Issues with vaccine distribution – Despite predictions, the COVID crisis survives the election – The misgivings of Sarah Longwell – AOC redeems herself – Republicans vs. conservatives – Evening statistics
I am unable to divert my thoughts from political matters today, even though the news headlines are not particularly dramatic. Indeed, as I noted earlier, the new administration is operating on a much more even tenor than the previous one. The only concern I came across today that is not overtly political is the status of the COVID vaccines in Virginia. Even though Ralph Northam is the only governor who is also a licensed physician, Virginia has been ranked as the fifth least effective of the states in administering the vaccines to its residents. I fall into Category 1B (over 65) and consequently am eligible. I accordingly applied for mine a week ago and have not heard yet when I’ll be allowed to make an appointment, let alone as to the timeframe I can expect to reserve one. It appears that my prediction of late February to March remains the most likely date I will get my first dose, if indeed that is not over-optimistic.
One of the allegations that the Republicans slung about during the recent election was that the issue of the coronavirus was merely an excuse to denigrate Trump and that if Biden were to win the race it would immediately disappear from social media outlets, having served its purpose. And a great gratification, I am sure, it must be for them to realize that this dire prediction of theirs has missed the mark and that we continue to lose between three and four thousand to the COVID virus every day. The legacy of the most worthless administration in the history of this country will thereby rest in its proper place.
Yesterday Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist, warned that Donald Trump will control the GOP for the next decade if Senate Republicans don’t vote to convict him. She said that McConnell should be saying that “this is our chance to be done with Trump.” But, she added, “I am worried that that is not the direction they are going to go.” I’m not sure why she is so tentative about the matter. I know it’s not the direction that they are going to go. Of the 50 Republican Senators, 45 have already voted to dismiss the motion of impeachment. That does not make the prospect of 17 Republican Senators voting for conviction next month very likely.
I’m beginning to have a greater respect for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez than I did previously. I still believe that she was far too lenient towards the rioters in various cities who over the previous months have looted and have caused untold damage both to property and people. But I must admire her “Don’t Tread on Me” attitude. AOC, as she calls herself, recently condemned the stock-trading app Robinhood after it blocked trading of GameStop stocks. When Ted Cruz offered to co-sign her condemnation, she immediately shot back, “I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out.” Needless to say, the Republican legislators reacted with varying degrees of shock and horror at such candor, with Representative Chip Roy, of Texas, issuing a formal letter of complaint to Nancy Pelosi. However, when a group of armed terrorists yelling death threats enters a building and forces the legislators within it to take refuge in a sheltered room guarded by police for hours on end, I think that could reasonably be looked upon as a murder attempt. And Ted Cruz deliberately fueled the passions that led to the siege on the Capitol. It may well be that Cruz, Josh Hawley, Louie Gohmert, and possibly even Donald Trump himself were all playing with fire without even considering the possibility that it might scorch and burn. But that does not make them any the less culpable.
What a rabid anti-Republican I’ve become over the past few years! – and over the past several months in particular. And yet I think of myself as a conservative in my outlook and rather to the right of the majority of my friends and relatives. The president in recent times whom I admire the most is Ronald Reagan. But if Reagan were to see the Republican party today, he would not recognize it. Because Trump was able to carve out a certain voting bloc whom other Republicans did not wish to alienate, they truckled and bowed down to his every whim, as servile as the commissars in the Soviet Union whom they once denounced so fiercely. As for the spirit of amity that Reagan made his trademark:
I do give lost, for I do feel it gone, But know not how it went.
(Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act III, Scene 2)
I suspect that many are in my position, favoring policies such as restricting immigration to those who enter the country through legal channels, setting up methods for welfare recipients to break through the cycle of perpetual dependence, exercising restraint in financial matters, and so on, who feel utterly betrayed by the party that they once believed to have their interests at heart. Trump, Cruz, Hawley, et al. incited an insurrection that desecrated our beautiful national capital, and their shame will be long remembered.
George Will, a fellow-conservative who is vehemently anti-Trump, said two days ago: “we remember vaguely what it meant to be a conservative — fiscal prudence, free trade, limited government, rule of law, good manners. All of those things were jettisoned over the last four years. And now Republicans are trying to relearn the script.” Greatly as I respect his judgement, I am unable to believe him; I see no evidence that the Republicans are trying to relearn anything or to lift a finger to unshackle themselves from the MAGA-maniac.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 102,590,505; # of deaths worldwide: 2,214,261; # of cases U.S.: 26,501,797; # of deaths; U.S.: 447,146.