What is wrong with us? July 31 - nearly 70,000 new confirmed COVID cases. nearly 1500 new deaths.

[NRaleighLiberal]

Take a big step back - we have a raging pandemic that is making people sick at a steady - and now increasing again - rate. People are dying - just today, that's nearly 1,500 families that have a tragedy - that lost loved ones.

If we were not so easily bored, if the media were not just going for the new "breaking news" story, if we had courageous leaders who did the right things for we, the people - this would be front page news, this would be the breaking story, each and every day.

But no - from "it's a hoax" from the willfully ignorant cult members, the rock hard stupid, from inconvenienced people for whom mask wearing is an offense, for our incredibly narcissistic culture, for these and so more - we get this endless nightmare with no end in sight.

That nearly 40% of the country still supports this monstrous, rotten regime - it is a dreadful indictment of where we are right now as a country, and as a culture. It is nauseating, disgusting - and potentially fatal.

Inconvenient....like how climate change is inconvenient, mask wearing, socially distancing, not gathering with hoards of friends at the beach.

We are on the way of "inconveniencing" ourselves to our extinction. And it will be richly deserved.

[uponit7771]

1. Not us Trump, and no fairness doctrine. S Korea has 4.3% unemployment

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. we have responsibility too - we are so easily bored with things that repeat, we are so easily drawn

into wasted time watching TV or on social media.

I am just disgusted with of course repubs first and foremost, but this is not our finest hour either.

[42bambi]

13. We're always in the instant gratification mode. Our minds are continually seeking

more of everything. We have become a culture of scheduled spontaneity.

[NRaleighLiberal]

15. indeed.

[uponit7771]

28. Most of America wanted to stay safe, the few MAGAt wanted to breath on each other

.... Then governors allowed litter NPI not average citizen's calling for it

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. ...

[elleng]

3. tramp, of course;

turning science/medical advice into politics = kill us all.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. but where is the courage - where are those that should be standing up to him?

how can one complete numbskull impact the entire world disastrously? I can't believe that this is all happening.

[elleng]

6. Not among repug public officials/candidates,

HUGE bunch of chicken hawks, followed by lemmings.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. yup. I think our side can do better as well.

At some point, the whole have/have not comes into play. As you can tell, I am quite disenfranchised with people in general tonight. The whole 3 1/2 years has worn on me badly. And I don't even watch any of it on TV!!!!!!!!!

[soothsayer]

8. The revolution will not be televised

[triron]

18. Perhaps some Germans were asking this question in the 1930s.

Far too many of us don't have a clue what is going on.

[GulfCoast66]

9. Big picture? 25% evangelicals whose religion are their politics.

We are the last of the (temporally) white majority countries than are super religious. I’m not forgetting the Eastern Europeans in places like Hungary and Poland. But we historically did not identify with them.

All you have to do is spend enough time on right leaning websites and you can see the increasing love the religious right has for increasingly ‘Christofacist’ Russia. They easily favor religious authoritarian government to secular democracy.

Not discounting racism at all. But those Venn diagrams almost totally overlap. And it brings in many who are not religious. One and the same. I grew up evangelical.

The next 10 years will be perilous even if trump loses. In 10 year the non-religious will outnumber the evangelicals even more than we do now. But these people are crazy. They know they are losing the power they have had forever and I think there are no lengths they will not go to in an attempt to maintain their power.

[NRaleighLiberal]

10. yup. I was raised "churchy", as was my wife -

we got our heads clear about 20 years ago. Once you get away from it, it is really frightening to peek back in.

Those people are indeed crazy. Frightening.

Like trump, caged, desperate animals are really dangerous. Thanks for your insightful comment.

[GulfCoast66]

14. I think we ex-evangelicals are the ones who understand how dangerous these folks are.

They value a religious managed society more than they favor democracy.

While most of them would not take violent action to achieve that, because most are too old, they would do nothing to stop it.

If trump shut down the election and declared himself president for life they would say it’s gods will.

Not that that will happen. They are a rapidly shrinking minority and I think Democrats will sweep it in November.

Just saying that would be the reaction of most white evangelicals. Especially in the rural south. It drives them crazy to see the thriving cities with increasingly wealthy multicultural, generally non religious or non-evangelicals religious folks doing well and actually having fun.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. teflon belief systems.. "God's will"..stifle any meaningful dialog

[GulfCoast66]

17. We are in agreements.

Have a good and safe weekend.

[jalan48]

11. Our government has been hi jacked by a right wing cabal.

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. it happened in clear view. I'll bet most here knew something was not right

by 9 PM on election night. It is hard for me to believe that given the shady way the asshole was placed into office, everyone was powerless to do anything about it - and compounded disasters lead us to the mess we are in now. Deplorable.

[jalan48]

22. It definitely felt like a coup to me.

He immediately started getting rid of good people (Sally Yates was one of the first). They are breaking our current government so they can replace it with one party rule IMHO.

[meadowlander]

26. Lots of individual people who don't see why they should be inconvenienced for the greater good

though too.

If we had a mentally healthy, well-informed, pro-social population, people wouldn't need the government to tell them to stay home, wash their hands and put a mask on in public.

While Trump's incompetence and refusal to lead aren't helping, it's also not 100% the cause of the problem.

[Tommymac]

21. Really? What feed were you watching?

It was obvious on CBS, MSNBC, FOX and CNN that the attendees were sitting 6 feet from each other - except for immediate familie groups,, who were clumped together but social distanced from others. The church was damn near empty. Multiple camera angles prove this.

[NJCher]

20. a story about people who think it's a hoax

A friend told me this story that absolutely shocked me.

First, a little background. My friend has a friend (we'll call her friend "Ann&quot who is a successful entrepreneur. I know this person and have spent a little time with her. She was a pioneer in a field that has now almost completely changed over to her vision. She revolutionized an industry. She sold her company for many, many millions and now lives a luxurious life in Florida.

When she sold her company, she handed out millions to people who worked for her and who she thought were instrumental in her success. She didn't have to do that, and it's commendable that she did so.

Ann was talking to my friend the other night and got on her soapbox. She claims Corona is a "hoax." Now, this is northeastern liberal who moved to Florida. Where is that coming from?

Florida: yeah, hotspot Florida. That one. She's living in a hotspot and she thinks Corona is a hoax? My friend told me that Ann doesn't wear a mask.

To be fair, my friend tells me Ann has been going off the deep end with conspiracy theories and the like for years. She's no follower of Alex Jones, but she's pretty far out there.

Why would someone with a record of accomplishment like hers buy into something so outlandish?

Hearing this story has really made me think twice about what we're up against.

[No Vested Interest]

24. Does Ann live in The Villages?

According to accounts on DU and elsewhere, The Villages in FL is a hotbed of Republicanism and all that goes with that.

The minority, Democrats there have a hard time, though they fight the good fight...

[Dios Mio]

23. Sad but true. I

[meadowlander]

25. One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.

We're having the equivalent of a 9/11 every two days at the moment in America and most people won't give a shit until it's someone that they personally know.

[LudwigPastorius]

27. "What is wrong with us?"

We is dumb all over.

(...some much more than others)