Thursday, March 3, 2022

The State of the Onion Is Mushy

 President Biden's annual spiel to the Congressional Joint the other night was like watching him painfully peel away the soggy layers of an onion that was left way too long in the pantry. He tried to present the discarded leavings of his broken campaign promises as a smorgasbord of culinary delights for his audience to savor and sample. But once he finally got through all the belabored flaying and skinning, all that was left was an empty center. Not to mention plenty of teary eyes and held noses. We at least deserved the usual political hot air, but all we got was a cold vacuum and a lingering stench. 

There was no student debt forgiveness on his menu. And in lieu of even the public health insurance appetizer that he once vowed to champion when elected, all he is offering people now is one more free Covid test kit and free antiviral medication for those who test positive. A Probe, a Pill, and a Promise. The totality of your health care needs will remain in the iron grip of the Predators and  Profiteers of the Plutocracy. You're just like an onion. Neoliberal doctrine states that everyone must have skin in the game.

But since Biden couldn't admit this cruel, hard reality to the audience at home, he doubled right down on the callousness - with the obligatory covering of bathos, of course. He shone the spotlight on a very cute 13-year-old boy with Type 1 diabetes, who was sitting in the first lady's box. Biden commiserated with young Joshua Davis's parents, who find the cost of their child's insulin to be excessive. But rather than call for insulin to be free of cost for everybody who needs it, Biden merely suggested that it become more "affordable." (Meanwhile, of course, Josh was deemed by the mainstream media to be "absolutely delighted" to have Biden wish him a happy birthday. )



 

Now here's where it gets really cruel. You probably noticed that Joshua, despite being more vulnerable to severe Covid because of his medical condition, was not wearing a mask. Nor were Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi and most of the congress-critters and dignitaries in attendance. 

That is because, in this brave new world of Learning to Live With Covid, it is no longer the Unvaxxed Deplorables who must be shunned. It's the masks themselves, now deemed to be a badge of shame by the very person ostensibly in charge of the nation's public health:

"I just know people are tired. The scarlet letter of this pandemic is the mask," CDC Director Rochelle Wolensky said, referencing the 19th century novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in which protagonist Hester Prynne is forced to wear an embroidered "A" for having committed adultery.

Masks are so last month. Therefore, the bare-faced fashion-conscious politicians and elites attending the speech were all decked out in blue and yellow lapel pins, ties, scarves and even a gown or two, to express their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Senator Elizabeth Warren wore a geegaw of a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine, on her own jacket. The sunflower is also the state flower of Kansas. But as we should all know by now, we ain't in Kansas any more. We are in the magical land of Oz, where the wicked witch of Covid has been squashed flat by implicit decree from the very highest levels of the ruling establishment.

The only fever we should care about is War Fever! Fear not what your country is doing to you. Fear instead what Putin is doing to the country of Ukraine. We are all Ukrainians now, in case you haven't heard. More than one pundit has gushed in recent days that they look just like "us", i.e. white and preferably blond-haired and blue-eyed. As Judith Butler has written, some victims of war are considered more deserving of grief and empathy than others.

Now, if you are an older person, or immune-deficient, or disabled, or otherwise vulnerable, and you're torn between being labeled a slut and preventing your death from Covid, it still just might be possible to be patriotic and to stay alive and healthy, all at the same time!




 If the austere Biden aviator sunglasses look isn't for you, and you want protection both from Covid and from the facial recognition technology that's going around, this might be a more practical fashion choice  Be sure to get the largest size available so as to discreetly hide your big scarlet "A" of an N95 mask.


Ukraine solidarity merch and couture are available on Amazon and Walmart, or course, and wherever fine regime-change and war propaganda is sold. Which seems to be everywhere.

As Uncle Joe might say (and he actually did, at the end of his onion-peeling exercise): "Go get 'em!"

6 comments:

  1. Biden really is pathetic. What a poor choice for President. I know the corporate oligarchy wanted someone they could control but this is really humiliating for the U.S. Are the choices so slim these days that we are left with plastic surgeried caricatures like Biden, Pelosi and Trump? Surely, the oligarchy could have picked someone who at least seemed dignified as the U.S. circles the drain. No wonder Democrats long for the good ole days of Obama. At least he talked a good line while he was selling his constituents down the river.

    At the same time, We The People hold some responsibility to take small political actions like not shopping at Amazon, Walmart and the bargain behemoths, staying informed and speaking out. Even the nutcase trumpeters manage some political actions that allow their anti-vaxxer, pro-fascist voices to be known. I totally blame the MSM and the lackey "journalists" avoiding or softly covering any collective actions that take place - never discussing in any depth the reasons for protesting. People DO feel like "What's the point?"

    I know people are beaten down - and I too feel the call to resign and pass the baton (not that there is anyone to take the baton) - but the alternative is even worse.

    As for masks - unbelievable in a pandemic that probably the most sure-fire protection is withdrawn due to ignorance, laziness or inconvenience. I feel so sorry for nurses and doctors who will bear the deluge of Covid patients. Nurses, especially, are becoming like soldiers who return to the battlefield mainly because they can't leave their "band of brothers" to fight on alone. While good masks (as opposed to counterfeits) might not solve all our safety problems around Covid, they certainly help.

    Now those immune compromised will indeed look like they are wearing a scarlet letter when they don a mask. Great! The message is the strong and healthy prevail and only their wants are important.

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  2. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I am wondering if a quick end to the slaughter in Ukraine could be achieved by NATO and the US offering to agree that Ukraine will never be allowed into NATO. It might also put a stop to the threats of nuclear war and possibly start discussions on total nuclear disarmament. Does that sound crazy?

    The Cuban missile crisis was ended when Kennedy agreed to pull our nuclear missiles out of Turkey, which was the reason the crisis started in the first place. Khrushchev saw those missiles as an existential threat, just as Putin sees a Ukraine NATO membership.

    Biden would be viewed in history as the man that put an end to the killing instead of the man that put an end to history.

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  3. No, Anonymous, you do not sound ridiculous, but actually propose the only sane and humane course to take.
    However, to our peril and for all the pawns in their game, the masters of war do not care about slaughter, but only for their profits.
    Your reference to Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis is exactly bull's-eye, and that full story needs to be faced.
    What we know of it so far is chilling, because the powers that did that are still in control, with the effects evident in NATO expansion and Ukraine being seized by Russia. The Cold War is not personal, or political, it's business.

    Kennedy had the courage to propose a different future, and that got him assassinated.
    See this and then read these:

    Oliver Stone & Abby Martin: Down the JFK Rabbit Hole —
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJd3Y94etd4
    02/22/2022
    Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone joins Abby to discuss his new film J"FK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass” —
    his journey into the case, the evidence of a CIA-orchestrated assassination and American foreign policy.

    trailer — JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH3F7rT_eNQ&t=14s

    Many predicted NATO expansion would lead to war. Those warnings were ignored —
    It has long been clear that NATO expansion would lead to tragedy.
    We are now paying the price for the US’s arrogance.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/28/nato-expansion-war-russia-ukraine
    28 Feb 2022 ~ by Ted Galen Carpenter

    Chris Hedges: War profiteers are fueling this crisis —
    While debates about the war in Ukraine center on the motivations of Putin and NATO powers, the merchants of death profiting from war are—literally—making a killing.
    https://therealnews.com/chris-hedges-war-profiteers-are-fueling-this-crisis
    March 4, 2022 ~ by Marc Steiner

    Why Does the Media Keep Blaming the Russians for JFK’s Assassination? —
    https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/why-does-the-media-keep-blaming-the-russians-for-jfks-assassination/
    01/20/22 ~ by Brian Baccus

    Why Can’t the Media Get the Story of the JFK Documents Right?
    https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/why-cant-the-media-get-the-story-of-the-jfk-documents-right/
    01/19/22 ~ by Robert Smith

    Why We’re Revisiting the JFK Assassination —
    https://whowhatwhy.org/justice/why-were-revisiting-the-jfk-assassination/
    01/18/22 ~ by Russ Baker

    On JFK: Washington Post Deserves Pinocchio Award —
    https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/on-jfk-washington-post-deserves-pinocchio-award/
    01/18/22 ~ by Peter Janney

    Why ‘JFK Revisited’ Is Necessary —
    https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/why-jfk-revisited-is-necessary/
    01/18/22 ~ by Dick Russell

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  4. NOTHING burns me up more than war!!! I feel like I'm coming back to life over this horrible situation. I even finally remembered the name I used to use here regularly - annenigma. Anyway, pardon my rambles:

    Blinken: "We're not trying to start a war, we're trying to prevent one". FAIL

    Blinken: "We're trying to end this war, not start a new one". FAIL

    We're in a worldwide economic war, pushing Russia, China, and India into a stronger alliance. They're already forming their own financial system. After all, what country wants to be at risk of being crushed economically by the American Empire if they don't obey orders.

    I'm wondering... is there going to be a competition between the cartel of corporate war profiteers with their powerful NATO military alliance vs the tech billionaires/oligarchs? What do the tech titans get out of endless war? I'm hoping for a clash of the titans that leads to peace for profit, the best we can probably hope for.

    I'm sorry to have to mention his name, but sincere or not, Trump advocated for waging business not war. He's the one who signed the treaty with Afghanistan to withdraw all troops by last May. It wasn't Biden, who promptly violated the treaty by extending it to 9/11 then moving it up by a couple weeks. Then he appeared unprepared as if he (or the generals) never intended to withdraw at all.

    Trump criticized the trillions wasted in the Middle East and laid that squarely at the foot of Bush, openly and without hedging or hesitation during a debate watched by millions. Score!!! We could use someone with guts who is a public figure. Isn't there a young American woman of integrity, such as a Malala or Greta? I guess we can rule out Chelsea.

    I'm mentioning Trump because his position on war impressed voters (including me, truth be told). He was a breath of fresh air and frankly, it turned out that it wasn't entirely bullshit as evidenced by his NOT starting new wars in multiple new countries, i.e. Somalia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria. Thanks, Obama.

    Mr. Peace Prize wouldn't say shit if he had a mouth full of it when it comes to war unless his own personal wealth was threatened. INSHALLAH!

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  5. voice-in-wildernessMarch 8, 2022 at 12:34 AM

    Media now worry about civilians in Ukraine while ignoring the millions in Afghanistan who are left to slowly starve with the help of our sanctions. With Ukraine, I worry that we will supply weapons, then advisers, and ultimately escalate to the ultimate COVID vaccination of nuclear WW3. Which, as they say, will be over in minutes except for anyone unlucky enough to survive.

    We do love sanctions. When applied to others. Imagine the Washington reaction, under any administration, if other countries had loudly sanctioned us for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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