Linky Friday: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures, Or Something

As always, the views in the linked pieces are not Ordinary Times’ or listed here as endorsements, but presented for discussion on a variety of issues across diverse opinions.

[LF1] Wisconsin governor warns of ‘massive confusion’ after ruling:

The court’s order threw communities into chaos, with some bars opening immediately while local leaders in other areas moved to keep strict restrictions in place to prevent further spread of the virus.

If Wisconsin is to have a statewide plan, Evers will have to work with the same Republicans whose lawsuit resulted in Wednesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling. After a Thursday meeting with Evers, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the two sides may not be able to reach agreement and that a statewide policy might not be needed.

[LF2] A sad ending to an ugly business: Cassandra Callender, Connecticut Woman Forced to Undergo Chemotherapy as a Teen, Dies at 22

A judge in 2015 ordered Callender, known as “Cassandra C.” during her legal fight, to undergo chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She had refused treatment, saying she didn’t want to poison her body. She and her mother had missed several appointments, and doctors notified the state Department of Children and Families, which stepped in, according to court documents. A juvenile court judge removed Callender, who was 17 at the time, from her home and placed her under guard in the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Her case went to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in January 2015 that the department wasn’t violating her rights. The case was argued under what is known as the mature minor doctrine, centering on whether Callender was mature enough to determine how to treat her cancer. Connecticut’s high court found that Callender, who had run away during a home visit, demonstrated she did not have the maturity to make her own medical decisions.

Doctors eventually implanted a port in her daughter against her will to administer treatment, Fortin said. She lived at the hospital for six months.

[LF3] Personally, I don’t get the whole Joe Rogan thing. He’s great at UFC, but I could care less about his podcast/political views which are all over the place. But some folks do, evidenced by his Bernie rant that went viral earlier this year. Anyway, now he is musing he MIGHT Calexit to Texas, which Allahpundit uses as a jumping off point:

Rogan’s talking up a state that’s in the process of gradually reopening even though it *might* be trending towards a nasty outbreak. If you’re a Texan, you should be aware of the number of new cases and deaths and act according to your comfort level in visiting those newly reopened businesses. I said last week, and I’ll say it again here, that the vibe I get from some of the “reopen now” group isn’t so much that we need to reopen now as that we need to reopen and then say and do whatever it takes to keep people marching into retail shops and restaurants, potentially up to and including suppressing public health information. We won’t be able to keep the economy afloat if consumers are very reasonably afraid of commercial activity.

Ideally we’d reopen when it’s “safe,” i.e. when we’ve built out the capacity we need to detect new outbreaks early and snuff them out. More testing, more tracing of contacts. “Reopen now” has nothing to say about capacity. But by the same token, neither does “reopen at the end of July,” as L.A. officials want to do. I don’t understand the arbitrary timeline of “reopen now” and I don’t understand the arbitrary timeline of what California wants to do. How about “reopen when we think we have the ability to douse any new viral wildfires once they start burning”?

[LF4] The Anti-Lockdown Protesters Have a Twisted Conception of Liberty by Jamelle Bouie

It’s true that not every racial disparity speaks to some deeper dynamic of race and racism. But this one does. I don’t think you can separate the vehemence of anti-lockdown protesters from their whiteness, nor do I think we can divorce their demands to “reopen” the economy from the knowledge that many of those most affected belong to other racial groups. It’s not so much that they’re showing racial animus (although some are), but that their conception of what it means to be “free” is, at its root, tied tightly to their racial identity.

[LF5] New Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany proclaimed right off the bat “I will never lie to you” to the assembled and socially-distanced press in the Brady Briefing Room. Kimberly Ross writing in Arc Digital explains how laughable that is:

I don’t resent Kayleigh McEnany’s loyalty to the president because that’s what is expected of any press secretary who serves in any administration, Republican or Democrat. But I do have a problem when someone in her position publicly commits to complete truthfulness and, by doing so, immediately contradicts herself. She has lied and will continue to lie for a president who lies on a regular basis. She knows this. We know it, too.

As McEnany and the administration attempt to deflect blame for their incompetent coronavirus response, and gear up for an election year showdown with Joe Biden, we will see more falsification. This is a feature of the Donald Trump era, not a bug.

[LF6] Writing in Zora, Roxane Gay writes “I Believe in Stacey Abrams. I’m Disappointed in Stacey Abrams” regarding her response to the Tara Reade allegations against Joe Biden.

It is deeply unfair, if her allegations are true, that Tara Reade will be the sacrificial lamb at the altar of necessary change. There is no recompense this country will be able to offer her.

Stacey Abrams knows that. She has her political ambitions. She prides herself on being forthright but she also knows there are times when she has to play coy like every other politician. That’s what she was doing when she made her statement, that somewhat cynical and bland statement that appeases people who believe Tara Reade and people who don’t and also allows her to stay the course. She says the right things while also letting her candidate know that when necessary, she is willing to be the kind of politician she might ordinarily disdain.

Sometimes, politicians are going to disappoint us, no matter how much we need to idealize them. Abrams and her decision to provide cover for Joe Biden is disappointing. Her decision is worthy of critique but I still believe in her and the work she does. I am far more interested in holding to account men like Joe Biden who will let women — especially Black women — do their dirty work.

[LF7] An argument that “Attacking science, forcing people back to work, closing the border, suppressing the vote—the Trump/GOP strategy looks increasingly like white nationalist accelerationism” By Sasha Abramsky over at The Nation.

Let’s recap some of this week’s developments, each one of which should have made banner headlines and, in normal times, brought vast crowds out in protest, but which in these terrifying days has been largely ignored.

First, there was that vapid little princeling Jared Kushner telling Time magazine that he refused to rule out postponing the November election. That extraordinary statement could have been a trial balloon; if it was ignored or got positive feedback, Trump could advance the idea. If it got significant blowback, the administration could deny that Kushner was speaking officially and say that he simply tripped over his words.

Then again, they might not need to postpone the election if they can convince enough GOP state leaders to curtail mail-in voting so much that they make it all but impossible for citizens in densely populated urban neighborhoods to vote in person without risking their lives. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton kicked off the strategy by announcing this week that he would seek to bar the Lone Star State’s big cities from counting voters’ fear of Covid-19 as a valid reason for their being allowed to vote by mail. That adds a new layer of ugliness to the GOP’s years-long voter-suppression tactics.

[LF8] Writing in The Resurgent, Drew Holden explains the obvious to those that still don’t get it with “You Can’t Understand Ahmaud Arbery’s Shooting Without Considering Race”

The McMichaels should and must be afforded a fair trial, a sacrosanct right they seem to have willfully denied Arbery, and there’s no telling what new evidence may come to light. But given what we already know, the outrage is warranted.

Two white men, grabbing their weapons and pursuing an unarmed black man to dispense with justice for a perceived crime themselves doesn’t simply evoke memories of Jim Crow era lynchings, it re-enacts one. As does their friends in law enforcement quickly and quietly finding a reason to justify the killing that would follow.

The response among some conservatives begs the question of whose shoes a viewer finds it easier to place themselves in. That of a white, concerned, local gun owner? Or the young man pursued by angry armed men, in the heart of a small town, staring down the barrel of a shotgun? Those drawn to see the perspective of the former should endeavor to imagine that of the latter, particularly those whose main concern is whether a young black man might’ve been trespassing and not that a young black man was shot and killed by a couple of wannabe vigilantes, and that the act was then ignored by law enforcement.

[LF9] On a different note, America lost one of the very few living Medal of Honor recipients yesterday when Ron Shurer died of lung cancer. He was only 41. If you aren’t familiar with the engagement that warranted the Special Forces medic receiving the nation’s highest honor you should read it, but his entire life story is inspiring and one of service to his country:

Initially rejected by the military because of a medical condition, Shurer successfully enlisted a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He was promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant in late 2006 and served with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan from late November 2007 to late May 2008. He was honorably discharged a year later.

Shurer then began a career with the Secret Service as a special agent assigned to a field office in Phoenix, Arizona, in September 2009. He was selected for the Secret Service’s counter assault team and assigned to the Special Operations Division in June 2014.
“Today, we lost an American Hero: Husband, Father, Son, Medal of Honor Recipient – Special Agent Ronald J. Shurer II. From a grateful Nation and Agency – your memory and legacy will live on forever,” the U.S. Secret Service said in a tweet.

Miranda Shurer, citing restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic, said her husband will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery near the nation’s capital at a future date.

In addition to his wife, Shurer is survived by two sons.