Now We Rebuild
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.
I have returned from 6 days in Mexico … and now the real work begins!
Tomorrow is Friday, which is also Zoom Chat day. While my initial thought was to push back the first chat of 2022 until next week, l decided WTF, let’s do it live. So here’s the link and I’ll see you tomorrow at 12:30.
More On Mocking
I received some interesting comments on Tuesday’s piece about “the possibility of every life.” The one below from Jean Garren captures the sentiments of many: “I'll save my sympathy and caring for the innocent victims of this pandemic, those who are trying desperately to help them, and to their families” and not Kelly Ernby, who spouted anti-vax nonsense and subsequently died from Covid.
I completely understand not having empathy for Ernby — and preferring to have sympathy for others — but not because there's only so much empathy to go around. As reader Ben Goldberg-Morse put it in the comments, “One of the great things about sympathy and empathy is that they are not finite resources.” Ben’s point bears repeating: empathy is limitless, and we can choose to feel it for anyone, everyone, and even no one.
I want to be clear that I have no qualms with — and certainly no moral judgments for — those who disagree with my perspective on this. Ernby’s advocacy against vaccine mandates was dangerous and may have cost lives. It was indefensible. As a public figure, it’s also fair to judge her actions more harshly than others who didn’t get vaccinated and died from Covid. But it doesn’t mean (in my opinion) that she should be mocked or that her death isn’t a tragedy. And, as I said to one friend, ridiculing Ernby brings more pain to her friends and family. Is mocking someone’s death really worth that? I just don’t think so.
The Kids Are Alright
This week, I have a new piece up at MSNBC on the increasingly disconnected debate on schools and Covid.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of this raging debate is that there is no debate at all. American public schools are open, and it is nearly a universally held view that in-person learning should be the goal.
Indeed, this snippet from an NYT article on how Covid is roiling schools and forcing closures indirectly makes my point:
More than one million of the country’s 50 million public school students were affected by districtwide shutdowns in the first week of January, many of which were announced abruptly and triggered a wave of frustration among parents.
Let’s do the math on this: one million out of fifty million public school students is 2 percent. That means 98 percent of all public school students were in school last week — or approximately 49 out of 50 million children. I don’t mean to diminish the impact on those one million students, but this is not a national crisis or even a significant trend. As I note in the piece, to the extent there are disruptions today, they are being triggered by cases among staff: “Schools have not closed for public health reasons but because ever-rising cases have created staffing shortages that make opening impossible.” But clearly schools are making every effort to remain open.
All of this may change as omicron continues to traverse the nation. But the larger point here is that for all the sturm and drang about whether schools should close or stay open, the issue has largely been settled. Educators and policymakers have prioritized in-person learning over remote learning, and it’s highly unlikely that this situation will change any time soon.
The Era of Stupid
Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci made news when he was caught calling Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall a “moron.”
Fauci’s exasperated comment came after Marshall accused him of hiding his financial information from the public, even though, as the good doctor pointed out, it’s public information and has been for more than three decades. The thing is, Roger Marshall is likely not a moron (we’re not talking about Marsha Blackburn or Tommy Tuberville here). But he knows that attacking Fauci is a surefire way to appeal to his political supporters in Kansas.
Indeed, declaring open season on Fauci has become a key political talking point for Republicans. Here’s the aforementioned Blackburn going after him:
Here’s Rep. Chip Roy attacking Fauci for his alleged thirst for power.
And last month, Fox News host Jesse Watters referenced a "kill shot" while criticizing Fauci publicly. Aside from the fact that the criticisms of Fauci come from the fevered mind of the conspiracy-addled and politically cynical, Republicans are playing with fire. As Fauci mentioned in his testimony this week, a man was arrested last month in Iowa on his way to Washington D.C., allegedly plotting to kill Fauci. He had with him an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
As the GOP’s vitriolic rhetoric on Fauci has ramped up, so too have the threats on his life. And make no mistake, this is happening not because of anything that Fauci has actually done. It’s not because he’s lied about mask use or ensured funding for research in China that led to Covid or because he’s profiting from the pandemic. It’s because Republican officeholders see Fauci as a useful punching bag for their supporters’ grievances about public health restrictions and vaccine mandates related to Covid. And the more the doctor has become associated with the Biden administration’s Covid policies, the more he’s become a useful foil for their broadsides.
Indeed, several hours after Fauci called him a moron Marshall was on Fox News, once again attacking him. Being called an idiot is, from Marshall’s perspective, a political winner. It raises his name recognition within the GOP and allows him to play the victim. It’s a win-win in the grievance politics of the modern Republican Party.
The fact that all of this is putting Fauci’s life in danger — and forcing him to have round-the-clock security doesn’t seem to concern them one bit. The GOP behavior toward Fauci is not moronic … it’s malevolent.
What’s Going On
The Supreme Court has thrown out the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate, proving once again that the court’s conservative majority is not wedded to the law or even preservation of life, but rather right-wing ideology. People will almost certainly get sick and die because of this decision.
The Republican National Committee announced it will no longer participate in debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This decision has little to do with actual complaints about the commission but rather likely reflects a desire by the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, to not engage in a public debate with Joe Biden.
Federal prosecutors charged Stewart Rhodes, the head of the right-wing group the Oath Keepers, for organizing the plot to storm the Capitol on January 6. The charges suggest that the DOJ investigation into the day’s events is ramping up.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced in a Senate speech today that even though she supports voting rights legislation she will not agree to rule changes that weaken the Senate filibuster. According to Sinema, she continues to support the 60 vote threshold for passing legislation. Fun Fact: last year Sinema joined her 49 Democratic colleagues in supporting the $1.7 trillion American Rescue Plan. At this point I’ve given up understanding Sinema’s position on this, which is not remotely consistent and actually undermines her chances of remaining in the majority in the Senate and even winning reelection.
As for Joe Manchin, he’s just making stuff up.
Derek Thompson argues that America needs an “abundance agenda.”
Musical Interlude
You had to know I was going to recommend some live Grateful Dead after my aborted Dead and Company trip. I’ve been really enjoying this show as of late — June 26, 1974. This is a legendary performance that arguably contains the best China —> Rider the band ever did. It is chockful of funky greatness. The show has been immortalized on Dick’s Picks Volume 12.