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[Devastator]

There's absolutely no reason to continue to support an organisation that doesn't even pretend to not be another country's lapdog. If China gets to have the kind of influence over the WHO that they have then they should at least be the ones who pays for it.

There's a difference between 'being able to enforce policy on China' and 'being able to enforce policy on the world.'  Every line here applies to Trump himself as well, who stopped using the term 'chinese virus' after one phone call to Xi, and spent several weeks praising the dictator.

Not to mention his pointless tarriffs and meaningless trade deals celebrated as soverign successes, and probably the biggest failure of policy with respect to China, cutting Asylum to zero.

China HATES Asylum.  Just about every major chinese political dissedent or exiled party member or ousted person of power from China has to flee the country, and it's almost always to the United States. This is done through asylum where they then spend most of the rest of their lives working to counter Chinese propaganda abroad.  Stopping that policy was an enormous gift to China.

[Devastator]

There's absolutely no reason to continue to support an organisation that doesn't even pretend to not be another country's lapdog. If China gets to have the kind of influence over the WHO that they have then they should at least be the ones who pays for it.

Secondly, there is a good reason to support the organization.

The problem being complained about is excessive deference to one member nation, China, as opposed to everywhere else.  Defunding the organization will absolutely ensure this state of affairs continues, and in what ways they can act differently from China, they will no longer be able to do so because their sole source of funding will now be China, instead of one of many.

The solution isn't to defund them.  The solution is to kick China out of it.  That means China will not be able to fund the WHO, and the WHO will be able to operate without their influence, hence weakening China's ability to affect policy, and forcing the information sources on in-china effects to other sources, such as US intelligence and the FDA.  It'd be a huge win.

The US defunding the WHO is a win for China, not a win for the US, because it entrenches a source of soft power, both in possibly manipulating data, and on providing support to poor countries to help build goodwill and prop up local dictators of choice.

[Devastator]

So.. yeah.  There's a solution that will work, kicking china out of the WHO, and a solution that won't work, withdrawing funding from them.  Trump chose the latter, the more pro-chinese option, because it's the equivalent of a bully pretending that something didn't really matter after losing.

Why would he choose that?  Because he's a coward, and is desperately afraid of actually confronting problems or situations he doesn't like, much prefering to pretend they don't exist.  That's what defunding the WHO is.. pretending the problem doesn't exist and didn't matter, no matter how much you concede by retreating.  But it's the one that doesn't require any effort, or for him to actually do anything.. so it is the one that'll happen.

[Max™]

Well, after chuckling over the hypocrisy of Trump ranting about mail-in voting fraud after asking for his own absentee ballot in florida, a reporter asked him about it and he's like "yeah, it's cool, I'm out of state, since I'm in the white house I won't be there to vote, but that's different... blah blah thousands of people signing ballots in somebody's living room... blah blah if you vote you should go mail in voting is terrible and early voting is terrible but you should go vote" and this whole discussion was a segue off a discussion about republicans blocking the efforts to delay the wisconsin primary AND/OR extend absentee voting further to save lives.

Apparently they were actually trying to push it back because of Trump or something and him endorsing one of the shitty candidates there, though lives are literally being risked because of this shitbag, and he's straight up admitted that making it easier to vote hurts his party.

[_]Surprised
[x]Unsurprised

[misko27]

Well speaking of "Idiots sabotaging the efforts to stop the crisis" I finally figured out why Blaine Idaho is the most infected county per capita in the country (they're closing in on 2%!). MSH had a good guess, but truth is stranger than fiction, especially when the name "Bundy" is involved: A ‘Liberty’ Rebellion in Idaho Threatens to Undermine Coronavirus Orders

A quote from the article:

Mr. Bundy said in an interview that a group in the Boise area was looking for a venue to host an Easter service this coming weekend with a potential crowd of 1,000 people. Mr. Bundy said a man in Twin Falls hoped to host communion in a park. And Mr. Bundy himself is now leading regular meetings with dozens of people to assess how to fight back against what he calls government overreach, including with a physical presence if necessary.

“I will be there, and I will bring as many people as I can,” he told those who attended the meeting he convened on March 26, a day after the statewide stay-at-home order went into effect. “We will form a legal defense for you. We will perform an active political defense for you. And we will also, if necessary, provide a physical defense for you, so that you can continue in your rights.”

[MetalSlimeHunt]

someone should provide those brave patriots a communal barbecue pit

[scriver]

Even Typhoid Mary didn't argue it was her religious right to serve people food

[TamerVirus]

"Idiots sabotaging the efforts to stop the crisis"

These folks should be at the bottom of the triage list, but alas!

Edit: Oh yeah, Bernie is officially out of the race

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Sanders ended his campaign, so the Battle of the Dying Brain-Damaged Rapists who may or may not have covid is, officially, on. I can't think of a more fitting swan song for the death of the American empire.

[Naturegirl1999]

Sanders ended his campaign, so the Battle of the Dying Brain-Damaged Rapists who may or may not have covid is, officially, on. I can't think of a more fitting swan song for the death of the American empire.

What’ll happen now? Will partisan split the nation into 2 factions? Will there be more factions because of varying beliefs in the 2 parties? How would neutrals survive the coming faction wars? I ask this because usually with the death of an empire comes various factions vying for power

[Bralbaard]

Sanders ended his campaign, so the Battle of the Dying Brain-Damaged Rapists who may or may not have covid is, officially, on. I can't think of a more fitting swan song for the death of the American empire.

What’ll happen now? Will partisan split the nation into 2 factions? Will there be more factions because of varying beliefs in the 2 parties? How would neutrals survive the coming faction wars? I ask this because usually with the death of an empire comes various factions vying for power

In early 2021 the USA fell apart in seven different corporate empires each one led by a major tech or weapons company.

[WealthyRadish]

It's just dumb speculation, but I think the most likely "civil war" scenario would be a few localized insurgency movements (probably at first by y'all-Qaeda types) that get progressively more out of control over a period of years, similarly to Syria. It sounds far-fetched, but imagine if today a far-right militia started seizing rural towns in the northwest (without bloodshed), praising Trump and criticizing his opponents. Would he really do anything? I'm not sure a state government would initiate an independent and bloody police action against an insurgency without the federal government either, or if doing so would even help. We're not quite to the point where militants would try something like this, but I could see it happening if Trump lost in 2020 and refused to step down, whatever the result of that would be.

If the Dems didn't have the house, he may have already gotten enabling'd by now, for whatever that's worth.

[TamerVirus]

In early 2021 the USA fell apart in seven different corporate empires each one led by a major tech or weapons company.

The Great Wal has always been at war with Amazonia

[da_nang]

Sanders ended his campaign, so the Battle of the Dying Brain-Damaged Rapists who may or may not have covid is, officially, on. I can't think of a more fitting swan song for the death of the American empire.

Four more years.
RIP in pepperoni.
US is kill.

[A Thing]

Sanders ended his campaign, so the Battle of the Dying Brain-Damaged Rapists who may or may not have covid is, officially, on. I can't think of a more fitting swan song for the death of the American empire.

What’ll happen now? Will partisan split the nation into 2 factions? Will there be more factions because of varying beliefs in the 2 parties? How would neutrals survive the coming faction wars? I ask this because usually with the death of an empire comes various factions vying for power

In early 2021 the USA fell apart in seven different corporate empires each one led by a major tech or weapons company.

This sounds like a kaiserreich submod.