e pluribus pluribus
The defense against COVID-19 called for an all-out united effort. In times past, America would have risen to the challenge. Much of the failure to respond is attributable to the deep political divide that grips the country. A divide that was fostered and nurtured by the Republican Party for political purposes. (Yes, Judy, it is the Republican Party that is responsible)
The coincidence of Trump’s election and the appearance of the virus was an unfortunate, catastrophic happenstance. One that could have been offset by a normally functioning Congress. In the House, much of this dysfunction was attributable to Republicans such as Darrell Issa, Doug Collins, Trey Gowdy, Jim Jordan, … In the Senate, most of the discord is attributable to Mitch McConnell and his cadre of toads with a little assistance from time to time from the likes of Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, ….
Issa, Collins, Gowdy, Jordan, … used committee inquiry to weaken Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s most likely 2016 candidate. McConnell opposed anything Barack Obama proposed, simply because he proposed it, from the get-go.
In times past, leaders of both parties wished presidents of the opposition party success, fully understanding that the welfare of the nation was at stake. Not so, McConnell. No so, those House Republicans listed.
The COVID pandemic called for a unified response. Had there been a unified response from Congress, the norm when the Nation faces threat, there would have been production and distribution of protective clothing, masks, …, more adherence to best scientific reasoning, …. Instead, we got denial from the Whitehouse that was re-enforced by Republicans in both the House and the Senate. During this time of great danger to the Nation, Trump, and House and Senate Republicans put themselves and the Republican Party first; costing hundreds of thousands of Americans their lives.
Was it worth it, Senator?
Much of the partisanship is attributable to the use of cultural wedge issues by the Republican Party for some fifty years or more. They found that vitriolic partisanship inspired their constituents to get out and vote. Haters gotta hate.
The Freedom Caucus formed up from the likes of Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Mark Meadows, Louis Gohmert, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, … in January 2015 was prelude to Trump, to January 6, 2021. Seems more than a few of these members played a role in fomenting and abetting the insurrection. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner had this to say about the Freedom Caucus: “They can’t tell you what they are for. They can tell you everything they’re against. They’re anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That’s what their mindset is.”
The Nation’s pathetic response to the pandemic was a part of the price paid. Democracy’s hanging in the balance, another.
The COVID pandemic is the fault of conservatives. Full stop.
Author Kevin DrumPublished on December 15, 2021 – 11:45 am65 Comments on The COVID pandemic is the fault of conservatives. Full stop.
Here’s the latest from Monmouth University polling:
https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/blog_vaccination_dem_rep.jpg
Forget everything else. Forget about whether the rollout of the vaccines was imperfect. Forget about Paxlovid. Forget about the CDC. This overwhelms everything else.
If Donald Trump and the rest of the conservative establishment had gone into full battle mode over COVID vaccinations, urging everyone to get their shots immediately, the crisis would be all but over. We all know just how effective the conservative media machine can be, and if Trump and McCarthy and Fox News and talk radio and Dan Bongino and all the rest had been telling their fans to get vaccinated, Republicans would probably be somewhere in the vicinity of 96% vaccinated too.
Everything else pales in comparison. This is who to blame. If conservatives hadn’t deliberately fought vaccination, we would probably be the most highly vaccinated country in the world right now. And life really would be nearly back to normal.”
Vaguely related…
Omicron Is an Economic Threat, but Inflation Is Worse, Central Bankers Say
Hmmm. Covid is bad. Inflation may be the result of Covid.
Inflation is worse than Covid, for bankers. Must do something about Inflation…
(Central bankers can do something about Inflation. Not so much about Covid.)
Fred
Prices are high now as a result of manipulated and unmanipulated supply chain issues. You will raise prices even higher and the supply chain issue will still remain. Fix the problem and the economy will be flooded with product, etc. Why do you wish to punish people for an issue created by industry?
‘Prices are high now as a result of manipulated and unmanipulated supply chain’
Prices are high now as a result of a conspiracy?
.Prices are high now as a result of a conspiracy?’
Well, sure, in the sense that central banks can take steps to produce inflation. There is a notion that economic growth brings about inflation, so bringing about inflation will cause growth.
we might want to read J B MacKinnon’s “The Day the World Stops Shopping”
Ken:
Whacking Main Street makes no sense when it is a supply chain issue. This is just stupid to hurt ourselves. Industry, Wall Street screws up and main Street pays for it. Still 3-4 million people not working yet and not counted in U3.
Some of the best non-Global-Climate-Change-related recent sci-fi focuses on ‘the day something happened’, which usually turns out to be The Day the Cloud Fell Apart, although future people are usually incapable of grasping the import of this.
We (i.e. citizens of the industrialized world, in the East and West) are suffering from unintended (maybe) consequences of events set in motion by Nixon & Kissinger, in which American (& European?) capitalism is hugely complicit. That is, creating global supply chains that span the oceans, and moving millions of jobs from the West to the East, turning China into a sort of capitalistic society despite its communist government. In the West, this was done for the sake of profit and to reduce (eliminate?) the power of unions – this was explicitly true in the US no doubt. (Creating much wealth in China also.) Who would have a guessed that one day a Global Pandemic would come along and really mess up this scheme.
The Second Sleep by Robert Harris
(Actually set 1468 years after the Cloud/Internet/WorldWideWeb went down for good, so to speak.)