Author: patd

Monday’s Milestone of Misery

The Week reports:

The U.S. will officially surpass 500,000 COVID-19 deaths Monday — the number stood at 498,879 on Sunday night, according to Johns Hopkins University. And President Biden will mark the solemn milestone with a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House at sundown, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Biden will also deliver some remarks, the White House said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Sunday that crossing half a million deaths is “terrible” and “really horrible.” “It’s nothing like we’ve ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “People decades from now are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country.”

Compromise is not a four letter word

Although many a true believer on the left and on the right equate another word which starts with “c” (a real 4 letter word) with those who practice it. Compromise is the lubricant that keeps democracy functioning as a democracy.
The derivation tells the story for a well-oiled society:
[from Etymonline] Late Latin compromissus, past participle of compromittere “to make a mutual promise” (to abide by the arbiter’s decision), from com “with, together” (see com-) + promittere “to send forth; let go; foretell; assure beforehand, promise,” from pro “before” (from PIE root *per- (1) “forward,” hence “in front of, before”) + mittere “to release, let go; send, throw” (see mission).

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“These are Trump terrorists. Call them by their name.”

The quote above by Joe Scarborough could be the subtitle for the latest National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security.

Summary

The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration.  Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.