Many people who have contracted the coronavirus are just regular people, trying to live their lives and be responsible citizens. But doesn’t it also feel like the coronavirus is going out of its way to infect people who deny its existence? It feels like every person who downplays corona or is on the record calling corona a “Democrat hoax” is now quarantined and/or infected. So it is with Senator Rand Paul, who just weeks ago downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis. Paul was the sole vote against a “bipartisan $8 billion deal to provide emergency coronavirus funding earlier this month.” He’s the first senator to test positive, and he was a busy little beaver before he bothered to get tested, hanging out with all of his Republican buddies, working out at the Senate gym and swimming in the Senate pool. I can’t. How f–king irresponsible. And he’s a f–king doctor!!!
Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday announced he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first senator and third member of Congress known to have contracted the virus. And Senate GOP leaders will now be short five Republicans during a key procedural vote on a massive economic rescue package to deal with the coronavirus crisis, in part due to Paul’s infection.
Paul — who has been working from the Capitol in recent days — said he was tested out of caution “due to his extensive travel and events” and is not showing symptoms of the highly infectious virus. Later, his staff said that Paul had attended an event where two people tested positive, though the senator did not recall specific interactions with either of them.
Paul’s infection quickly reverberated throughout the Senate, where lawmakers were surprised by his diagnosis as they pushed ahead with a massive package to rescue the economy from the outbreak. The Kentucky senator had been interacting with his colleagues just days prior, voting on the floor, sitting in meetings and speaking to reporters in hallways.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) are now self-quarantining after close interactions with Paul. Lee’s office said Sunday that the Capitol’s attending physician directed him to stay isolated for 14 days, a recommendation Romney also received. That means Lee and Romney, along with Paul, cannot vote on any legislation on the floor this week as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attempts to keep his conference together on the economic rescue bill. Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.) is also self-quarantining in Washington after potential exposure earlier this month, as is Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
Politically, it’s more than likely that the Senate will change the rules to allow for remote voting, especially since Moscow Mitch McConnell wants to push through a relief package which will be a huge giveaway to corporations and GOP donors. Meanwhile, the story on Rand Paul just gets worse and worse – there’s a lot of evidence building up that Paul knew he had been exposed more than a week ago and he just carried on like nothing happened. Not to mention, Rand Paul doesn’t believe working people need paid sick leave. He’s currently on paid sick leave.
I’ve never commented about a fellow Senator’s choices/actions. Never once.
This, America, is absolutely irresponsible. You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others & likely increases the spread of the virus. https://t.co/651TJf8mWf
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) March 22, 2020
You don’t know whether you’re infected even if you’re asymptomatic.
Sen. Rand Paul – who is a doctor – shut down his office, but continued to interact with the public and go to the gym even though he knew he’d been exposed and had been tested.
Outrageous. https://t.co/JH1yIC3C3o
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 23, 2020
Sen. Rand Paul has tested positive for the coronavirus. His father penned an essay last week calling it a hoax: https://t.co/TkcGlDhssY
— Susan Milligan (@MilliganSusan) March 22, 2020
Photos courtesy of Getty.
POS.
In Quebec (where I live), a woman was arrested for going out in public after testing positive and refusing to quarantine. People like this should be charged with criminal negligence.
In some countries like mine they would be arrested because you refused quarantine orders. It’s the law.
We have also cancelled work passes of foreigners who left their homes (this is specifically for Stay Home Notices) or lied to the police.
It’s happening in some states here in America. People who refuse to quarantine when sick are having police sent to watch their houses to refuse them external access and essentially babsit them, so taxpayers get to pay the price twiceover for their irresponsibility.
This is happening at ol Turtle Face’s backyard. A man left the hospital after being diagnosed as positive. Now they have a deputy standing in front of his door prohibiting him from leaving. Why have a deputy? In China, they would seal the doors shut for people who defy the order.
Ummmm…can we say karmic retribution? A physician who doesn’t think the poor deserve access to testing or first responders deserve first-access to PPE?
While I fear for all of those he may have infected with his arrogance, I am hoping this is a lesson for all of those folks who aren’t taking this seriously.
“I am hoping this is a lesson for all of those folks who aren’t taking this seriously.”
Not holding my breath on that one. Sigh.
I’ll be a good little girl. I won’t gloat. No, I promise I won’t gloat. Awww, screw it!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
But, seriously, you know when or if he recovers, he’ll be the same old douchebag denying help to those who need it. I won’t be sending him a get well soon card.
Hahah. He has shown zero remorse so gloat away.
Agreed! He will still be the same douchebag.
Based on his statement, he does not expect to become ill. He said he is quarantining for 14 days and will then be back to work. The hubris.
Symptom onset is anywhere from 5-14 days.
Don’t know if he’ll recover or not. Someone told me he had an operation that removed part of his lung last year. If that’s true he’s way up there in the endangered category
That relief package is almost comically evil in the power it gives Mnuchin without any transparency.
That will never pass. It was a ridiculous play on McConnell’s part.
That’s because the political power play was the true intent. He knew by bypassing the House he’d force Democrats to refuse it, which means he can turn them into the bogeyman hurting Americans and making them suffer financially. It was a way to pivot attention away from Trump’s incompetence and turn ire against the Democrats again. Just look at the comments on any post from the Democratic senators. Trump’s supporters are falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
I’m not joking when I say I consider him hands down one of the most corrupt and evil men to ever hold power in the Senate.
While I was listening to #MoscowMitch ranting and raving and practically spitting in faux indignation, my head almost exploded!! So I tweeted out this…may not “do” much, but I felt a *little* better for doing so:
“Someone needs to tell #MoscowMitch that if he puts out a bill that will #HelpThePeople instead of his corporate buddies, a bill that will put #ProvisionsOnTheBailout instead of giving his buddies more $$$ in their pockets, it’d pass in a NY minute!”
Gotta say, I LOVED Chuck Schumer giving him what for right after!
Chris Murphy (D-CT) is giving a play by play on the Dems side of how they are working on the bill. He follow is very useful.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Do no harm- if he still has it, he should lose his medical license.
Just when you think he can’t get any worse, he does.
I agree, Rand should definitely loss is medical license.
We all need to remember that not all doctors are good/competent doctors.
Some, like Rand are horrible doctors and human beings. Everyone should remember that it’s possible to pass med school but still perform in the bottom tier of that graduating med class.
yes, this!
I used to work for a professional association for doctors (we provided continuing medical education, among other things…) and, after working with them for a while, I used to say ” the only thing for sure about a doctor is that they had the time and money to go to med school; other than that, they’re just like anybody else”. good or bad at their job, good and bad at being a human being. some of them thought that having a medical degree put them “above” people on the morality scale, or on the “I should be respected!” scale. nah, there are plenty of scumbags, even in the medical field.
*Rand should definitely lose his medical license.
Agreed.
A woman lost her job in China and was deported back to Australia for defying isolation orders and going out to jog. People should know better. Even if you think this cannot affect you, what of others you may put at risk by your actions? *sigh*
Sorry to threadjack! I thought it was safe to jog outside as long as you keep a significant distance from others? I do a 4 mile loop in my rural neighborhood and only once in a while pass a fellow jogger or dog walker. I thought short bursts of exercise outside was ok?! Can someone clarify??? Thank you!
It seems like here in the U.S. it’s still ok to go outside, unless there are specific state or local restrictions I don’t know about. Other countries made it illegal to do so.
Diana I think Bubs was talking about China.
We (Singapore) have also deported foreigners because of lying and going against quarantine orders. Quarantine and stay home orders are very strict and you can be jailed. A couple (happened to be foreigners) was charged in court after their treatment and may be fined and / or jailed later. One foreigner had his PR revoked. Many foreigners lost their work passes and then they had to leave Singapore immediately. Companies can also be fined and have their work pass privileges revoked for a few years because they forced quarantined / stay home employees to go to work.
If you are not under these orders, you can still go out during this crisis.
I’m not going to sugarcoat things, we are known as a Disney police state. But for things like stirring racial disharmony, terrorist attacks and infectious diseases, we have zero tolerance.
You are right. We were told keep physical distance of 6 ft, and stay away from large crowds, most 10 people. You can walk, jog, walk the dog, run keep your distance. Wash hands with soap and warm water when you get home, use hand sanitizer outside. Stay safe and healthy. Good luck to all of us.
Diana, please contact the relevant authorities in your country for anything concrete you want to know. The Australian Guardian is following up on stories of, “busloads “, of people buying up everything in rural shops. Everyone seems to have been told a story of someone’s cousin seeing a bus, not one confirmation of one bus yet. Your local authorities are your best best for proper information without sensationalism.
Here in California, the guideline is 6′ and no gatherings–of any size–outside of your household. We are to “shelter in place” which means only going out for need. No casual or optional outings. We have left the house once in the last 12 days, and that was for staples like toilet paper and food.
You are not expected to stay inside your house. Being outside is absolutely fine as long as you keep a minimum of 6′ between you and humans that are not part of your household.
In our neighborhood, people are walking dogs, playing with their kids in the yard, running, etc. To chat with the neighbors, we’ve sort of developed this system of standing at the foot of the driveway and talking to someone in their yard/front door, etc. This is at least 15′ (c. 5m) of distance, but we can still hear each other without yelling, and it’s a safe way to just shoot the breeze and stay social without any danger of spreading the illness.
Hope that helps, Diana. Unless you’re in a densely-populated area with different guidelines, your runs are absolutely fine.
Now I think we understand why his neighbour felt it necessary to beat the crap out of him.
Right?
Oh yeah that neighbor is a hero minus the cape.
rand has shown so many instances of “that’s why his neighbor beat his azz”.
Imma paraphrase Chris Rock here…I ain’t saying his neighbor should have given him a beat down…but I UNDERSTAND. he’s such a pr*ck.
I have used that line from Chris Rock sooooo many times!
Perfect line lol 😆
Thoughts and prayers, Rand. Bootstraps and personal responsibility! You’ll be fine, just dip into that rainy day fund!
The AUDACITY of this b*tch.
Happy he did it before d-bag was infectious.
Oops! Responding to #9. My phone is acting wonky.
I follow Howard Dean on Twitter and he said he was going to look into this in the directory ( Dean is a MD). He came back and basically Paul is not a Dr of any kind and made up a non existent board of medicine that he is a member of.
WHAT????
YES !!!!
Why no journalist did a story about this is beyond me.
He is a licensed MD. He just is not a board certified ophthalmologist.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rand-paul-ophthalmology-certification-scandal-why-it-matters
Thank you Bearcat.
Yeah, this is important.
My husband doesn’t consider ophthalmologists as real “real doctors” (apologies to any ODs here). Rand is a perfect example.
Just to clarify, Holly hobby (not trying to be an asshole) – Ophthalmologists are MDs or DOs who complete medical school and post-med school residency training. Optometrists are ODs and do not go to med school.
Found th tweet! “Since 2005 Rand Paul has not been certified by any board recognized by the state of Kentucky, and since 2011 has had no certification since the NOB was dissolved.”
Rand is a fake doctor!
Yup. The good “doctor” is not a board-certified ophthalmologist in KY. I don’t remember all of the details but they didn’t certify him or recertify him, so he created his own “board” or so some bullshit.
It did come up during his first campaign for the Senate but his voters did not care because we had a “Kenyan Muslim” President who had to be put in his place.
(I was born in KY and still follow their politics closely. That’s the cleaned-up version of what was said.)
He’s the first US Senator to admit having it. Several others had quarantined (Ted Cruz) after exposure but either weren’t tested or didn’t have it but then there was Lindsey Graham who quarantined, was extremely evasive about why, tweeted he was getting better, tweeted he wasn’t sick, tweeted pictures of “care packages “ with “Get well soon” messages from the Trumps, and then made a big production of returning to work after more than two weeks away. I think Ivanka had it too. None of it will teach these monsters to care about other humans.
I think they all thought this is some “poor people plague” and are embarrassed they caught it.
This will change everything. This will change how the society works, how money works. “If you just work hard…” yeah.
Now we see how those not-so-well-paid workers carry the society. One nurse gets sick and everything gets chaotic. One delivery person gets sick and we’ll have no milk and toilet paper. A highly-paid lobbyist or some wall street guy gets sick – nobody notices. Yes I know it’s not this black and white, but still.
They also keep trying to portray it as “foreign” and “Chinese,” which is causing increased discrimination and violence against Asian-Americans. But Rand Paul isn’t Asian or foreign and unlikely many of them are mingling with that many foreigners now that air travel has been so drastically cut. That’s going to blow up in their faces quickly too.
Good.
To the point and perfect.
We’ve been told that testing is available only to people feeling ill or with symptoms because the supply of test materials is so limited. How & why did Ol’ Rand jump the queue?
Because of course, that’s how they roll.
Same way ALL those NBA players got one, even those asymptomatic, WEINSTEIN of all people got one, all these other celebs that we’ve read about (even here) get tested!!
Only us peons…we’re the ones dying on the floors of a hospital corridor. I’m sure that’s not where we’ll find that POS Paul.
I feel very Game of Thrones about this. I also 100 percent believe he spread it to other Senators on purpose.
How did he get tested? I’ve got a homebound neighbor who is 70 and more and more symptomatic yet I cannot get her tested. She’s a retired nurse. I’m waiting on a doctor’s order from the home health agency but even then there’s no at home tests. Transporting her to a drive through testing site is not feasible. I’m beyond frustrated.
Here’s a video re Trump and tests: https://thebulwark.com/where-are-the-tests/
Moron
Bwhahhahaha…this is just an example of God being cute.
I have to go to work in completely non essential business (interior design) because stupid employers are greedy and stupid people customers treating the whole thing as hood time to decorate their homes! Ffs! I hate people! I haven’t seen so much stupidity amd ignorance in my whole life. Praying for lockdown here in Ireland
I’m not sure where you are located but here in New York you would not be going to work because those businesses are closed and if they try to operate they will be shut down. One of the local bars near me was serving food for takeout and delivery but they decided to open the bar and now they’ve lost their liquor license for a few years — probably won’t get it back
I am in Dublin, Ireland. Plus completely stupid management that puts us at risk! Using my annual leave but can’t keep going this way
The fact that he had it and decided to spread it all around in the govt gym (why wasn’t this shut down? My neighborhood gym is shut down) shows he doesn’t care. That pool is literally a cesspool. Good luck cleaning that.
On the other hand, with this many GOPers out on the Senate, poor little Turtle face can’t pass his corporate welfare bill. I doubt he can pass a procedural maneuver to let the quarantined GOPers vote remotely. He doesn’t have those votes either. If he did, they would have passed that joke of a bill last night. The DEMs got turtle by the nuts at this point.
Karma is swift and sweet.
“The DEMs got turtle by the nuts at this point.”
Hope they’re wearing latex gloves! Not enough hand-sanitizer in the world for that! *shudder*
Selfish idiot. I hope people remember this when his Senate seat is up in Kentucky. They should vote him out.
Kentucky has a lot to answer for putting those two in power. Some of the most despicable people to ever hold a position in Congress.
I’ve seen so many comments on Twitter about the neighbor who assaulted him and I think we all understand why the man was overcome with rage and beat him up. Also I had no idea Rand Paul ever went to medical school and was a non practicing ophthalmologist. This makes his blatant disregard for COVID 19 protocols even more egregious. Don’t feel sorry for him the least bit. Karma is such a b****.
Supremely punchable face, I do agree.
Republicans have a long and storied past of ignoring dangers and crises that don’t affect them personally. It took most of them, what? A decade or so to figure out that heterosexual white conservatives could also get HIV?
His boss told him COVID-19 was a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. I mean, what’s a goose-stepping Tea Party dumbass supposed to do?
Maybe when this all over, he’ll have no patients. Because he had no patience.
Now imagine how many more Rand Paul’s there are out there, smdh!!
I think this is where we say “Gee, that’s too bad.”
Good
I’m really starting to think the neighbor that beat the living shit out of him last year was just misunderstood.