1. “Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain! AMERICA! AMERICA! God shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”
Did we seriously expect the anti-mask crowd to shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down? A Franklin County, Tennessee school board meeting that ended in a district-wide mask mandate led to a three-ring circus of conservatives chanting, “We will not comply,” and one man yelling, “We know who you are! You’ll never be allowed in public again!” Someone with a Batman complex reportedly shouted to a crowd of masked people, “You can leave freely, but we will find you!” (Scary Mommy)
2. “Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern, impassioned stress, a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilderness! AMERICA! AMERICA! God mend thine ev’ry flaw, confirm thy soul in self -control, Thy liberty in law.”
As the delta variant overtakes the country at a rapid, horrifying clip—and infects kids who were once thought to have been spared the worst of the pandemic—some families are swapping pencil-shopping and backpack-buying for fits of fear and rage about mask mandates and vaccines. Teachers and students are getting sick, parents are fighting for and against mask policies, and school board meetings are turning tense and nasty as a result. (Vice)
3. “Oh, beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life! AMERICA! AMERICA! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And ev’ry gain divine.”
"As soon as we started last month, I made a big deal out of the fact that messaging has to be about schools as we go forward," said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "It's the teachers unions that want to keep the schools closed. Democrats are ignoring the science, and they're standing with their special-interest donors instead of the students." (NBC News)
4. “Oh, beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years. Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears! AMERICA! AMERICA! God shed his grace on thee, And crown they good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”
"Most of the numbers are with the unvaccinated and the Democrats like to blame Republicans on that," said Patrick. "Well, the biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated. The last time I checked over 90 percent of them vote for Democrats in their major cities and major counties, so it's up to the Democrats to get just as that it's up to Republicans to try to get as many people vaccinated." (Newsweek)
Katherine Lee Bates wrote the poem America the Beautiful…Men and women of AMERICA, (YOU KNOW PARENTS, CARETAKERS OF CHILDREN, made the news), and ARE permitting the pre-mediated murder of Children, Educators, and Educational Professionals…The majority of Republican Politicians, Trump Insurrectionist Militia, and the Dandies who themselves have been vaccinated, pretending that death and dying is FREEDOM, are perpetuating FEAR and LOATHING, understanding that the race to the bottom is a crucial way to make AMERICA DIE. Commentary by Gerry Buncher who is so sick and tired of being sick and tired!
