Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Quote of the Day: Crisis, Real and Imagined
“In just ten days, we discovered that neither the tampon issue, nor the participation of transsexuals in the Olympic Games, nor the climate emergency were real problems, nor emergencies, nor anything of the sort. They were just fictitious problems, the pastimes of a generation that hadn’t known tragedy.” – Itxu Diaz, National Review
How many times are we supposed to have died? Net Neutrality, Budget cuts, Donald Trump’s very existence were supposed to have killed us all already. How many failed predictions of global warming / climate change / ManBearPig destroying us in 10 years have we seen blow by us without incident? If there was an actual environmental catastrophe incoming, no one would actually believe it.
Aside from that, we have the whole woke subculture. (Have I ever mentioned that I utterly despise the term woke? It’s cheap knock-off black culture) Microaggressions? Safe Spaces? What, are you that fragile that you cower in fear of my words? I guess Evil White Males like me must be some kind of sorcerer. Trans-activism is just like the rest of their celebration of mental illness. I have never heard an actual argument about cultural appropriation, especially since the same people used to moan about inclusion. It is a giant screaming mess like an out of control daycare without the cute part.
Now we have a situation where lots of people are dying, a war against an invisible enemy, and suddenly all the fake problems are not so important. The tough balancing act between keeping the nation running and keeping the infection rate under control is a real problem that needs to be dealt with, not virtue-signaled away. We need people to step up, deliver supplies, take action, make a real difference. There is no room for the fake crises of the Left.
This crisis will be resolved by truckers running the long haul on deserted highways, doctors and nurse working double shifts in scavenged PPE, grocery store and gas station employees keeping services and food available, utility and telecom workers keeping a strained system functioning, grad students and other researchers poring over data and running countless tests in hopes of giving us an advantage, and ordinary people trying to follow often-contradictory guidance and do the right thing while facing a locked-down economy. At the top, we have leaders whose every move is scrutinized and fraught with potential peril – there might not be any good choices, just bad and not so bad.
There is no room for our useless media and most of the commentariat. Activists can either pitch in or get lost. We no longer have time for indulging the delusion that they matter.
Published in Group Writing
Excellent.
Funny thing is, when this real crisis is over, all the fake crises will return as if nothing happened.
Like many of you, I grow tired of constantly writing about the Wuhan Coronavirus. The only thing that cheers me up is the amazing dedication from people across society to step up and help out. At my university, the 3D printing group has assembled adapters to convert existing filters to work with existing masks and working with a local foundry to make hands-free door openers, while we have several active research projects studying the virus and a clinical study of antiviral treatment. Biomedical researchers have volunteered to help perform RT-PCR tests, and several faculty members have donated their machines.
Chicago is currently turning McCormick Place into a overflow recovery hospital. I hope we do not need it, but it is good to be ready.
Join other Ricochet members by submitting a Quote of the Day post, the easiest way to start a fun conversation. There are many open days on the April Signup Sheet. We even include tips for finding great quotes, so choose your favorite quote and sign up today!
Sadly, that’s true.
Superb post, thank you!
I know it’s not the point, but what is (was?) the “tampon issue”?
I wonder about this, and admit that I have enjoyed not hearing the word “transgender” for several weeks.
I am not sure that is true at all.
Well I for one have already died of Kavanaugh and Net Neutrality. I just hope that enough people will realize a few things about the Progressives, especially that their stated agenda is never their real one. When their current drummed-up “crisis” isn’t working fast enough, they just move on and try a new one. Notice how they dropped the immigrants like a hot potato and suddenly there are no more caravans? Gee I wonder why. And gee I wonder if they answer the phone when all those people they lured across our border with no means of support call them to ask “Now what?”
I’ll tell you something: Mexicans in Mexico hated those caravans. 90% of them were Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, and Salvadorians, and Mexicans don’t like Central Americans to begin with. But more than that, they saw how it affected their relationship with the US, and people in the north of Mexico depend on the US for their livelihoods, whether through exporting produce, building cars, or simply hosting visitors, so anything that affected that drove them crazy.
I heard plenty about the caravans the past couple of months down there.
I particularly appreciated this line.
Yeah, I had not seen it for a while, until yesterday, looking at the NY health department data (an excellent source, here). There is a bar chart showing cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by sex. It’s actually interesting, though I haven’t mentioned it before, as deaths are heavily skewed toward men — the male death rate in NYC is 28.93 per 100,000, the female death rate is 16.03 per 100,000.
Below the bar chart it says: “Note: Due to the small number of cases among transgender and gender-nonconforming people, data on those cases are not included in this table at this time.”
I took it to be the closest that the NYC authorities could get to saying “enough of this nonsense.” It would be nice if they said it.
[Corrected – somehow my prior comment picked up the wrong line. Sorry about that. My response must have seemed like nonsense.]
I think the activists will try to bring it back, but I think more of the public that previously acquiesced will be more likely to to tell them to shut up and let us try to recover some of the life that was taken away from us.
We can hope.
From your keyboard to G-d’s inbox.
Hi @arizonapatriot – just wanted to clarify that the superb line quoted in your comment #11 is by @omegapaladin, not me.
Charlotte, I actually meant to quote one of your comments — I’ve fixed it now.
Super, thanks!
Yes, daily death tolls only recognise 2 genders
Congrats on the Instapundit link.
Yes I was going send congrats too. The more links to Instapundit, Ace of Spades HQ, Powerline the better. Gets the word out.
Instalaunch in 3, 2, 1!
Welcome, fellow Instapundit readers! Ricochet is a group blog and community which is read regularly by the Instapundit crew, Powerline, and other other pillars of the blogosphere. We keep alive the classic spirit of blogging, with most of our content sourced from our members, and moderators (chosen from among the members) to help prevent trolls from making a mess.
We have had vigorous and wide-ranging discussions of the Wuhan Coronavirus, and unlike social media, we will never shut you down for saying the virus is from China, Eric Ciaramella is the whistleblower, and Epstein did not kill himself.
You can hear from the perspective outside the beltway, and start your own conversations. Not sure what to write about? We have two long-running programs to help you get started posting – Quote of the Day, which includes this post, and Group Writing, which is based on a theme.
With all of that, how can you not sign up? Membership is around the price of other site’s VIP access, but offers the ability to post, take part in Groups, and all of the community features you’d expect. We also have a monthly option for more flexibility.
From the article: @charlotte
And of course making sure that men without vaginas have access to free pads. Or is that women without vaginas? Or women with vaginas who are men? Or men with vaginas who are women or??? So the only good thing about the Wuhan virus may be don’t have to think about this for awhile.
Thanks! (Sorry, I hadn’t seen the link.)
My standard line when I see such foolishness is “Hurray! I guess all the real problems have been solved!”
A hearty welcome to my fellow Ace of Spades readers! Thanks for the link, Misanthropic Humanitarian!
Like I mentioned above, we welcome new people to Ricochet. Hoist a Valu-rite screwdriver, and stick around – check out the groups, and while we have a bit less F-bombs detonating in mid air, we still enjoy having a good time and some snark.