This is a monologue from my radio show. Subscribe here for only $7/month or $70/year for premium content. I think the President should have taken a different approach because I think the approach he took is one that is going to harden positions and make it harder for people to want to get vaccinated. I am pro-vaccine, I'm anti-mandate. I think the vaccines work. I'm proof the vaccines work. My wife is as well. There are breakthrough cases, but again, this is part of the problem. It now turns out the media has overstated breakthrough cases. It turns out they were talking like almost anyone could get a mild case of the Delta variant if they were vaccinated. It turns out it's one in 5,000. You have greater risks for birth control medicine than you do from a vaccine, and yet we're not worried about birth control medicine. If people are freaked out about the vaccine, it works. The problem is that the President was deeply divisive in how he approached it, here's the start of his speech.
You know this isn't about our health when Biden isn't forcing Congress (or USPS) to get the vax. Also, forcing someone to get the vax is like forcing someone to become a Christian. You can't. You can only live your life, be an example, and let the non-Christian (or non-Vaxxed) determine if he/she wants that type of life. In marketing it's called "attraction marketing". They want what you have. You can't force or shame someone to become a Christian...nor can you (or should you) force or shame someone to take the vax.
Debating the legality of this is an interesting exercise but ultimately pointless. This is a political action to try to resolve a political problem. The Democrats, after spending all of 2020 disparaging the vaccines and most of 2021 claiming there wouldn't be a national mandate for their use, have no political capital to spend to encourage people to get vaccinated at the same time they are feeling the impact of the COVID situation on their popularity. The logical, and legally very supportable, way to get this done would be through action at the state level. The Democrats know that would be tremendously unpopular among their own supporters if the statistics on who the vaccine-hesitant are can be believed, in addition to noting the resistance of teachers unions to vaccine mandates and the probably exemption of postal workers from the ones Biden just announced. Attempts to advance this at the state level would result in electoral revolts in 2022 and more immediately an impact on Newsom's recall chances. Ultimately this is probably going to go nowhere from a legal standpoint but it does open the door to many companies as well as private organizations to start demanding proof of vaccination for employment and participation which has two benefits for the Democrats. It further marginalizes conservatives who feel that vaccination is not needed, regardless of reasoning, as well as not impacting a significant group of Democrat supporters whose participation in the economy is also marginal.
"We've been patient with but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us."
Finally, Joey has taken off the velvet glove to reveal the steel fist. Frankly, this one sentence scares me. What happened to the Joe Biden who promised to push for "unity" in his Inaugural Address? Was that just another lie, or did the anonymous cabal which actually runs this Administration put more words in the mouth of its marionette?
Welcome to post-Constitutional America, a place in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can dictate whether property owners can collect the monies which they are owed by their tenants, and an agency set up to seek safe working conditions can dictate a worker's decision as to whether or not to take a medical treatment. It's blatantly, gloriously unconstitutional, but as the phrase "post-Constitutional America" implies, what that document says is far less important than what the ever expanding, ever more dictatorial administrative state sees as acceptable behavior of its subjects.
In ancient Rome, the Imperial system came about because Roman rulers appealed to the passions of the mob, and because the Roman Senate abdicated its responsibilities to govern. Similarly, we have a post-Constitutional America because successive Congresses have abdicated their duties to legislate, and ceded that power to the unelected bureaucracy, which was all too happy to impose its will on we, the people, with the approval and active cooperation of a series of Presidents who saw this as the easiest workaround the checks and balances the Founders set up as a firewall against such behavior.
It's not about what the COVID vaccine is or is not, how or if it works as advertised, or what the subjects of the regime in power want for themselves. Now, it's all about what that unelected cabal of nannies and tin horn dictators decide is best for the subjects, and the individual's essential liberties be damned.
Eric you sound so confident that the vaccines work. How do you know? Just because you got it and nothing to you. My thinking bout is this. Our government is evil. The way they are promoting this vaccine means something sinister is afoot. I hope I’m wrong. This is a virus. When have we ever treated a virus this way? Has it occurred to you that the government could be mandating treating patients the same way regardless of individual circumstances. The ventilators could be the reason people are dying not Covid. I’m sorry for your friend but think man think. Nothing about this is right. Nothing at all. And under no circumstances would I have ever give my children an emergency vaccine. It’s fine if you wanted to get it but why subject your kids to it? What’s the point?
So was the guy you knew of who died on the vent a week ago allowed to take Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine a few weeks before when his symptoms first appeared? Chances are he wasn't for a lot of political reasons. Had he taken either but especially IVM he likely would have been out of the hospital today and fully recovered. Both these products are FDA approved but not for Covid. One even won a Nobel Prize for medicine. Sadly, both have become political and most doctors are afraid to prescribe them off label (which is legal) under the threat of the loss of license. Covid will continue to rage on because the present vaccine is largely a failure. At best it is a therapeutic given in advance of the disease and not even a very effective one at that. Because it allows spreadable infections it does not build the sterile immunity which is required to build herd immunity, the ultimate pandemic killer. The way all this will end is when enough people get the disease and join those already immune from having had it. Therapeutics like IVM and HQC can help those infected to recover without getting seriously ill and come out of the illness with sterile immunity.
That Biden only mentioned one therapeutic (Regeneron), neglected to mention 100,000,000 Americans with natural immunity (superior to and longer lasting than any PMJ jab) and provide a path forward for those of us who are safe for having had Covid; tells me that this is not about stopping a pandemic but still the same old politics that has been involved from the beginning.
Hopefully the Republicans can find some very smart constitutional lawyers that can take this OSHA rule to the Supreme Court and get Chevron rained in. Too many executive agencies have way too much unchecked power. We need to constrain future administrations no mater who sits in the oval office.
No one with the slightest knowledge of human nature who actually wanted Americans to be vaccinated would have said the things he did.
"We have been patient but our patience is wearing thin"? Really, Joe? Are you using the royal "we", there? Or merely talking to us as if we, the American people who pay your damn salary, were recalcitrant children who are now going to be disciplined by our betters?
Either way...he just guaranteed that the "vaccine hesitant" are now going to be even more completely dug in to refuse to be vaccinated against Covid, and with every crowing statement about "knuckle draggers" his supporters make on social media, anger and resentment will grow apace.
Oh, and it's not "free", not by any means. American taxpayers are ponying up for each and every shot, whether they receive it or not...our great, great, great grandchildren will STILL be paying for this.
Biden may try to escape Afghanistan, but he won’t succeed. Tomorrow is going to be a rough, sad day for a lot of people. As we mourn those that lost their lives fighting terrorism and as images of the Taliban celebrating their “victory” proliferate, the anger towards Biden’s screw-up and tyrannical behavior will only rise. Things are about to get really, really bad…sadly.
First, WHY are Biden and the government consistently ignoring those who have natural immunity? Many countries break down the population into vaccinated, unvaccinated, natural immunity (3 categories), but here, only 2. Thoughts as to why?
Second, you quoted Biden in your post, saying "The bottom line, we're going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers." Can you make sense of that comment? He's saying that the vaccine works, that the symptoms are low, etc., but then vaccinated people are at risk?
Biden is mandating all Federal employees must be vaccinated. What is the percentage of African Americans on the Federal Payroll and I read that African Americans are a very high percentage of UNVACCINATED people. Will Joe fire those African Americans who will not comply with his mandate? Just a question I wish someone would ask him. The agency may discipline or bar the employee; how's that going to go over?
You know this isn't about our health when Biden isn't forcing Congress (or USPS) to get the vax. Also, forcing someone to get the vax is like forcing someone to become a Christian. You can't. You can only live your life, be an example, and let the non-Christian (or non-Vaxxed) determine if he/she wants that type of life. In marketing it's called "attraction marketing". They want what you have. You can't force or shame someone to become a Christian...nor can you (or should you) force or shame someone to take the vax.
Debating the legality of this is an interesting exercise but ultimately pointless. This is a political action to try to resolve a political problem. The Democrats, after spending all of 2020 disparaging the vaccines and most of 2021 claiming there wouldn't be a national mandate for their use, have no political capital to spend to encourage people to get vaccinated at the same time they are feeling the impact of the COVID situation on their popularity. The logical, and legally very supportable, way to get this done would be through action at the state level. The Democrats know that would be tremendously unpopular among their own supporters if the statistics on who the vaccine-hesitant are can be believed, in addition to noting the resistance of teachers unions to vaccine mandates and the probably exemption of postal workers from the ones Biden just announced. Attempts to advance this at the state level would result in electoral revolts in 2022 and more immediately an impact on Newsom's recall chances. Ultimately this is probably going to go nowhere from a legal standpoint but it does open the door to many companies as well as private organizations to start demanding proof of vaccination for employment and participation which has two benefits for the Democrats. It further marginalizes conservatives who feel that vaccination is not needed, regardless of reasoning, as well as not impacting a significant group of Democrat supporters whose participation in the economy is also marginal.
"We've been patient with but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us."
Finally, Joey has taken off the velvet glove to reveal the steel fist. Frankly, this one sentence scares me. What happened to the Joe Biden who promised to push for "unity" in his Inaugural Address? Was that just another lie, or did the anonymous cabal which actually runs this Administration put more words in the mouth of its marionette?
Welcome to post-Constitutional America, a place in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can dictate whether property owners can collect the monies which they are owed by their tenants, and an agency set up to seek safe working conditions can dictate a worker's decision as to whether or not to take a medical treatment. It's blatantly, gloriously unconstitutional, but as the phrase "post-Constitutional America" implies, what that document says is far less important than what the ever expanding, ever more dictatorial administrative state sees as acceptable behavior of its subjects.
In ancient Rome, the Imperial system came about because Roman rulers appealed to the passions of the mob, and because the Roman Senate abdicated its responsibilities to govern. Similarly, we have a post-Constitutional America because successive Congresses have abdicated their duties to legislate, and ceded that power to the unelected bureaucracy, which was all too happy to impose its will on we, the people, with the approval and active cooperation of a series of Presidents who saw this as the easiest workaround the checks and balances the Founders set up as a firewall against such behavior.
It's not about what the COVID vaccine is or is not, how or if it works as advertised, or what the subjects of the regime in power want for themselves. Now, it's all about what that unelected cabal of nannies and tin horn dictators decide is best for the subjects, and the individual's essential liberties be damned.
Eric you sound so confident that the vaccines work. How do you know? Just because you got it and nothing to you. My thinking bout is this. Our government is evil. The way they are promoting this vaccine means something sinister is afoot. I hope I’m wrong. This is a virus. When have we ever treated a virus this way? Has it occurred to you that the government could be mandating treating patients the same way regardless of individual circumstances. The ventilators could be the reason people are dying not Covid. I’m sorry for your friend but think man think. Nothing about this is right. Nothing at all. And under no circumstances would I have ever give my children an emergency vaccine. It’s fine if you wanted to get it but why subject your kids to it? What’s the point?
You’re right Erick, and after college football, Americans won’t be talking about Joe’s mandate either.
So was the guy you knew of who died on the vent a week ago allowed to take Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine a few weeks before when his symptoms first appeared? Chances are he wasn't for a lot of political reasons. Had he taken either but especially IVM he likely would have been out of the hospital today and fully recovered. Both these products are FDA approved but not for Covid. One even won a Nobel Prize for medicine. Sadly, both have become political and most doctors are afraid to prescribe them off label (which is legal) under the threat of the loss of license. Covid will continue to rage on because the present vaccine is largely a failure. At best it is a therapeutic given in advance of the disease and not even a very effective one at that. Because it allows spreadable infections it does not build the sterile immunity which is required to build herd immunity, the ultimate pandemic killer. The way all this will end is when enough people get the disease and join those already immune from having had it. Therapeutics like IVM and HQC can help those infected to recover without getting seriously ill and come out of the illness with sterile immunity.
That Biden only mentioned one therapeutic (Regeneron), neglected to mention 100,000,000 Americans with natural immunity (superior to and longer lasting than any PMJ jab) and provide a path forward for those of us who are safe for having had Covid; tells me that this is not about stopping a pandemic but still the same old politics that has been involved from the beginning.
Hopefully the Republicans can find some very smart constitutional lawyers that can take this OSHA rule to the Supreme Court and get Chevron rained in. Too many executive agencies have way too much unchecked power. We need to constrain future administrations no mater who sits in the oval office.
Really good analysis Erick. Ferreting out the minutia. Won’t get this anywhere else.
No one with the slightest knowledge of human nature who actually wanted Americans to be vaccinated would have said the things he did.
"We have been patient but our patience is wearing thin"? Really, Joe? Are you using the royal "we", there? Or merely talking to us as if we, the American people who pay your damn salary, were recalcitrant children who are now going to be disciplined by our betters?
Either way...he just guaranteed that the "vaccine hesitant" are now going to be even more completely dug in to refuse to be vaccinated against Covid, and with every crowing statement about "knuckle draggers" his supporters make on social media, anger and resentment will grow apace.
Oh, and it's not "free", not by any means. American taxpayers are ponying up for each and every shot, whether they receive it or not...our great, great, great grandchildren will STILL be paying for this.
Biden may try to escape Afghanistan, but he won’t succeed. Tomorrow is going to be a rough, sad day for a lot of people. As we mourn those that lost their lives fighting terrorism and as images of the Taliban celebrating their “victory” proliferate, the anger towards Biden’s screw-up and tyrannical behavior will only rise. Things are about to get really, really bad…sadly.
Good article Erick.
Two thoughts/questions.
First, WHY are Biden and the government consistently ignoring those who have natural immunity? Many countries break down the population into vaccinated, unvaccinated, natural immunity (3 categories), but here, only 2. Thoughts as to why?
Second, you quoted Biden in your post, saying "The bottom line, we're going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers." Can you make sense of that comment? He's saying that the vaccine works, that the symptoms are low, etc., but then vaccinated people are at risk?
Thanks Erick!
Biden is mandating all Federal employees must be vaccinated. What is the percentage of African Americans on the Federal Payroll and I read that African Americans are a very high percentage of UNVACCINATED people. Will Joe fire those African Americans who will not comply with his mandate? Just a question I wish someone would ask him. The agency may discipline or bar the employee; how's that going to go over?