Yesterday, the FDA announced full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. And like clockwork, "Fox News" did a story about how "critics" are wondering if this approval, done in "record time" was rushed. Now, never mind that they didn't say who any of these "critics" actually are who ware supposedly saying this. And never mind that there's a good likelihood that the "critics" are "Fox News" itself. But the approval process is generally about 6-10 months (it can be longer), and this took eight months. So, that's smack in the middle of normal. Further, the FDA made clear that there were no shortcuts taken in the study and that they only thing that sped the process faster is that the research was moved to the head of the line and done first, because other approvals that were waiting. So if it was at all faster, that's the reason. It just got bumped up to be looked at before everything else because...well, there was a worldwide pandemic and it was an actual emergency. But of course, what makes this "Fox News" story about "critics" and whether eight months of study by the FDA was enough all the more eye-rolling pathetic is that this is the same "Fox News" that has been pushing the drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. You might have heard about this -- ivermectin is actually a drug that's meant for de-worming horses and cows! So, yeah, the FDA "rushed" its approval of eight months, but take that horse de-wormer drug we're telling you about. And by the way, for all the people who actually took it and got very sick, it transcends pathetic that they wouldn't take a vaccine that 300 million people had gotten shots with, that the CDC emergency-approved and that the FDA had emergency-approved, as well , but they'd happily take a horse de-wormer that no has approved. And how repugnant that “Fox News” pushes it and not the actual vaccination. How bad did it get? The FDA itself put out a tweet about not taking ivermectin. And it should go down in history. I heard a host on MSNBC reference the tweet, and I assumed they were paraphrasing it like a joke to emphasize the point, since what he said was so weird and funny. But no, that was what really was the FDA actually tweeted!! Yes, that was the real tweet that the FD-freaking-A felt compelled to put out. "You are not a horse. You are not a cow." And "Seriously, y'all. Stop it" is the topper. Yes, they did give the medical explanation underneath, but the headline was the point -- no medical debate necessary. And they even included in a photo of a veterinarian treating a horse. And then contrasted it with a medical physician -- wearing a mask -- treating a human being. Wearing a mask. You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it. That pretty much describes today's Republican Party. Am I being hyperbolic? Well, okay, ye... well, no, change that, no, I'm not. Between thinking Trump won, the pandemic is a hoax, Democrats eat babies, the Chinese put wood chips in our election ballots, Italian satellites changed our election ballots, Jewish lasers started the wild fires, and believing conspiracies headed by a totally anonymous source and oh-so much more -- and yes, you know that ALL of these are real beliefs held by a sold segment of today's Republican Party -- I think it actually is a reasonable description of today's GOP that the FDA has to put out a tweet that says: "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
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If you missed Last Week Tonight with John Oliver yesterday, the Main Story -- and this should not come as a shock -- was on Afghanistan. Less about the current situation, but more how we got there and what we did while there, along with what's next. It's a good look at it all, though I almost didn't embed it because, good as it was, I found it more surface than I expected even in a short piece. And in an effort to be fair (always a good thing), I felt it bent over much too much, considering it was a Republican administration that got us involved and Republican pressure over the years that had the largest weight in keeping us there. And also, once again, they made a fair criticism but without acknowledging that conditions had changed to rectify that. (In this case, it was angrily pointing out that evacuation planes had left that were partially empty. What the show failed to report is that the very next day, President Biden issue a Presidential Order -- not just a mere goal -- that no plane could leave Afghanistan unless it was full. And by the way, though I don't recall the specifics of the plane leaving that hadn't been full, my recollection is that it wasn't due to military incompetence, but that outside issues -- perhaps airport regulations? -- required that the planes leave.) All that aside, the report overall had more good in it than annoyances, plus its share of humor, so here it is. This is a Must Watch from this past Friday on the Rachel Maddow Show. It's a galvanizing story on how Trump and Stephen Miller basically sabotaged planning efforts to evacuate Afghans who worked with U.S. forces and made it difficult to even do so in the future. Which makes it all the more notable for the criticism President Biden has taken for not planning ahead better. It seems possible (if not likely) that this is one of the reasons his team was burdened, untangling the Trump-Miller regulations and red tape. Adding weight to the piece are emails and, above all, Maddow's interview with Olivia Troye, who was VP Pence's national security advisor, and is detailed and blunt. The video is only about 7-1/2 minutes, and gripping and infuriating throughout.
From the archives. The contestant is Stephen Farrand from Freeport, Maine. It’s a tough one. I didn’t get the composer style, in large part because it’s one I’m not terribly well-versed in…and also because, while well-known, his music is not terribly familiar to people. Including me. And I couldn’t get the hidden song either – the first time through. But when composer Bruce Adolphe played it through a second time, I did get it.
I’ll also give myself a bonus point for having been in Freeport, Maine. I went several times, in fact, when working on the Stephen King movie, Pet Sematary. It’s a town of outlet stores (quite literally, they proliferate everywhere), the centerpiece of which is the home of L.L. Bean.
On this week’s Al Franken podcast, his guest is…well, Al. No guest this week, just Al going solo for the whole show. As he puts it, “I just had to get some things off my chest.”
On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is Grammy-winning rapper/producer T-Pain who’s best-known for auto-tune. His interview with host Peter Sagal is fun for his raucousness. Though it focuses on two events, one of which he did for NPR which they don’t describe so it’s much less interesting if you don’t know what they’re referring to (which I didn’t -- until I did some research after the fact -- and I suspect many won’t either), and the other is his winning the first season of The Masked Singer, a show that to me is deeply uninteresting – though his stories about it are thoroughly lively.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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