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If your mind is weak enough to be controlled by a paper mask, imagine what wearing pants over half of your body must do. Wendy P.

Had a text conversation with my (adult, college-grad) nephew the other day. He lives in a small town outside Buffalo. He asked, "So, why can't everyone just wear a mask so we can keep everything open?" Oh, the idealism of the young. Yes, it would be wonderful if everyone took the science seriously, accepted some limitations for a while for the good of everyone else (not to mention, had some basic education in hygiene and public health), and endeavored to do their part to kill this thing. I pointed out the (anecdotal) story of the high school that freaked out over girls baring their shoulders, but wouldn't enforce mask policies. It's that kind of attitude in too high of a percentage of the population that forces governments to try something else to keep their residents from dying. Haven't we seen cases of people with HIV being prosecuted under various statutes for having unprotected sex with a partner whom they have not told about their infection? (or is that just on TV? -- I really do want to be corrected if wrong) So why should people get a pass -- even if just in public opinion -- for blatant disregard for the health of others, insisting they be given their freedom. What about the freedom of the people you're infecting?

Calling the BLM protesters, a big proportion whom are black, "mindless savages". The 19th century wants its racist terms back. Do you think people who drive 60mph in a 20mph school zone are "independent thinkers" who aren't afraid of crashing? People don't slow down in school zones because they're "afraid of speed" and "rule-following bootlickers". Same for masks. Stop it with the strawmen. I hate to break it to you, but you're being neither original or clever.

My favourite is the argument against "masks reduce the oxygen you breathe" assertion - "If you're worried about masks reducing your oxygen levels and killing brain cells, don't worry - that ship has already sailed."

Trump was right. Too much work to go golfing.

Okay -- maybe we need to start a new thread/poll about the divorce prediction!

How a country can have people spending life in jail for shoplifting and argue that the president should not be prosecuted for crimes is entirely too Banana Republic for me.

If the precedent is set that being a crook has no negative consequences for a president, how will that deter future presidents from crooked behavior?

They are. The 24 hour news cycle has the latest discoveries out the minute they're released. Of course, because of the way science works, they often contradict or correct previous reports. So the morons will claim "They don't know what they're talking about". If you want to see the world 'combat this scourge', then the 'citizens' need to follow what the scientists are saying (and to a large degree have said the whole time): Wear a mask. Stay home. Don't come into close contact with other people. But because people are stupid, they don't do those things. They refuse to wear masks. They go out to restaurants & bars. And the virus spreads. So the government has to step in and issue 'royal proclamations' to try to get the citizens to do what the scientists say. And, of course, the morons refuse. So the virus keeps spreading. A million new cases in the US in the last week. Of course, there are a few places where the government clamped down HARD at the very beginning. Shutting everything down. Telling people to stay home and enforcing it. Tracking down the people who were sick and those that got exposed. Kinda funny how those places aren't seeing huge spikes (or any cases at all in a couple places).

Ha, maybe you'll see me there. I really want this to end too - but on the topic of your post, all the anti-maskers, the anti-lockdown people are just prolonging our pain. But if it were not for the failure of the politicians, we wouldn't even need to lock down at all - look at New Zealand (back to normal) and Taiwan (having music concerts, packed stadiums, not a mask in sight - because they got rid of covid). Accusing the people of liking lockdowns is a complete strawman - NOBODY wants this. I hate the restrictions, but not killing people is more important to me. The vaccines are arriving - we just need to hold out a little bit longer. And they can't arrive soon enough - looks like Germany is about to run out of ICU beds.

I want Trump to be subject to the law, just like everyone else. Personally I want him to be prosecuted and punished for non-Presidential business crimes, in part because so few people are, because they can afford great lawyers. I too don't want him prosecuted for political crimes. Not because he should get a pass, but because if the actual goal is to have my country move beyond this moment, it will be by gathering opponents, not rounding them up. To me, a progression in my country where people of opposing views begin to respect each other again, and are willing to work on common goals again, rather than simply defining what they're for as whatever the other guy is against. My preference would include the public release of the actual collusion report, as well as a well-sourced book. Well-sourced as in largely unimpeachable sources -- if liberals look for a source to build the case, rather than a source that comes because they're following the trail (there's a difference), they lose people who can be convinced by the trail. Famously in the Nixon era is was 'follow the money' -- it wasn't "roast Nixon." That's a key difference, and it will keep a lot more people with intellectual integrity. I couldn't care less about some people's wish for a huge public trial -- that's for their own satisfaction, not for the country. It's as useful as people wanting to "fry" some killer or another. Wendy P.

Progressive in this sense is not trying to teach politics, it's trying to teach respect for other people. It's an unfortunate choice of word in a polarized society. Had that paragraph been worded: "educators embrace and encourage respectful viewpoints and perspectives that recognize the potential for other populations to be viewed as assets" would you have objected? "the responsive teacher and leader will: Understand and value the notion that different people have different life experiences, that there is not one correct way of doing or understanding many things, and that what is seen as correct is most often based on our lived experiences" That's how I read these. They're poorly worded, but so is your interpretation that it required groupthink -- it's proposing exactly the opposite, the respect for others' rights to their point of view. Wendy P.

Indicting him for murder or manslaughter probably doesn’t work. I want the business violations, in part because they’re so divorced from anything political, and in part because money buys such great justice, it’d be great in a Leona Helmsley way to see the downfall. Wendy P.

Pardoning him would be a mistake.

Ideally he would be charged, convicted - and pardoned. Make sure that his guilt is proven in case he tries to pull some "I really didn't lose the election" nonsense in two years, then pardon him so his supporters don't decide that he's their martyr.