak equivalent to New York and do everything right now to prevent it. If they mitigate now before they start seeing cases in the emergency room and in the hospital, once you see those, the virus has been spreading for days to weeks. So this is really my call on every mayor to prepare now.
<br>
<br>
<strong>TODD</strong>:
So it sounds like these guidelines are going to be extended at least another couple of weeks. Is that fair -- as Americans are watching, should they be prepared to be hunkering down for the rest of April?
<br>
<br>
<strong>BIRX</strong>:
My job today is to put all the data together, the integrated data of testing, case reporting, the global situation, and prepare the best briefing I can for the president and vice president so they have all the data to make the decision that's best for the American people.
<br>
<br>
<strong>TODD</strong>:
So what is your recommendation? What recommendation are you going to be giving to them? Or are you not sharing that with us?
<br>
<br>
<strong>BIRX</strong>:
I'm going to share it with the president and vice president first.
</blockquote><p>
It seems like it should have been an easy answer and the whole reason to appear on a Sunday show should be to share or inform the public, but it seems Birx still has to surf the waves of Trump's fickle narccissim.
<br>
</p><p>
Over on ABC's "This Week," Martha Raddatz had White House economic council director and half-melted wax figure Larry Kudlow speak about the just-passed stimulus. But Raddatz pushed back after Kudlow insisted no one expected this virus to be this serious:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="27817a46b90cc0d4c3c58cf920274cca"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F93eSjr_ng8?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Kudlow says one-third of the whole economy covered by new assistance package | ABC News</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F93eSjr_ng8" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>
<br>
</p><blockquote>
<strong>RADDATZ</strong>: Mr. Kudlow, [...] it was also just a month ago you told CNBC that you thought the virus was contained in the country, even though doctors were warning others -- otherwise, you also downplayed the threat of a long-lasting economic tragedy.
You have since said that was based on facts at the time.
<br>
<br>
<strong>KUDLOW</strong>: Yes. <br>
<br>
<strong>RADDATZ</strong>: But why should people trust you this morning with your prediction? <br>
<br>
<strong>KUDLOW</strong>: Look, I'm as good as the facts are. And at the time I made that statement, the facts were contained. The president had just put the travel restrictions on China and a lot of people agreed with me. In fact, at the time, a lot of people thought that the flu was worse than this virus.
But as soon as the facts changed, we changed our whole posture and our whole strategy, and we've gone full bore, as I said. No package like this has ever been passed Congress before.
</blockquote><p>
This would be more believable if we didn't know the White House had assessments that said different, as this helpful recap from "Meet The Press" illustrates:
<br>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://youtu.be/smCnfWmaY18?t=125" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
</small>
</p><p>
It is absolutely ludicrous to think Kudlow was not aware of any of this, especially when Trump's incoming people were also
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/trump-inauguration-warning-scenario-pandemic-132797"> briefed <em>before</em> his inauguration about this possibility,</a> a briefing where now-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross "was spotted with his eyes closed on more than one occasion" and now-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was "especially dismissive in conversations on the sidelines of the session."
</p><p>
But Kudlow is especially renowned for his "impeccable" predictive skills:
<br>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed39c0a0582ad620e8e9f2e8cdbcb161"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YY6p8B4IR24?start=81&rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://youtu.be/YY6p8B4IR24?t=81" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
</small>
</p><p>
Let's never forget that's who Larry Kudlow is.
</p><p>
Until next Sunday, have a week!<br>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://media0.giphy.com/media/dViOS1w2vcDnlPx1h6/giphy.gif?cid=2fb0ca76bc0137944b9752bc491eed79d64377480a17959f&rid=giphy.gif" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwMzc3Mi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MzY1ODQ1OH0.2NYOpgLdMASUUzZCEv76M19BF2JLaSGPqiAnCY3wLIo/img.gif?width=980" id="77dab" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2fe8df86f5a14e3ce1559571d726ed23" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">China Race GIF by guardian</small>
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coronavirus
Liberty University Will Make Teachers And Students Come Back, Coronavirus Be Damned
Oh, sure, this will end well.
March 24, 2020 12:48 PM
The state of Virginia won't say how many ventilators they have, but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, they only have 2.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people, lower than the national average of 2.8 per 1000, which itself is lower than the 3.1 beds per 1000 they have in Italy, where the system is currently overwhelmed and doctors have been having to make decisions about whose life is worth saving.
Now, the notoriously "pro-life" Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, is encouraging students to come back to class and requiring professors to do so. Pretty much every school everywhere else has closed up its campus and is holding classes online in order to encourage social distancing and flatten the curve, but Liberty University is not every school.
<p>Via <a href="https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/thousands-of-liberty-students-expected-to-return-to-campus-amid/article_a7b91be3-217a-598e-a367-34950271e6c6.html#1" target="_blank">The Richmond Times Dispatch:</a></p><blockquote>In an interview Sunday night, Falwell said somewhere between several hundred to more than 5,000 students are expected to live in campus dorms, where they will continue coursework online rather than in classrooms.<br>Meanwhile, hundreds of professors and instructors without a valid health exemption will come to campus to hold office hours.<br><br>"I think we have a responsibility to our students — who paid to be here, who want to be here, who love it here — to give them the ability to be with their friends, to continue their studies, enjoy the room and board they've already paid for and to not interrupt their college life," Falwell said.</blockquote><p>Falwell then explained that everything will be fine because students are too young and healthy to get coronavirus (screw the professors), and because if anyone gets sick, he's got an old hotel he can stick them in.</p><blockquote>Falwell, who has publicly downplayed the threat of the virus in recent weeks, said he is confident the school has taken the proper steps to prepare for a campus outbreak. He said Liberty officials have identified an old hotel owned by the university as a place to quarantine students who fall ill.<br><br>"I think we, in a way, are protecting the students by having them on campus together," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of them are not at the age to be at risk and they don't have conditions that put them at risk."</blockquote><p>We have, of course, been aware for at least a week now that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavirus-young-people.html" target="_blank">younger people</a> are making up a larger percentage of coronavirus hospitalizations than anticipated.</p><p><span></span>It is unlikely that this is not linked to Trump's increasing demands that everyone go back to normal so that the economy can recover for a while before it <em>really</em> crashes when mass numbers of people die. Falwell and other Trump acolytes have something of an obligation to follow him off of a cliff if that's what it takes to normalize his bad ideas. They have an obligation to make him look good and not like a crazy person. If he says "Everyone go back to normal now!" and Falwell were to defy his order, Trump would look foolish. He already looks foolish to us, but he'd look even more like a giant ass if no one backed him up. His people know this. This is why they have all been backing him up yesterday and today, declaring that they would be willing to die to "save" the economy. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg5NDYxOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTg4Njc3MX0.LdFHTg6NHbADqEnARspOig3R0-Zv-xnvivRofO6Vh1g/img.png?width=980" id="5301b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="35834809e7c053f81619f2b789871641" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>It doesn't matter that it's a bad idea. It doesn't matter that Trump already looks stupid to us. There's safety in numbers. You see someone walking down the street wearing a lacy thong around their head, you're gonna think that person is nuts. You see 100 people walking down the street wearing lacy thongs around there head, you're more likely to think "What a fun party!"</p><p>Of course, when I say they have an "obligation" to back Trump up, that doesn't mean they have to go along with it. They could take a stand. They could go against the grain. But they're Republicans so they probably won't. Here though is one nice exception I bet you didn't see coming! </p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1242458832183361543" id="twitter-embed-1242458832183361543" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1242458832183361543&created_ts=1585060244.0&screen_name=Liz_Cheney&text=There+will+be+no+normally+functioning+economy+if+our+hospitals+are+overwhelmed+and+thousands+of+Americans+of+all+ag%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F8YotTGEqxi&id=1242458832183361543&name=Liz+Cheney" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="d5792f8c2288f0d285479081f774d345"></iframe>
</p>
<p>See? Surprise!</p><p>And it is a surprise, because most Republicans are willing to fuck up the planet for a chance to profit now. They are willing to let millions of people die for a chance to profit now. They have long been willing to forego having a national healthcare system (which would have been really helpful right now) in order to keep insurance companies rich. They're not much for preventative medicine, either figuratively or literally. They're not much for having a little less now in order to have more later. <em>They want their oompa loompas and they want them now.</em></p><p>Any conservative who does not go along — other than Tucker Carlson, who arguably has more right-wing social capital than Trump and is therefore the only one allowed to disagree with him without losing any — would put their career and their entire reputation at great risk. (Good ... luck Cheney?) Falwell is making a calculation that making Trump look good right now will benefit him down the line more than standing up to him will, even if the latter saves a lot of lives. </p><p>[<a href="https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/thousands-of-liberty-students-expected-to-return-to-campus-amid/article_a7b91be3-217a-598e-a367-34950271e6c6.html#1" target="_blank">Richmond Times Dispatch</a>]</p><p><strong>Wonkette is independent and fully funded by readers like you. Click below to tip us! Also if you are buying stuff on Amazon, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl2&tag=wonkette0f-20&linkId=e6057399a4696aad6e79c000ca483f54&language=en_US" target="_blank">click this link</a>!</strong></p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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Nice Time
Minnesota And Vermont Doing Universal Childcare (For Hero Grocery Store Workers)
Kevin the produce manager would like some goddamn respect please. And maybe a siren.
March 20, 2020 10:57 AM
Minnesota and Vermont have both added grocery store workers to their lists of essential or emergency workers, making them eligible for free childcare during the coronavirus outbreak. In an executive order Sunday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ordered the state's public schools, which are closed otherwise, to provide free childcare for the state's emergency workers and an update sent Tuesday added grocery store staff to the essential workers eligible for the free childcare, because you gotta keep people fed. And in Vermont, the state also added grocery workers and others in the food supply chain to the list of those eligible for free childcare.
Now all we need is for universal childcare to become the norm for everyone, not just during emergencies.
<p>The executive order in Minnesota "directed schools to provide care to, at a minimum, district-enrolled students aged 12 and under," and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V7cgv35Qmqjdy5sBu5GuYSwA6i2W6yzT/view" target="_blank">Tuesday's directive</a> clarified exactly who qualifies. The top tier includes the categories you'd expect: police and fire, hospital and nursing home staff, public health workers, and all the administrative folks needed to keep the social safety net up and running too. Grocery store employees of all sorts are listed as "Essential Tier 2 Workers," which also includes workers needed to keep the utilities and other public works running, along with people in the food supply network. Not just in grocery stores, but also folks in "distribution centers," like forklift operators, drivers, and mechanics. Beyond that, the child care employees who are looking after the kids of all those essential workers are themselves classified as essential. </p><p>The Minnesota Grocers Association thanked Walz for recognizing that the people keeping us fed are essential right about now: </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1240316481101090817" id="twitter-embed-1240316481101090817" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1240316481101090817&created_ts=1584549467.0&screen_name=MNGrocers&text=.%40GovTimWalz+has+classified+%E2%80%9Cfood+distribution+workers%2C%E2%80%9D+which+is+store+clerks%2C+stockers%2C+etc%2C+as+Tier+2+emergency%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F4rZs4JygG1&id=1240316481101090817&name=MN+Grocers+Assoc." frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="ac0c65023450b0aa1cf7c06aab5bafb7"></iframe>
</p><p>Michael Schirling, Vermont's Public Safety commissioner, <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/18/latest-from-scott-admin-2-new-cases-child-care-essential-workers-unemployment-%EF%BB%BF/" target="_blank">told </a>the <em>Vermont Digger</em> Wednesday that his office was working to identify all categories of workers whose services are considered essential for getting the state through the crisis. Can we just say that "Vermont Digger" is a hell of a fine name for a news service?<br></p><blockquote> Schirling said that grocery store workers, as well as others involved in the food supply chain, are considered essential people, adding that this list of professions would be updated in the day ahead. </blockquote><p>And in case you wondered, as we did, how the state is planning to provide that daycare safely in a time when all the other children are supposed to be staying at home, the <em>Digger </em>also <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/18/latest-from-scott-admin-2-new-cases-child-care-essential-workers-unemployment-%EF%BB%BF/https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/18/latest-from-scott-admin-2-new-cases-child-care-essential-workers-unemployment-%EF%BB%BF/" target="_blank">notes</a> that <span></span></p><blockquote>Schools will become physical day care centers only for children 6 and over, with no more than 10 children in a classroom at one time. The Vermont-NEA had previously expressed concern about exposing its members to unsafe situations under the administration's plan. </blockquote><p>In addition, Vermont is working out the details for contracting with private daycares to care for kids aged five and under. In response to worries from educators, the state education secretary, Dan French, <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/18/latest-from-scott-admin-2-new-cases-child-care-essential-workers-unemployment-%EF%BB%BF/" target="_blank">initially said </a>Wednesday that teachers with underlying health risks — or family members who might be at risk — would be exempted from working during the shutdowns. Yesterday, the <em>Digger</em> <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/19/some-teachers-balk-at-providing-childcare-for-essential-workers/" target="_blank">reported </a>that Gov. Phil Scott's administration says teachers and staff worried about their health can stay home, which is now leading to worries that there won't be enough teachers and staff to provide childcare and other services the schools are still providing. Let's hope so? </p><p>What impresses us is the range of things Vermont schools (and yes, school districts all over) are doing to ensure kids continue getting essential services they usually get at school: </p><blockquote>On Wednesday, fleets of buses departed school parking lots across the state, including in Burlington, to drop off bagged lunches and breakfasts to strategic drop-off points in their communities. Most schools are offering the meals to anyone under 18, no questions asked. </blockquote><p>And that's the way it should be done. This NPR story about keeping kids fed also includes a school bus driver, Tony Reed, who says he's glad to be delivering meals in the Franklin Pierce school district, near Tacoma, Washington. The kids get fed, and he gets to see the kids he usually drives to school. </p><p><br></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="290" scrolling="no" src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/818797764/818797765" title="NPR embedded audio player" width="100%"></iframe></div><p>The district's nutrition services manager, Karen Brown, also said it would be neat if the district could expand the services it brings to kids on the bus — like maybe counselors, just to "check in" with the kids and their families.</p><p>And that's how we'll get through this, one good idea at a time. </p><p>[<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/coronavirus-updates/2020/03/minnesota-and-vermont-just-classified-grocery-clerks-as-emergency-workers/" target="_blank">Mother Jones</a> / <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V7cgv35Qmqjdy5sBu5GuYSwA6i2W6yzT/view" target="_blank">"Care for Children of Families of Emergency Workers"</a> -- Minnesota state government / <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/20/818797764/with-schools-closed-how-are-students-in-need-getting-meals" target="_blank">NPR</a>]</p><p>Yr Wonkette is supported entirely by reader donations! Help us keep the servers humming and the writers paid, and if you're sheltering in place, here's our <a href="https://amzn.to/33mKzZe" target="_blank">Amazon linky</a>, too.</p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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Gay Stuff
BYU Prof Hit With Death Threats For Not Being Monster About Gay Students Existing
Damn, Utah.
March 10, 2020 12:25 PM
Back in February, seemingly out of nowhere, Brigham Young University in Utah changed its honor code to allow gay students to date. Because in case you didn't know, Brigham Young University's honor code prohibited gay students from being involved in romantic relationships and those found to be engaging in them could be punished or suspended. Much like Bob Jones University did with interracial couples until the late '90s.
Upon this announcement, BYU finance professor Jim Brau put out a video (which has since been taken down) explaining to his students why this was a blessing, especially for those of them who did not want BYU to do this — because after they leave BYU, they will have to live and work in a world where LGBT people exist and they will lose their jobs if they are shitty about that at work.
<p>Via <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/02/26/popular-video-this-byu/" target="_blank">Salt Lake Tribune:</a></p><blockquote>"BYU just did you a massive favor," he said.<br><br>He offered a practical perspective, noting that students who later get jobs will work with LGBTQ individuals and need to be welcoming. He pointed out that a former student of his was recently fired from "our No. 1 recruiting company" for making homophobic comments to a gay co-worker. "I'm just saying, we need to be more Christ-like," Brau suggested. [...]<br><br>"I do realize for some of us, including me, who have been praying for this moment for years, today is a massive watershed," Brau said to his students. "For others of you, this is a huge struggle and I understand that. … But if you see same-gender couples walking around campus, being respectful, acting like straight couples, that's really going to get you ready for the real world."</blockquote><p>Now, most normal people in the year 2020 are going to read that statement and go "Wow, he sure is being delicate with those homophobes!" But the homophobes, it turns out, very much disagree. "Alt-right online groups," Brau says, have been threatening to hurt him, his wife, and his kids, and in order to keep them safe he says he will no longer post his class discussions online. </p><p>And yet the homophobes do not even have that much to fear. While BYU's newfangled policy will allow gay students to engage in romantic relationships, that is on their own time only. When many gay students celebrated their newfound freedom by performing such illicit acts as holding hands in the hallway, BYU was quick to mention that "gay behavior" was still <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/03/04/after-byu-honor-code/" target="_blank">"not compatible"</a> with their honor code, right up there with drinking tea or coffee. <br><br>Since then, there have been <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/03/06/rally-by-lgbtq-students/" target="_blank">daily protests</a> from LGBTQ students at Brigham Young, which is actually just so cool. These kids felt freed by the changing of the honor code and don't want to go back in the closet. </p><blockquote>It was the most Mormon of rallies Friday afternoon as hundreds of young people — many draped in rainbow flags and carrying signs about God's love — gathered in Salt Lake City to share their concerns about Brigham Young University's changing position on "romantic behavior" by same-sex couples.<br><br>Demonstrators were organized, orderly and unfailingly polite. They sang LDS hymns, including "Love One Another" and "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" They chanted "Love means love," "Let all students date," "Love is a human right," "Trans lives matter" and "L, G, B, T, God loves you and God loves me." They carried signs, saying, "God would not renounce me," and, "I learned to rise & shout at BYU."</blockquote><p>As shitty as it is to think of the assholes out there sending death threats to a professor for saying that not being shielded from the existence of gay people was good preparation for the outside world, it's <em>incredibly</em> heartening to see all these kids who were raised in one of the most homophobic of environments standing up in this way. That is not something a lot of people would expect to see at a place like BYU, myself included, and it should give us all a little bit of hope that things will keep getting better all around. Good for them, and good for that professor. </p><p>[<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/02/26/popular-video-this-byu/" target="_blank">Salt Lake Tribune</a>]</p><p><strong>Wonkette is independent and fully funded by readers like you. Click below to tip us!</strong></p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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