Jim Krause
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Not unlike the Progressive movement's dependency on attaching victimhood to as many citizens as possible to survive instead of inspiring them you've become a victim as well.
Its startling to witness such a uniquely enthralling and knowledgeable music industry mind be pulled away from their gift to pursue political hackdom.
I've really enjoyed so much in your letters and doubt I'll find what I enjoyed about them anywhere else but it's time to unsubscribe. I wish you well.
Steve Harry
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I think it's time to unsubscribe from you. You have become to politicized and I do not enjoy reading your bullshit any more.
Take care and I hope you get back to what you are good at - talking music without constantly injecting your opinions.
Brian
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Jesus Bob
Can we all stop making this about Trump for just a minute.
Yes, he bloviates and I'm not a fan either but the virus is real.
Every day more people complain about the president and do nothing about getting well.
Trump is a moron but they let their kids go to spring break.
How about we focus from a while and get through this together.
Nick Masters
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When Fox, Trump, Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans said that the virus was a liberal hoax there was no turning back. He doomed the country. I have friends and relatives in the Trump country and at this very moment they still think it's a hoax and will never, ever concede that they were lied to. Never. To admit that would be having to admit that they were lied to about pretty much everything else. That's not going to happen.
Michael Kurtz
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"Dan Patrick wants oldsters to die, Cuomo wants them to live."
Bob, you're gonna lose me and, I assume, others as readers when you write stuff like this.
Charlie Gaylord
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"My inbox is filled with Trumpers angry I'm beating up on their guy."
This is truly beyond my comprehension.
Tom Werman
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Ha close for 3-4 Months the economy. No offense this guy is a f'ing crack. You'd have 75 million people unemployed! Would be a god damn revolution in this country. No thanks.
Mitchell H. Green
Lead Edge Capital
P.S. I will personally go out of my way to make sure The NY Times doesn't success. Those dumb fucks will ruin the country
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Not too many missives. I like reading them while I'm homebound anyway. I enjoy your them.
While I don't always agree with you, I love your search for the truth. This missive referencing the WSJ article is spot on. It certainly describes me.
I'm no Trumper and we mostly agree on his character / personality. I have voted for both D's and R's as a registered independent.
I do plan to vote to re-elect Trump because I love, love, love how he is kicking the establishment. The elites in government and the so-called media. I love that he kicks CNN and Fox both. I love that he kicks Pelosi and Romney. He's the leader we need right now.
Sure, I'll want a statesman again someday. I loved Obama's style. But for now, we need a fighter and Trump is it.
I hope you and yours remain safe and healthy during this unprecedented time.
Steve Marshall
Las Vegas, NV
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Hello from Westchester, a COVID-19 epicenter. Some good numbers reported today by Cuomo. The rate of infection here seems to be slowing. Why - we were "locked down" early on - schools closed, non-essential workers told to stay home, etc. It works. It's pretty basic math and science. I have two friends with the virus. Both in their 30s. One shows barely any symptoms, the other went through what he describes as a bad cold. Both are through it now. Both were exposed as teachers in hot spots early on. It's likely that many, many people in our country will get this (or had it and resolved without even knowing). The key is slowing the pace so hospitals aren't overrun for the folks who will need those facilities. Most people will resolve on their own, but some won't and they will need these facilities or they will die. Not sure what more motivation there needs to be to stay put. It's a pretty small ask to abide by quarantine guidelines, all things considered.
Cuomo has done a very good job leading. His tone and style convey leadership. He doesn't sugarcoat or panic - he tells it like it is the way a stern, but caring uncle would. NYS is going to go through the worst of this before most if not all other states do. I'm glad he's at the wheel and I hope other states can learn from what we do right and also the mistakes we make.
Stay safe. I'm lucky in that our publishing business is able to operate with all staff remote and at home around the nation. Interesting to see how creative artists can be in working and recording remotely.
Rich Stumpf
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This links to an excellent piece by the BBC, and a profound skewer of Trump. It reads like a speech with no filler. I recommend.
It also contains these two nuggets:
"The failure to carry out adequate testing, the key to containing outbreaks early on, is linked to a funding shortfall at the Department of Health and Human Services."
"Consequently, America's claim to global pre-eminence looks less convincing by the day. While in previous crises, the world's most powerful superpower might have mobilised a global response, nobody expects that of the United States anymore. The neo-isolationism of three years of America Firstism has created a geopolitical form of social distancing, and this crisis has reminded us of the oceanic divide that has opened up even with Washington's closest allies."
Robert Bond
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52012049
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I live just north of Seattle and am a proud 35 year veteran of the music industry. As you already know, we are in lock down. I've been laid off due to COVID-19 and have been rationing my supplies. Unfortunately, I am alone here and it is beyond difficult. I am on day #13 of self isolation. I had to restock today, so had to travel to the store. It is INSANE here, people are panicking and hoarding bathroom tissue, face tissue and if you can find anti-bacterial wipes, you may as well have won the lottery (this has been going on for weeks, as you have reported in your area, not surprising this is a nation wide issue). Non-perishable items on store shelves are empty. However, the most shocking thing that I see is that NO ONE and I mean NO ONE is practicing social distancing where I live. I had to visit two stores to purchase the items I needed and at both locations, people were mingling inches from each other. Even on the streets via my drive to the stores, I saw groups of teenagers and adults who were all walking on sidewalks in close proximity to one another (the weather has been nice here the past few days). This virus does not discriminate by age. I'm seriously concerned that folks here aren't being responsible. Parents need to step up and remind their children (of course, not to scare them) but remind them to be vigilant and use common sense during this time.
I appreciate your work; hope you and Felicia stay well.
Traci Stetzer
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2.8 million people die in the US every year. A lot of those people would have lived longer if they weren't able to drive, smoke, drink alcohol, eat fatty food, have guns or take risk. So government is making choices all the time when it balances the moral imperative to preserve life against the realities of human nature and the choices involved when people work, play and live their lives. I think there is a valid debate to be had about what kind of increase in that 2.8 million number is so unacceptable that American life needs to stop to prevent it. Bear in mind that stopping the economy costs lives too. Perhaps more than the lives that are saved. Suicide rates will increase because of the despair over lost savings for and the lost life choices for the generation about to enter the work place and there will be much less money for healthcare and for the social services necessary to protect lives. And the US response to this pandemic sets a template for the response to future pandemics which will inevitably come. Here in the UK I've had to close the doors to my 90 year old car business which employs 60 people and provides for their families. I'm going to get some government help to cover the wages of the employees I've sent home but I'm burning through cash in the business and the doors may never reopen which forever damages the lives of 60 families. So, I don't think Trump is wrong to raise the question of the proportionality of the US response to this latest virus. It's great you can work from home and advocate measures to slow the spread but be aware too how much immediate and lasting harm is being caused by the imperative to protect life. It's a very difficult moral problem that needs intelligent debate. Sadly, Trump is such a polarising figure that that debate can't properly be had.
Andrew Harting
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I just read on Twitter (@sandiroberts82) that mass testing starts in Oklahoma today. "It's going to be bad! We have low numbers because of no tests."
I fear the red states will soon know what Washington state and New York state know.
James Starace
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If Trump would tell everyone to stay home for 2-3 weeks and wash their hands, most of this problem would go away and the economy would rebound.
The alternative is that people are going to continue to get sick and we're going to be dealing with this for months, if not longer.
Jason Bernstein
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My wife graduated from nursing school in 1974. After obtaining her license, she had a 45 year career as a Registered Nurse. And now she's been retired for the past 7 months.
She becomes emotional when she see stories of medical professionals (nurses, Doctors, EMTs) who don't have enough new personal protective equipment (PPE) and have to re-use the masks and gloves they wore when they went in to see the last patient. In nursing school the students all had to learn how to treat patients in isolation. The students were taught to use the PPE, and then, the MOST important part, as they were leaving the room they removed their PPE and threw it into a receptacle. Because the whole purpose of isolating a patient is to prevent the spread of the disease to the patient in the next room. Hearing stories about not only the reuse of PPE for a single day, but also having to hear about reuse for a whole week, is just terrible.
Say a prayer, or have a kind thought for those who can't get the PPE they need.
Ken Coffey
Waukesha, WI
v
Larry Campbell also played at Love Rocks with no audience. His wife just posted a video that he is very ill in upstate New York. He's a great guy and of course from Dylan and Levon's bands. It's coming home with Terrence McNally dying today. Trump is guilty of negligent homicide just by his messaging this week. And even more so by his dithering for months. I'm very worried. Two daughters in Brooklyn.
Larry played two shows in our venue. Holding you in the light Larry!
Ron Ozer
Arden Concert Gild
Arden, Delaware.
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Not Jackson. That's fucked up.
John Hook
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"Well just wait until people you know start dying."
My brother and I just had that morbid conversation over dinner tonight. Guessing which vulnerable friend or family member it might be. Maybe him, maybe me.
Randi Swindel
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The talking points are in
Open Up for Business
From Trump to Falwell Jr to Maricopa County ( AZ pop 4.3m) disease control division medical director- who questions school and restaurant closures
The fix is in, AZ's Gov Doug Ducey issued exec order yesterday which states his authority over the Municipalities This order was a cut and paste of similar orders in Indiana, Wisconsin and West Virginia
Most AZ cities of size have closed restaurants, bars, gyms etc
Ducey wants them open- also classed as "essential" are golf courses and pawn shops ( go get more guns)
Part of this is to make keep employees ineligible for Unemployment Insurance- if ordered in and you don;t show--- that's a quit
AZ is at #47 in the country for tests per 100,000 population ( about same rating for education and teacher salaries)
How to stay safe:
The Trumpers are all going to infect
Put a sign for a Dem candidate in the yard to keep them away, keep doing what we are doing
& don't take medical advice from the President
Cheers, TS
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You're on the right side of history. Thanks for giving us all a community to be part of. I had an actor friend tell me while he was really depressed, Howard Stern gave him relief because he felt he had a place to hang out listening to the Stern show. You provide the same.
Much appreciation,
Patrick Flanagan
Santa Monica
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Morning Bob,
Love from the UK during these challenging days. Adore your country, but often, not your government - without question Trump, who, irrespective of nationality (or skin colour: orange) represents a nadir in basic human decency. One we follow at our peril.
Don't know if you follow the UK's Guardian newspaper, but thought you might be interested in this article from today's paper. Rather than some smirk in the face of an arrogant man, this is simply proof that we are all on this planet together. We can shout and ball all we like about borders and creed, but, as it would seem, your Number One still needs others' help in troubled times. Let's hope he learns something - otherwise all this pain was foe nothing.
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/trump-privately-appeals-to-asia-and-europe-for-medical-help-to-fight-coronavirus
Another writer on the paper has also put into words what has become all to obvious of late - that we have to respect the planet, and we are not above consequences.
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/coronavirus-nature-is-sending-us-a-message-says-un-environment-chief
God bless you and yours.
Steve Day
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What's going to happen if the majority of the deaths are those same Fox News viewers?
Hal Kempson
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To add to my chirp of a few days ago re the coronavirus in South Africa – I would like to emphasise how wonderfully our new president Cyril Ramaphosa is handling things re our lockdown - which starts tmrw.
Clear, concise, accurate – and calm communication – and it appears South Africa is responding accordingly.
Most importantly – although we are in a recession – he emphasised that the health of the nation – and its citizens – comes first.
Kind Regards,
Patric van Blerk
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Subject: Coronavirus didn't come from a lab in China (not sure if you saw this)
Press article: www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2020/20200317-andersen-covid-19-coronavirus.html
Nature Medicine journal article: www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
Not that it won't stop President Shift-and-Blame from stopping his rhetoric...
Travis Wilson
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Subject: Trump's cabinet Bible Study on Wednesday mornings
"Trump cabinet Bible Teacher Blames Coronavirus Pandemic On God's Wrath - Somehow It Involves China, Gay People, And Environmentalists: bit.ly/2UkNluM
Max Holm
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I keep getting emails from friends in the US who are concerned about me being in Spain, asking me to come back to the US. They're crazy.
Spain is experiencing an approach to the peak of the virus here, which will happen everywhere.
Let me tell you what it's really like here for the majority of people.
We feel that the government prioritizes our welfare. Taxes are deferred for small businesses, self-employed. People, both wage-earners and self-employed, can collect unemployment benefits. In Valencia, where I live, the elderly who live alone are provided with free grocery delivery PLUS a daily free lunch delivery consisting of a beverage, 2 main dishes and a dessert. The streets are disinfected on a daily basis. My building's common areas are disinfected on a daily basis. Younger people volunteer to go shopping for elderly people in their buildings. My mom, who is in a high-risk category, called to get a letter from her doctor for tax-deferral, and he was more concerned with her symptoms, than with the paperwork, which of course he gave her instantly. Banks have been told not to collect mortgage payments. Public housing inhabitants don't have to pay rent. Private landlords are telling tenants that if they have financial problems, they don't need to pay the rent. People work together. There's a sense of community. We're okay to sacrifice our freedom for the common good. You've probably seen videos of people on balconies applauding the healthcare and emergency workers - we do that every evening at 8 PM. Is it hard? Is it scary? Yes, but less so here, than I felt when I was in Boston 2 weeks ago. Here, we have strong leadership, and a focus on the individuals first. The rest will be taken care of in time. I didn't feel safe in the US. So glad to be in Spain.
Best regards,
Max Holm
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What part of this are people missing?…
Trump - the "businessman" - bankrupted FOUR times. Destroyed lives. Walked away with no consequences.
That was OK with his base. They thought that was a qualification for the Presidency.
Now, he's trying to bankrupt America. Seems that's OK with his base - again.
Sometimes I want to scream.
John Parikhal
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(Republican) Vermont Governor shut EVERYONE down yesterday afternoon ????Phil Scott is an open critic of TRUMPSTER
Heiner Leber
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Then I get this headline from the Tennessean, the only Nashville newspaper, this morning. I don't subscribe. :
Daily Briefing: Sanitizer, toilet paper and AR-15s: Tennesseans snap up guns and ammo during coronavirus outbreak
Peace
Chuck Thatcher
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Pass the word. The severity of this plague is squarely on Trump, his administration and his moronic followers.
bentoncole
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Trump plans to advertise Easter.Brunch at his dining locations at "The Last Supper."
Tom Rooney
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My question of the day is...Where does this 60% approval rating of how Trump is handling this national crisis come from. Because if you're from New York you ain't getting no 60%. Maybe it's coming from all the red states in the middle where the Outbreak It's not as severe as other places. It makes me think that if the Republicans didn't think there was still something there they wouldn't all be telling people not to go back to work and Trump Messing with the heads of the public..Because he's so desperate to hold onto Power. This whole thing is an abomination of the highest orders
Jason Miles
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Nashville just had to formally close playgrounds and dogparks because people here are too stupid to stay six feet apart at them. I was in Walgreens to pick up a Rx the other day and they have blue tape lines on the floor in front of the register to keep people apart and the next woman in line walks right up behind me like it's a normal day. smh.
Ben Stauffer
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failed a million times over. But Trump's government is a case study in mismanagement. He gutted our "deep state" experts, and turned the government into his own personal fiefdom, enriching himself and his cronies at the expense of the very people he claims to be fighting for. He promised better, cheaper, and more available health care. Every week for three years has been "infrastructure week." HIs tax cuts went to corporations who didn't invest in their workers - they just bought their own stock to raise their share value. He shows no empathy during hurricanes. He doesn't care about the environment. His tariffs only hurt American companies and farmers, and his pivot to socialism (paying off farmers) was the height of hypocrisy. He made no progress with Iran and N. Korea — in fact, he exacerbated things. He's don't nothing but foment more anger in the middle east. The opioid crisis which has ravaged many of the states that supported him has gone barely noticed by him. Etc etc etc.
So it's great that people want disrupters, but why are they so accepting of incompetence? Is that what "forgiving the failures of others and having their own overlooked in return…" leads to?
- Steven Kane
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So 60% huh? Did you see his interview yesterday? Or read the fact that Darwin Award Winners DIED trying his " Remedy?" This buffoon wants us back to work in TWO WEEKS? Yesterday I found out 4 people on my work campus have it, and now I'm sick and scared. Washington State went on lock down, last night. Kiss Grandma goodbye. In two weeks we will look like Italy. Show me the poll then.
David Cameron
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Thank you for sharing your voice and your continual insights and "inspiration."
The desire for disruption that you describe is completely understandable. The establishment *has* largely let-down the vast majority of the country. What is incomprehensible is that so many people vest their alienation from the establishment and their hopes for disruption on Trump, a carnival mirror metastasization of everything bad about the establishment.
You hated the self-serving corruption of the establishment? Well, let's turn that up to 11.
You hated the lack of responsibility or accountability by the establishment? Let's turn that up to 11.
You hated the dishonesty and mendacity of the establishment? Let's turn that up to 11, too.
In this light, Trump is less the disruption of the vices of the establishment than the steroidal apotheosis of them.
And, yet, he is cult-worshipped by a considerable mass of this ostensibly alienated country.
How does that work outside some combination of festering, toxic hatred and/or stupidity?
Sincerely,
Ari Abramowitz
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I'm guessing that "coronavirus may make Trump stronger" does not take account of what the American people will think when (OK, hopefully if) people are dying in hospital corridors
It's similar in the UK - right now there's a lot of support for the government because the awful, reckless reality of what they've done hasn't kicked in yet
Yours,
Joe Taylor
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Just a thought about this polling and the supposed Trump bump…
Their sample is people with home phones that are answering them.
That leaves out almost everyone I know…
John Porter
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Everyone thought the captain of the Titanic was doing a great job, too, until they hit the iceberg.
Fools among think, "We've been hearing for WEEKS about this COVID thing - but no one in MY neighborhood has died yet!"
When Trump supporters' moms and dads and kids die in hospital hallways for lack of a respirator, they won't think so kindly of Dear Leader.
Jed Becker
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Thanks for all this. It's 100% spot on. As people on the left, we should be very worried about a Biden run in November.
Eric Howarth
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when the billionaires and executives who never had a clue,
don't have servants milling around them, because the country
has disintegrated, the money won't have any value….
nor will their lives…
the educated class that has created this problem, the elites,
are dead men and women walking, believing the governor
will commute their sentence.
governor joe biden who, sadly, has no clue.
the entire media establishment who has feed us a non stop
menu of death and destruction, finally has succeeded in bringing
their insanity beyond the screens, to real life.
Marc Brickman
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Most folks who follow Bernie don't know he's doing town halls on Facebook. I'm still standing with him. It's disgusting to see Joe try to get it up to communicate. He's a doddering old man, zero testosterone, a no show who thinks he's showing up.
I'm afraid that in the current situation with the DNC firmly behind Joe, Trump will get te-elected. You're right, liberals have no idea of where the folks who follow Trump are coming from.
Most have never spent time in the Deep South nor the mid west and had actual conversations where they listened and heard where they're coming from. The knee jerk dismissal reaction trumps connecting to their mind set and emotional tone.
Melissa Ward
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Those on the left need to burn the DNC, like Trump is on the right, and build a party for the people, like Trump is doing.
You were half right with Sanders but you didn't get Trump or better yet, you didn't get the people on the right. I'm not all the evil things lefties call me, but I do want to blow up government bureaucracy, 'by the people, for the people' are powerful words.
Daron Kruse
Omaha
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Jessica's story struck a major chord. We live in Brooklyn.
What happens if I get a bad case? What happens if my husband gets it? But worse, what if we both get it and can't tend to our 9 year old son? Surely, we can't send him to grandma's a few blocks away... who cares for him? My anxiety is high worrying about all of this. I'm not religious, but I hope that God would give us mercy and allow one of us to be well enough to take care of the other 2.
For now...we remain at home mostly, except for long walks and a few trips per week to the grocery store with gloves and masks.
Stay safe and thanks for your writing,
Christine Bradshaw
Ex-Sony Music
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Interesting Wall Street Journal piece. I can't see Biden
facing down Trump in a debate. But Andrew Cuomo vs
Trump would at least make great television.
Eddie Havoc
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OMG. I told you this in 2016 during the primaries.
We voted for Trump because he's not a politician. We didn't want Jeb, Rubio, Cruz, bla bla bla.
Trump circa 2016 was a fresh, anti-establishment, bull in a China shop (pun intended ??) candidate. Can u say Bernie Sanders? Hello?
Hillary was the epitome of the establishment elite class. Wealthy, escaping prosecution like Houdini, looking down her nose at everyone else even her own base honestly.
Now u think Biden is the answer. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!
Please Democrat party. After November and Trump wins. Please...Let it Go!
In 2024, Get a fresh face. A centrist. Someone we don't know about yet that can unite us. That won't talk about how nasty trump is but will lead us into the future with confidence. Maybe a businessman or woman who can point to an awesome thing they have created, built and run.
Thanks Bob for all u do.
Jack Lynady
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Orange Face's Easter Date.
Trump is acting like a grade school kid who wants to go outside and play basketball, but the P.E. teacher keeps telling him that it rained the night before and the court is too slippery.
He has a vision for us to be back up and running by Easter. BOLD. I get he's annoyed that everything is shut down and the economy isn't moving. WE ALL ARE.
Yet, if he really wants that. A nationwide shutdown is your only option.
But even when things are allowed to resume, it will take weeks for all us to get up to full speed.
There will be fears of going to certain large places and the genuine feeling that your health isn't at risk.
TV shows/movies will have to work out scheduling to get everyone back. Tours will have to begin the rerouting.
And let's be real, it will take a minute before New York City is back to it's normal self.
I don't think Don The Con understands all the variables.
If tourists can't land at LAX easily, safely, and quickly, they aren't hanging out on Hollywood and Highland.
Folks won't run to NYC until they know Broadway is back, museums are open, and they can take the subway.
Sure, his fans in Pensacola are probably golfing and hanging outside and hopefully they are aware of what's happening in NOLA.
We'll get through this, but science and competence is crucial.
-Dan Rosenberg in BH
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Simple question: If Biden is so out of touch and the country wants a revolution, why did Biden wipe the floor with Sanders? Why is he beating Trump in nearly every national poll fielded over the last year?
Maybe, just maybe, it's not about what the anxious Very Online set wants...?
Biden's going to beat Trump like a drum in November. Everything else you hear is just noise to entertain the political junkies.
Ryan McConnell
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Re: "know thine enemy", I suggest that all your readers look at the comments to almost any Breitbart article for a few days at least. Been doing it the last year.
Amazing how much you learn about hatred of the Democrats. Diversity, the excuse culture, modern education, AOC, globalism, etc., etc.
When you read these comments, it's important to remember that all these commenters vote. The Democrats (my party forever) didn't learn one thing from Trump's win, doubled down, went much more left, and are despised my more people than anyone can imagine.
Keep up the good fight,
Lance Grode
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I'm still dreaming of a Liz/Bernie ticket in any capacity. Given that Biden reappeared like a zombie out of the crypt, I haven't given up hope on a Bernie resurrection. Or maybe this optimism keeps me passing the open windows because I have no faith in Joe "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" Biden.
Socialized medicine works. I have only had positive experiences in France with their healthcare system. We need to stop having this knee-jerk reaction to the idea of socialism that is a side effect of the anti-communist propaganda our parents were fed during the Cold War. Most of us in the U.S. have attended public school and depended on the local police and fire departments at some point in our lives, all of which is socialism.
It's disheartening when people stop thinking for themselves and makes us no different than any other country that is force fed from the propaganda machine.
Jennifer O'Sullivan
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About five months ago, newspaper columnist Heather Malick summed up 21st-century populism here in Canada this way:
"Albertans voted Conservative because they wish the world to be the way it used to be. That world is a memory. It does not exist."
I believe that conclusion may also apply to the latest presidential election in the United States. All you have to do is substitute "Albertans" with "Americans" and "Trump" for "Conservative." However, that would only explain how Trump got elected in the first place. So why does his populist base of support continue to cling to him, even though he has failed to deliver on most of his major pre-election promises? That's what I would really like to know.
Stay healthy!
C. Felber
Sudbury, ON
Canada
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Your country is fucked.
You know whose fault it is...but you can't do anything about it until November. And there are still enough deluded fools who believe he is the answer, not the problem.
How many of their loved ones are going to have to die from Covid 19 before they finally understand what a catastrophe he has been for your once great (before Jan 2017) country?
So sad to watch this train wreck happening in (not so) slow motion...
Eric Gall
Toronto
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you hit the nail on the head.
People won't vote for Biden, because they're fed up with the establishment blackmailing them to vote for the lesser of 2 evils
just to avoid the bigger one. They're friggin fed up having to play that game. So they simply won't vote at all.
Bernie Sanders going independent would be the only possible solution, and he'd probably win in a landslide.
Best,
Frank Baach
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Bob, I know I'm preaching to the choir here but you'd think how Trump has handled the coronavirus debacle thus far would be enough to give his supporters pause. But they believe everything that's coming out of his mouth.
Based on the info at www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries, the US has quickly ascended to the No. 3 spot in terms of coronavirus infections of all countries in the world. Even if you multiply Canada's results (www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/) by 10 to account for the population difference between our countries, our infection rate is slightly more than half of the US. It's sadly ironic that the countries that didn't initially take coronavirus seriously are among the top 3 infected countries in the world.
Things are tight here in Canada. Most people I know are taking the isolation matter quite seriously. My kids are bored stiff, wanna hang out with their friends and we aren't letting them do it. My father was just released from hospital from a double whammy of influenza A and pneumonia. Coronavirus would be his end and I'm not taking that chance. And I know a lot of folks taking the same measures. It's just not worth it.
Here in my home province of New Brunswick, a state of emergency is in place until May 31. More than two full months. And no one is arguing. The consensus is that we'd rather over-react and over-plan for the worst case scenario than be too casual about it. Because if you under plan and things go awry, it's already too late. Some might believe it's already too late with all the safety measures both our provincial and federal governments have done. But in the bigger picture, we're doing well in the bigger scheme of things.
If Trump gets his way and the US re-opens by Easter weekend, I fully expect to see the US infection and fatality rate skyrocket. The very notion that your president feels the economy is more important than the safety and well-being of his citizens is blashphemous. Unreal.
Ken Kelley
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Please don't stop cheering about Bernie... I love him. He is the Real Deal, it's just sad many others don't see that. One of my friends said "almost everyone who works with him says he's difficult" and I replied "maybe that's because he has true conviction, and won't compromise on his beliefs, especially with matters of monumental consequences .... like not entering into a war with Iraq, or voting against NAFTA because he had the foresight to see how much it would hurt our country". Of course people are going to characterize someone as "difficult" when they are mad that he doesn't go along with the herd, even if they're running of a cliff.
Scott
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It's quite weird being in isolation for me up here in Oregon. My wife is a nurse and it sure seems inevitable that both she and I will get infected sooner or later due to her job (she is working, a lot) and the insane, crazy lack of protective equipment at the hospital. She works in home health, they are treating covid patients who have been sent home from hospital. The home health nurses are the lowest of the low in this hospital system, and they do not get as much personal protection equipment as the hospital staff do which isn't enough for them either. What a shit show. Top executives get millions...but nothing left over to protect staff and patients properly. America. Sigh. One day at a time. Hang in there! And thanks for your letters mate.
Owen Dearig
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I'm 64, with an 18 year old son. He seems to get it. In fact here in Maryland, so far most everyone seems to get it. We're lucky to have a savvy forward looking (republican!) governor.What you are writing, people need to hear. If they don't wish to hear it, they can delete and move on. You're good at this, Bob. If it's in you then KEEP WRITING.
Right now you're like the songwriters of the sixties, saying things that need to be said.
WRITE!
Stay well,
J Maher
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I got a lot out of your email blast this morning.
I am absolutely not a Trump fan, but as you say – and have said a number of times – he is out on his own when it comes to understanding what the average American wants, and his establishment rivals continue turning up to a metaphorical gunfight with knives.
I'll also say this about Trump. You know where he stands. Here in Australia, our Prime Minister left an entire nation scratching its head with his most recent Coronavirus update:
No more kids birthday parties - but schools are to stay open.
No mass gatherings - but shopping malls remain open.
Don't go to work if you don't have to (work remotely) only essential services should report for duty, but he considers "every Australian with a job an essential service."
I hope that we haven't become so tribal that how we respond to something like Covid-19 is determined by our political leanings (because, yeah, I'd be guilty of it) but would some actual leadership at this time be too much to ask? Sometimes down here in Australia, I feel like that scene in The Godfather where Sonny screams at Tom Hagan: "Goddamit, I wouldn't be in this mess if I had a Sicilian as a wartime consigliere."
Trump, Johnson and Ardern in NZ: they're wartime consiglieres. In Australia, we got Enzo the fucking Baker.
Keep the screeds coming whenever the need arises Bob. Do whatever you need to to get yourself through this.
Steve Baker
Melbourne
Australia
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I hope you and Felice are Ok man. I have been on total lockdown. Have not left my house since BEFORE all this started.
I have a record I want to finish and ...... I wait.
Like we ALL wait, baffled by the stupidity we all see with people NOT taking this seriously.
I had to get pissed at my 12 year old daughter who said ' Its no big deal Dad' I said ' YES IT IS! ' and discussions occurred.
The hard part is what we tell our young kids.
My 2 older ones are in their 30's and know what's up but my 9 year old boy is autistic and he won't tell you when he is sick or hurt.. he tuffs it out. Its much harder to communicate so between Me... disposable piece of shit over 60 guy .. and my autistic boy who cant articulate well if HE gets it, well we all die according to that useless sperm receptacle senator in Texas!
Does he not realize all us old fuckers pay the most taxes? After last year I dont need a colonoscopy!
The question is what's next?
How long does it take for the people infected to GET it - Get OVER it and have NO more new cases? Let's hope long its gonna take and 330 MILLION people gotta go thru this ??
Not Easter !!!!!!
You are right to be pissed people are not taking this seriously. But Some of us are !
Luke
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Please share with your readers. You know how valuable our healthcare workers are and you've seen the shoes they wear when their saving lives. They're usually Crocs. So we're giving back.
Please let you readers know so they can tell their brothers and sisters on the front lines of fighting COVID-19 that we've got their back...and feet.
Crocs is SHARING A FREE PAIR FOR HEALTHCARE.
We started this today and gave away 10,000 pairs. We'll release another 10,000 tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. ET and so on and so on...
We're still working out some of the Day 1 kinks as the demand has obviously been incredible.
Here's some more details. Stay safe and healthy.
finance.yahoo.com/news/crocs-announces-free-pair-healthcare-164000577.html
Please re-share. lnkd.in/e3A_rTE
Terence
Terence Reilly
Chief Marketing Officer
Crocs
_____________________________________
There are certainly too many missives Bob
Thomas Burger
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Bravo, Sir! I'm reading everything online all day here is self-isolation land. As a Bernie supporter, I don't understand the pushback and vitriol I get from my supposedly anti-Trump left leaning "friends" on social media, but the WSJ article you've quoted and comments explain it.
Keep up writing when the inspiration strikes. I've subscribed to your newsletter for probably 10 years and no amount of posting is too much. Keep up the great work, and stay healthy!
Best regards,
Jack R. Lebowitz
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Thank you Bob. I'm not unsubscribing!
Karen Sundell
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