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Opinion: Mitch McConnell, naked and afraid

 

By Dana Milbank

On rare occasions, Mitch McConnell can summon the ability to mimic human emotions.

Ten days ago, for example, the Senate Republican leader was asked, at a Chamber of Commerce event, to imagine: “You’re stranded on a desert island and you can only have one companion. Your choices are Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter. Who do you choose?

McConnell had little hesitation. “Biden and I did four bipartisan deals during the Obama administration. I consider him a personal friend,” he said. “I was the only Republican who went to his son Beau’s funeral. So that would be an easy choice. I think Biden is a first-rate person.”

McConnell’s desert-island answer gave me the unfortunate mental image of the two septuagenarians competing together on Discovery’s reality TV show “Naked and Afraid,” in which an unclothed pair are dropped in the wilderness for 21 days with only one survival item apiece. For reasons of good taste, I picture our contestants clothed: marooned Biden wearing Ray-Bans and shirtsleeves and marooned McConnell in pinstriped suit. Biden’s survival item is a cup for boiling water. McConnell’s survival item is a filibuster. Instead of squabbling over campsite placement, they’re bickering about covid relief.

That’s just what our two castaways did this week. At an event in his home state, McConnell complained about Biden’s “wildly out of proportion” $2 trillion American Rescue Plan — while in the same breath mentioning what a boon it will be for Kentucky: “Not a single member of my party voted for it,” he said. “I didn’t vote for it. But you’re going to get a lot more money. Cities and counties in Kentucky are getting close to seven or 800 million dollars. If you add up the total amount that’ll come into our state, $4 billion, that’s twice what we sent in last year.”

I hate this windfall that will be so awesome for my constituents!

McConnell’s struggle for coherence prompted Biden to needle his desert-island pal. “Mitch McConnell loves our programs,” he teased. “He’s bragging about it in Kentucky.”

The confusion isn’t limited to covid relief. McConnell takes every opportunity to undermine this “first-rate person” and “personal friend” — both politically and personally. McConnell waited more than five weeks before acknowledging Biden’s victory, allowing Donald Trump and his allies to delegitimize Biden — and the election — in the eyes of tens of millions of Trump supporters. McConnell didn’t speak up because he wanted Republicans to win Senate runoffs in Georgia. “Look, we need the president in Georgia and so we cannot be frontally attacking him right now,” McConnell told the attorney general, according to Jonathan Karl of ABC News.

McConnell withheld support for the new Senate’s organizing resolution for weeks, delaying consideration of his friend Biden’s nominees.

Asked about Trump’s election lies, McConnell instead attacked his friend. “One hundred percent of my focus is on stopping this new administration,” he said, also tagging friend Biden with the “socialist” moniker.

McConnell vowed to fight the covid relief legislation “in every way that we can.” He filibustered bipartisan legislation to create a commission to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection. He filibustered equal-pay legislation requiring employers to show that they don’t discriminate against women. He filibustered voting rights legislation and upended bipartisan talks on legislation to address police brutality.

He has so far failed to endorse bipartisan infrastructure legislation, while saying he would wage a “hell of a fight” if Democrats go it alone.

And he stands by as his staff portrays Biden as senile. McConnell aides “have taken to describing the White House chief of staff as ‘Prime Minister Klain,’” the Hill reported, attempting “to undercut public perception of Biden as a leader who is totally with it.”

With friends like these …

McConnell is not a man you’d want in your foxhole — or on your desert island. But his treachery would make for good television. I propose a “Naked and Afraid” spinoff: "In the Swamp.”

Episode One: Biden erects a tent. McConnell knocks it down. Biden builds a hut. McConnell burns it down. Biden digs a shelter in the ground. McConnell fills it with scorpions and snakes.

Episode Two: The survivalists go fishing. Biden spears a fish. Biden goes foraging for kindling to cook the fish but returns to discover that McConnell has eaten the whole fish raw. McConnell blames Biden for his upset stomach. Episode Three: McConnell introduces Biden to an orangutan he has befriended with blaze-orange fur. The orangutan destroys their camp, eats all their food, contaminates their water supply, then attacks the Discovery camera crew. But McConnell tells Biden he cannot stop the orangutan because there is a Senate runoff in Georgia.

Episode Four: Biden “taps out” and calls for a helicopter evacuation. McConnell, chased by the orangutan, clambers aboard, too. The men have survived only three days together. Each ends with a PSR (Primitive Survival Rating) score of zero.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/09/mcconnell-biden-desert-island/

OPINION: THE EDITORIAL BOARD - We’ve Come So Far With Vaccines, America. Now Keep Going.

For all the missteps during its early days, the American coronavirus vaccination campaign is poised to go down as a triumph of science and public health. Seven months after the first shots were authorized for emergency use, 66 percent of adults — more than 100 million people — have received at least one dose. That’s not the 70 percent President Biden was aiming to reach by July 4, but it’s close, and it’s an impressive figure.

This progress has enabled the nation to edge its way back to something resembling normal. Daily case counts and death tolls are falling steadily in most places. Restaurants and theaters and barbershops are open. Mask mandates are being lifted. So far, most of the vaccines seem to work well against the dangerous Delta variant and all of its known cousins. What’s more, the latest research suggests that for most people, vaccine boosters will not be needed anytime soon.

It’s worth pausing to acknowledge this triumph. Last summer, the nation was praying for vaccines that would be at least 50 percent effective, and no one was sure whether or when they might arrive. This summer, millions of Americans have been inoculated with vaccines that are more effective than many dared to hope for.

But it’s too soon to declare total victory. The world is still locked in a desperate race between the coronavirus’s ability to evolve and society’s ability to vaccinate, and America’s lead in that race is precarious. The virus is evolving quickly and efficiently. Given enough time and enough susceptible hosts, it could still mutate its way around the human immune response and beyond the ability of existing vaccines to help. If that happens, the United States, and any other nations that have made such progress, will be forced backward.

The only way to prevent such a grim outcome is to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible — not just in the United States but everywhere.

There are still many barriers to accomplishing this goal. Vaccine hesitancy is rampant and in some cases baffling: Health care workers witnessed the ravages of Covid-19 firsthand, but some of them are still resisting vaccination and even suing to block vaccine mandates. Some teenagers who want the shots have found that the biggest obstacles are their parents who worry about side effects that have yet to emerge. Many young adults are skipping vaccination because they don’t see the urgency. Vaccine hesitancy is not the only problem. In most states, Black and Hispanic people have received fewer vaccinations relative to their share of cases and their share of the total population, according to surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The reasons for this disparity are innumerable, but systemic racism and income inequality play huge roles. Many marginalized groups are leery of a government that has failed them time and again. Some people have been stymied by a lack of paid leave or by transportation issues or by simple misunderstandings; for instance, not all people have been made aware that they are not supposed to be charged for shots. In Latino communities, the fear of immigration enforcement at vaccination sites looms large.

In other countries, the trouble is both more straightforward and much more dire: There are simply not enough shots to go around. Part of the problem has to do with hoarding, as wealthy nations have gobbled up much of the vaccine supply. But also, vaccine makers are producing only a tiny fraction of what’s needed to begin with. The result is a profound global vaccination gap. While the United States has vaccines for anyone who wants them, most other countries are still struggling to inoculate even their most vulnerable residents, including frontline health care workers and older people. In Indonesia, where the Delta variant is surging, fewer than 5 percent of residents have received any vaccine.

As the second pandemic summer progresses, it will be crucial to tease these strands apart and address the roots of each one.

Much of the growing mistrust of vaccines can be traced to an anti-vaccination movement that is well funded, politically connected and media savvy. Its efforts have succeeded to such an alarming degree that vaccine hesitancy ranked as one of the world’s leading global health threats well before the Covid pandemic emerged. But it’s important to remember that this contingent makes up a small portion of unvaccinated people. A large majority of Americans are not opposed to vaccines, only hesitant. That means they can still be won over.

The Biden administration has started a multimillion-dollar campaign to dispel vaccine misinformation and educate Americans about the benefits of getting the shots. Among other things, it has partnered with WhatsApp to reach Spanish-speaking communities and with NASCAR and the Christian Broadcasting Network to get the message out to other groups. Those are smart and crucial moves. It will be equally important for officials to act locally, because the best vaccine ambassadors are likely to differ from one community to the next. Younger people might be swayed by celebrity influencers. Older people might trust their religious leaders above all others. Parents might want to hear only from doctors, doulas or other parents.

Those who study vaccine hesitancy and science communication say that the most important thing such ambassadors can do is listen. Showering doubters with facts doesn’t work. But hearing them out, validating their underlying concerns and addressing those concerns whenever possible can make a huge difference.

No matter how successful these efforts are, they will be wasted in the long run if the rest of the world is not also vaccinated. In the past two months the Biden administration has donated or promised to donate tens of millions of vaccine doses to countries that need them. Mr. Biden has also supported a global patent waiver that would make it easier for countries and companies to make vaccines themselves. Those are welcome and urgently needed steps. But much more is still needed. To beat this coronavirus, and to prepare for the next pandemic, the United States and other wealthy nations will have to help the world increase its capacity for making and distributing vaccines. That will require a concerted effort and clear leadership.

In the meantime, every unvaccinated person is an opportunity for the virus to spread, multiply and mutate — and every mutation is a chance for it to penetrate all our best defenses. If you have access to any of the coronavirus vaccines and your immune system is not compromised, the single most important thing you can do for yourself, your loved ones and your country is to get vaccinated right away.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/03/opinion/covid-vaccine-us-hesitancy.html

Video - Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses the massive public gathering of PPP in Mirpur.

پی ٹی آئی اور ن لیگ کی طرح یو ٹرن لینے والے نہیں، بلاول بھٹو

 پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے تحریک انصاف اور ن لیگ کو

یوٹرن لینے والی جماعتیں قرار دے دیا۔

آزاد کشمیر میں جلسے سے خطاب میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے الیکشن میں مدمقابل حریف جماعتوں پر تنقید کی اور کہا کہ ہم پی ٹی آئی اور ن لیگ کی طرح یو ٹرن لینے والے نہیں ہیں۔

انہوں نے کہاکہ سلیکٹڈ وزیر اعظم لوگوں سے روٹی کپڑا اور مکان چھین رہا ہے، آپ کو کشمیر کو تباہی سے بچانا ہے

پی پی چیئرمین نے مزید کہاکہ کشمیر کے مستقبل کا فیصلہ کشمیری عوام کریں گے، یہی پیپلز پارٹی کا فلسفہ رہا ہے۔

اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ ہم نے پرویز مشرف کو بھگایا اور نواز شریف کا مقابلہ کیا، جیالے اس کٹھ پتلی حکومت کو بھگائیں گے اور کشمیر کا سودا نہیں ہونے دیں گے۔

بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے یہ بھی کہا کہ عوام کےساتھ مل کر نالائق اور نااہل سلیکٹڈ حکومت کا مقابلہ کریں گے، نااہل حکومت کو بھی ایسے بھگائیں گے جیسے سب کو بھگایا ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ کلبھوشن جادھو کو این آر او دینےکےلیے رات کی تاریکی میں آرڈیننس جاری کیا گیا، کیا آپ اس کٹھ پتلی حکومت کو اجازت دیں گے۔

پی پی چیئرمین نے واضح طور پر کہا کہ عمران خان نے کلبھوشن جادھو کو این آر او دینا ہے تو خود ہی دیں، اس معاملے میں پیپلز پارٹی ملوث نہیں ہوگی۔

اُن کا کہنا تھاکہ جو رات میں ایک اور دن میں دوسری بات کرے، ایسا وزیر اعظم ہمیں قبول نہیں، ایسے شخص کو حق نہیں ہونا چاہیےکہ وہ وزیراعظم کی کرسی پر بیٹھے۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/954202

Another Discriminatory Job Advertisement Published in #Pakistan

 According to local reports, another discriminatory job advertisement has been documented in Pakistan stating that only Muslims are allowed to hold positions of leadership.

On July 1, the Punjab Public Service Commission published an advertisement regarding 12 vacant positions in different departments. Specifically, the advertisement stated, “According to clause (5) of the Punjab Waqf Properties Ordinance 1979, no person be appointed an officer unless he is a Muslim.”

The discriminatory advertisement singles out Muslims as the only religious identity able to be appointed to positions of leadership at the Punjab Public Service Commission. In effect, this advertisement relegates religious minorities, including Christians, to non-leadership positions and feeds into a biased narrative that say Christians cannot hold positions of leadership over Muslims.

In April and June, International Christian Concern (ICC) documented two other instances in which discriminatory job advertisements were published. In both cases, the advertisements specifically called for the hiring of religious minorities to vacant sanitation positions.

Widespread discrimination often relegates Pakistani Christians to the lowest rungs of society. Discriminatory hiring practices, that see Christians overrepresented in the lowest positions of the workforce, only reinforces the low social status of Pakistani Christians.

In Pakistan, Christians make up between 80% to 90% of the sanitation workforce, including the country’s street sweepers, janitors, and sewer workers. This percentage is an extreme overrepresentation as Pakistani Christians make up less than 2% of the country’s overall population.

https://www.persecution.org/2021/07/07/another-discriminatory-job-advertisement-published-pakistan/

Religious Affairs Minister Makes False Claims of Religious Harmony in Pakistan

Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs, Dr. Noor-ul-Hug Qadri, claimed during a Paigham-e-Pakistan ceremony that all Pakistani religious minorities enjoy complete religious freedom as guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan. The statement comes at a time when international attention has increasingly focused on the plight of Pakistan’s religious minority community. Horrific stories of the forced conversions and marriages of religious minority girls are all too common, but even more systematically the country’s notorious blasphemy law is used to suppress freedom of religion across society.

The international community has brought continued attention to the blasphemy law, citing numerous cases where the law was misused by the Muslim religious majority community to suppress or silence Christians and religious minorities. Members of the Muslim majority community will use the threat of blasphemy accusations as leverage over religious minorities in interpersonal conflict and business dealings.

The United States Commissions on International Religious Freedom recommended that Pakistan be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in their latest report. The Biden Administration should accept this recommendation and continue with the CPC designation for Pakistan, but also implement economic consequences in the form of Global Magnitsky sanctions to encourage behavior change in Pakistan.

The United States must lead on religious freedom and hold Pakistan accountable for their atrocious human rights record.

https://www.persecution.org/2021/07/08/religious-affairs-minister-makes-false-claims-religious-harmony-pakistan/

#Pakistan - Imran Khan is waiting for a call from Joe Biden. The phone still hasn’t rung

NAILA INAYAT

Earlier it was Indian PM Narendra Modi who wasn't taking Imran Khan's calls. Now it is US President Joe Biden who is refusing to call. 

Around mid-year, one starts assessing how the year could have looked up had things gone a certain way or if a powerful friend had kept some of the promises they made at the start of the year. Now, what if that powerful friend lives in the White House? Getting an invite is door ki baat, even a telephone call means a lot. But things don’t always go as you plan.

US President Joe Biden must be among those having mid-year regrets. How he could have done things differently, arranged a couple of playdates, or at least made one “important” long-distance phone call to Pakistan. To whom? You already know. It is Prime Minister Imran Khan.

It so happened that ever since taking control of the Oval Office, Biden hasn’t telephoned the PM. What? Who does that? While Biden could say he had better things to do, most Pakistanis are clear that nothing can be better until PM Imran Khan’s phone has rung. Let the record show that Pakistan isn’t waiting for a Biden phone call because, after all, what’s in a call in the age of Snapchat et al. Let the record also show that Joe Biden now faces the wrath of those he never cared to find out about. Tough luck, Biden. You are on your own now.

A matter of ‘shame’

Imran Khan may have been gracious enough to say that Biden can call him whenever he has time, clearly, Biden doesn’t have time and has other priorities. But others in Pakistan aren’t as forgiving. It turns out that not getting a call from the White House has become a cause to shame the prime minister with taunts and whatnot. Opposition’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood to focus on arranging PM’s phone call with President Biden given its strategic importance in Pakistan’s politics: “It is a matter of shame that our premier doesn’t even get a phone call.”

Now, when you attach shame to national ghairat (honour), then be ready to get a befitting.

In parallel Pakistan

Taking the action-packed fight to Biden’s house were the regime YouTubers, upping the ante just a bit too much. They were now convinced that Biden had taken “direct panga” with the wrong man, that the US had angered Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and that the days of America were numbered. How, they didn’t say. But the best was still to come: “Biden becomes furious, he will now only give eent ka jawaab patthar se (answer brick with a stone),” drawing reference from the US’ inclusion of Pakistan and Turkey in the Child Soldier Recruiter List this week. However, Imran Khan’s trumpet blared across the US, we are yet to find out but why. According to these Pakistani prodigies, all this is the net result of Pakistan saying ‘no’ to giving air bases to the US. And yet, in the parallel universe of Pakistan YouTube, the American president was defeated this week and is scared of who else but the Dabanng Khan. They are a perfect match to the warriors on Facebook, where every day is Israel’s last day, all thanks to the universe that works in mysterious ways. Lost in populist public discourse between saying “no” and not caring about “doing more”, the journey continues. But spare a thought for Imran Khan. Earlier it was Indian PM Narendra Modi who wasn’t taking his calls; now it is US President Joe Biden who refuses to call him. It’s becoming a pattern for a world leader who claims that his foreign policy has been nothing but exemplary. It is ‘absolutely not’ you, Imran; it is them. Them who don’t make the call, take the call, or care about the call. Perhaps, the friendship that Imran Khan started in 2019 with a feeling like “winning the world cup” after meeting Donald Trump appears to be ending with Biden not listening. Or are you listening, Biden?

PS: Till the filing of this article, Joe Biden still hadn’t called Imran Khan and the parallel universe in Pakistan continued to be on fire. https://theprint.in/opinion/letter-from-pakistan/imran-khan-is-waiting-for-a-call-from-joe-biden-the-phone-still-hasnt-rung/692704/