I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality of American politics. If you received this email - or you are a free subscriber - and you’d like to subscribe: you can sign up here.
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First some quick housekeeping. The holidays are fast approaching, but Truth and Consequences will continue to publish, though on a slightly abridged schedule. I’ll be focused on writing some shorter pieces, mainly looking back at the year that was with additional thoughts on what lays ahead for 2022. I think we’re probably all a little burned out on politics, so I’ll try to keep things a bit lighter. In addition, with Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both coming on Friday — and I’ll be traveling at the beginning of the year — the Friday Zoom Cast is going on hiatus until mid-January, though I’m planning to throw a few podcast conversations into the mix between now and then.
Broken Clock, Right Twice A Day, Etc
In an interview with Candace Owens, released yesterday, former President Donald Trump did two genuinely remarkable things: he said something that was both truthful and helpful.
Donald Trump: I came up with three vaccines — all are very, very good. I came up with three of them in less than nine months. ....
Candace Owens: And yet more people have died under COVID this year, by the way, under Joe Biden than under you. And more people took the vaccine this year, so people are questioning how —
Trump: Oh, no. The vaccine worked. But some people aren't taking it. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take the vaccine.
But its still their choice, and if you take the vaccine, you're protected. Look the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it's a very minor form. People aren't dying when they take the vaccine."
Trump also called the vaccines "one of the greatest achievements of mankind,” which is typical Trumpian hyperbole … and also true. These latest comments come on the heels of the former president telling Bill O’Reilly, in an interview, that he’d gotten his booster and urging others to do the same. In contrast, back in September, he told the Wall Street Journal that a booster shot was “probably not for me.”
So what the hell is going on here?
The most obvious explanation for anything Trump does is ego inflation. As noted above, he told Owens, “I came up with three vaccines” (which truth be told is not true unless you think Trump was in the lab himself cooking up vaccines). He said to O’Reilly, “we did something that was historic, we saved tens of millions of lives worldwide when we, together, all of us, we got a vaccine done." Trump wants credit for the vaccine development that occurred under his watch as president.
Trump also received praise this week from President Biden, who, in his Tuesday speech on the COVID situation, thanked the “prior administration and our scientific community” for making America “one of the first countries to get the vaccine.” Even coming from his political enemies, validation for Trump is like oxygen for the rest of us. Coming out to support getting vaccinated and boosted means he’s likely to get even more praise.
Is it pathetic and sad that Trump only makes a public call for vaccinations when it inflates his ego? Of course, but if it leads to just a few of his supporters getting vaccinated, sign me up. I could care less what encourages Trump’s fans to get the shot. I care that they do it, and more needless tragedies can be avoided. We already know that the vaccination divide — and the COVID death divide — is primarily a Trump-Biden divide. Indeed, this data, put together by National Public Radio, tells a stark tale:
Will Trump’s words motivate his supporters? It’s worth noting that when Trump offered his endorsement for boosters at a conservative political event, he was booed. But, if there’s any person that can push the vaccine-hesitant to do the right thing, I have to think it’s Donald Trump. At the very least, this might encourage a few of his prominent political supporters — and even the talking heads at Fox — to echo his words. Nothing else seems to be working so maybe this will do the trick.
Vaccine Politics
There is one other possible explanation for Trump’s comments: the politics of 2024. If Trump is going to run for reelection — and we should assume that he will — taking a victory lap on vaccines makes sense. It gives him a chance to tout perhaps the only positive policy accomplishment from his time as president. Moreover, Trump can contrast his views with those of his fellow Republicans, many of whom are openly catering to the anti-vaxxer crowd. As more Americans get vaccinated — and the numbers are still slowly rising — the positive political impact of remaining vaccine-hesitant will likely start to diminish, even among Republicans. So Trump may be trying to get ahead of the curve and as he often did in 2016 — on issues like free trade, Social Security, and Medicare, and immigration — and make sure he stands out from the rest of the Republican crowd.
But, again, Trump’s motivation is of secondary importance. Our ability to get past the pandemic depends on the millions of unvaccinated Americans getting a shot. If Trump’s statement helps further that goal, it’s worthy of praise and amplification. Believe me, there are still plenty of other reasons to dislike Donald Trump.
What’s Going On
To further the aforementioned point, according to a new congressional report, Trump’s response to COVID, as president was, as hard to believe as it might seem, actually worse than we thought. Trump “deliberately sabotaged” the federal response. The White House interfered with the issuance of CDC guidance, including removing a recommendation that church congregants wear masks and take other health precautions. Trump’s aides pushed the FDA to approve hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID. Even worse, the White House actively tried to slow down COVID testing to keep numbers low and get people to go back to work. So yeah, he’s still horrible.
Very smart piece by Paul Waldman on Joe Manchin’s catastrophic lack of imagination.
The US Army may have created a COVID vaccine that works against all COVID variants.
Yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
Musical Interlude
My two favorite Christmas songs.
Wait a second....how is it that the news about the Army having created a universal covid vaccine isn't being trumpeted by every news outlet on Earth? Is this an April Fools joke 4 months early? What gives? Also, while I liked both of your choices for favorite Christmas songs, take a listen to this for shear vocal virtuosity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJ0fiD0lkc