Weekend open thread: What's happening where you are?
Florida, Texas and Arizona are the new coronavirus epicenters, while Mike Pence says it's all "encouraging news."
Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and helping each other out.
We had a power outage on Friday (for three hours), 20 minutes before my SiriusXM show, which I’ve been broadcasting from home in New York since March 13 and the pandemic.
So — I’m sorry I missed the show! We broadcast a “best-of,” as I’m sure you know if you’re a listener and had tuned in.
I had so much to say after the shit show of Mike Pence at the Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Friday. The country’s cases are surging out of control, and yet he was defending the administration — both its response and the fact that Trump is still having rallies! He said it was “encouraging news” that most of the new cases are among young people, which is totally bonkers.
Let me know what’s happening where you are, particularly if you’re in the new epicenters of the pandemic.
I live in Dallas, Texas and the state is experiencing record numbers of people Testing positive with COVID-19, along with the number of people in the hospital With the virus. Houston hospitalS are at capacity because of COVID-19 patients. Dallas hospital occupancy levels are in better shape but there is no telling how much worse things are going to get.
There are several reasons thIs is happening. Texas started ending Shelter In Place on May 1st, one of the first states in the country to do so. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and other large cities didn’t want to start relaxing the quarantine measures until numbers leveled out and started to decline. However, Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who like Trump is more concerned with stopping the economic downturn than saving the lives of people living in Texas. In fact, Lieutenant Governor stated back in March that seniors like him were willing to die in order to get the economy moving. The cities wanted to keep Shelter In Place for their residents but the state wouldn’t let them do so. None of this went over well with seniors and exemplifies why Trump is losing support from seniors around the country. Let’s hope they vote for Biden in November.
Another reason for Texas becoming an epicenter is that many people are not wearing masks, They are not staying 6 feet apart and are not staying home as they should. Many seniors are being cautious but lots of people 45 and younger are not. Many buy into the propaganda they get from FOX news, other right-wing media as well as Trump’s tweets.
Because of our skyrocketing numbers Governor Abbott has forced bars to Close again and restaurants to go from a maximum of 75% occupancy back to 50%. If people here in Texas don’t take this pandemic more seriously and act accordingly he will be forced to take more drastic actions. Of course, had Abbott not kissed Trump’s ass to begin with and not opened the state too early and too quickly we wouldn’t be in this mess.
I am frustrated that so many people refuse to wear masks. I blame Trump and other leaders who aren’t wearing masks. There is no way to get through to the people who consider COVID-19 to be a hoax. They are unwilling to listen to reason. They don’t trust science. We shall see what happens going forward. Right now the states of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey are requiring people coming to their states from Texas and other states with skyrocketing numbers to quarantine them selves for 14 days once they arrive.
Down in Houston it’s very much like Dallas although I don’t know that they are stressing hospital space as much since we have the Houston medical center. I quit my job at the last restaurant I was at and moved to a different restaurant where I can bartend and have more distance between myself and the guests. However the new restaurant is in Galveston so there’s a ton of tourists. Not a lot of mask wearing going on either. I wear them everywhere. Work, gas station, grocery...everywhere. From my observations the people not wearing masks tend to be white and middle aged, or just young. I’m not sure why young people seem to think they can’t get it or spread it. A couple of the bars I go to just rebranded as restaurants to stay open. Not sure how that works because we have a 51-50 rule here. Meaning to be a restaurant 51% of your sales must come from food. You’re a bar if 51% of your sales come from alcohol. I wish I could stay home but bills won’t pay themselves and unemployment doesn’t last forever. Especially if they ask you to come back and your employer reports to the state if you refuse. Stay safe everyone.