Yesterday was an ordinary Sunday; an ordinary day. One might almost say a generic news day. Three items from yesterday’s news could have been from any day’s news, revealing what this country is all about.
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After six worker deaths at Georgia chicken plant, U.S. issues $1 million in fines*
Six workers dead and the company offers up prayers:
The company posted on its website, "As our community continues to heal, we extend our continued sympathies and prayers to the families and friends of those lost."
Perhaps if the company had been following safety protocols the deaths would have been avoided. Of course, that would have meant obeying regulations, and we all know (because the Republicans have told us so) how awful regulations are. They keep freewheeling businessmen from doing their own thing and, worst of all, they cost money. Of course, lives might be saved when care is taken to follow the rules, but the bottom line is king.
So the nasty federal government had to step in and issue citations and fines against the ownership group, who, one imagines, are still on their knees in prayer.
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Officials in Michigan county will return virus bonuses
Elected officials in a conservative Michigan county who gave themselves bonuses of $65,000 with federal COVID-19 relief aid say they will return the money following days of criticism**
The bad old feds again; giving out money for COVID relief. But how quickly GOP eyes lit up when they saw the greenbacks flowing to their state. “It ain’t filthy lucre when it’s going into my pocket!” How many Republican-controlled states refused free Medicaid extension money that would have gone to help the poor of their states? We can’t have that! What we can have is that other pot of dough.
Well, at least they demonstrated a sense of shame when called out. Now, to get on the phone to cancel the new pickup truck with the gun rack in the back.
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States scale back virus reporting just as cases surge***
Several states scaled back their reporting of COVID-19 statistics this month just as cases across the country started to skyrocket, depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in their communities.
It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it. Just when cases rise, you stop reporting on them. Hey, we’re open for business; can’t let a bunch of Debbie Downers ruin it.
Democratic societies need information to prosper. Autocracies need suppression of information to keep the populace from knowing the truth.
There are, it seems to me, certain tests that can instantly separate the bad from the good. For example, I learned decades ago during the civil rights and anti-war protests that you can easily tell which side the bad guys are on: look at who is beating up the photographers. They don’t want the truth to come out. They are the suppressors of freedom, the acolytes of autocrats.
Similarly, though less violently, the pols who refuse to let the public know the facts—whether about the number of COVID cases or those responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol—are the enemies of a democratic society.
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That’s all well and good, but not letting you know the truth keeps me in power. And that’s a higher good. Right?
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So, just an ordinary Sunday—with the usual grifters, liars, and chiselers.
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* https://finance.yahoo.com/news/six-worker-deaths-georgia-chicken-154106249.html
It's very difficult to keep up your sense of outrage when the outrages come so thick and fast...arghhh!
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