In the early days of the pandemic, the phrase “Grandma killers” provided a convenient shorthand for the evil Republican stooges advocating for keeping businesses open, hosting public gatherings, and generally going mask-off (heh) about their desire to forsake public health for the sake of a robust stock market. Inherent to the phrase was an implied straw-man setup: Anyone rich enough to be deeply concerned about the stock market would have the resources to keep beloved elderly relatives protected, while a separate set of less affluent grandchildren suffer the consequences of these policies.
But perhaps this was foolish thinking. Consider the case of Stephen Miller, cartoon villain and lead Republican stooge whose Grandma appears to have been quite simply killed by his boss. Ruth Glosser, Miller’s maternal grandmother, died earlier this month from lingering effects of covid-19, Mother Jones reports. David Glosser, Miller’s uncle, wrote that he blames his nephew and the larger Trump administration for triggering his mother’s death, writing on Facebook: I’m angry and outraged at [Miller] directly and the administration he has devoted his energy to supporting.”
In a completely normal and ordinary response to Glosser’s grief, the White House shot back by calling him a big fat liar.
In a statement sent to Mother Jones, a White House press affiliate responded: “His grandmother did not pass away from COVID. She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age.”
Mother Jones points out that Glosser formerly worked in public health and his mother’s death certificate, which they’ve posted to the article, lists her cause of death as “‘respiratory arrest’ resulting from ‘COVID-19.’” But also, just what the fuck?
Rose Glosser, according to her son, taught social work in Pennsylvania, founded a program for foster parents of children with special needs, and spent her life fighting for equal education, and “civil rights.” Miller’s uncle, meanwhile, has consistently used his relationship with his good-for-nothing nephew to undermine his hateful policies. Glosser wrote a piece for Politico calling his nephew an “immigration hypocrite” and took the occasion of Miller’s wedding to offer up a donation to the Jewish refugee resettlement agency HAIS. (The two have not spoken for a while.)
So it’s only fitting that he would use the tragic occasion of his mother’s death to point out the crucial role of immigrants in providing care in her final years:
I neglected to mention that in mom’s declining years she was lovingly cared for by health aides nurses, and doctors from India, Philippines, Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti, Korea, El Salvador, Uganda, and Nigeria. Immigrants all of them. I am indebted to them for helping us through some very difficult times. Without them there would be no one to take care of our elderly.
Until Wednesday night, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was something of a punch-line for the city’s protesters, who have criticized him for not aligning more readily with the Black Lives Matter Movement, even as the Trump Administration has sent in armed federal troops to quash the fervent protests happening in the city since the death of George Floyd. (He has been nicknamed ‘Tear-Gas Ted’ for the ample use of the crowd control substance by the city’s police, for which the mayor is also the commissioner.)
But perhaps Ted will have a little more perspective now that he has been tear-gassed along with his populace. It happened last night, as Ted made a rare appearance at the protests in downtown Portland, allegedly to calm crowds that were facing off against federal troops.
But while Ted was, I imagine, arguing about the need to avoid violence and stand back peacefully while being pummelled with rounds of rubber bullets, the federal agents sent a round of tear-gas into the protesters, hitting Ted. He “appeared slightly dazed and coughed,” wrote the AP.
From the Associated Press:
He put on a pair of goggles someone handed him and drank water but did not leave his spot at the front of the protest and continued to take tear gas as the demonstration raged — with protesters lighting a large fire between protective fencing and the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse amid the pop-pop-pop sounds of the federal agents deploying tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd.
It was the first time he’d been tear-gassed, Ted said. This sweet little vignette looks like the real-time radicalization of the mayor, a Portland native. ACAB forehead tattoo coming next week. [Associated Press]
- YOU DO SAY????
- Someone please give Joe Biden a 7th-grade American history book [San Jose Mercury News]
- The White House has closed its cafeteria due to the coronavirus… meaning. it was open until now eeeeeek. [NBC News]
- For some reason, the Washington Post has a detailed report on the activities and social interactions of a mid-level staffer who recently left the New York Times. [Washington Post]
- In more crucial news, in North Carolina so many families have fallen behind on utility bills that cities are in danger of running out of money. [Washington Post]
- Derek Chauvin, ex-Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd is also, allegedly, a tax dodger. [Los Angeles Times]
- Same!
