THE REAL COVID CRISIS
Images of rioting crowds across the world protesting Covid emergency actions are the measure of a deeper malaise in our societies. The toxic individualism that rejects the authority of the government to act in the common good is a denial of the underlying social compacts that make government possible. The unvaccinated, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories, must at some point come to terms with the anarchy they advocate. They will find that self-preservation at the group level is a more potent driving force than mere ideology. While the Covid death rate is not high enough (yet) to warrant cornering people for forced vaccination, the government can so limit activities as to make the lives of the unvaccinated miserable. The push back will be an attempt to limit government, to strip it of its most fundamental purpose - defense from enemies within and without.
DEPLORABLES IDENTIFIED
Hilary Clinton took some big heat when she branded a sub-group of Trump followers as deplorables. The cries from flatland Republicans got some sympathy, but their protests were simply a reaction to having been discovered. But now they have been flushed out by the anti-vax movement What is more deplorable than a cohort of Americans who claim individual rights to resist good health practices in the common welfare while gobbling up health resources desperately needed by sick Americans whose illnesses gave them no options. Yes, this kind of selfishness is deplorable. And it puts Hilary’s name back into the mix for a 2024 presidential run. This time she’d trounce Trump by even more votes. Looks like Biden and Trump may be victims of buyers remorse.
BIDEN TOUGH
Joe Biden, sticking by his word despite mounting criticism from both parties, ended the American mis-adventure in Afghanistan and pulled out all our troops and more than 100,000 frightened civilians. Of course it was messy, but that’s because it was not anticipated that the Taliban would be in control. It was supposed to happen under the American puppet government. Yet Biden stayed the course and extricated the US from another lost war. Have we finally learned the lesson that very little hearts are won under the gun. Let’s see what happens in Syria. And Venezuela, And Cuba. Already more civilians have left Afghanistan with the Taliban’s blessing. The critics seem to be hoping for a further implosion, but this episode will be a win for the Democrats in the 2022 bi-election. Meanwhile, our military and intelligence services have to defend the botched job they did for 10 years. And the Congress needs to step up to meet its obligations under the Constitution.