It's all about the vaccines, stupid

      As the vaccination rate in the US stalls and the Delta variant surges through the unvaccinated population, the economy shows signs of stalling in mid-recovery.   As the president suggested in a national address yesterday, most, if not all the blame for this falls on those who for mostly political reasons have chosen not to get the jab.

     Thanks to toxic misinformation spread by some hosts on Faux News and the continuing debacle which is Facebook, not taking the vaccine is seen in some quarters as an heroic act.   Owning the libs is a secondary, but also attractive reason for defying the science behind the vaccine.  President wannabes like Florida's Ron DeSantis have made vaccine defiance part of their political brand and for that reason will refuse to follow the science even in the face of overwhelming evidence of vaccine efficacy.   It seems Republicans are willing to sacrifice their own supporters in a quixotic attempt to overturn the rules of nature.

Another Kumbaya moment

      The wonders of bipartisanship were touted once again in the mainstream media as the watered down "hard" infrastructure bill was advanced in the Senate to the debate and amendment stage.   Spending money on roads and bridges is the most popular cause in the country, but I sense Republican participation in the latest iteration of "infrastructure week" is mostly performative and after another dilatory round of negotiation, it is doubtful 10 unicorn republicans will be found to advance a final bill for a vote.  

      Meanwhile, the human infrastructure bill beloved of House progressives is already being targeted by Krysten Sinema as too expensive and expansive and since she holds a decisive vote, it is dead in the water.  This will cause liberals in the House to hold up any bill the "bipartisans" in the Senate may finally vote for.  In any case, the two sides will talk until the clock starts to run out.  We've been to this rodeo before...

Yesterday

       Emotional, electric, powerful, are all adjectives that can be used to describe the testimony of 4 Capitol and Metro police officers before a bipartisan select committee investigating the events of January 6.   Only committed supporters of the authoritarian wing of the GOP could or would dispute the officers' accounts of what happened that day.  

      All four of the men who experienced the hand to hand combat with the insurrectionist mob which sought to halt the verification of the electoral college ballots which confirmed the election of Joe Biden to the presidency confirmed in most observers' minds the validity of attack on American democracy.  Absent the antics of Gym Jordan and the other tRump supporter denied membership on the select committee, it is evident the Republican and Democratic members are focused on ferreting out the details of the ordeal the police went through at the hands of their nominal supporters.   Who knew of , planned, financed and set the mob in motion that day is something we must ascertain.  We must also hold those people responsible.  The committee made a good start yesterday but there is much yet to be done.

E Pluribus whatever

       As the vaccination debate rages along with Covid 19 throughout the nation, it seems to be breaking more and more along partisan lines.   Many, but not all states where vaccine hesitancy is greatest correspond with the boundaries of the Confederacy.   The remainder supported the former guy in the last two presidential elections.   

     Most of the aforementioned states are in process of approving legislation designed to abridge citizens' right to vote.  From limiting drop boxes and early voting to allowing state legislatures to replace independent Secretaries of State in the election certification process, the goal of many Republican led states is to permanently ensure minority rule.   Free and fair elections are the antithesis of this goal.

     How the nation can stand as an entity in the face of increasingly partisan and sectional conflict is an existential crisis we have not faced since the Civil War.  What we do as we grapple with the climate change crisis along with political division in the next few years will define the legacy of the great democratic experiment.

Anti Vax BS

         Supposedly, up to 81% of unvaccinated adults in America probably/definitely will refuse Covid 19 vaccines, despite the avalanche of stories about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus among the unvaccinated.

       How to process this absolute stupidity among our fellow citizens?   Among teachers, healthcare workers and public safety professionals the vaccination rates hover in the 60 to 70% rate.  This seems inconceivable to me.  I remember the distribution of the oral Sabin polio vaccine in the early 1960s.  Despite some hiccups, including 200,000 defective shots of the Salk vaccine which caused thousands of cases of polio in the midwest in the 1950s very few people denied the effectiveness of the medicine or questioned the distribution.

       Today, the antivaxx propaganda and conservative "own the libs" ideology has affected public acceptance of safe and effective vaccines.   It is time to protect people despite their collective stupidity.  The government must step in and mandate vaccination for health care workers, public safety officers and teachers.  Public information campaigns advocating getting the jab is another necessary feature moving forward.    

Weather there is the will

      I have always imagined the countries of Europe to be way ahead of the US when it comes to policies and attitudes towards climate change.   After all, there is no European equivalent of the GOP standing in the way of progressive climate legislation.  Then came last week's devastating flood in the most powerful member of the European Union, Germany.

      The floods were very unusual for the country, which unlike America has not been regularly pummeled by floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.   Occasional bouts of high temperatures in summer and exceptional winter storms have been the main harbingers of crisis on the continent.  The heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding is a reminder things will get significantly more dicey in Germany's and the world's future.   How the Germans respond to the challenge will shape how many people see our role in meeting the challenge.

Inside Politics

      I would guess less than 5% of Americans were aware of the House select committee to investigate the insurrection that occurred on January 6.   Therefore hardly anyone was aware House minority leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all his members (except Liz Cheney) off the committee when Nancy Pelosi refused to seat two supporters of the events on 1/6.  

     However, the inside the beltway pundits were all over it and for the most part delivered the message the GOP wanted;  the Democrats, by depriving two conspiracy theorists of membership on the committee, have denied America a "bipartisan" look at the events leading up to the insurrection.  More reality based reporters and commentators pointed out the spectacle of Gym Jordan barking at witnesses and turning the proceedings into a circus would hardly lead to a sober examination of the first assault of the Capitol since the War of 1812.

     The pundits who were so very wrong during the former guy's administration continue to deny reality in service of their delusions.