On January 6, 2021, a day that many Christians celebrate as the Feast of the Epiphany, a violent coup attempt happened when an armed mob stormed the Capitol in Washington. There will be lots written and said about that by many people smarter than I. So I will talk about a few other items in the news.
The COVID-19 pandemic is raging, as state governments try to figure out the logistics mess created by Operation Warp Speed. The 4-star Army General who heads the Federal distribution effort has been inexplicably silent since a 60 Minutes interview several weeks ago. Yesterday (January 7), The Atlantic's COVID-19 Tracking Project reported 4,033 Americans died from COVID-19, and so far in the first 7 days of 2021, over 19,000 Americans have died from the disease.
President-elect Joe Biden continues apace with rounding out his top leadership team, yesterday announcing that Merrick Garland will serve as his Attorney General. To a person, every Biden nominee for every post so far has impeccable credentials, and in total demonstrates his commitment to a diversity that reflects American diversity. Yet sniping continues from special interest groups whose darling picks didn't end up in the positions they knew better about. The articles with "Joe should do" or "Joe should have picked" would fill a library.
An assistant football coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was fired this week because of a tweet he posted that attacked political superstar Stacey Abrams' appearance. Some are defending the coach, saying he was fired unfairly. Well, a couple of things apply. First, discrimination in employment statutes protect people for who they are (skin color, religion, sexual orientation, age), not what they say or do. Besides, the protected class does not include stupidity or misogyny. Secondly, these folks don't understand the right wing corporatist concepts of "right to work" or "employment at will," which are holy writ in many Southern states. Another criticism of the firing questions why Stacey Abrams should be in some kind of hands-off class. Well, I think the coach should be fired if he says that about my wife or my daughter, who are not political celebrities.
Finally, publisher Simon & Schuster announced they are withdrawing a deal to publish a forthcoming book by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Senator Cotton blasted the news on twitter, claiming a first amendment right to be published and accusing the publisher of censorship. Many aspiring authors across the nation are now repackaging their rejected manuscripts for resubmission, confident that the Constitution requires the publisher to publish the material.
Enjoy your weekend!
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