CASH COMMENTARY FOR MAY 30, 2024 -ROBINSON'S PROMISES (JUNE 5 FOR TOM)

 

                                                              CASH MICHAELS

                                      ROBINSON’S PROMISES

                                             By Cash Michaels

So there he was…NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in all of his gory…I mean glory.

Bellowing to the faithful at the annual NC GOP Convention in his hometown of Greensboro, Memorial Day weekend. Must have been a great, triumphant feeling to be embraced by a room full of folks who less than ten years ago, wouldn’t have let him through the front door unless he was setting up tables for dinner or emptying the trash.

Kind of harsh, you say? Robinson addressed a plethora of amped up, predominately white Republicans from across the state who are committed to turning the clock back in North Carolina as far as they can, and plan to have Robbie be their frontman governor as they do it. Especially Republican lawmakers, who have no, and I mean absolutely NO intention of giving a “Governor” Robinson any more power than they see fit.

Given reports about his remarks before that sterling gathering (which we’ll get to in a moment), Robinson was in full “command” - playing the role of dutiful political stooge exactly as the NC Republican Party would have him play it.

OK, let’s cut to the quick here. Everybody who is convinced that big, black, loudmouthed culture warrior Mark Robinson is his own man, raise your hand. That he hasn’t been led by the nose since being plucked out of obscurity back in 2018 to run for the second highest office in this state. That he isn’t the product of a conservative right-wing that saw a guy, down on his luck, who was the perfect color to effectively fight liberals, and beat their perceived strongest card - racism - out of existence.

I mean, let’s face it. Conservatives here feel that North Carolina has every right to be the Number One deep red state in the nation, ahead of Texas or Florida. And if they can do it with a Trump-endorsed, take-no-prisoners, tough-talking’ Boss Hog sycophant who, by the way, just happens to be black, they calculate they’ll break the back of the Democratic Party’s most loyal base of voters.

“And nothin’ would be finer, than to win North Carolina, with a phonnn-ny!”

Thus, conservative candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, ladies and gentleman, is the perfect man for the job.

First of all, despite his obvious appearance, Robbie has made it known on more than one occasion that he’s not African American. (“I ain’t no African American”). And he barely thinks of himself as being black. His less than endearing thoughts about the ’60’s Civil Rights Movement confirm that.

Conservatives couldn’t be happier.

Second, given his remarks and promises at the NC GOP confab, if elected governor, he plans to dismantle, or support the dismantling of anything that smacks of “fair” treatment, or teaching the truth about America’s racial history.

Never mind making sure that the streets are safe or that jobs and opportunities are plentiful for our citizens as priorities.

Oh sure, he gave lip-service during his remarks about North Carolina having a stronger economy.

“Economies are built on pillars,” “Professor” Robinson blathered. ”Those pillars are public safety, public education, health care, infrastructure, and housing. If you don’t have those things, and those things aren’t healthy, your economy will not be healthy.”

But then the mighty “professor,” after rhetorically applauding Republican lawmakers for building a strong North Carolina economy after 13 years in power, told the GOP crowd, “North Carolina is literally on the cusp of exploding economically. It is time to direct that explosion in the right way and cause this state to be something even better than it already is.”

And what, exactly, are this plastic man’s political skills to accomplish this? I’ve never seen nor heard of them. Have you?

In fact, a May poll conducted by conservative publication Carolina Journal showed 58%…over half of the state’s registered Republicans “…thought that North Carolina is on the “wrong track,” compared with 42% of registered Democrats and 52% of registered unaffiliated voters.”

Now if Republican legislative leaders, not Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, have been driving the state’s “successful” economic train for the past thirteen years through cutting income tax rates for the rich, and reducing or eliminating business and environmental regulations for corporations, according to Robinson, then why aren’t they getting the credit from the party rank-in-file for at least improving the state’s economy?

I mean, 58% of likely NC Republicans voters aren’t buying it!

And get this - Robbie also had the unmitigated gall to applaud Republican legislative knuckleheads for passing the divisive and discriminatory HB2 “bathroom bill” years ago, which cost our state literally hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business, opportunities and jobs.

Republican Party handlers, better pull your boy to the side and tell him that promising folks to build a better state economy, and then applauding an idiotic anti-transsexual political move that nearly crushed our economy, is not the way to run for governor.

Oh, but the foolishness didn’t stop there.

Robbie also promised the NCGOP crowd that if elected governor, he would eliminate all DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies from state government. Apparently he’s in awe of what the UNC Board of Trustees just pulled.

“I’m going to go through every document in North Carolina’s government, all of them," he said to wild applause. "When I find DEI, I’m going scratch them out — with a red pen.”

Boy, that must have been music to the ears of that conservative crowd. 

Imagine, a black guy, promising to shut the door of opportunity behind him to qualified folks of color who look something like him, if he’s elected our next governor.

And of course Robbie “should”  do that, right-wingers would say. After all, he wasn’t chosen to run for the second highest office, then the highest office in our state, solely because he holds conservative principles (whatever the hell they are). And he certainly wasn’t chosen to lead after a long, impressive legislative history of serving the citizens of North Carolina.

Robbie is in the fix of his life right now solely because he’s black, and is being weaponized as a political tool to crush the liberal NC Democratic Party to dust, by taking black voters away from it, and bolstering the spirits of white conservatives who so desperately need to see that happen. 

And when Mark Robinson tells you he hates public education in North Carolina, believe the man. During his diatribe, Robbie accused “all-powerful bureaucrats” of feeding our children “…a steady diet of Communism and pornography.”

See any third-graders running around with lipstick in their red underwear with a hammer and sickle emblazoned on the front lately? Ever?

He’s all for expanding the school voucher program too, which is slowly, but surely, siphoning away vital dollars from our public education system, and sadly, he knows it.  

And of course, Robbie threw red meat out to the NC GOP Convention crowd when he called Critical Race Theory “garbage” and “absolutely sickening,” saying that instead, North Carolina public school students should exclusively focus on “classical education” like math, English and grammar.

First of all, CRT is NOT taught in any of North Carolina’s primary or secondary public education classrooms (it’s a law school or college course about systemic racism).

Secondly, you notice how he left history off of his classical education list? Maybe because Robbie knows real American history is replete with unavoidable racial history, like the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre, where angry white supremacists slaughtered innocent black citizens in the port city. 

That piece of Americana makes conservatives sweat with excuses..

Currently, 1898 is only taught in this state where teachers want to teach it, which is a shame. It should be mandatory in every school district, for every student taking social science.

It’s their North Carolina history. They’re entitled to learn it, and learn from it, so it doesn’t happen again!

But of course, Robbie and his merry band of MAGA Republicans don’t want that.

Shamefully, it would be way too much for governor-wannabe Robinson to promise to help those who are working as hard as possible in life to catch a break to feed their families,… you know, folks in his old neighborhood, for example. Promising a better economy doesn’t automatically promise better opportunities for those who are trying hard to break the cycle of poverty they’re trapped in, and have been trying without success to get out of, for years.

Advocating for a higher, more sensible minimum wage would help. But that would be sacrilegious to the Republican conservative brand, wouldn’t it?

As Robinson well knows, and loves to share with everybody now that it suits his purposes, he grew up in a “rat-infested house in Greensboro with an alcoholic father.” He later joined the Army, and worked in a furniture factory to help provide for his family.

I have to respect that, seriously!

But Robbie also visited the dark side, experiencing several bankruptcies, lost a home to foreclosure, and got charged for writing bad checks, charges that were subsequently dropped.

So the real Mark Robinson knows what it’s like to come up on the rough side of the mountain. Doesn’t stop him from talking smack about po’ folks though, who look like him, and struggled like him, whose only crime was not sharing his politics.

But now, like the Bible says, “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor (Proverbs 14:21). If politician Mark Robinson can’t find a way to even pledge to help those who are presently in the condition he once came from, then he truly is the phony that I believe him to be.

And apparently GOD agrees with me.

Especially after reports of he and his wife making out like fat rats with their own government-funded poverty program that allegedly made money hand-over-fist feeding poor children. Yet, on the campaign trail, all Robbie can say about the subject is to call government safety-net spending “a plantation of welfare and victimhood” that has mired generations of Black people in “dependency and poverty.” 

Politically it sounds good, as long as you’re not cashing the federal checks!

Now, Robinson’s wife is being investigated by the state for allegedly not keeping her books straight, a big no-no. We should be hearing more about this any day now.

So no, as far as I’m concerned, Mark Robinson doesn’t have the class nor  character to become the next governor of the great state of North Carolina. Not because he’s a Republican, but because he’s a Trump-stooge who has allowed people to use him for nefarious purposes.

Mark Robinson conveniently forgets from where he comes, who he is, and what he is. All to win an office, he definitely does NOT deserve.

GOD help us. His kind of promises, we don’t need, and certainly can’t live with.

-30-

 

THE CASH STUFF FOR MAY 30TH, 2024

                                        LT. GOV. Mark Robinson AT NC GOP CONVENTION

AMID CONTROVERSIES, ROBINSON 

PROMISES BETTER ECONOMY,

EDUCATION IF ELECTED

By Cash Michaels

An analysis

During the third day of the North Carolina Republican State Convention in Greensboro last Saturday night, gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson made some key promises to the cheering crowd of 1,000, even though controversy continues to plague his campaign.

Robinson, 55, pledged that if elected governor, he would improve North Carolina’s economy, and reform the state’s educational system.

“It’s real simple, we fight for two things, change in two areas,” Robinson told attendees at the convention’s old North State Dinner.“Number one, our economy, number two, our education system. Economies are built on pillars. Those pillars are public safety, public education, health care, infrastructure, and housing. If you don’t have those things, and those things aren’t healthy, your economy will not be healthy.

The controversial Black Republican continued, “North Carolina is literally on the cusp of exploding economically. It is time to direct that explosion in the right way and cause this state to be something even better than it already is.”

But when it came to public education, Robinson was blunt.

“Our education system in North Carolina is in shambles.” Robinson said. “This is not the fault of our school teachers. The way we treat the teachers in this nation and in this state is abysmal. It needs to be turned around. Quick, fast, and in a hurry.”

Our standards are full of (Critical Race Theory). Our standards are full of (diversity, equity and inclusion). They do not give the proper direction to the local agencies that they need. That’s got to be changed."

Robinson called Critical Race Theory “garbage” and “absolutely sickening,” even though CRT is not taught in North Carolina public schools.

“Our state school board is wrong headed and headed in the wrong direction.” the Greensboro native continued, pledging to appoint conservatives to the board who will focus on "classical education" like math, English and grammar.“When I take office in January, I get to flip that board. Not upside down but right side up.”

Robinson also promised to expand Republican efforts pertaining to school vouchers.

"These all-powerful bureaucrats who think they know more than you, know your children better than you, believe that it’s OK to feed your children a steady diet of Communism and pornography — they’re not right,” Robinson said.

Robinson also promised to eliminate DEI policies from state government wherever he found them.

“I’m going to go through every document in North Carolina’s government, all of them," he said. "When I find DEI, I’m going scratch them out — with a red pen.”

There were at least two ironies to Robinson’s address Saturday.

Even though he hailed efforts by the Republican-led NC General Assembly for resurrecting the state economically over the past 13 years, saying that “North Carolina is literally on the cusp of exploding economically,” a poll conducted by conservative publication Carolina Journal showed 58% of registered Republicans “…thought that North Carolina is on the “wrong track,” compared with 42% of registered Democrats and 52% of registered unaffiliated voters.”

Robinson also said that Republican state lawmakers were right about passing the discriminatory HB 2 so-called “bathroom bill,” several years ago which cost North Carolina hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business, opportunities and jobs to the state.

The second Robinson irony in his NCGOP convention speech Saturday was his sharing how he grew up poor “in a little rat-infested house” in Greensboro, not far from the convention center, and how later in life, he grew up working at a minimum-wage job at a nearby shopping mall.

He has also experienced several bankruptcies, a home foreclosure and misdemeanor charges, later dropped - for writing bad checks - in adulthood.

Though Robinson expressed pride in making it as far as he has in politics and in life, he offered nothing by way of policy to directly help other poor North Carolinians who are working hard, looking for a way up to help their families.

In fact, Robinson is on record as calling government safety-net spending as “a plantation of welfare and victimhood” that has mired generations of Black people in “dependency and poverty.”

But records show that state regulators are now probing his wife’s nonprofit taxpayer-supported agency, “Balanced Nutrition, Inc.” - which provided free lunches for poor children -  for years of unaccounted spending totaling over $100,000.

Reportedly Robinson, his wife, and other members of their family earned at least $830,000 from this enterprise which, according tax filings and state documents,  has collected approximately $7 million in government funding since 2017, despite his disparaging remarks about “a plantation of welfare and victimhood.” 

Many of the most recent polls show Robinson either in a dead heat in th race for NC governor against Democrat NC Attorney General Josh Stein, some show Robinson with either a slight lead, or being slightly behind.

-30-

FOR FAMILIES OF HOMICIDE

VICTIMS, ACCESS TO

AUTOPSY REPORTS

MAY BE OVER

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In the aftermath of a fatal police shooting, there are two vital avenues to determine the truth - the body camera that the officer is wearing at the time of the shooting, and the autopsy report that confirms cause of death.

But in some cases, some officers either forget, or deliberately do not turn their body cameras on to capture the events of the shooting, thus complicating the investigation.

That’s when, traditionally, the family of the victim could rely on obtaining a copy of and reviewing the autopsy report to at least determine how their loved one died.

But now, a bill pending in the NC Senate, could to stop those families, or anyone else from obtaining those autopsy reports in a timely fashion, effective July 1st.

Robeson County Republican Sen. Danny Britt, an attorney and former prosecutor, is sponsoring the measure that if passed, would restrict public and media access to written reports from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) during the course of a criminal investigation.

The bill would also repeal a state law that allowed the public and media to inspect and review, but not copy, autopsy photographs, videos and recordings under supervision.

Sen. Britt says, however, that a victim’s family might be able to sit down with a prosecutor to review crime photos.

At press time Monday, the results of consultations with state health officials, representatives of state district attorneys and others still had not been revealed that could impact the final form the Senate bill takes. 

It was expected to be voted on in Senate committee.

But according to Sen. Britt, his main concern is release of autopsy report materials prior to the completion of a criminal investigation could “unfairly’ taint a potential jury pool.

“I think that due process in the courts is more important than the public knowing about what happened related to someone’s death,” Britt said after a committee hearing last week. “I also think it’s more important for that person who’s being prosecuted to have due process, and that due process not being potentially denied so that case gets overturned and then that victim doesn’t receive the justice they deserve, or that victim’s family.”

Currently, the public and media can obtain copies of death certificates, autopsy reports, toxicology and investigative reports once they are cleared by the OCME and released. Sen. Britt’s bill, if passed, would classify all of these records as part of a criminal investigation and not available to the public prior to trial.

Opponents of Britt’s bill counter that there is a backlog of cases at the OCME, with autopsies sometimes taking up to a year to complete in many cases.

According to Mark Benton, chief deputy secretary for health with the state Dept. of Health and Human Services, “this bill as currently written, would make those [OCME] challenges much, much more difficult.”

A DHHS spokesperson added that among other things, Britt’s proposed bill “…limits the ability to share information with families.”

If the final Senate bill is passed by the state Senate, it goes to the N.C. House, and if passed there with no changes, onto Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature or veto.

-30-

CASH COMMENTARY FOR THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024

                NOW MICKEY MOUSE HAS MORE RIGHTS THAN I DO

        by Cash Michaels

So let me get this straight.

According to a new jackass provision NC Senate Republicans passed last week repealing the pandemic exception to the no-mask law, if I, a cancer patient, wear a medical mask to protect my compromised immune system when I go out in public (and I really am a cancer patient), then I’m breaking the law.

But if I’m invited to a Halloween party, and I leave my house wearing a Mickey Mouse mask, all is legal and OK in GOP-ville.

Does that make any sense to you?

Of course I’m referring to the GOP-led NC General Assembly’s latest bull-pucky escapade when the NC Senate last week passed the amended House Bill 237, otherwise known as the “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals” Act.

Yeah, I get it. Senate Republicans are trying to beat their collective chests passing stringent crimefighting measures in the aftermath of recent UNC-Chapel Hill campus pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Republicans want to empower the police to round up as many protestors as possible for something as simple as wearing a handkerchief across their faces as they sing “The people, united, will never be defeated!”

Remember, the original no-mask law was passed in the 1950’s to outlaw the Ku Klux Klan from walking down Main Street fully garbed in their pointy hoods. Once the pandemic hit in 2020, however, a medical and public safety exemption was added to the law to stem the spread of the virus, and rightfully so.

Well get this - bill sponsor, country lawyer Sen. Buck Newton (R- Wilson) brags that if he were in the legislature in 2020, he would have voted against the COVID pandemic mask exemption then. It’s this kind of arrogant, worthless, pointy hood ignorance that infuriates me.

What makes me further upset is that North Carolina Republicans like Old Buck dream of turning this state so red, so badly, they want to mimic the craziness in more culture warrior places like Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina Tennessee and Texas.

There’s even the reasonable suggestion that Newton and his Senate GOP carnival barkers have a not-so-hidden racial agenda to insisting that the pandemic exemption be passed.

Atty. Dawn Blagrove, Executive Director of Emancipate NC reminded all during a Senate committee hearing last week that “…Every time our General Assembly...criminalizes more behavior… the people who bear the burden of those new crimes are Black people, and that is the problem."

Atty Blagrove continued “…Black people are disproportionately stopped by law enforcement more than white people, often by 10 times or more.”

So imagine what happens to folks like me caught wearing a medical face mask in public after the law, as currently amended, is passed.

“There is a certain part of the population that is more exposed to harm, who has less Constitutional rights because of this bill,” she warned.

I love it when someone with good common sense and experience makes what the rednecked Senate Republicans are doing look so obvious. Makes my job of exposing their hate-filled foolishness a lot easier.

But my major concern goes well beyond race.

Consider NC’s no-mask bill’s amended language: An act to repeal the physical health and safety of others exemption to certain laws prohibiting wearing masks; to enhance punishment if the defendant was wearing a mask or other clothing or device to conceal or attempt to conceal the defendant’s identity…..

There’s much more to the measure, but you get the idea.

Under “Exemptions from provisions of Article,” the six exemptions that were listed in the original House version are :

(1) Any person or persons wearing traditional holiday costumes in 

season (as per my Mickey Mouse example)

(2) Any person or persons engaged in trades or employment….

         (3) Any person or persons using masks in theatrical productions…

(4) Persons wearing gas masks prescribed in civil defense…

(5) Any person or persons, as members or members elect of a society,

order or organization, engaged in any parade, ritual, initiations, 

ceremony, or ceremony……

As for exemption number (6), “Any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others,” it has a line drawn through it, meaning that exemption no longer applies to this bill.

Needless to say, NC Democrats jumped all over this nonsense.

“General Assembly Republicans are once again attacking people’s personal medical choices,” said NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton in a statement. “This time they are banning the use of masks in all public places which targets our most vulnerable populations. Republicans are putting cancer patients, seniors, folks with disabilities, immunocompromised individuals at risk of punishment for wearing protective masks that they require when they have to go out in public. North Carolinians are ready to vote to restore the power back to the people and send a message to Republicans that enough is enough.”

I left the last line in, NOT because I’m shilling for NC Democrats, but because NCDP Chair Clayton has a point. The only way to change legislative mess like this is to vote these silly motherfletchers out, or at least enough of them to make a difference.

Look, I get it. When there is a violent civil disturbance in the streets or on our college campuses, we want to empower our law enforcement enough to do their jobs legally and properly. While I condone peaceful protest, I do not condone violence or destruction of property. Dr. King and I are on the same page when it comes to that.

But what we don’t want to do is violate the constitutional or medical rights of those of us who are afflicted with a deadly disease, or are recovering from serious surgery, in addition to being masked while Black.

A few years ago, when I was suffering from hemophilia, I was warned by my oncologist while I was still in treatment that I could not attend my boss’ wedding, not even with a mask on, because the aggressive chemotherapy I was under had so weakened my immune system, I was very prone to infection.

That meant I couldn’t go out to crowded places, even with a mask on, for fear of risking my life. Eventually I finished my chemo treatments, and didn’t need the mask protection anymore.

But when the pandemic struck years later, I put the medical mask back on for the duration. 

Fortunately, I did not contract the COVID-19 virus, thank GOD.

There are thousands of people just like me across this state, who are older and nowhere near the peak of health, who at times, absolutely need a medical mask in public to protect themselves.

And trust me, when we do need to wear a medical mask, we’re in no shape to suddenly have to negotiate our constitutional or medical rights with a police officer. Nor should we have to.

Why are Senate Republicans so hellbent to doormat our rights just to prove how “law and order” macho they are, when all they have to do is add our medical imperative to the list of reasonable exemptions to the law? If there isn’t a racial element to this, then why the insistence on violating my medical rights?

It’s like they’re saying, “Have a terminal illness? Too damn bad. Should never have gotten sick in the first place, and just to show you that we mean business, we’re making it illegal for you to protect yourself from being infected.”

And what they’re not saying speaks just as loudly to me, and others like me, as well.

You’ll recall the conservative argument for not masking up during the pandemic was that we shouldn’t allow government or doctors to mandate our freedoms, or take them away under the guise of a medical or public health emergency.

That beeswax was backwards then, and it’s backwards now.

As a society, we were informed by our public health professionals that one of the most effective ways to stem the spread of COVID-19 was to wear a medical face mask. And post-pandemic data proves that.

But looney right-wingers like old Buck “Matlock” Newton began huffin’ and puffin’ about their rights being threatened, and “their freedom being attacked” this, and “their freedom being attacked” that.

Like poorly reared children, these folks just went on and on, to the point where their ignorance was becoming just as dangerous as the pandemic itself. Lord knows how many lives they put at risk with their foolishness.

So to now realize that long after the pandemic has left us, Senate Republicans are criminalizing wearing medical masks worn for public health’s sake, is truly sad, sickening, and inexplicable.

This nonsense is all over the national news, making North Carolina look backwards and silly.

Why isn’t old Buck Newton keeping his word, as portrayed on his campaign website when he ran for the state Senate, “to relentlessly fight…a government that disregards our Constitution?”

Hell, Old Buck should be beating himself up, ‘cause he’s sure as sugar disregarding my Constitutional rights as a Black cancer patient.

Hey, Einsteins on Jones Street. When I put a medical mask on, it’s not to commit a crime, or to make a political statement, but to protect myself from infectious harm. I’ve had to take stronger doses of COVID vaccine because my immune system will never be strong or normal again, so I still live with some risk regarding my natural immune defenses.

The fact that you would have me and other Black cancer patients, locked up for following our oncologists’ orders is a disgrace.

I guess to you good old boys, cancer isn’t such a big thing, given how many cigarettes and cigars you still shove in your faces everyday.

Well cancer is a big thing with me. I beat blood cancer, but now I’m fighting stage four prostate cancer. So fighting the Big C will be my legacy for the rest of my life, however long that will be.

Fortunately,  the Americans with Disabilities Act has something to say about all of this. In a word, you can’t pull this without somebody suing you up and down Jones Street for violating federal law. I’d love to try the case, and I’m not even an attorney.

Apparently, at last reports, there are Republicans in the state House, where House Bill 237 now resides, who are tired of the well-earned national shame this idiocy has brought down on their party, and on Tuesday, House Speaker Moore's office said House Republicans will not pass the Senate version of the HB 237 as is, so the bill will go to a conference committee for a compromise.

Hopefully they will muster the brain power to craft a reasonable bill so that if someone is seen or caught in the act of committing a crime (say with a weapon in their hand), the fact that they’re wearing a mask should only count against them then.

I mean that should just make good sense since they’re so worried about closing possible loopholes in the law. Haven’t heard of too many masked cancer patients with rolling IVs committing bank robberies, have you?

  And if those Republican folks are reading this, and can reach a reasonable compromise so that we can all go back to living in the land of common sense, one can only hope.

But as always in GOP-ville, you can’t trust Republicans, as the old saying goes, to save your life, especially in the state Senate apparently. Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger is already saying “that we do not need to have a situation where folks can use the excuse of, ‘it’s a health reason’ to then hide their identity and go out and commit unlawful acts.” 

Lord help me. If only there was a mask effective enough to protect us from being infected by their highly contagious ignorance.

        

-30-