;)
The Commentariat -- July 9, 2021
Late Morning Update:
David McCabe & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday will encourage federal agencies to crack down on the way major tech companies grow through mergers and gain a competitive advantage by leveraging reams of consumer data, as part of a larger executive order aimed at dispersing corporate consolidation throughout the economy. The executive order includes several measures specifically targeting big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, people with knowledge of its contents said."
Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will no longer detain most pregnant, nursing and postpartum women for deportation, reversing a Trump-era rule that permitted officials to jail thousands of immigrants in those circumstances, according to a new policy to be released Friday. ICE's new policy is even more expansive than it was during the Obama era, when President Biden was vice president. The Obama administration generally exempted pregnant women from immigration detention, but the Biden administration is also including women who gave birth within the prior year and those who are nursing, which could last longer than a year." The Hill's story is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.
Fear of "Needle Nazis." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "It has been three days since President Biden announced an initiative to send people door-to-door trying to get more people vaccinated, and Republicans and their conservative media allies have wasted no time turning those door-knockers into terrifying straw men.... Republican members of Congress and conservative talkers have wrongly pitched the effort as forced vaccination -- even repeatedly invoking the Nazis -- and lodged baseless suggestions that it would be done using illegally obtained medical information. Others have suggested it's something akin to government coercion or even a precursor to gun confiscation.... [After] Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) ... compar[ed] the effort to 'medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations.'..., Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took to Twitter the next day to offer her own Nazi comparison, labeling the door-knockers 'needle Nazis.'... Fox News host Tucker Carlson also wrongly pitched this effort as being about forcing vaccinations." ~~~
~~~ See also related story re: Missouri governor linked under "The Pandemic, Ctd."
Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service: In the U.S., "white Christians ... have expanded their share of the population, particularly white mainline Protestants. That group sits at 16.4%, an increase from 13% in 2016, whereas white evangelicals ... now represent about 14.5% of the population, down from a peak of 23% in 2006. White Catholics now hover around 11.7%, up from a 2018 low of 10.9%.... The percentage of white Christians ticked up overall, rising from 42% in 2018 to 44% in 2020.... Even with these small gains, however, white Christians have shrunk dramatically as a proportion of the population over the past few decades, having represented 54% of the population as recently as 2006.... Religiously unaffiliated Americans, or 'nones' in religion demography parlance, have lost ground, making up just 23% of the country. The complex group -- which includes atheists, agnostics and some people who say they pray daily but don't claim a specific faith tradition -- peaked at 25.5% of the population in 2018." ~~~
~~~ ** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The presidency of George W. Bush may have been the high point of the modern Christian right’s influence in America.... But the evangelicals who thought they were about to take over America were destined for disappointment.... From this fact derives much of our country's cultural conflict. It helps explain not just the rise of Donald Trump, but also the growth of QAnon and even the escalating conflagration over critical race theory.... QAnon is essentially a millenarian movement, with Trump taking the place of Jesus.... [As for those who are anti-C.R.T.,] the idea that public schools are corrupting children by leading them away from a providential understanding of American history has deep roots in white evangelical culture.... I was frightened by the religious right in its triumphant phase. But it turns out that the movement is just as dangerous in decline.... It didn't take long for the cocky optimism of Generation Joshua to give way to the nihilism of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. If they can't own the country, they're ready to defile it."
Steve Thompson & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Attorneys general in four states are looking into the online fundraising practices of both major political parties.... The practices being examined include the use of pre-checked boxes that lock in recurring donations from political donors who may not intend to sign up for more than one contribution, according to an April 29 letter included in a court filing Wednesday by WinRed, a fundraising platform for GOP committees and campaigns. WinRed is asking the U.S. District Court in Minnesota to stop the investigations by the attorneys general of Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and New York, arguing that consumer protection statutes that the attorneys general may try to enforce are preempted by federal law. Identical letters were sent to WinRed and ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democrats, according to a person familiar with the inquiry...."
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Friday are here: "Two Americans arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti this week said that they were not in the room when he was killed and that they had worked only as translators for the hit squad, a Haitian judge said on Friday. Clément Noël, a judge who is involved with the investigation and who interviewed both men soon after their arrest, said that neither was injured in the assault."
~~~~~~~~~~
John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Thursday that the country had accomplished its objectives in Afghanistan of killing Osama bin Laden and undercutting al-Qaeda's ability to launch more attacks on the United States as he defended his decision to bring a 20-year war to an end. Biden, during a White House speech, was defiant in the face of gains by the Taliban since he announced a planned U.S. troop withdrawal in April and said the Afghan people needed to dictate their own future. 'We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build,' Biden said.... 'I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome.'... Biden also pledged to evacuate thousands of interpreters who served alongside troops in Afghanistan, as well as their families." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "Facing a call to 'save American democracy,' the Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new efforts to help protect voting rights amid growing complaints from civil rights activists and other Democrats that the White House has not done enough to fight attempts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot. President Joe Biden met with civil rights leaders in the West Wing, while Vice President Kamala Harris announced $25 million in new spending by the Democratic National Committee to support efforts to protect voting access ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.... The president last week told reporters that he planned on 'speaking extensively' on voting rights and that he would be 'going on the road on this issue.' So far, a major speech has not happened and a trip has not occurred, leading to rising frustration from those in his own party who view the GOP crackdown on voting rights as an existential threat to both Democrats and democracy." ~~~
~~~ Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Several top civil rights leaders, in what was described as a 'a very candid, no-holds-barred meeting' that stretched nearly two hours, urged President Biden on Thursday to take more assertive action to combat Republican efforts to change voting laws around the country. While several of the civil rights leaders described Biden as one of their allies, they also pressed him to do more, speak louder and make voting rights a central priority. Their exasperation with waiting on Washington to act was evident as they also pledged to embark on 'a summer of activism, a summer of getting back in the streets,' evoking the 1960s movement that helped lead to the Voting Rights Act."
Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Justice Department has agreed to pay $6.1 million to a technology contractor to create a massive database of videos, photographs, documents and social media posts related to the Capitol riot as part of the process of turning relevant evidence over to defense attorneys for the more than 500 people facing criminal charges in the Jan. 6 events, according to a court filing and government records. To take on the daunting task, the federal government has turned to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, a firm prosecutors called 'a litigation support vendor with extensive experience providing complex litigation technology services.' Prosecutors are trying to organize thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage, closed-circuit surveillance camera footage, more than a million social media videos, data from phones and email accounts, and the responses to more than 6,000 grand jury subpoenas, according to a court filing Thursday."
William Booth & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Should he be convicted of espionage in Virginia federal court, the United States has offered that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could serve his sentence in Australia, a British court said Wednesday. The assurance came as the Justice Department seeks to extradite Assange from London, where he is currently in custody. A judge in Britain blocked his transfer to the United States in January, ruling that he was at extreme risk of suicide and might not be protected from harming himself in a federal prison. Now, the United States has been granted an appeal before Britain's High Court, on the grounds that the lower-court judge did not hear assurances of how Assange would be treated in American custody.... Should he serve time in a U.S. facility, the government pledged that Assange would not be held in total isolation or imprisoned at a 'Supermax' facility in Colorado."
Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans have agreed to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service so that the agency can bring in more tax revenue, hoping the money can help pay down some of the infrastructure package's expected price tag. The early contours of the infrastructure blueprint have won the White House's support, but the IRS provision in particular is drawing opposition from well-funded conservative groups, which are strongly opposed to expanding the reach of a tax-collection agency that they long have alleged is politically motivated.... They are preparing a letter that warns Republicans should not negotiate with the White House unless they agree to 'no additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rebecca Robbins & Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Under fire for approving a questionable drug for all Alzheime's patients, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday greatly narrowed its previous recommendation and is now suggesting that only those with mild memory or thinking problems should receive it. The reversal, highly unusual for a drug that has been available for only a few weeks, is likely to reduce the approximate number of Americans who are eligible for the treatment to 1.5 million from six million. The approval of Aduhelm early last month was one of the most contentious F.D.A. decisions in years."
Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Fifteen states have reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, that would pave the way toward a $4.5 billion settlement of thousands of opioid cases. The states decided late Wednesday to drop their opposition to Purdue's bankruptcy reorganization plan, in exchange for a release of millions of documents and an additional $50 million from members of the Sackler family, the company's owners. The agreement was contained in a late-night filing by a mediator in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y. The settlement extracts concessions that will be added to a comprehensive proposal now being voted upon by more than 3,000 plaintiffs, including cities, counties, tribes and states, who sought to hold Purdue and its owners responsible for their role in the opioid epidemic. More than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses of prescription and illegal opioids." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Oh, Lordy, Don't Tell the Kids about the 3/5ths Provision. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Sen. Tom Cotton is calling for the firing of a U.S. Air Force Academy professor after she admitted to discussing critical race theory with cadets. But even a cursory look at the Arkansas Republican's slimy argument shows how full of holes it really is. This episode sheds light on a larger absurdity about this whole debate. Republicans keep telling us the mere discussion of such topics risks weakening our country.... Cotton and other Republicans are unloading over this op-ed piece in The Post by Lynne Chandler García, an associate professor of political science at the Air Force Academy. In it, García says she teaches critical race theory as an 'academic framework' to analyze the fact that the founding and its documents harbored a 'duality' between ideals of equality and realities of inequality and slavery.... This is all anodyne stuff. The idea that the founding harbored that 'duality' doesn't seem controversial.... What makes this so ridiculous is that generally speaking, such self-scrutiny is something you want institutions to undertake." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If that so-called professor were worth her salt, she'd be leading an Air Force cadets all-male a capella glee club in heartfelt renditions of "Dixie" and "Swanee Ribber." Still longing for de old plantation.
Even Trump's Adversaries Are Grifters. Kevin Draper of the New York Times: "Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who rose to national prominence while representing the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against ... Donald J. Trump, was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release by Judge Paul G. Gardephe in federal court in Manhattan. Avenatti was convicted in February 2020 of trying to extort more than $20 million from the apparel giant Nike, but his sentencing was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic." Aventatti fought back tears as he told the judge how sorry he was. CNBC's report is here. It has Avenatti "weeping." MB: "But more than anything else I'm sorry for myself...."
The Wall Street Journal publishes an adaptation from Michael Bender's book about the last days of Trump's presidency*. I've linked the page, but of course it's subscriber-firewalled. If you can't access it from this link, you might be able to get it via Google, as I did.
After This ~~~
~~~ This. Lachlan Markay of Axios: "Toyota has announced it will cease donations to Republicans who objected to the certification of President Biden's electoral college victory.... The company revealed its decision, first reported by the Detroit News, in a statement on Thursday, saying it understood that its PAC's donations to those objectors, which far outpaced those of any other company, 'troubled some stakeholders.' Toyota's statement came less than two weeks after Axios reported the Japanese automaker donated $55,000 to 37 election objectors, the most of any corporate PAC by a significant margin." The Washington Post's story, by Amy Wang, is here. ~~~
~~~ Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "This Thursday, the anti-Trump conservative PAC Lincoln Project released a new ad targeting Toyota for being part of a string of corporations 'lavishing massive campaign donations on Republicans who tried to overturn the 2020 election and who now seek to cover up the January 6th attack on the Capitol.'... Toyota announced on the same day the ad was released that it will stop contributing to members of Congress who opposed the election certification." ~~~
~~~ BUT. Karl Evers-Hillstrom of the Hill: "Six months after the Capitol attack, only a small number of powerful corporations have made good on their pledge to suspend PAC donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Among the 10 biggest corporate PAC donors that pledged to pause their contributions to election objectors, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Verizon have followed through on their promises, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings. Other top PACs that vowed to withhold contributions, such as AT&T, Comcast, General Electric, Home Depot, Pfizer and Walmart, have been bankrolling party committees or leadership PACs that can easily funnel campaign cash to election objectors. Those company PACs have not made direct donations to the lawmakers" campaigns."
Clothilde Goujard of Politico: "Violent videos and misinformation are amplified by YouTube's algorithm, despite the company's rules meant to limit their spread, according to a Mozilla Foundation report published July 7. The foundation -- a nonprofit that advocates on privacy issues -- found 71 percent of all videos that volunteers reported as disturbing were recommended by the video-sharing platform's algorithm. They included conspiracies about 9/11 and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the promotion of white supremacy. Researchers also found that people in non-English speaking countries were more likely to encounter videos they considered disturbing, indicating that YouTube's efforts to better police its platforms have been uneven." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Apparently it depends a lot upon what you usually search for. When I call up YouTube, as I do daily, I get Biden speeches & tours of tiny houses built by environmentalists. Not much violence there.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Li Cohen of CBS News: "Pfizer announced on Thursday that its COVID vaccine booster shot could further protect individuals from 'all currently known variants' of COVID-19 -- including the highly transmittable Delta variant. The booster shot is currently undergoing trials, the company said, and has shown 'encouraging clinical trial data in a small number of participants in our study.'"
Lauren Aratani of the Guardian: "More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci -- a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant.... Cases are rising in nearly half the states as low vaccination rates are being met with the more transmissible and severe Delta or B.1.617.2, variant, identified in India in December 2020. Vaccinations administered in the US have shown to be effective against the Delta variant, though it poses serious risks to those who remain unvaccinated. The variant is already the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the country, accounting for more than 50% of all new US cases and up to 80% of cases in some regions, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released Tuesday." ~~~
~~~ SO ... Missouri. Heather Hollingsworth of the AP: "... Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he doesn't want government employees going door-to-door in his state to urge people to get vaccinated, even as a COVID-19 outbreak overwhelms some hospitals. Missouri asked for help last week from newly formed federal 'surge response' teams as it combats an influx of cases that public health officials are blaming on fast-spreading delta variant and deep-seated concerns about the vaccine. After President Joe Biden mentioned the possibility of door-to-door promotion of the vaccine, Parson tweeted: 'I have directed our health department to let the federal government know that sending government employees or agents door-to-door to compel vaccination would NOT be an effective OR a welcome strategy in Missouri!'... 'We know there's a vast number of people that is hesitant to take the vaccine,' Parson said. 'That is what we all should be working together trying to find a solution to get more vaccine in more people's arms, not trying to force people to take it. Not trying to scare them into it....'... Jeffrey Zeints, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Thursday that the best people to promote vaccinations are 'local trusted messengers' like doctors, faith leaders and community leaders, who may go door to door."
Japan. Ben Dooley of the New York Times: "Olympic organizers said on Thursday that they would bar spectators from most events at the Games scheduled to open in two weeks, a decision that followed the declaration of a new state of emergency in Tokyo in response to a sudden spike in coronavirus cases. Officials have long insisted that they can hold the Tokyo Games safely amid a pandemic. Last month, they announced that they would allow domestic spectators at the events despite public fears that the Games could become a petri dish for new variants of the virus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Bobby Calvan & Steven Sloan of the AP: In the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse tragedy, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tones down the Trumpiness. Sometimes.
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors challenged an assertion from the judge who oversaw Derek Chauvin's murder trial that the children who witnessed George Floyd's killing weren't traumatized by the event and therefore did not factor that into his sentencing decision. In a letter made public Thursday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asked Hennepin County District Judge Peter A. Cahill to amend a June 25 memo detailing his decision to sentence Chauvin to 22½ years in prison for Floyd's murder. In the memo, Cahill said he found no evidence of trauma among four young girls who witnessed the killing and ultimately didn't take that into account when determining Chauvin's jail time. 'The state expressly does not request that the court modify any part of (the) defendant's 22.5-year sentence for the murder of George Floyd,' Ellison wrote. But Ellison pressed Cahill to 'correct the public record' and amend his analysis to 'more accurately reflect the experiences' of the children who witnessed the killing and later testified at trial to 'prevent potentially causing further harm by discounting the trauma suffered by these young girls.'" The Hill's story is here.
Way Beyond
Haiti. Tom Phillips, et al., of the Guardian: "A heavily armed commando unit that assassinated Haiti's president, Jovenel Moïse, was composed of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, authorities have said, as the hunt goes on for the masterminds of the killing.... Authorities tracked the suspected assassins on Wednesday to a house near the scene of the crime in Petionville, a northern, hillside suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A firefight lasted late into the night and authorities detained a number of suspects on Thursday. Police chief Charles Leon paraded 17 men before journalists at a news conference late on Thursday, showing a number of Colombian passports plus assault rifles, machetes, walkie-talkies and materials including bolt cutters and hammers."
~~~ Jacqueline Charles & Michael Wilner of the Miami Herald: "Two South Florida men have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse, along with 15 Colombian nationals, Haiti police said Thursday night. James Solages, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, was identified as one of the assailants by Mathias Pierre, a minister in charge of Haitian elections. Solages, originally from Haiti, is an American citizen, Pierre said.... Pierre identified a second man arrested in the assassination as Joseph Vincent, 55, from the Miami area. Vincent, originally from Haiti, is also a U.S. citizen, Pierre said."
~~~ Widlore Merancourt, et al., of the Washington Post: "A U.S. citizen of Haitian descent has been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, a senior official here said Thursday. James Solages, a U.S. citizen, is among the six people arrested so far in Moïse's killing, according to Mathias Pierre, Haiti's minister of elections and inter-party relations. Pierre told The Washington Post that at least one other detainee is also believed to be a Haitian American. Four other suspects have been killed, authorities have said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Constant Méheut, et al., of the New York Times: "The political storm in Haiti intensified on Thursday as two competing prime ministers claimed the right to run the country, setting up an extraordinary power struggle over who had the legal authority to govern after the brazen assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in his home the day before. Haiti's interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, says he has taken command of the police and the army, declaring a 'state of siege' that essentially put the country under martial law. But constitutional experts questioned his right to impose it, and his claim to power was quickly challenged by a rival. Two days before his death, Mr. Moïse had appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who was supposed to take up the role this week and told a local newspaper that he was the rightful prime minister instead."
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Thursday are here: "Two American citizens are among at least 15 people detained in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse Haitian officials said Thursday night as they paraded the suspects before the news media and asserted that 'foreigners' had been involved in the brazen attack."
News Lede
Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Elsa is spreading heavy rain, gusty winds and the threat of a few tornadoes up the East Coast through Friday.... Elsa is located about 5 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, as of early Friday morning." MB: It's already spreading heavy rain in New Hampshire at 7:30 am ET.
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Reader Comments (11)
I was able to read the WSJ's Bender piece. The incident that stood out for me is as follows:
Before Jan 6 Trump and Pence debated for weeks wether Mike could reject the Biden Presidential results:
"But the vice president wasn’t practiced in confronting Mr. Trump. The only example some administration officials could remember was in 2018, when Mr. Pence’s political committee hired Corey Lewandowski, the president’s ubiquitous adviser. Mr. Trump was holding a newspaper article about the hiring and said it made him look weak, like his team was abandoning him as he was probed for his campaign’s role in Russian election meddling. He crumpled the article and threw it at his vice president. “So disloyal,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Pence lost it. Mr. Kushner had asked him to hire Mr. Lewandowski, and he had discussed the plan with Mr. Trump over lunch. Mr. Pence picked up the article and threw it back at Mr. Trump. He leaned toward the president and pointed a finger a few inches from his chest. “We walked you through every detail of this,” Mr. Pence snarled. “We did this for you—as a favor. And this is how you respond? You need to get your facts straight.”
So for Pence, who obviously knew what side his bread was buttered, very much of his rhetoric was a rehearsed sham. The noose that was waiting for his neck on that fateful day was a stark reminder of what disloyalty looks like. And yet–––and yet he refused to dump the man who had dumped him: "We don't always see eye to eye, but I'm so proud of what we have accomplished" he said after the insurrection that almost did him in.
A Profile in Denial–––however, if you are a fervent believer like Mike,
you might very well be lulled into feeling Jesus' all abiding love and approval and that, in the end, is all that really counts–––for Mike.
The side-bar story about 14 yr. old Zaila Avant-garde who won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee was so gratifying–-and exciting. Another feather in the caps of people with brains and potential who are still being sidelined by others who not only lack those kinds of brains but want to make sure those that do don't reach their potential.
A rational person would weigh the relative harm of two actions.
In this case, knocking politely on doors to urge people to get vaccinated for their own and others' good, perhaps annoying a few of them, but causing no real harm to anyone...
Or allowing the non vaccinated to die and/or transmit a deadly virus to others without bothering them at all.
A rational person would choose the first option.
But then.....in the context what's good for Lauren, fear mongering is rational for the likes of Boebert.
Fear is what they have to sell, and because the Right has spent decades preparing the soil and nurturing their fears, they have grown a bumper crop of receptive paranoids.
Instead of Sen. Tom Cotton pressing back against someone from his own state as a racist turd, UNC trustee lil' Wally Hussman, he picks a woman who's professor at a federal university. The fact that the Colorado Springs and the Air Force academy have histories of narrow-mindedness and abuse is just a cherry on top for Cotton's wasted education and potential. Saturday Night live could do some humor about sad guys from Arkansas whose only skills involving taunting and disrupting. Sort of like clowns wearing helicopter hats and dress suits. Certainly Cotton and Hussman could manage a circle-jerk of two: the Arkansas method.
The covid spike in Missouri reminded me of a report CNN did from the Ozarks back in October.
I'm sure the guy being interviewed would tell you how tough and strong he is, but the coward is afraid his neighbors may call him a "hippy" if he wears a mask. You will also notice that no one at the diner was do anything to protect anyone back when we having thousands of Americans die every day from covid. And to answer his question, yes, it does make you a bad human if you unnecessarily put the lives of those around you in danger when you could easily get a free shot that would protect them and yourself.
Sometimes I wonder if the mere fact that the vaccines for C-19 are free is a big part of the reason people are afraid of them.
Sometimes I think the problem with the mask and vax deniers is that the threat was misframed for them, and they haven't reframed. They appear to consider the threat to be against themselves, and the reaction seems to be "I can take it, and that proves I'm macho." Is there a term for female macho? Amazony?
Anyway, the REAL frame for the threat is, who cares about those people (the anti-vaxmaskers), the people who need to be protected now are my granddaughters. They're too young to get a vaccine and therefore rely on others to do the herd-blocking to supplement their own use of masks and hygiene. As little girls, they can't really control their environment when they go to school (or summer camp, etc.) The rely on everybody over 12 to clean up the threat.
So, whatever reasons anti-maskers/vaxxers think are import to them, are not. The ONLY thing that counts is the welfare of my granddaughers. OK, yours too. The whole national campaign should be changed to "protect Alice and Clara." The rest is diversion. These folks don't have the personal option of increasing the risk to my progeny.
The government, for many people, stands for Mommy and Daddy telling them what to do– ( or in some cases the government actually making their lives difficult) -they felt, as children, helpless and angry and determined when they grew up to go their own way. A simplistic, but cogent reason for many of these anti=vaxers. No amount of reasoning or medical information will change their minds. If they are lovers of the past president they stick to their stance of resisting any advice coming from this administration. They feel bolded and strong and resistance and many will die because of it and as Patrick says, may infect our grandchildren in the process.
And to continue on this vein, here is Jon Stewart on "The Nanny State"–––featuring the one and only Glenn Beck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s7z_Vt4KMU
PD,
And also one of the reasons freedumb-loving 'mericans resent schools and teachers. They tell them what to do...
Good going, Joe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/andrew-saul-social-security-/2021/07/09/c18a34fa-df99-11eb-a501-0e69b5d012e5_story.html