1. You can't "defy" "guidance." Guidance is guidance. You can follow it or make your own choice.
2. Thanks, Obama, for showing us how to handle guidance and to make our own choice.
3. And good for you for having so many wonderful friends. You are sublimely lovable, inspiring some of us, perhaps, to be a little more amicable, but if not and in any case, we can see why it is you and not we who have 500 ultra-glamorous friends and why it would be surly of us to begrudge you that celebration on the occasion of marking the 60 years that you have graced Planet Earth.
4. Pearl Jam. Why Pearl Jam? Is that your favorite group? Points for not thinking you had to demonstrate diversity and just picking the music you like best or the music that most powerfully draws the celebrities you want to your remote island home.
5. I think it would be annoying to have Pearl Jam in my home. But then, I think it would be annoying to have 500 people in my home. Annoying and ludicrous. What am I saying? Obviously, the people are going to be somewhere out in the yard — on the grounds — perhaps with some sort of tent or...
6. Maybe they're building a free-standing ballroom for the occasion. I've seen grunge bands play at a place called a ballroom. There was moshing. I'm picturing Obama's 500 celebrity studs moshing. Moshing at Martha's.
7. To mask or to mosh? That is the question. Answer it for yourselves! That's the message from the most charismatic man in the world.
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14 comments:
Alex writes:
"You wrote, "You can't "defy" "guidance." Guidance is guidance. You can follow it or make your own choice." Sure, unless you're one of the tens of millions of Americans stuck in states and cities which decide to enforce that "guidance" with a gun and a badge. Which is the problem: the wealthy and connected get to flout the rules which will be imposed on the rest of us. Nightclubs and small businesses get shut down, but mayors and governors can still go out to eat. A friend saw every concert she'd waited years to see get canceled, every race she'd organized a team for as well, but Obama can pack 500 people into a Martha's Vineyard home. Nancy Pelosi announces that visitors who refuse to wear a mask will be arrested, and then promptly shows up for a photo op without a mask."
I'll answer:
If it's required, then it's not merely guidance. The headline says "Obama defies CDC guidance." My point is that's wrong. You're talking about the American system of federalism that decentralizes decisionmaking and allows for different rules relating to different conditions and preferences. That is not the CDC.
"pack 500 people into a Martha's Vineyard home"
It's not in his house. It's outside. And he has 29.3 acres. That's 17 people per acre.
Bob Boyd writes:
"A couple hundred extra private jets sit on the tarmac at MVY. Gaia, coughing and wheezing, smiles bravely and says, "I know, but I can't help it. I love the guy."
I'll add:
If the issue is the environment rather than covid, then what Obama is showing us is that global warming really isn't a problem. That's great!
Owen writes:
"There is more than one guidance to consider here. CDC urging masks and quarantine is one thing; but what about overloading the island? Too many people partying in one corner of the place could cause it to tip over. Hank Johnson’s warning seems relevant here."
Here's the old video of Hank Johnson worrying that Guam might tip over and capsize.
MJordan writes:
""Ann wrote, “And good for you for having so many wonderful friends. You are sublimely lovable, inspiring some of us, perhaps, to be a little more amicable …”
"I truly can’t tell if you’re being ironic or not. If not, I’m amazed that you find Obama “sublimely lovable.” Why? Is it the huge, toothy smile? Is that the sublime part? Was Reagan sublimely lovable? If you’re being sarcastic then kudos: it was a clever dig meaning (I think) Obama finds himself to be sublimely lovable.
"At any rate, you need to signal your tone a bit better. No need for /sarc/ tags but, you know, a hint or two would help."
"... you need to signal your tone a bit better..."
Where's the fun in that? We're sophisticates here....
Temujin writes:
"So much wonderfulness packed into one event. Where does one even begin? I feel like gushing. A summer cottage. Martha's Vineyard. Barack. Michelle. Oprah. Steven. Harry and What'sHerName. I'm goosey already. 500 guests. 200 servers and staff. Like royalty, I tell ya. We view them as royalty. Even better- they view themselves as royalty.
"And I'm not sure how that ever happened, but there it is. Everyone else, go back inside, wear your damned masks because Science! And maybe, if you're good, we'll let you see short videos of Barack's Birthday and he'll send us a sage-like message on his 60th.
"I am envisioning the wails and howls that would have cascaded across the global journalism class had Donald Trump held a massive birthday party at Mara Lago. The howl would have been heard on Venus. In the case of Obama, there's the sound of sighs and yearning- people wanting to be in His presence.
"So much wonderfulness."
"I am envisioning the wails and howls that would have cascaded across the global journalism class had Donald Trump held a massive birthday party at Mara Lago."
I was just about to write something like that and say I'm surprised no one had said it yet.
Roger writes:
"My local (Boston) tv news ran the story this morning in a gee whiz way, didn't mention that there might be any problems with COVID or carbon emissions. I would be tempted to cut them slack--there's only a limited amount of tv time to do a story--but they filled part of that time with the assurance that Obama had hired a COVID co-ordinator who would make sure everyone was safe.
"I liked some of the anti-Trump stuff, digging below the surface, not just rewriting press releases. I had hoped it would become more general. Alas, it seems not."
"My local (Boston) tv news ran the story this morning in a gee whiz way, didn't mention that there might be any problems with COVID or carbon emissions."
I think the best take on this is what I have in the post — not the failure to criticize Obama but taking Obama's implicit message seriously and expecting Obama's fans to believe that he knows best.
George writes:
"Besides being from Illinois like Pres. Obama, Vedder is a ferocious democrat and presumably a major donor. He mocked the size of Pres. Trump's penis onstage. He's an atheist. He's said he "almost wishes bad things would happen" to people opposed to gun control. And on and on. He's not John Denver. One suspects a lot of anger lurks behind Pres. Obama's genial exterior."
I'll answer:
I'm sure there are many musicians who've done similar services for the Democrats. There's nothing that could be done that would be enough to win this spot. It has to be that Obama wants the music... perhaps because his daughters love Pearl Jam... but there's a good chance he does.
Left Bank of the Charles writes:
"What specific CDC guidance is Obama defying? The article doesn't say. This is an outdoor event for people who are vaccinated and have passed a recent covid test, so I think this would be the applicable CDC guidance:
"Recommendations for Outdoor Settings — Current data suggest the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in outdoor settings is minimal. In general, fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask outdoors. Fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised."
LA_Bob writes:
"The choice of the word "defies" is curious. When a lesser creature, e.g., a Republican, offers thoughts contrary to CDC guidance, "health officials and fact-checkers" brand the thoughts "misinformation". Or disinformation. Or heresy. In any case, a Bad Thing.
"Defiance, of course, often has a positive connotation. When a citizen "defies" authority and burns down your house in the name of Social Justice, well, that is clearly a Good Thing. Isn't it? I don't know the Daily Mail's politics, if any. "Defies" could either be laudatory or critical. Or clickbait. Hard to say.
"A better word would be "ignores", as in "Obama ignores CDC guidance..." But is he truly ignoring CDC guidance in the same spirit as the Governor of California or the Speaker of the House? After all, the "Obamas' spent some of their time in quarantine at the Martha's Vineyard property" and "There will also be a 'COVID coordinator' to ensure all proper protocols are being followed..." Hard to say.
"But the word of choice, given that this is Obama, is "transcends". "Obama transcends CDC guidance by inviting 500 people to his celebrity-studded 60th birthday party..." Yes, that's the word. That's the spirit. No question about it."
twixella writes:
"I fully support Obama's defiance. Like you, I think it should be taken as good news, not bad, that he is doing so. And I will continue to think that right up until the pictures are published with the waiting staff wearing their masks like at the recent G20 meetings."
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