Democrat Values

Liberals are forever denouncing Republicans as racists who stereotype black people.  They claim that all blacks, just as all people, are individuals who should be “permitted” to make their own choices—as long as black people make the choices that liberals require.  For instance, below is an exerpt from a recent Joe Biden interview:

https://news.yahoo.com/joe-biden-tells-popular-radio-host-you-aint-black-if-considering-voting-for-trump-154645383.html

Joe Biden tells popular radio host 'you ain't black' if considering voting for Trump

by

Brittany Shepherd National Politics Reporter         Yahoo News May 22, 2020.

Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested Friday morning that an African-American radio personality “ain’t black” if he was questioning whether he should support the presumptive Democratic nominee over President Trump in the general election.

After an aide interrupted the interview to say that the former vice president was running short on time, Charlamagne tha God asked that Biden pay the studio a visit the next time he’s in New York.

“It’s a long way until November,” he said. “We’ve got more questions.”

“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

  

The above quote is totally consistent with Joe Biden language.  You might remember, for instance, that Biden used stereotyping language regarding Barack Obama in 2007 when the two were competing for the United States Democratic presidential nomination.  Jack Tapper from ABC wrote about it, and I quote once more:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2838420&page=1

A Biden Problem: Foot in Mouth

By JAKE TAPPER

February 27, 2008, 11:16 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2007 — -- Senator Joe Biden, D-Del., the loquacious chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who launched his presidential campaign today, may be experiencing an ailment not entirely unknown to him: foot in mouth disease.

Biden is taking some heat for comments he made to the New York Observer, in which he said of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a rival for the nomination: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." 

El Fin !  There is nothing more to add to this blog.  The quotes speak for themselves.

Where Were the Nudges?

We all know that flu is a killer and that every year we are advised to “get your flu shot.”  A February 26, 2020 Centers for Disease Control report indicated 45 million flu cases in the United States during the 2017-2018 influenza season, including about 810,000 flu-associated hospitalizations and about 61,000 flu-associated deaths.  The flu strains almost never are exactly the same as in the previous year, so the shots are never reliable.  For 2017-2018 the overall vaccine effectiveness against influenza A and B viruses was 40%.

Before continuing with this blog, I need a preface for those who did not read my book, Justifiably Paranoid: Resisting Intrusive and Malicious Influences.  In it I described “nudging” which is the government practice of trying to manipulate the environment to cause people to do what officials believe is “good for them.”  The practice began in England and the United States.  Now there are more than 60 government and international agencies trying to nudge their often unsuspecting citizens.  You probably would agree with some of the nudges, such as ones to “encourage” you to save for retirement.  But you might recoil from others, such as one that imposes an excessive tax on your favorite alcoholic beverage.

Because 2017 motor vehicle accidents in the United States were responsible for about 20,000 less deaths than influenza, one would think that nudging would have focused more vigorously on flu than it has.  Before the current pandemic, never in my life did I hear of any government program that advised hand washing or social distancing during flu season.  That government failure is especially disturbing not only because of the relative ineffectiveness of influenza inoculations, but also because flu onslaughts are inevitable, have occurred every year for centuries, and are significantly mitigated by simple behavioral changes.  Maybe, going forward, governments will do more yearly than ask us to get a questionably useful flu shot.  Perhaps comprehensive, creative healthful anti-flu government nudging will be on the agendas of at least 60 plus governments.