XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.survival, rec.arts.tv, alt.politics
XPost: alt.checkmate, alt.atheism, alt.rush-limbaugh
XPost: alt.baldspot, talk.politics.guns, alt.abortion
XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.journalism.criticism XPost: alt.news-media

Politics

July 28, 2021
The Obscene Hypocrisy of Republicans Blaming Everyone But Themselves: The
COVID Edition
They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the
lives of their constituents.

Nathalie Baptiste
Nathalie Baptiste
Reporter and ColumnistBio | Follow

Advertise with Mother Jones

Richard Drew/AP
The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content
in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage
of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily
newsletter.

After nearly a year and a half of telling their constituents that it’s
their constitutional right to ignore coronavirus guidelines and public
health restrictions, it seems to be dawning on leaders in the Republican
Party that letting a deadly and very infectious disease run rampant
through their states and localities—not to mention the rest of the
country—is actually a terrible idea.

So now, as the highly contagious Delta variant is creating a new surge of infections, the time has come to reverse course. But there’s an obvious problem: After feeding a large swath of the country a steady diet of potentially fatal misinformation, distrust in the government, and
demonization of the other, while insisting that individual “freedom” is
more important than the collective good, it’s nearly impossible to
convince the true believers to do otherwise. For decades now, the
conservative ethos has been predicated on a selfish individualism that
informs everything from social and tax policies to medical care. And of
course, this ideology, further amped up by a deranged president, has
plagued the US response to COVID-19 since the beginning. Now, we’re all
paying the price.

Unlike the early days of vaccine distribution, the US has an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to vaccine supply, which has been scientifically
proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Yet,
according to the Washington Post, as of July only 49 percent of eligible
people in the US are fully vaccinated. And there’s one major reason for
this: GOP leadership—from state and local politicians to members of
Congress to the conservative media amplification machine. So now, as 41
percent of conservatives choose not to get vaccinated, cases are up
nationwide but especially in states where vaccine rates are low. The repercussions are dire. In Florida and Arkansas, every county is recording “high transmission” rates. In Alabama, doctors describe dying patients
begging for the vaccine—but it’s too late.
MOTHER JONES TOP STORIES
Is Elon Musk Really Making Investing Decisions via Twitter Poll?

None of this is surprising. From encouraging lockdown protests to
eschewing masks and downplaying the severity of the virus, the GOP
followed the lead of its president and underplayed science. Even when its standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, contracted the virus and
was hospitalized, nothing changed. Trump had a particularly contradictory stance: at once whining about not getting enough credit for the vaccine,
opting to get quietly vaccinated before he left office, and doing nothing
to encourage his supporters to get their shots. He just further added to
the politicization of it all by making fun of mask-wearing and insisting
the virus was nothing to be afraid of even after his hospitalization.
“It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks.
It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Republican governors have had to contend with the tragic surge of cases firsthand. Last week, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey begged her
constituents to get vaccinated. Since it is crucial to cast blame for
rising COVID rates—new infections are up 84 percent in her state—at anyone
but Republicans, she targeted unvaccinated people. “It’s time to start
blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” she said. “It’s
the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” (And not the people who encouraged them.) But even though Ivey declared a state of emergency in
her state in March 2020, she’s been pushing the “personal responsibility” narrative, signaling that the danger has passed. “Evidence clearly
indicates that the worst is behind us,” Ivey said way back in May 2020,
when she announced the lifting of restrictions.

In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s State of the
Union that he blames the resistance to getting vaccinations on “myths” and “false information.” Not that he has any responsibility for the crisis unfolding in his state. “I made the decision that it’s really not what the government can tell you to do,” he told host Jake Tapper, “but it is the community and their engagement and citizens talking to other citizens and trusted advisers.” Hutchison does, however, believe the state government
can tell you what to do when it comes to mask-wearing. Earlier this year,
he approved a statewide ban on mask mandates. The law, which was
introduced in March, does not allow any local jurisdictions to require
masks.

Earlier this week, 16 of the 27 members of Tennessee’s GOP Senate caucus released a letter urging the public to get vaccinated. “Unfortunately,
efforts to get more people vaccinated have been hampered by politicization
of COVID-19,” the letter said. “This should not be political.” But earlier
this week, under pressure from GOP lawmakers, the state’s health
department halted all vaccine outreach to minors—for all diseases, not
just COVID-19. Only about 39 percent of Tennesseans have received a COVID vaccine. As my colleague Hannah Levintova reported, a beloved Nashville conservative talk radio host was recently hospitalized with severe COVID
and begged his listeners to ignore his previous skepticism and get the
shot.
to your inbox.
Email

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to
receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.
Advertise with Mother Jones

But perhaps most egregious of all is Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is not
even an elected official. Sanders, who is known for being former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee’s daughter and Trump’s press secretary for two years,
is challenging Hutchison to be Arkansas’ next governor. So, naturally, she
had to weigh in on the surge in her state in an op-ed—placing the blame on
none other than…President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! “If President Biden, Vice President Harris, and others on the left truly care
about increasing the vaccination rate and saving lives,” she wrote, “they should admit they were wrong to cast doubt on Operation Warp Speed and
give President Trump and his team the credit.”

When Trump was still in charge and downplaying the virus, he was also
bragging about Operation Warp Speed, a government program that fast-
tracked the vaccine. At presidential debates, Harris and Biden both said
that they would take a vaccine, only if it had been approved by scientists
and public health officials—not the former president. (After all, Trump
had once wondered aloud about ingesting bleach to kill the virus.) But
Sanders took their comments out of context and said that because Harris
and Biden had cast doubt on the vaccine, people in Arkansas are hesitant.
Never mind the mind-blowing premise here. Does Sanders really expect us to believe that Republican voters are taking their cues from Biden and
Harris?

The latest coronavirus surge has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reissue a mask recommendation even for vaccinated
individuals in states where there has been a surge of infections of the
new variant. The current state of the public health crisis now feels
eerily similar to summer 2020, when no vaccines were available. After all, Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yet again will contort
that narrative in the most destructive way.

On a personal level, it can be frustrating to see so many people choose
not to get vaccinated. They’ve made things more dangerous for everyone.
But railing against them, as Ivey did, is misguided. The idea that
personal freedom is more important than public health has become a do-or-
die tenet for Republicans—literally. There’s something obscene about
seeing them act surprised by what their own voters truly believe. The GOP leadership has turned masks, lockdowns, and now vaccines into a culture
war. Conservatives spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents. The increase in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is indeed tragic for everyone. But Republican leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)