During the past week’s Congressional debate over the economic and medical relief package, Democrats were surprised to learn the stimulus bill would actually stimulate the economy and therefor want nothing to do with it. No matter how much Americans might suffer, a stimulated economy is bad news for these left-wing fanatics at the ballot box. While most Americans are worried about the Coronavirus these far-left congressional loons are afflicted with a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

When Democrat leaders learned that the bill would give money back to taxpayers instead of taking it away Chuck Schumer wondered out loud: “Is that even legal?” Nancy Pelosi was overheard saying she is “prayerful that a tax bill to fund more abortions and provide food stamps, housing and health care for illegal aliens would be realized.” I made those quotes up but based on their recent actions they accurately represent the thinking of those two liberal loons.

Pelosi is beyond disgusting. She took vacation while the bill was being put together then flies back last weekend and tried to blow the whole deal up with all sorts of left-wing crap. Now this disgraceful harpy is trying to take credit for the bill, which – as of this morning — she still hasn’t brought to the House floor for a vote. This cretin — who calls herself  “a devout, prayerful Catholic”  — and her ghoulish Democrat sycophants are more absorbed with killing babies, by insisting on millions in aid for the gruesome abortion factory, Planned Parenthood, than helping Americans in a time of dire necessity.

While many US companies are donating services, food, medical supplies, space and other aid to their fellow Americans the Democrats demonstrated their hate by continuously blocking the Republican-sponsored stimulus bill this week because it didn’t included issues that have nothing to do with coronavirus or aiding the public. Instead they were pushing a list of ideological demands including nonsense such as $600 million for the IRS, diversity on corporate boards, new collective bargaining powers for unions, higher fuel emissions standards for airlines, and expanded wind and solar tax credits, among other left-wing agenda wish-list garbage, none of which does anything to help American workers during this economic shutdown over the Wuhan virus. Their behavior is dangerous and it puts Americans at extreme risk financially.

Here’s a partial list of the obscene claptrap that Schumer and Pelosi and their minion morons wanted included in an urgent bill to provide immediate economic and medical relief to suffering Americans:

• Mandating nationwide same-day registration and voting
• New tax credits for wind and solar
• New emissions standards for airlines
• Collective bargaining and labor union provisions
• A bailout of the US Postal Service Pension Fund
• New retirement plans for community newspaper employees
• Publication of corporate pay statistics by race as well as race statistics for all corporate boards
• Requirement for small businesses to pay a $15 minimum wage if utilize federal disaster funds
• $1 billion for a “cash for clunkers” type provision for the government to buy airplanes from airlines
• $1.5 million to study climate change mitigation efforts in civil aviation and the aerospace industries
• New OSHA requirements on hospitals
• $1 billion for discounted phone service

In the bill eventually agreed upon by the Senate there’s $25 million earmarked for the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts that was jammed in by these disgraceful Democrats. What does a Washington, D.C. performance hall have to do with aiding those impacted by the virus? Nothing. Former Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz suggested that the Kennedy Center donate the money to a fund to aid virus victims.

Democrat House Majority Whip Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) was reported by The Hill to have said that this is “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” This is also a tremendous opportunity for the voters of South Carolina to wise up and rid themselves of Clyburn.

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton condemned this Democrat nonsense saying on Twitter: “Pelosi & Schumer are willing to risk your life, your job, your retirement savings for a radical, left-wing wish list that has nothing to do with this virus,” he said. “Disgraceful.”

Democrats have no shame. The Democrat party has become psychotic in the socialistic causes it embraces and deranged in its fanatical hatred for Trump. By blocking the stimulus bill it’s become obvious that Democrats are also breaking new ground in their irrational hatred for American values and traditions. Their opposition to the relief bill is an obvious display of their scorn for capitalism, entrepreneurship, the private sector and disregard for the American public. This is a dangerous, frightening, hard corps group of people who have about as much compassion for their fellow Americans as Kathy Griffin and Joy Behar have comic talent. Democrat voters must be ashamed to admit their party affiliation. Democratic leadership is a train wreck. And it’s encouraged and enthused by a sympathetic and compliant news media that are mocked by a majority of Americans — traditionally known as the “man in the street.”

Americans aren’t stupid. They see right through this Democrat crap. After this will hapless Joe Biden win even one state’s Electoral College? If Biden had a clue he’d tell the Congressional Democrats to stop playing games and get busy working with the GOP and help the American people. But don’t place any bets on that happening. Their best option now would be to stick ‘ole Joe in a nursing home where he can get some much-needed mental health treatment and draft New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, the only Democrat I’ve witnessed who has demonstrated any leadership or compassion during the current crisis. In the meantime, Pelosi and Schumer should be arrested and jailed without bond. They can watch the 2020 election results from their cells as the Democrats get their clocks cleaned this November.

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Delusional Democrat

Speaking Of Democrats: Democrats obviously think a “Job Fairy” provides employment. They have become so disconnected from reality that they think by attacking corporations and businesses they can help employees. Where do these delusional people come from? Many like Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer have never held a real job outside of politics so are clueless. Somehow they all became multimillionaires on our dime as elected politicians. Who do these twits think pays the workers they claim they want to help?  Listening to their inane prattle in the House and on the Senate floor about not providing aid to corporations and businesses is mind-numbing. Even the dimmest unemployed self-isolated traditional Democrat party voters have to question the sanity of these loons representing them in Congress.

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What’s Next?  Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world and medical experts say that is what led to its high virus death toll there. The data I’ve seen coming from Italy suggests that 99% of the people who die there are over 80 and have three pre-existing health conditions. In short, they were likely to die soon anyway. They still have another week or so of data to collect and analyze, but it is clear they’re moving to relax the stay at home rules. They are likely to say if you are under 50 and no health issues, go to work, if you are older and no health issues go to work, but be careful.

According to economist, corporate CEO, stock analyst, author and pundit, Joel Ross, the U.S. is headed in that direction as well. If someone had it and it’s resolved they have anti-bodies and can probably go back to work. Ross thinks some variation of that sort of rule will be enacted nationwide soon. “The cost to keep the country closed is simply too high given that the real risk is not so bad as first seemed,” he says. “There is a huge spike in mental health issues, opioid use, suicide etc.  Those numbers are now becoming far more serious than deaths from the Virus. That is what Trump is talking about. Keep in mind that 65% of all workers are still at work and getting paid. 25% are working but accruing wages. Many, or both groups are working virtually, but they are working and conducting business.”

When this is all over, the economy will bounce back bigger and more powerful than ever. Except China. China will get what it deserves. Don’t for a second think the U.S. will let the Chicoms control the pharmaceutical supply chain again after this pandemic is over. They’ve lost whatever goodwill they had. It will take them years to recover and the Obama Administration deserves a black mark in the history books for letting them get control of the World Health Organization and many other world organizations. The whole world is now paying the price. What’s Joe Biden’s position on that? Hello Joe. Where are you Joe?

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“Oh no Joe!”

Speaking Of Joe: Do you recall those days in elementary school when a friend of yours was called to the front of the class to read out loud? Your pal’s performance was so bad that you  tried to avoid looking because you were painfully embarrassed for him. That’s how it is every time Joe Biden makes a public appearance. I think Biden’s a pompous fool and a corrupt politician, but still can’t help feeling sorry for the sad sack every time he opens his mouth publicly. Democrats who are enthused by this guy are delusional. But I hope he’s their candidate.

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What’s In Your Wallet? If you’re like us and many others hereabouts you don’t want to go online or open those mailed envelopes from the brokerage firms that handle your 401K, IRA or other market investments. Let ‘em sit for a while until the economy reboots and picks up steam again. And it will. But even if you do open them and look at more than the bottom line, do you really understand the details of those complex financial statements. Even some people that you think should, don’t. I read about a financially smart guy recently who lost a fortune in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scam who said: “We’d go over those financial statements. They never made sense. We could never figure out where those numbers were coming from, but the returns were so good, I shrugged.” Now it’s the same as the numbers tumble. It’s all a kind of collective delusion in play.

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Brace Yourselves: Based on everything I’ve read and heard; my limited understanding of economics and the securities and exchange markets; and my gut feeling, the economy will erupt out of this situation like a rodeo bull bursting out of a chute. Americans are tired of being isolated. We’re not the loner meditating Tibetan monk types. We are social animals that crave the company of others be they friends, family or strangers. I’ve still got the same amount of cash in my wallet today that I had in it last weekend and I haven’t used a credit or debit card since then either. For me, that’s not normal as I’m not the most frugal guy in the family. There’s a lot of pent up energy out there and once this isolation curfew is lifted it’ll be “Katie bar the door.” The stimulus bill will pump cash into the economy while many people have cash burning a hole in their pockets. Many Americans are earning paychecks working from home and are going stir crazy. Combine that with a desire to get out and socialize and I think those restaurants, bars and clubs that survived this isolation period will prosper beyond their wildest expectations. So will the airlines, hotels, casinos and others in the hospitality industry as Americans hit the road again to visit family and friends and to enjoy themselves. They’ll also be scooping up low priced stocks pushing the markets back to record heights. I predict it may be the biggest economic boon ever. Tell me if and why I’m going wrong here.

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September 23,1949

Think About This: Matt Smethurst of the Gospel Coalition recently challenged his readers to consider the words of C.S. Lewis’s 1948 essay titled “On Living in an Atomic Age”. In referring to the following excerpt from Lewis, Smethurst took the liberty of replacing “coronavirus” where Lewis instead referenced the “atomic bomb” throughout the quote:

“In one way, we think a great deal too much of the coronavirus. ‘How are we to live in a coronavirus age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.’

“In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the coronavirus was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways … It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by the coronavirus, let that virus, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things — praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts — not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about viruses. They may break our bodies (any microbe can do that), but they need not dominate our minds.” — C.S. Lewis, “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948).

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I’ll Give You My Two-Ply When You Pry It From My Cold Dead Hands: This is not a good time for thieves. While many Florida residents are hoarding paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels others are stockpiling guns and ammunition.

The last time I went to the grocery store the paper products aisle was empty. In the produce section there were no bananas or potatoes and the butcher was totally out of chickens and ground beef. Now it appears gun retailers are out of bullets, and guns are selling fast. Yelp reported a 360% increase in consumer interest in guns and ammo stores. And while the stock markets have fallen, share prices of gun makers have risen.

If I was a thief I’d be having second thoughts about my chosen profession as it appears Floridians are armed to the teeth and have plenty of ammo in their personal armories.

According to news reports many firearms retailers are placing restrictions on the amount of ammunition people can buy as coronavirus-fueled gun sales surge in the “Gunshine State,” where more than two million residents have state-issued concealed weapons licenses.

Online ammunition retailer Ammo.com said it has experienced a dramatic spike in business since February. Ammo.com’s Florida sales were up 235 percent, it said, with sales of 9 mm ammunition up by 315 percent, 223-caliber rounds for rifles up by 368 percent and 5.56×45 rifle rounds up by 413 percent.

If you’re considering breaking into a house to nap a few rolls of paper products you may want to reconsider. Because of the pandemic more than likely there are people at home And more than likely they are armed and ready for any situation. For you this just won’t be a good day.

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Drinking, Dining & Dancing: If you’re sitting on your front porch bored stiff drinking the same old beer you found buried in the back of your refrigerator and want to surprise your taste buds with a refreshingly unusual brew then head over to PJD’s Beer & Wine Garden at 12 South 2^nd Street. The jovial, pajama-clad, bearded fellow and his wise fiancé Zan Maddox can’t sell you one of their more than 200 different brands of brewskies to drink on premises but they’ll plop ‘em in a sack so you can take ‘em home. They’re making these unusual brews available during the current Coronavirus pandemic on Saturday’s, Tuesday’s, and Thursday’s from 2- 7 p.m. American Legion Post 54, the corner of South 3^rd and Gum, is now serving lunch Monday through Friday for pick up and some delivery. I doubt you’ll find better prices anywhere on the island. Here’s the menu with serving hours being 12:00 pm – 4 pm: BLT’S W/FF or chips $6.00; Open faced beef mashed potatoes/gravy and blacked eye peas.$6.50;Spaghetti and meatballs w/ garlic bread $5.75; Vegetable beef stew over rice w/ cornbread $5.75; Burgers (cheese) w/ FF or chips $6.00; Hot wing basket w/ fries and garlic bread $7.50; Blacked eyed peas over rice w/ garlic bread $4.50; Grilled Ham and cheese w/ FF and Cole slaw $6.50. Call ‘em at 904/261.7900 to order delivery. Sandbar & Kitchen is serving from its take out window,11 am to 8 pm, facing the Main Beach parking lot and is offering a “buy one, get one at half price” for its delicious thin crust pizza. And while supplies last you can order one dollar rolls of toilet paper — really — and 10 pound tubes of ground beef for $34.00! It also has a $6 hot dog with chili, cheese & fries, a $6 one quarter pound hamburger with fries and from 4 p.m. to closing a $14 Shrimp Dinner with fries and slaw. Call ‘em at 904/310-3648. Following are area restaurants that I’m aware of that are also open and serving take-out: Lagniappe, The Surf, Overtime Bar & Grill, Garden Street Bistro, Down Under, Joes 2nd St Bistro, Ponzi, Kitchen 251, Bar Zin, Captain Jacks Smokehouse, Wicked Bao, Amelia Tavern, Cafe Karibo, Pablo’s, T-Rays, Tasty’s, Island Kitchen, Baxter’s, The Salty Pelican, Hola Cuban Café, Moon River Pizza, Cantina Louie, Bantam & Biddy, Island BBQ, Pogo’s, The Loop, Stateline BBQ, Arte’s, Timoti’s, Nana Teresa’s, The Florida House’s Leddy’s Porch (on weekends), Garden Street Bistro, Patio Place, Espana, Ciao, 4th St Deli, Island Kitchen, Amelia Island Coffee Shop.