Related: On Wednesday morning, Hillary and I were approaching the 59th St
Bridge on the Queens side, when we observed a very noisy demonstration outside
a public school. The demonstration was a protest against the vaccine mandate
for students. The issue they were claiming was personal autonomy and none of
the demonstrators appeared to be masked. Not only did they block the side
street but some of them were on the entrance ramp divider, attempting to get
drivers' attention. The police stood by, doing nothing. My guess is that they
were on the crazy side of the spectrum. Eric
________________________________
From: uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of Marshall Spector <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 8:21 AM
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [uupretirees] Opinion | On Vaccines and More, Republican Cowardice
Harms America - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/opinion/republicans-vaccines.html<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F10%2F28%2Fopinion%2Frepublicans-vaccines.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130431777%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8GDqjB4SWLQ2PNGGlCJx0pvGdc3owV4%2FqflmAwkeApU%3D&reserved=0>
Cowards, Not Crazies, Are Destroying America
Oct. 28, 2021
[https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/opinion/28krugman1a/28krugman1a-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale]
Justin Helmick/EyeEm, via Getty Images
Sign up for the Paul Krugman newsletter, for Times subscribers only. A guide
to U.S. politics and the economy — from the mainstream to the wonkish.
Back in July, Kay Ivey, governor of Alabama, had some strong and sensible
things<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2F2021%2F07%2F23%2Falabama-governor-covid-vaccinations-500638&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130431777%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=4JTlI8JI3hvRfdtIPn9VGc3HUdkJtzFs2Ep9W%2F7eQNU%3D&reserved=0>
to say about Covid-19 vaccines. “I want folks to get vaccinated,” she
declared. “That’s the cure. That prevents everything.” She went on to say that
the unvaccinated are “letting us down.”
Three months later Ivey directed state agencies not to
cooperate<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fcoronavirus-pandemic-business-education-alabama-health-ae9981614061559de1cb02480e6e605d&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130441766%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=pownOBMsZih3l5olxTIvERdRSrX14uPgHcodU5ILcYc%3D&reserved=0>
with federal Covid-19 vaccination mandates.
Ivey’s swift journey from common sense and respect for science to destructive
partisan nonsense — nonsense that is killing tens of thousands of Americans —
wasn’t unique. On the contrary, it was a recapitulation of the journey the
whole Republican Party has taken on issue after issue, from tax cuts to the Big
Lie about the 2020 election.
When we talk about the G.O.P.’s moral descent, we tend to focus on the obvious
extremists, like the conspiracy theorists who claim that climate change is a
hoax and Jan. 6 was a false flag operation. But the crazies wouldn’t be driving
the Republican agenda so completely if it weren’t for the cowards, Republicans
who clearly know better but reliably swallow their misgivings and go along with
the party line. And at this point crazies and cowards essentially make up the
party’s entire elected wing.
Consider, for example, the claim that tax cuts pay for themselves. In 1980
George H.W. Bush, running against Ronald Reagan for the Republican presidential
nomination, called that assertion “voodoo economic
policy<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Do8hnM6xNjeU&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130441766%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=FfEls9olGdl%2FANcY83Um0rSyn5U3SbKZ8ltqg1zY3Gk%3D&reserved=0>.”
Everything we’ve seen since then says that he was right. But Bush soon climbed
down, and by 2017 even supposed “moderates” like Susan Collins accepted claims
that the Trump tax cut would
reduce<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fmeet-the-press%2Fvideo%2Fcollins-tax-bill-will-cut-deficit-through-economic-growth-1108604483897&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130451761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=1K3KKWqsxS44O4PDnMGL28jzfb4AbuxEjXokL6AJIY8%3D&reserved=0>,
not increase, the budget deficit. (It increased the deficit.)
Or consider climate change. As recently as 2008 John McCain campaigned for
president in part on a proposal to put a
cap<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2008%2F05%2F13%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2F13mccain.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130461757%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=DeaVGMU0vbVYo9BdfFl8lj%2FcrYBQMJCOQa0tQF4Dz6g%3D&reserved=0>
on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But at this point Republicans in Congress
are united in their
opposition<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brookings.edu%2Fblog%2Fplanetpolicy%2F2021%2F05%2F10%2Frepublicans-in-congress-are-out-of-step-with-the-american-public-on-climate%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130461757%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=L6cF%2BFBkXkROHOUBIu%2Befn8mLF9WXRc8hedFDHqnSl8%3D&reserved=0>
to any substantive action to limit global warming, with 30 G.O.P.
senators<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanprogress.org%2Fissues%2Fgreen%2Fnews%2F2021%2F03%2F30%2F497685%2Fclimate-deniers-117th-congress%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130471752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=j%2F1LaCb7loqyGdeOU6m7gyK4J6tBJGLAtsVAw7CFwY8%3D&reserved=0>
outright denying the overwhelming scientific evidence that human activities
are causing climate change.
The falsehoods that are poisoning America’s politics tend to share similar life
histories. They begin in cynicism, spread through disinformation and culminate
in capitulation, as Republicans who know the truth decide to acquiesce in lies.
Take the claim of a stolen election. Donald Trump never had any evidence on his
side, but he didn’t care — he just wanted to hold on to power or, failing that,
promulgate a lie that would help him retain his hold on the G.O.P. Despite the
lack of evidence and the failure of every attempt to produce or create a case,
however, a steady drumbeat of propaganda has persuaded an overwhelming
majority<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2021%2F09%2F15%2Fpolitics%2Fcnn-poll-most-americans-democracy-under-attack%2Findex.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130471752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=D5wabRXX%2B3M%2BP28M1Iu6fjwYVvOaP%2FvAwr2A77lqg5E%3D&reserved=0>
of Republicans that Joe Biden’s victory was illegitimate.
And establishment Republicans, who at first pushed back against the Big Lie,
have gone quiet or even begun to promote the falsehood. Thus on Wednesday, The
Wall Street Journal published, without corrections or fact checks, a letter to
the editor from Trump that was full of demonstrable
lies<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fpolitics%2F2021%2F10%2F27%2F14-things-you-need-know-about-trumps-letter-wall-street-journal%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130481744%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=kdq%2Ffj3ywDKZEy38YZdl9hhPLv3bkpjCbGdV%2Bz%2F3oQY%3D&reserved=0>
— and in so doing gave those lies a new, prominent platform.
The G.O.P.’s journey toward what it is now with respect to Covid-19 — an
anti-vaccine, objectively pro-pandemic party — followed the same trajectory.
Although Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott claim that their
opposition to vaccine requirements is about freedom, the fact that both
governors have tried to stop
private<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.texastribune.org%2F2021%2F10%2F11%2Ftexas-greg-abbott-covid-19-vaccine-mandate%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130491741%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=GQLdy%2BEZl2G9DmcnNcCOwzdY23a9C%2BojRmecKgv8Mac%3D&reserved=0>
businesses<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fnicholasreimann%2F2021%2F10%2F21%2Ffloridas-desantis-calls-for-ban-on-employer-vaccine-mandate-days-after-similar-effort-fails-in-texas%2F%3Fsh%3D726aff7d61fc&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130491741%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=38qruJC%2BSh5nyAqhaSFed73eieAoP%2BBaJUrAeNu9aCc%3D&reserved=0>
from requiring customers or staff to be vaccinated shows this is a smoke
screen. Pretty clearly, the anti-vaccine push began as an act of politically
motivated sabotage. After all, a successful vaccination campaign that ended the
pandemic would have been good political news for Biden.
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We should note, by the way, that this sabotage has, so far at least, paid off.
While there are multiple
reasons<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F10%2F15%2Fopinion%2Fcovid-vaccines-unvaccinated.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130561699%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=q8xy4JAkdy7sUn9LB6h7GtCrLKTqUnulLbqm5fuDNas%3D&reserved=0>
many Americans remain unvaccinated, there’s a strong correlation between a
county’s political lean and both its vaccination
rate<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Facasignups.net%2F21%2F10%2F24%2Fweekly-update-us-covid19-vaccination-levels-county-partisan-lean&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130571699%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=nMXPKAHt9380SLzx5VL8LAWWUhHAiC%2Fj%2BBWXSmdpaWM%3D&reserved=0>
and its death
rate<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Facasignups.net%2F21%2F10%2F25%2Fweekly-update-covid19-case-death-rates-county-partisan-lean-vaccination-rate1&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130571699%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=NvSw4pq8tuNJ9UhLrcGCKEGpKQkE9f7zbggK2IUHt98%3D&reserved=0>
in recent months. And the persistence of Covid, which has in turn been a drag
on the economy, has been an important factor dragging down Biden’s approval
rating.
More important for the internal dynamics of the G.O.P., however, is that many
in the party’s base have bought into assertions that requiring vaccination
against Covid-19 is somehow a tyrannical intrusion of the state into personal
decisions. In fact, many Republican voters appear to have turned
against<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fpolitics%2F2021%2F10%2F13%2Fslippery-slope-gops-anti-vaccine-mandate-push%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C0cf58bd3298347f62ffa08d99ad6afce%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637711069130581691%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=P1cMC%2Byd3Hl6Pzg4pR1RTn3sL1ay1x7HZL7CtarHvug%3D&reserved=0>
longstanding requirements that parents have their children vaccinated against
other contagious diseases.
And true to form, elected Republicans like Governor Ivey who initially spoke in
favor of vaccines have folded and surrendered to the extremists, even though
they must know that in so doing they will cause many deaths.
I’m not sure exactly why cowardice has become the norm among elected
Republicans who aren’t dedicated extremists. But if you want to understand how
the G.O.P. became such a threat to everything America should stand for, the
cowards are at least as important a factor as the crazies.
