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posted by martyb on Thursday July 16 2020, @11:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the sudden-outbreak-of-common-sense? dept.

Trump admin caves to Harvard and MIT, won’t deport online-only students:

The Trump administration has rescinded a controversial policy that could have forced the deportation of foreign students who attend colleges that aren't offering in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

As we reported last week, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration to block the policy issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under the policy change announced July 6, foreign students with nonimmigrant (F-1 and M-1) visas would have had to leave the United States or transfer to different schools that offer in-person classes.

But US officials agreed to rescind the new policy in a settlement with Harvard and MIT, as revealed [Tuesday] at a hearing on the case at US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. "At a short hearing Tuesday afternoon, US District Judge Allison Burroughs confirmed that a settlement had been reached," The Wall Street Journal reported. "She said the government would rescind the policy, withdraw an FAQ detailing the rule and return to the status quo of guidance issued in the spring."

Under a policy issued on March 13, which is back in effect because of the settlement, ICE provided an exemption to the rule that F-1 students must attend classes in person. The Harvard/MIT lawsuit pointed out that, when ICE issued this exemption, "the government made clear that this arrangement was 'in effect for the duration of the emergency.'" But the Trump administration's July 6 order reversed that policy despite the pandemic raging on and the fact that President Trump had not rescinded his national emergency declaration.

Harvard and MIT argued in their lawsuit that the Trump administration's July 6 policy change "is arbitrary and capricious because it fails to consider important aspects of the problem before the agency... fails to offer any reasoned basis that could justify the policy." The lawsuit also argues that the change violates a requirement to provide public notice and take comments.

Previously:
(2020-07-08) New Rules: Foreign Pupils Must Leave US if Classes Go Online-Only


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday July 16 2020, @11:59AM (18 children)

    by looorg (578) on Thursday July 16 2020, @11:59AM (#1022363)

    All about the money. It's so hard to make the students pay full tuition fees if they can't sit on campus. Being an online student just isn't worth the amount of money they want for their education package.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:22PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:22PM (#1022365)

      Yellow chickening out. Because the public health is in shambles and there nothing to show for it in economy.
      Are you tired of winning yet? MAGA!

      • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:41PM (#1022372)

        Gotta say it's absofuckinglutely tremendous to see a MAGA comment moderated Spam, the irony is exquisite!!!1!1!
        Eds, don't revert it, let it this way for the posteriority.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:23PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:23PM (#1022367)

      IDK why the administration tried this when they can cancel the visas instead. [newsmax.com]

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:02PM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:02PM (#1022384) Journal

        IDK why the administration tried this when they can cancel the visas instead.

        Because they're dumb. They never should have tried this one at all, this is one of the few ways the Americans get money from the Chinese (that and soybeans and pork).

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:54PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:54PM (#1022395)

          After reading the summary, it seems this stems more from a standpoint of, "we need to pretend the pandemic is over or I wont get re-elected" rather than "get those foreigners out!"

          Honestly, I can't tell which is worse, this administration has forced me to add entirely new space to my evil ranking system.

          Curious how long it'll be before he becomes the first president to be impeached twice. Given that the founders saw impeachment as the thing preventing exactly the Rodger Stone scenario, that is a president that pardons his accomplices.

          • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:16PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:16PM (#1022430)

            Seemed to be a ploy to pressure educational establishments into reopening for economic reasons more than an outward manifestation of some xenophobic evil tbh.

            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:42PM

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:42PM (#1022466) Journal

              Maybe originally t was, but since they backtracked to the point of origin, where's the ploy now?

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:07PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:07PM (#1022385)

        Trump wants to avoid a backlash of the Chinese-lives-matter movement. That is, swinging voters who are cynical of his diplomatic spat with President Xi and would see the eviction of thousands of Chinese nationals as innocents caught in the cross-fire of cold war dick waving.

        This way the administration can make it about COVID19 community transmission health concerns, the economy and American jobs for Americans. Even if you're, say, a student from Hungary and you're collateral damage in the War on China.

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:51PM (3 children)

          by Bot (3902) on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:51PM (#1022419) Journal

          Chinese lives matter, it would be wonderful if at least the Chinese believed that.

          --
          Account abandoned.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @06:36PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @06:36PM (#1022505)

            They do you zombie, that is why they actually locked down Wuhan and cemented people in their houses. Not that I want that to happen in the US but with the MAGA idiots putting everyone else in danger it probably would be the only way.

            Or have you not been paying attention to anything but Fox News?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @08:52PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @08:52PM (#1022570)

              Not that I want that to happen in the US but with the MAGA idiots putting everyone else in danger it probably would be the only way.

              You see, the Chinese knew that there is a certain part of society that is just fucked up and doesn't listed unless forced. So they forced everyone to do it and it's done.

          • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday July 17 2020, @03:34AM

            by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 17 2020, @03:34AM (#1022732) Homepage Journal

            Uyghur lives matter; it would be nice if the Chinese agreed.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:37PM (#1022410)

      For the foreign students it is, because they log time spent in the US.

    • (Score: 1, Troll) by Bot on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:47PM (4 children)

      by Bot (3902) on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:47PM (#1022416) Journal

      I tend to agree. Orange man had made the sensible choice, if you don't need to be there then you don't need to be there: lefties disagreed by default, University and landlords and Starbucks quietly elbowed the administration, he caved in.

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Common Joe on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:54PM (3 children)

        by Common Joe (33) <common.joe.0101NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:54PM (#1022448) Journal

        There are many things to consider. For instance:

        • If we kick the students out, then they aren't here paying money inside the U.S. (for food and a roof). They are back home supporting their local economy instead of the U.S. Indeed, I saw an article a few days ago saying the economic impact of sending the students back would severely hurt the U.S.
        • The students being kicked out might be locked in a contract. They may have to continue paying for their U.S. apartment despite being kicked out to their home country where they will have to pay for yet another apartment.
        • The students who come from overseas have a big time difference if they go back home. It might be 2 AM when they are attending an online class or having to do homework. (Speaking to your classmates while doing a group project in the middle of the night while your parents and siblings are trying to sleep isn't a great thing.)
        • We should be talking only about students who would be here normally. Once they graduate or if they are kicked out of the university for other reasons, they should go home under normal rules.
        • And for all these reasons, students who are considering coming to the U.S. will have second thoughts despite the reversal. Speaking from personal experience, doing school in another country is really difficult. There are burdens that internationals carry that local students don't. Additional unnecessary headaches like this would make me reject a country outright.
        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:18PM

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:18PM (#1022461) Journal

          doing school in another country is really difficult.

          There was a time when it was really special, and the US was the most powerful magnet, until 1971, when the first McDonald's opened in Europe

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
        • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:16PM (1 child)

          by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:16PM (#1022601)

          You can also add that we could be losing a large number of intelligent, well educated immigrants that might otherwise have stayed, become citizens, and contributed a great deal. You know, the kind of people that "made America great".

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:23PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:23PM (#1022895)

            He's mad that these foreign Ph.D. students are taking away all of the jobs that could be staffed by all of the people who lost their jobs in the manufacturing sectors. As Ivanka says, just do something different! Today you're working the assembly line, and tomorrow you could be a doing surgery as a neurosurgeon (maskless, of course, because requiring masks in the operating room is an egregious affront to your personal liberties)!

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:46PM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:46PM (#1022376)

    This is the narrative I've come to expect from all politicians, not just our Cheeto...

    Rant, rave and make a big splash for your base, then quietly cave to business as usual after you've made the emotional impact.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:54PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @12:54PM (#1022378)

      after you've made the emotional impact.

      Emotional impact? Really? Emotional? Man, that base of his so dumb they have guts for brains, because this makes me puke.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Opportunist on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:52PM (3 children)

        by Opportunist (5545) on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:52PM (#1022446)

        Is there something left about US politics but emotions? When was the last time you heard a politician make an argument that actually targeted your brain rather than trying to pull some heart strings?

        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday July 17 2020, @12:55AM (2 children)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday July 17 2020, @12:55AM (#1022678)

          When was the last time you heard a politician make an argument that actually targeted your brain

          Obama, and some of today's "opposition."

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
          • (Score: 2) by Opportunist on Sunday July 19 2020, @08:51AM (1 child)

            by Opportunist (5545) on Sunday July 19 2020, @08:51AM (#1023663)

            Please. Obama played the happy-friendly nig... card whenever someone started to ask uncomfortable questions, he knew how to play that fiddle, too.

            • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 19 2020, @12:53PM

              by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday July 19 2020, @12:53PM (#1023701)

              Oh, hey - bad saint, no halo for sure, but... he did occasionally make a brain targeting argument on camera for national television.

              You're looking for perfection in national level politics? You are in the wrong dimension.

              --
              🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:54PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @01:54PM (#1022394)

    Can we deport Trump instead?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:14PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:14PM (#1022429)

      If you want to set that precedent be my guest. Do not cry when it, like all retarded ideas from your side, bites you in the ass in few years when all the anchor babies are deported.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:26PM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:26PM (#1022436) Journal

      Deport? Look, mate, there's no nation that will take him; he's even more American than Rupert Murdoch, you'll have to deal with the liability.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:25PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:25PM (#1022897)

        Thought he'd fit right into your parliament down in ozzieland.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 17 2020, @02:49PM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 17 2020, @02:49PM (#1022904) Journal

          Not even as a janitor

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:43PM (#1022442)

      What planet?

    • (Score: 2) by Opportunist on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:57PM (1 child)

      by Opportunist (5545) on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:57PM (#1022453)

      The question would be, where to?

      And before you ask, no, Europe explicitly had its colonies to get rid of the unwanted criminals. Find your own solution!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @08:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @08:23PM (#1022563)

        Guantanamo?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:46PM (18 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @02:46PM (#1022414)

    Another example of the administration abandoning regular Americans. Already completely hands off with state governors running wild, they now abandon university students to another full price lost semester.

    I expect many of the schools that have promised to reopen will wait until students can't jump off anymore to say: Sorry, online classes only, the 70k is due in two weeks!

    • (Score: 2) by Opportunist on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:55PM (10 children)

      by Opportunist (5545) on Thursday July 16 2020, @03:55PM (#1022449)

      70k for tuition? Per year?

      Hell, I'm glad I studied in Europe. My whole degree didn't cost a tenth of that.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:24PM (8 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:24PM (#1022462)

        It's about the going rate for the complete annual package for a private school in the US. If the school is well regarded in an in-demand field, you can expect to earn $100k fresh out of school doing interesting stuff with a selective employer.

        It's a lot of money, but it can pay off within 5 years. Not surprising though that many of the students come from families with a six figure income.

        • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:50PM (7 children)

          by PiMuNu (3823) on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:50PM (#1022473)

          For a country that prides itself on being built on mass immigration, US seems to have a surprisingly racist, inward looking and socially divided population.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @05:02PM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @05:02PM (#1022480)

            built on mass immigration

            Doesn't mean we don't reserve the right to determine who may come in.

            racist

            How?

            inward looking

            This is our country. We care more about it than far off places.

            socially divided

            Where do you not have social divisions?

            • (Score: 3, Touché) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:04PM (3 children)

              by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:04PM (#1022596)

              built on mass immigration

              Doesn't mean we don't reserve the right to determine who may come in.

              Fair enough.

              racist

              How?

              You haven't been paying attention, have you?

              inward looking

              This is our country. We care more about it than far off places.

              Unless those far-off places elect someone you don't like of course.

              socially divided

              Where do you not have social divisions?

              My country does not have anything like the divisions you have.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @03:24AM (2 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @03:24AM (#1022730)

                My country does not have anything like the divisions you have.

                Yes it does. You have nothing to be proud of in terms of social divisions and racism. According to Wikipedia Crime in New Zealand: "New Zealand's crime statistics are compounded by the over-representation of Māori. Despite Māori making up only 12.5% of the general population aged 15 and over,[31] 2007 figures show 42% of all criminal apprehensions involve a person identifying as Māori, as do 50% of those in prison. In November 2019 the police launched a campaign to reduce Māori re-offending, as 51% of those in prison were Māori.[32] For Maori women, the picture is even more acute: they comprise around 60% of the female prison population.[33]"

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @03:51AM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @03:51AM (#1022738)

                  The article continues: A forum held at Parliament in 2009 on the Drivers of Crime in New Zealand identified mainly socio-economic factors contributing to crime such as: "Family dysfunction; child maltreatment; poor educational achievement; harmful drinking and drug use; poor mental health; severe behavioural problems among children and young people; and the intergenerational transmission of criminal behaviour."[35] The forum noted that "Many of these issues are concentrated within socially and economically disadvantaged families and communities." In New Zealand, it seems these life circumstances are more likely to affect Maori families than non-Maori – which contributes to the comparatively high rates of offending by Maori.[33] In 2010 the Law Commission released a report on the social destruction caused by alcohol in New Zealand and quoted district court judges who said that 80% of all offending in New Zealand occurred under the influence of alcohol and drugs.[36]

                  "Socially and economically disadvantaged families and communities" - But you said your country didn't have any of those divisions. Perhaps you should check your white privilege.

                  #MaoriLivesMatter

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @06:45PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @06:45PM (#1023014)

                    Huh, sounds just like the old USA.

          • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday July 16 2020, @11:33PM

            by krishnoid (1156) on Thursday July 16 2020, @11:33PM (#1022640)

            For a country that prides itself on being built on mass immigration

            I'm having more trouble finding recent evidence of that. MIT, Hahvahd and other fancy book-learnin' elite-style college-type places at least used to pride themselves on getting the best of the best [ku.edu] from wherever they can find it, but otherwise, it seems like the US -- or at least the loudest voices in the conversation -- is/are drowning in nationalism and anti-intellectualism these days.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @12:03AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @12:03AM (#1022654)

            For a country that prides itself on being built on mass immigration, US seems to have a surprisingly racist, inward looking and socially divided population.

            It only seems that way if you just pay attention to the bigots here and on social media.

            Most Americans don't paint others with such a broad brush. Most of us understand that people are individuals and aren't defined by stuff like ethnicity or melanin content.

            It's just the assholes who do that. There aren't very many of them, but they're *everywhere*.

            If you just pay attention to the assholes, all you'll see is their warped view of their fellow humans. It's sad to see, but most of us normal folk just try to ignore them.

      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:55PM

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:55PM (#1022474) Journal

        70k for tuition? Per year?

        Yeah, well, easy credit drove the price up a bit.

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by bradley13 on Thursday July 16 2020, @05:55PM (6 children)

      by bradley13 (3053) on Thursday July 16 2020, @05:55PM (#1022500) Homepage Journal

      Another example of the administration abandoning regular Americans. Already completely hands off with state governors running wild, they now abandon university students to another full price lost semester.

      WTF? The federal government should be hands-off. Universities are either private, or state schools. Except for the military academies, there are no federal universities.

      TDS gets really tiresome. However much you dislike the guy, not everything is his fault.

      --
      Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @06:49PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @06:49PM (#1022514)

        "The Trump administration has rescinded a controversial policy that could have forced the deportation of foreign students who attend colleges that aren't offering in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic."

        He tried to make it his fault so he gets flak. Also, as for the governors running wild portion of the comment it seems pretty clear that medical advice for masks and lockdowns SHOULD have been a federal mandate. The crisis is real and Trump not only failed to provide leadership but encouraged dangerous responses that have led to thousands of deaths.

        Trump has blood on his hands, but you're just too tired of people complaining about Trump's never ending fuckups. Where was this tired outrage during the 8 years of Obama? Or the still never ending bUt HiLLarY comments?

        Trump is a criminal, get over it.

      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @09:11PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2020, @09:11PM (#1022575)

        Tune down your antenna a bit. I support Trump overall, but that doesn't mean I have to support everything he does. And some of the jobs of the federal government are to keep commerce flowing and protecting us from the overreach of state and local governments. There he had two major fizzles already this year, back in April when he suddenly left control of the shutdown policies to the states, and now when he dropped the plan to hold Big Education to resume classes without an indication that they were going to commit to reopen.

        IMO it won't be enough to just point the finger at Democrat's screwups until the election. We need constructive action from our president to get our country back.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:10PM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday July 16 2020, @10:10PM (#1022598)

          We need constructive action from our president to get our country back.

          Who has "taken " your country?

          The president's party hold all of the levers of power, except the House.

          If you can only name two occasions your president has had "major fizzles" this year, you should pay more attention.

        • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @12:26AM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @12:26AM (#1022662)

          There he had two major fizzles already this year, back in April when he suddenly left control of the shutdown policies to the states, and now when he dropped the plan to hold Big Education to resume classes without an indication that they were going to commit to reopen.

          You really have no idea how government in the US works do you?

          The federal government can do many things, but no matter how much you might want it to be true, state and local governments always had full authority over their health systems/pandemic responses.

          Trump's fuck ups were numerous, but not using the authority he doesn't have wasn't one of them.

          As for the schools, again the Federal government doesn't control, or have authority over even public schools (K-12 or post-secondary), let alone private schools.

          In fact, when he says that he'll "cut off money" from schools that don't open for in-person classes, it's actually two untruths. One lie and one misrepresentation.

          1. Cutting off funding for schools that don't open for in person classes is a straight-up, bald-faced lie. Firstly, the law regarding federal funding of schools doesn't allow the President or the Secretary of Education to withhold funds except in specific, unusual circumstances. What's more, most of the Federal funding for K-12 for this year *has already been disbursed*.
          2. Even if Trump *could* withhold such funds, Federal funds make up less than 10% of K-12 education spending in the US. As such, while it might be irritating to many school districts, it certainly wouldn't put any of them at risk of being unable to function. Which makes it a misrepresentation of the actual state of affairs.

          The attempt to cancel visas for foreign students was just a cruel ploy to try to get universities to open for in-person classes.
          Since at least some of the school administrations impacted aren't sociopaths, they demurred. Mostly because they're not willing to be responsible for more unnecessary deaths just to win Trump some political points.

          Both of those "fuck ups" (scare quotes because they weren't just accidents, they are cruel, selfish grasping at straws attempts to bolster Trump politically, and everyone else be damned) are craven, short-sighted attempts to get folks back to work by giving their kids a place to go during the day. Given the current out of control state of the pandemic in the US, that would pretty much guarantee more unnecessary deaths, just so Trump can win some political points before the election.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:34PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:34PM (#1022900)

            It is also to "own the libs", whatever that means. I saw recently a bit on how some of the MAGA crowd are now seeking out masks that specifically don't do anything to mitigate the spread of covid. It is so they can wear them, knowing full well that they are not designed to do what their intent is, but so they can "own the libs". Think about that for a moment. They are unwilling to wear a simple piece of cloth, much less a surgical mask, to help tamp down a public health issue, but they will wear something on their faces specifically for the purpose that it doesn't do anything to mitigate the issue, but so they can have their adolescent thrill of "bucking authority" and "owning the libs". Just think about what that really says about them.

            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday July 18 2020, @12:45AM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday July 18 2020, @12:45AM (#1023152) Journal

              It says they're in the same mental state (and level of development) as a defiant little three year old who purposefully shits his pants and runs around in shitty pants specifically because his mother told him to use the pot.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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