What to believe?

It's an article of faith among a certain excitable contingent that COVID is rapidly fatal in 100% of cases, ergo there appears to be no way to process the President's experience. AceHQ notes that some of the press are having trouble settling on a conspiracy theory:

First conspiracy theory: Trump really doesn't have covid, he's lying, this is a sympathy play.

Second revised conspiracy theory: Trump is actually dying of covid, they're covering it up.

Third revised conspiracy theory: See First Conspiracy Theory. It's a classic for a reason.

As someone noted earlier today, a surprisingly swath of the President's inveterate enemies are channeling Pat Buchanan's attitude towards people unlucky enough to contract AIDS in the 1980s:  the wages of sin is COVID.  But as Paula Poundstone said, "I imagine the wages of sin is death, but by the time you take out the taxes, it's just more of a tired feeling, really."

If we weren't in the grips of rampant black-and-white thinking, we might remember that COVID is a sporadically cruel and dangerous disease that can kill quickly and rather unexpectedly in all age groups, though particularly in the elderly and infirm, while at the same time in the vast majority of cases it is not terribly serious.  Even among patients of the President's age, it spares 95% or more of sufferers from the ultimate penalty.

Free Americans

 

If any of you are interested, I have published a collection of political philosophical essays. You can get it on Kindle now, and in paperback after I've seen the proofs -- I learned that lesson the hard way from the Arthurian novel. 

However, you can also read almost all of it for free on the SSG website, since the essays are lightly edited versions of things already published. Only the first chapter is really new, and I'd be happy to send it to any of you who wanted to review the book.

My wife did the Veterans Exempt flag for the cover. She's a much better artist than that, though. If any of you are in Asheville, her paintings will be in the Asheville Gallery of Art from next month.

Not sissies

I don't remember ever reading about Teddy Roosevelt's being shot in the chest a month before his election.

Johnny Paycheck vs. Dolly Parton

 I've done Jonny Paycheck a disservice.  I always thought he stole the basic idea of this song from Dolly Parton.  In truth, he recorded this in 1971. 

Parton got around to this in 1973.

 

Parton was still way better.

The World vs. Donald Trump

"Sose the Ghost," a self-described former member of the Crips street gang, current member of a 1% ("outlaw") motorcycle club, black Puerto Rican, talks about why he loves and respects Donald Trump.

This is not what you've been told to expect.

 

Stand-downs and self-defense

 H/t Glen Reynolds, an analysis of politically motivated police stand-down orders as a refutation of the argument that the 2d Amendment is moot in a time of effective police protection.

No cowering

The President seems more vigorous while fighting COVID than his ostensibly infection-free opponent, who called another "lid" at 9:15am this weekend. 

“Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea that presidents should isolate themselves from the citizenry for safety’s sake.”

* * *

Nor will it soon be forgotten that Trump hatred reached its creepy crescendo when the man became gravely ill.

As Trump said from his Walter Reed office suite:

I was given that alternative, stay in the White House, lock yourself in, don’t ever leave. Don’t even go to the oval office, just stay upstairs and enjoy it. Don’t see people, don’t talk to people.… This is the United States. This is the greatest country in the world. This is the most powerful country in the world. I can’t be locked up in a room upstairs and totally safe.… We have to confront problems, as a leader, you have to confront problems. There’s never been a great leader that would have done that.

Meanwhile, for all the cackling about karmic retribution against a political enemy, it remains unclear how useful lockdowns are in bending the virus transmission curve, especially considering their catastrophic cost.

Fact check: True

 From a Neo commenter:  "[T]omorrow the media will be filled with accounts from doctors who had patients who rallied from being at death’s door to releasing youtube videos and working at a desk only to die the next day."

Datil Peppers

 This post is mostly for Mike, but some of you also like spicy cooking.

So my son stopped by a spice shop a few towns over that I visit whenever I roll through. Recognizing him, the proprietor gave him a big sack of something called Datil pepper for him to bring me. The proprietor told him that she'd just gotten it in, and wanted me to see what I could do with it. 

I'd never actually heard of it before, but a little research showed that it was similar to a habanero or Scotch bonnet pepper in heat. It has a nice floral quality compared to those other two. 

I prepared a few recipes for them to thank them for the free pepper. I thought I'd share them with you, too.

Honoring the departed

 

Fact-check by USA Today pending.

Speaking of which.

That reminds me

. . . that I've still got some made used up over the destruction of my health insurance ten years ago.

The Bee:  "You have nothing to worry about, as long as you believe the right things."

Newfound Gap Run

 

A few bikes out, including a group of the Law Enforcement club  Gunfighters MC. 

Punitive liberalism

Powerline notes small, welcome signs of cognition in Seattle journalism:

Mayor Jenny Durkan appears uncomfortable interacting with the business community and has lost power to an assertive council. That body is obsessed with defunding the police without a viable Plan B. Its membership is stuffed with career activists and pols, with thin business experience at best.

No wonder the council is hostile to business. Even the smallest shop is exploitative capitalism. The council’s loudest voices are running a “revolution.” Only in a city made so prosperous by hated capitalism could this intellectual Ponzi scheme be tolerated or seem without consequences.

Never mind small business and retail shops. Big business in Seattle isn’t very happy either. Boeing announced today that it plans to discontinue manufacturing its 787 Dreamliner plane in Washington state and consolidate 787 production in (nonunion) South Carolina.

The governor is reported to be considering punitive tax consequences. 

Welcome to the party, pal

Here's a NYT editor whiffing a faint clue:

In other words, it’s not really about George Floyd or Black lives, but insurrection for insurrection’s sake.

HotAir regrets that we don't have a "Joker Award for Belatedly Discovering That Some People Want to Watch the World Burn":

[O]ne does have to ask why a major American media outlets didn’t connect these dots for itself. It’s been over four months since the start of these riots, and yet an editorial board member for one of the largest media outlets in the country just figured this out. And she only figured it out after reading [Jeremy Lee] Quinn’s blog rather than the work of the reporters she employs. What does that say about the New York Times and its ability to report the truth rather than regurgitate popular narratives?

I wonder who authorized her to start reading blogs with unapproved narratives, anyway?  How secure is her job? 

Your Friday Night Movie: The FBI Releases "The Nevernight Connection"

From American Military News, I learned that the FBI and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center have released a short movie based on a real-life case to raise awareness of how China recruits Americans with security clearances. 

I'll pop the popcorn.

Channeling Pelosi

USA Today probably should fact-check this one, too.

"Will you shut up, man?"

After Biden refused to say whether he'd pack the Supreme Court, inanely responding that he didn't want to make it an issue in the election while people were trying to vote, Zerohedge warned what would happen if Biden's party claws its way into the White House and a Senate majority:

You see, the hard-left Democrat party views our American political system the same way Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan viewed democracy before becoming a dictator for life: “Democracy is like a train. We shall get out when we arrive at the station we want.” This time around, once the Democrats win, they will change the rules so they can never lose again.

As the t-shirts put it (our modern copybook headings), Trump has his personality issues, but the other side is completely insane. Although we have two rather unappealing personalities in the race, the choice between the parties' ideas couldn't be more stark.

Low expectations

 Ed Morrissey argues that Joe Biden should quit while he's ahead:

What else is there left to prove? Biden and his team might calculate that they and the “moderators” can get Trump to say some damaging things in these debates, and that might be true. Of course, Trump can do that without debates, and there’s an almost equal risk for Biden on that same score … theoretically, anyway. His declaration that he won’t take a position on court-packing lest it become an issue in the election was one of the worst dodges in a presidential debate, maybe ever. Biden’s declaration that “the party is me” was also rather risible, especially since he then disclaimed any blame for what his party does or advocates. In a media world with more objectivity, as Jazz noted earlier, Biden’s honesty and integrity would be getting more scrutiny this morning along with Trump’s.

Even if the risk is not the same, neither is the reward. Getting back on stage with Trump changes the expectations game from will Biden fall asleep to will Biden take positions and what are they. It allows Trump to tune his game a bit better, or at least have the opportunity to do so and correct the impression left from this debate. What’s the upside for Biden in a second debate, let alone two more?

Skinflints and Skinflints

Joe Biden has, oh so proudly, released his and his wife's  MFJ Federal income tax return. It's revealing, and I have a question for him and for President Donald Trump. 

According to their return, their top-line income was $985,233 before their Standard Deduction. 

According to their Schedule A, the Bidens gave $14,700 to charity.

That's 1.5% of their income--not even a decent tithe.

On the other hand, Trump has, since taking office, donated 100% of his salary to various causes, even if not to outright charities. 

My question: Biden claims Trump isn't paying enough in taxes, but who's the real skinflint, who doesn't care about others, really?

Eric Hines

Malingering yeast

My bread has been giving me fits, refusing to rise.  I finally read up on proofing commercial dry yeast and discovered that when I add it to some water and a little sugar, I should be getting it to foam so as to double its volume in ten minutes or so.  Well, that hasn't been happening!

I figured, since I was getting at least a little reaction, there must be a few yeasts still alive in there, even if most of the package was on strike.  The inactive ones don't do any harm, so I just kept increasing the total dried yeast until I got a good double-sized proof, and then used the whole batch in the bread.  Voila, a loaf with enough rise to make sandwich bread.