I see Nancy Pelosi has announced that any member of Congress who doesn’t wear a mask while in session will be fined $500 on a first offense and $2,500 for a second offense. Those fines will be deducted from their pay, not their campaign funds or expense accounts. I’d go one step further and tell the Sergeant-At-Arms to physically remove any member violating the rule.
Speaking of violating rules, what about the GOPers who walked through the new metal detectors at the entrances to the House floor and, when the machine beeped, just kept on walking? Why were they not grabbed by Capitol Police and given the same treatment we are when that happens at the airport? Even worse were the high-and-mighty types who walked right around the magnetometers instead of through. A few of them claimed it violated their constitutional rights, although I don’t recall the Founding Fathers including any clauses about metal detectors. What kind of security system can function when transgressors are allowed to get away with that? On the other hand, does anyone think the machines will serve as a deterrent against another angry mob?
As for Republicans claiming that impeaching Trump again — as the House did this afternoon — will be divisive at a time when the country needs unity, only one thing occurs to me. They didn’t seem at all concerned with tearing the country apart over the last two months by continuing to spread his lies about the outcome of the election. If the GOP doesn’t want policies that will hurt the bonds of this nation, it should stop promoting them and making them essentially the platform of their party. Gee, I hope this doesn’t make Trumpsters so mad they get out of control. Oh, wait.
I see that Cumulus, which operates a whole bunch of talk radio stations, has instructed its hosts to no longer say or imply that the election was rigged or endorse any protests based on that misinformation. The memo began, “We need to help induce national calm NOW.” Oh, now you realize that your extremist hosts have been spewing dangerous invective? If only there had been some way for you to monitor their content for the last decade or more, like, I don’t know, broadcasting it so that someone in one of your offices could hear it. Don’t pat yourselves too much on your backs, you hypocrites.
Several large companies have announced they’ll no longer make contributions to the campaigns of legislators who voted to deny the results of the Electoral College, as well as spreaders of “stolen election” lies. That’s good, except that some of the companies are also stopping donations to Democrats, who have been in no way at fault. On the other hand, it would be so much better for America if all corporations (and their PACs) stopped giving funds to any politician. Such open bribery is at the root of the corruption that is too rampant in both Washington and every statehouse.
Don’t cheer too loudly when you hear of the arrests of some of the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol last week. It’s only the first step, and we don’t even know which crimes they’ll be charged with. They still have to be convicted and given long prison sentences, which seems unlikely because we’re talking about a group of white men.
Google announced this week it has committed $3 million to fight coronavirus vaccine misinformation. Perhaps the company could start by stopping its search engine from linking to every site that promotes such dangerous conspiracy theories.
Speaking of COVID-19, the reported number of Americans infected (now close to 23 million) has to be very low. I base this assumption on the fact I know several people who claim they caught the bug, but didn’t go to a doctor or hospital. So, how could they be included in any official count?