- Oct 17, 2011
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Two stories collided in my head this morning.
Charlie Kirk’s pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again
Turning Point USA and its affiliates are urging students to resist mandates and spreading baseless claims about ‘medical raids’ as part of a bid for donations
Text messages announcing Kirk as their author warn that President Biden is “sending goons DOOR-TO-DOOR to make you take a covid-19 vaccine.” Facebook ads from Kirk’s tax-exempt nonprofit insist the government has “NO RIGHT to force you to inject yourself with an experimental vaccine,” and say the best response to outreach about the shots is to, “LOCK YOUR DOORS, KIDS!!”
These [and other] statements stand on a slew of falsehoods and mischaracterizations, according to vaccine experts.
The messages from his group stand out especially now because they’re discordant with a chorus of establishment GOP voices speaking with new urgency in favor of immunization, as the delta variant strikes hardest in red states.
The gulf between the message offered by Kirk and the one delivered by many elected Republicans arises from their distinct incentives, said Patrick Ruffini, a GOP pollster and partner at Echelon Insights. Elected officials “will be held accountable by voters if a covid surge happens on their watch,” he said, while activist groups may seek to mobilize supporters to donate by focusing on divisive issues like vaccine mandates.
Arizona’s GOP-backed ballot review has raised more than $5.7 million in private donations, organizers say
A private contractor conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona’s largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected more than $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process.
The controversial ballot review, which included a hand recount of Maricopa County’s nearly 2.1 million ballots and a review of ballot tabulating machines, has been underway since April. It was ordered by the state’s Republican-led Senate, which agreed to spend $150,000 in taxpayer money to fund the audit. But the Senate allowed Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm hired to lead the process, to collect donations as well.
Trump’s political PAC raised about $75 million in the first half of this year, using his false claims that the election was stolen to motivate donors, but has given no money to finance the Arizona ballot review.
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To this we could also add the Build the Wall fiasco/fraud.
Now, although it was fraud, it doesn't really do anyone much harm if they feel a burst of pleasure when they donate their hard-earned money to help buy Brian Kolfage a yacht and build one and a quarter inches of wall.
But these other grifts are eroding the nation's health and political system.
The facts are that the vaccine is safe and effective. The facts are that the current state of the flare-ups correlate with the unvaccinated population. The facts are that the unvaccinated make up half the population, but nearly 100% of the hospitalizations and deaths. The facts are that politicians of both parties from Trump and Biden on down are encouraging people to get vaccinated.
The facts are that Joe Biden won Arizona. The facts are that counting the ballots all over again is going to get the same result. The facts are that this investigation can't uncover the kinds of fraud people are fantasizing about. The facts are that this third look at the ballots was entirely unnecessary. No one should have paid for it. Not the AZ senate, and not the private donors. Donald Trump may talk about Arizona's election investigation -- at his own rallies for soliciting donations -- but the facts are that he has not put up any of his own money for this meaningless effort.
--
Obviously, this advice is just as true for causes on the left. As I advised someone about BLM, don't give them any money until they have more of a proven track record of activism. Like 'Occupy Wall Street', these unorganized leaderless organizations are hard to assess.
Charlie Kirk’s pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again
Turning Point USA and its affiliates are urging students to resist mandates and spreading baseless claims about ‘medical raids’ as part of a bid for donations
Text messages announcing Kirk as their author warn that President Biden is “sending goons DOOR-TO-DOOR to make you take a covid-19 vaccine.” Facebook ads from Kirk’s tax-exempt nonprofit insist the government has “NO RIGHT to force you to inject yourself with an experimental vaccine,” and say the best response to outreach about the shots is to, “LOCK YOUR DOORS, KIDS!!”
These [and other] statements stand on a slew of falsehoods and mischaracterizations, according to vaccine experts.
The messages from his group stand out especially now because they’re discordant with a chorus of establishment GOP voices speaking with new urgency in favor of immunization, as the delta variant strikes hardest in red states.
The gulf between the message offered by Kirk and the one delivered by many elected Republicans arises from their distinct incentives, said Patrick Ruffini, a GOP pollster and partner at Echelon Insights. Elected officials “will be held accountable by voters if a covid surge happens on their watch,” he said, while activist groups may seek to mobilize supporters to donate by focusing on divisive issues like vaccine mandates.
Arizona’s GOP-backed ballot review has raised more than $5.7 million in private donations, organizers say
A private contractor conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona’s largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected more than $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process.
The controversial ballot review, which included a hand recount of Maricopa County’s nearly 2.1 million ballots and a review of ballot tabulating machines, has been underway since April. It was ordered by the state’s Republican-led Senate, which agreed to spend $150,000 in taxpayer money to fund the audit. But the Senate allowed Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm hired to lead the process, to collect donations as well.
Trump’s political PAC raised about $75 million in the first half of this year, using his false claims that the election was stolen to motivate donors, but has given no money to finance the Arizona ballot review.
--
To this we could also add the Build the Wall fiasco/fraud.
Now, although it was fraud, it doesn't really do anyone much harm if they feel a burst of pleasure when they donate their hard-earned money to help buy Brian Kolfage a yacht and build one and a quarter inches of wall.
But these other grifts are eroding the nation's health and political system.
The facts are that the vaccine is safe and effective. The facts are that the current state of the flare-ups correlate with the unvaccinated population. The facts are that the unvaccinated make up half the population, but nearly 100% of the hospitalizations and deaths. The facts are that politicians of both parties from Trump and Biden on down are encouraging people to get vaccinated.
The facts are that Joe Biden won Arizona. The facts are that counting the ballots all over again is going to get the same result. The facts are that this investigation can't uncover the kinds of fraud people are fantasizing about. The facts are that this third look at the ballots was entirely unnecessary. No one should have paid for it. Not the AZ senate, and not the private donors. Donald Trump may talk about Arizona's election investigation -- at his own rallies for soliciting donations -- but the facts are that he has not put up any of his own money for this meaningless effort.
--
Obviously, this advice is just as true for causes on the left. As I advised someone about BLM, don't give them any money until they have more of a proven track record of activism. Like 'Occupy Wall Street', these unorganized leaderless organizations are hard to assess.
