Here he is on the Pandemic Edition of the Strategy:
‘Instead of assuring the public that the pandemic would miraculously disappear on its own or pushing snake-oil therapies, as his predecessor did, Biden responded to the new crisis with much-needed federal action. On Sept. 9, he announced new mandates requiring vaccinations for the federal workforce, workers in medical facilities that accept federal funding, and (with a testing opt out) all employees of companies with more than 100 workers. (Blue states such as California and New York also imposed their own vaccine requirements.) He still didn’t go quite as far as I would have liked — he needs to impose a vaccination requirement for airline or train travel — but he went further than many had expected. It was a bold and gutsy move in light of the predictable political blowback.’
The response from Republicans was hysterical and hyperbolic. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) screamed on Twitter, “NO VACCINE MANDATES,” and Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) condemned the mandates as “authoritarian.” A dozen Republican governors have signed legislation prohibiting coronavirus vaccine mandates in their states. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas is now trying to forbid even private companies from enforcing vaccine requirements. So much for GOP devotion to the free market.’
Meanwhile, Fox “News” Channel undermines the vaccine effort daily. Fox’s anchors — most of whom are vaccinated themselves — elevate backward vaccine resisters such as basketball star Kyrie Irving to the status of folk heroes. Predictably, Fox used Colin Powell’s death from covid to trash vaccines, even though his immune system had been compromised by cancer and Parkinson’s disease.’
Yet, despite this infuriating right-wing sabotage, the tide is turning. Between Sept. 9 and Oct. 18, the average number of daily vaccinations increased 26 percent while the average number of new cases fell 43 percent. This isn’t all because of the mandates, but they certainly helped.’
Predictions that vaccine mandates would fail (“Vaccine Mandates Can’t Stop Covid’s Spread,” warned a typical right-wing op-ed) have not panned out. At Houston Methodist Hospital, 98 percent of the staff have been vaccinated. At Novant Health in the Southeast, it’s 99 percent. At United Airlines, it’s 99 percent of employees. In the Navy, it’s 98 percent of sailors. The number of workers laid off for refusing to get vaccinated is so low that the professional prevaricators at Fox “News” were reduced to falsely attributing flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines to vaccine resistance.’
Biden gambled with vaccine mandates — and that gamble is now paying off. Our coronavirus vaccination rate is still too low, and our covid death rate is still too high compared with those of other Western countries, but that’s hardly his fault. Blame Republicans: Only 58 percent of them are vaccinated, compared with 90 percent of Democrats.’
The GOP strategy, like Satan’s, is accuse, accuse, accuse all while doing the evils they accuse everybody else of. For the People of the Lie, accusation is always a form of confession. And, as Jesus observed of the Father of lies, they too are murderers and don’t care if a million people die in the Pandemic just so long long as they can get their hands on raw, nihilist power.
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6 Responses
jj
The USA has had vaccine mandates for decades. I couldn’t start school without having proof of a list of vaccines as long as my 5-year-old arm. This is not draconian Big Brotherliness. This is a public health issue.
And the thing is: The GOP knows this. They are playing politics. That is all. Their cowardice and corruption disgust me, but it doesn’t surprise me.
What does truly disturb me is the masses of people who buy into the propaganda.
Is requiring a vaccine an infringement on your freedom? Sure. Maybe. So are laws requiring you wear clothes in public spaces. And laws requiring you to carry auto insurance before you can drive a car. And laws requiring you to pay for insurance on a home that the bank still technically owns.
Being part of a society sometimes means that it ain’t all about you.
A lot of people are moving to Texas with the goal of not getting their kids a single vaccination. Once that gets to about 20 percent, that will be a big problem. The lack of charity at my parish is breath taking. They are invincible and who cares about the people who cannot attend. They won’t do simple things, like wear a mask. They don’t care about me, because they think God loves them best. They could never get sick or be subject to any illnesses. The media did a lot to frame Donald Trump. He made some unwise decisions. Imo he took bad advice from Alex Azar. But Trump did cut the red tape to get the vaccine and he took the shot. Trump told others to take it. Pope Francis said to take the vaccine. The Bible does not have nice things to say about people who disobey authority.
Trump is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. He is the leader of the depraved cult at war with public health. Nobody “framed” him. He is a criminal.
@ lucy
Whatever former guy did or did not do, it was nothing to what he should have done. Deborah Birx testified yesterday.
“ Trump White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told congressional investigators behind closed doors between 30 percent and 40 percent fewer Americans would have died from COVID-19 if then-president Donald Trump and the Trump administration had supported just the basic coronavirus preventative protocols like mask wearing.
According to Birx’s statement, up to 295,000 Americans would not have died if Trump and his administration had supported the basic protocols. On April 3, 2020 Trump chose to make the announcement to the American people that CDC was advising mask-wearing, and during that same press briefing he immediately announced he would not wear a mask.
“It’s voluntary and you don’t have to do it,” Trump declared on national television. Repeatedly stressing the word “voluntary,” Trump added, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.”
All of that is on him, and on Qonservative republicans, and on qonservative Qhriatians.
ALL OF IT!
I know that that cracker, Franklin Graham, is not a Catholic. I know also that he is as right to life as they come. And I’m sure he’s been vaccinated, because whatever else he is, he’s not stupid. Nevertheless, here it is…
Today, he praised governor Dunleavy of Alaska for inviting any cops who have lost their jobs due to mandates and vaccinations to come to Alaska, where he will be happy to hire them. So basically, he has invited unvaccinated people to come to a Covid jungle, perhaps to get infected, perhaps just to infect other people, But above all else, people dedicated to not stopping this plague, whatever the cost in lives may be.
I would like to say that I am surprised, but I have to say I couldn’t possibly be any less unsurprised than I already am not.