Tweet

Kurt Eichenwald

11 Sep, 7 tweets, 2 min read

@dallasnews

I wasn't going to tweet today, but... @dallasnews had stories on vaccine/testing mandates, and then the Texas fights against masks under a big headline, "HEALTH OR CIVIL LIBERTIES?"

Goddamit! "I do what I want" is NOT civil liberties. Public health measures in a pandemic...1

...is not "health." As the National Constitution Center says, civil liberties are “basic rights and freedoms guaranteed to individuals as protection from any arbitrary actions or other interference of the government without due process of law.” Simply put, they're the basic...2

...rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Again, "I don' wanna" doesn't fall into that category. Children are required to get vaccinated to go to school. we are required to get vaccinated to go overseas, people are required to get mega-vaccinated to join the....3

...military. It is *only* the COVID vaccine that has become politicized by liars like Fox and Rand Paul. Whether to wear a mask or get vaccinated is not "civil liberties" anymore than requiring Typhoid Mary to stop working as a cook was. And attempting to control a pandemic is..4

...not about "health." If someone wants to drive their car into a wall, fine, go ahead. If they want to jump out of a plane without a parachute, be my guest. The pandemic is a PUBLIC health issue. It is a national security issue. It is an economic issue. "My choice" means...

@dallasnews

...nothing when "your choice" can translate into the death of others - including children - or the shutdown of hospital systems as you contribute to the spread of disease. So, @dallasnews, if you wanted to say "Plague or Personal Choice" rather than "Health or Civil Liberties"...

...that might have put the scales correctly. But remember: You dont get to choose to drive drunk, not because we care about what happens to you, but because we care about you killing others. And it is the same with public health rules.

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More from @kurteichenwald

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

10 Sep

Let's get fucking real. If you want to die, go ahead. Unfortunately, with COVID, just like when you drive drunk, you're likely to take others with you, which is why you don't have the "freedom" to drive drunk.

So here is your "freedom" to go without a mask or get vaccinated...1

...and here is your freedom....

...and here....

Read 8 tweets

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

10 Sep

This is the one that got to me of people attacking vaccines and then getting touched by COVID. Don’t blame Terena. She doesn’t know Fox and GOP are inexplicably lying. Yes, they should have taken extra precautions for the little girl but it’s the GOP liars who killed her…/1

….(sometimes you have to hit the picture to see the whole thing. Each one is a Retweet or comment by a woman named Terena.)….2

….this is another joke sent out by Terena….

Read 7 tweets

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

8 Sep

I wrote an article on abortion for Newsweek in 2015. There was a lot to it, but this story in this thread tore me up - and enraged me at the arrogance of some "pro-life" stranger who thought she had the right to determine what was best for someone else's child.../1

..."A pregnant woman is opposed to abortion and wants the child. But her water breaks at 22 weeks, meaning there wont be enough amniotic fluid for the fetus's lungs to develop. This innocent would have no possibility of living and would be in agony for as much as 15 minutes.../2

..."before dying. Which do you choose—an abortion or a newborn's excruciating death? This is not a hypothetical. It happened in 2010 to Danielle Deaver Grand Island, Nebraska. Unfortunately for her, Nebraska had passed a law declaring all abortions after 20 weeks illegal, so.../3

Read 6 tweets

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

20 Aug

Ok, since no one seems to know any of the history of Afghanistan before this week, a refresher:
2/29/20: There are 13,000 US troops there. Trump reaches deal with Taliban. Agrees Afghanistan Gov, which is not part of deal, will release 5,000 Taliban fighters. Requires Taliban...1

...to take action against al Qaeda, not to attack US troops or coalition forces, or launch high-profile attacks.
3/1/20: Afghan president freaks out, says US has no authority to commit to release prisoners held by Afghanistan. (Trump Admin forces it to happen anyway.)
...2

...
Despite there agreement not to attack any provincial capitals, Taliban unilaterally attacks Afghan forces in Helmand province.
3/19/2020: DOD IG says U.S. cut troop levels by more than 4,000, even though “Taliban escalated violence further after signing the agreement"...3

Read 16 tweets

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

20 Aug

Reality of Afghanistan: On 11/27/01, CIA fighters, special forces & Northern Alliance was chasing al Qaeda/bin Laden into Tora Bora, along Pakistani border. That day, Central Command discussing support when Rumsfeld told them he wanted them to focus instead on Iraq strategy...1

..the battle of Tora Bora began three days later, involving the CIA team (Jawbreaker), special forces, and Northern Alliance. There was bombing support. Jawbreaker leaders asked Pentagon for one battalion of Army Rangers dropped behind al Qaeda's position to trap them and then..2

...trap them before launching a massive bombing campaign. Al Qaeda would have been destroyed. Bin Laden would have been surrounded - captured or killed - just months after 9/11. The perpetrators of the massive terror attack would have paid the ultimate price...3

Read 6 tweets

Kurt Eichenwald

@kurteichenwald

8 Aug

Scientists are whispering - and some are saying out loud: COVID is now a forever disease. It was allowed to rage unchecked for too long in 2020 because of politics & stupidity; the only way to stop it in 2021 was a rapid-fire, government-wide, dual-party vaccine push. GQP...1

...politics, which somehow turned basic public health measures into part of a culture war, decided to undermine our means of control both in 2020 and 2021 for votes and ratings. In 2020, they went after masks, social distancing and shutdowns,leaving...nothing. Now, they....2

...have framed vaccines and masks as a matter of personal choice and freedom, rather than community well being. There is an old cliche in tort law - your right to swing your arms ends at the tip of my nose. Your right to refuse a mask and a vaccine ends outside, 12 feet from...3

Read 13 tweets

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