My Body My Choice, A Biden Sophie's Choice, And A QAnon Fan Club

In this episode we look at people who think their freedom includes spreading a virus that can kill people. Next we talk about the huge obstacle for Joe Biden to becoming the Democratic nominee in November and finally we talk about a congressional candidate who makes the stay-at-home protestors look like the establishment. We also have an update on the taxpayer bail out of churches.

Show Notes

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

In this episode, we look at people who think their freedom includes spreading a virus that can actually kill people. Next, we talk about the huge obstacle for Joe Biden to becoming the Democratic nominee in November. And finally, we talk about a congressional candidate who makes the masked protesters look like geniuses. My name is Doug Berger, and this is Secular Left.

My Body My Choice

SPEAKER_01 0:31

My home state of Ohio is deliberately heading quickly to reducing the various public health orders that have shut the state down pretty much since March. Of course, the governor and the experts he speaks to know that without mass testing on demand, isolating the positives, and tracking those who have recovered, we can't truly go back to the way things were before the public health orders happened in early March. You can tell Governor DeWine is nervous because he is being forced to open things up sooner than he wanted or what the science says. Again, without mass testing or tracking, you are rolling the dice when you go to get your hair cut or sit outside at your favorite restaurant for the first time in months. One way to open without the needed mass testing is wearing a face covering and having businesses practice social distancing like having plexiglass shields at check stands. Most people realize the serious need to be cautious as we re-enter the public areas we have avoided since March. I don't agree that it's time to reopen, but others have different views.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

You're sweating, your mouth is your kidney. You're terrified. Your mouth is down or hit your nose again. You are terrifying the general public. You realize that.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yes, there are still people who don't believe we are in the middle of a pandemic. They've been lucky, either not to be sick, or knowing somebody or having somebody in their family be sick. They think they know more than the doctors and the scientists. The recent protests in Columbus and in Lancey, Michigan, and this weekend near me in Perrysburg are not some grassroots organized protest. People who support President Trump have decided to band together to protest the stay-at-home orders, since they think the stock market and profits are far more important than someone's life, and they believe that protecting what President Trump says is more important than someone's life. What really gets me is these protesters are violating the orders they are complaining about. There are more than 10 people gathering at times, most don't wear masks, and they aren't abiding by safe social distancing. None of the protesters have been arrested for violating the public health orders. Meanwhile, in my city, Toledo, Ohio, police have arrested almost 20 people for violating the orders. Most are people of color. I hope that isn't the reason for the inconsistent policing here and elsewhere. How do you expect people to follow the rules when no one knows when or if they will be arrested? I'm not aware that the First Amendment supersedes public health emergency orders. If that were the case, then how would most businesses be shut down or asked to follow stricter rules? You would need to give them due process, which means filing a lawsuit and going to court. That would be a joke with as fast as this virus is spread. By the time you could shut a business down, hundreds, if not thousands, of people could be infected. Yet these largely white provocateurs, and in some cases paid and bust in for the day, can violate the orders with impunity. How is that fair? Harlan Specter, who writes for the Ohio Capitol Journal, says, and I quote, laws to protect public health have been litigated over many years. Courts have sided with states' rights to impose public health mandates when one person's liberty poses a provable health threat to others. After a Columbus bridal shop owner sued Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, claiming the shutdown order violates the Constitution, I spoke with Fairchild and with Kent State University Professor John Hornbeek, who teaches public health law. Both said the legal standard allowing health officials to limit personal liberties for the greater good dates to a landmark 1905 U.S. Supreme Court case. The court upheld the authority of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Board of Health to require smallpox vaccinations during an epidemic. Close quote. The other thing that grinds my gears is the hypocrisy of the protesters. In the news story about the protest held in nearby Perrysburg, the Toledo Blade reported, and I quote, speakers and signbearers at the Perrysburg Rally echoed those sentiments, with the latter displaying such messages as Let freedom work. I am essential, and government is the only non-essential business. While the rally included such chance as my health, my choice. Then a couple of paragraphs further down, the article says, and I quote, the protesters included a subset bearing anti-abortion signs. Rally goer Ed Sitter said that based on the economic stress the coronavirus orders have inflicted, abortions surely are increasing because the financial inability to provide for a child is the top reason people give for having abortions. How ironic an anti-abortionist is demanding the right to his own body. And it is ludicrous to think that public health orders take anything away from his body other than trying to keep him from dying. Not to mention his old heart his whole argument is false. Economics is just one factor in the decision women make to end a pregnancy. Other factors include getting pregnant and just not wanting to be pregnant. Maybe a condom broke, or the woman knows the fetus has a serious health issue that she can't afford to take care of. And sometimes the woman doesn't need a reason to end her pregnancy. Financial inability to provide for a child is a great reason not to have a child. If that means the woman has an abortion or not is really none of our business. What also seems to be true about the protesters is most of them won't get seriously ill from the virus, even as they pass it on to others who may in fact die from the infection. Those protesters just don't care about that, and that makes me angry. The lack of empathy is appalling. For more information about any of the topics covered in this episode, check out our show notes at www.seculaleft.us.

A Biden Shophie's Choice

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Joe Biden has a problem. Tara Reed has accused him of sexual assault, and we all know what happens with that. Biden supporters fall over themselves to smear and discredit the victim. Or rationalize it all to justify voting for Biden in November in order to defeat Trump. And because Biden is a Democrat, Fox News is going to fall over themselves to push the story, since the false story about Biden's son and the Ukraine never stuck. And no one at Fox sees the irony of claiming Reed should be believed while the couple of dozen Trump accusers are lying gold diggers bent on bringing down a president for fame and fortune. Democrats who don't support Biden, particularly Bernie Sanders supporters, are calling for Biden to drop out of the race because he is compromised. Kate Mann, in her article, I believe Tara Reid and You Should Too in The Nation, distilled this viewpoint. Quote, I, of course, advocate voting for Biden over Trump. The allegations against the former, notwithstanding, if we end up facing that grim choice. Trump has been credibly accused of even worse sexual crimes and sexual misconduct by many more women, not to mention the fact that he represents an existential threat to many vulnerable populations and indeed the planet. But we are not there yet. Replacing Biden at this stage would not be easy, it may nonetheless be called for. And I confess I am deeply angry that we are in this position. We did not have to be. We have known all along that Biden was sexually inappropriate, lecherous, and handsy. Had we as voters and had the Democratic Party taken this as seriously as all ought to, we wouldn't be in this mess now. It is not too much to ask that the next president of the United States adhere to the highest moral standards when it comes to his treatment of women. And if we don't give the supposedly small things the weight they deserve, then the big things will often loom large in precisely this way. They are part of a pattern we simply can't afford to ignore any longer. Personally, when these accusations become public, I believe the victim, unless I have some concrete reason not to. Some of what has been claimed about Reed, that she waited too long, her story has changed, she said nice things about Biden even after the attack, are standard methods used to smear and discredit the victim. They might be important to consider, but aren't primary considerations. It's also interesting to note that some other men accused of sexual harassment or assault will try to smear and discredit the victim while not really denying the incident. In Biden's case, he came out and said matter of factly, it never happened, without dragging Reed through the mud. He even asked for release of any complaint records from that time from the U.S. Senate. I also look for a pattern. Biden has been handsy, as the kids say in the past, and made f women feel uncomfortable. But as far as I know, Reed is the only woman to accuse Biden of sexual assault. I normally would not think Biden needs to leave public life for a time as punishment. However, since the nomination hasn't happened yet, I agree with Kate Mann and others that Biden should drop out. It would show Democrats aren't being hypocrites, and they really and that they really, really, really support women who have been attacked. And I just know the right-wing media machine will fixate on the Reed case, and that will all that we will hear during the entire campaign, kind of like Hillary's emails in 2016. I don't think Bernie Sanders is the logical replacement. He has his problems too. But at least when Fox News fixates on socialism, there is a better chance for actual policies to be discussed. The argument against Bernie that voters already made a choice and it wasn't him also applies to the other candidates like Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. The fact would remain that if Biden drops out, someone has to be picked to run. You can't defeat Trump with air. Having said all of that, and believing it's in the best interest of the Democrats for Biden to drop out, I think the possibility of that happening is slim to none. The powers that be want that mediocre middle-of-the-road person who can appeal to soccer moms and the Wall Street elites. Biden is perfect, and they won't have to spend so much money to boost his name recognition. This is Secular Left.

A QAnon Fan Club

SPEAKER_01 12:16

The Media Matters website has an interesting, recently updated article that names all the current and past 2020 candidates for Congress who happen to be supporters of the ridiculous QAnon cult. These were the people who believed that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring from a Washington, D.C. pizza shop, among other things. Why anyone would believe that crap is one of the reasons Trump is in office right now. I really don't want to go into why QAnon is not worth discussing, but I do want to point out one of those named in the website article is running for the district seat that I live in. And this comes from Media Matters. Quote, Rob Weber is a Republican candidate running in Ohio's 9th Congressional District. He won the Republican primary on April the 28th and thus will be on the ballot in November. On May 3rd, Weber quote tweeted a QAnon accounts tweet featuring the QAnon slogan and hashtag and a video of someone saying the slogan. Referring to Q, the 17th letter of the alphabet, and to Q linking to that treat, that tweet the day before being Q'd is a term used by QN supporters to refer to being linked to by Q. Unquote. And I also noted that when I checked out his Twitter bio, he has the phrase lucky number 17 at the end of it. And Q is the 17th letter. So I decided to check out Rob Weber's campaign website, and it looks like a typical far-right Trumpian extremist. Weber is endorsed by the NRA, Ohio Value Voters, and of course the Right to Life Action Coalition of Ohio. I don't know how Weber wakes up in the morning being anti-abortion, but then having this on his website, and this is from his website. I believe there is a reason why America has been an exceptional nation. It is a nation that has enjoyed unparalleled blessings of wealth, prosperity, and influence more than any other nation in history. Most of all, it guaranteed rights, protections, and freedoms for its citizens that were never imagined anywhere else. The phrase indispensable and exceptional nation has been a truth that has characterized the United States as she has been a bright spot in an otherwise dark collection of nations. I like small government, and especially as expressed in our Constitution, which is really an elegant solution if we would just follow it. The idea to give the citizens themselves the responsibility for self-governance, but with an overarching set of principles in our Bill of Rights to prevent any citizens, any cities, towns, or states from deciding to take away these sacred rights. Unquote. What about a woman's right to her own body? For Weber? Nope. Talk about a hypocrite. Most of these anti-abortion small government are sacred rights people are full of crap. I always ask these guys that if God is blessing the United States, how do you know he doesn't want the Democrats to run everything? And how do you know he wants you to save the government? If God is so powerful, why do we even need political parties? Rob Weber not only won the GOP nomination for the 9th Congressional District Race, he is a terrible choice for people who actually believe in all the freedoms of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And he believes the conspiracies of QAnon. He would be a perfect date on a Trumpian version of The Bachelor. Democrat Marcy Captor is the incumbent, and the 9th District is one of Ohio's gerrymander Democrat districts. So Weber's chances of actually winning are slim to none, but we still need to know people like him are out there in more ways than one. If you get a chance, check out the article on Media Matters. I highly recommend it. This is Secular Left.

Church Bail Out Update

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Last episode, I talked about churches getting a bailout through the payroll protection program that was part of one of the COVID-19 relief bills passed by Congress. The Small Business Administration had then made rules that ignored previous rules against giving money to churches. I heard that churches were getting the loans and PPP funding, but at the time I only had secondhand information. Now there is reporting on the church giveaway with some real numbers. According to a report by CBS News, 75% of Catholic parishes that applied for the government funds got it. More than 12,000 parishes applied and 9,000 were approved. Also, according to the report, Catholic churches weren't the only ones to get a bailout. And I quote, a new survey by Life Way Research found that 40% of Protestant churches in the U.S. also applied for government assistance offered either through the CARES Act or the Small Business Administration. And 23% of those churches' pastors reported that their applications were accepted, meaning that 59% of Protestant churches that applied for assistance were approved. A representative for the Jewish Federations of North America told CBS News that they conducted a survey on April the 21st and learned that 573 Jewish organizations were approved for PPP loans, with a total value of $276 million. Among that group were 219 synagogues who received just over $50 million in loans. One of the arguments made about giving churches the loans is that their income from the collection plate is down because in-person services were suspended in most cases. That is a false argument. Most large mainstream churches should not and do not depend on the collection plate for their own for their income. They make investments, they get grants, some get money from members of state planning, and some have pledge campaigns. An argument that churches need the bailout because of a reduced income from collection plates is a weak argument. For a nonprofit, operating funds are always subject to the amount of donations, grants, return on investments, and pledges. A nonprofit that doesn't diversify their revenue streams probably shouldn't be bailed out in the first place. Bailing out a Catholic Church is even more appalling. The Catholic Church itself is worth billions of dollars, including at least eight billion in the Vatican Bank in Rome. The Vatican has big investments in banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction, real estate. Yes, they do require parishes to pay their own way and also return a little something something back to Rome, but you mean to tell me the Vatican couldn't help out the parishes that are struggling? Parishes could get bank loans just backed by the property it owns. Catholic Church getting bailed out is like the Ruth Chris Steakhouse chain getting bailed out, and people didn't appreciate that either. In the CBS report, Pat Markey, the executive director of the DISN Fiscal Management Conference, defended the bailout by saying the amount given to the churches is a tiny fraction of the total funding available. He also claimed churches can't go to Wall Street or sell stock. But again, if they only depend on the collection plate, they are doing it wrong. As we move forward into the post-lockdown time of this pandemic, we are going to find some businesses that had serious operating problems that might not have been apparent before the lockdown but are now ripped open because of it. Some of those businesses are going to close permanently. This includes restaurants and factories and retail shops. Why is the government so afraid to let a church fail? Again, if it needs a loan and depends only on the collection plate, then maybe it needs to fail. It's not like if one fails, there will never be any more churches. Thank you for listening to this episode. You can check out more information, including links used in the show, in our notes page on our website, secularleft.us. Secular Left is hosted, written, and produced by Doug Berger, and he is entirely responsible for the content. Send us your comments and complaints using the contact form on our website or by email to comments at secularleft.us. Our theme music is Raving Energy by Kevin McLeod from filmmusic.io and licensed under Creative Commons using Attribution 4.0 International. See you next time.