Most people will remember back when Covid was still being called Corona and the numbers began to climb that the president at the time suggested not only that a cruise ship should not be allowed to dock so technically the passengers with the virus would not be part of the number of people in the country who had it because they would not be on American soil but on a ship at sea, and even suggested that we do not have mass testing as the fewer people you test, the fewer will be found to have the virus, so the number of those with the virus would remain low.
The fish in the trawler’s net are only the ones in the net and are vastly out numbered by the number of other fish in the sea. You might fill the net quicker but smaller nets mean fewer fish no matter the relation of quantity to net size.
This don’t-look-and-it-isn’t-there attitude might look humorous in retrospect, but that is if you ignore the devastation of a pandemic that might have been controlled with actions based on reality not images, and a thing of the past. However, with Senator Schumer testing positive for Covid, the reaction reveals that that concept did not die.
As part of the reflexive action of automatically coming to the defense of the previous president for his failures to stem Covid while recommending the wildest and most dangerous snake oil cures, Republicans have resorted to the most outlandish proof that the Democrat’s approach to Covid and, therefore, Biden’s was a total disaster.
Their proof this time of policy failure is that in spite of all the precautions they have been taking, more Democrats are coming down with Covid than Republicans.
If the protocols worked, why so many with Covid?
The reality is this.
Besides recommending or mandating policies and protocols, the Democratic party has been attempting to lead by example much like Elmo did with his vaccination. As a result, Democrats get tested more frequently than their Republican colleagues so naturally register more positive results as compared to the small numbers found with so few Republicans getting tested.
The Republicans are rather happy about this because the Democrats who have been working to end or at least bring the virus under control and are getting tested and then stay away from the capitol for the sake of others will miss votes helping the GOP obstruct any progress under Biden.
Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal were unable to vote this week, but there had been nothing pressing in the senate that would have suffered from their absence. As time goes on, though, and as more Democrats test positive for Covid as we get hit by the soon to arrive variant, the GOP sails though the pandemic blissfully spreading the virus and blaming Biden for not controlling it, while potentially controlling the senate because of absences.
Party over public health.
Tim Kaine explained the situation this way.
“We need every Democrat. I would venture to suggest that the rates of infection are precisely identical between Democrats and Republicans. One group is publicly disclosing, and one group is not – that is my intuition.”
Since the beginning of March, 65 members of Congress have publicly reported positive tests and isolated themselves working at home as Schumer and Blumenthal did last week. Of that number because, either they have not been taking tests, but may have but, as was done with Republicans getting the vaccine when they first came out, saying nothing so as to appear anti-vax, or just have not disclosed that they took a test and what the results were, only six of them are Republicans who got tested.
While pointing at Democrats for overreacting by wearing masks, they present the image that only Democrats are getting the virus while by their refusal to find out if they are carriers and should take precautions to protect others the are quietly spreading it.
Even Republican lawmakers have conceded that Democrats probably test more frequently for various reasons.
Mitt Romney stated,
“We’re probably not reporting our results or offering as many tests.”
Senator Braun of Indiana sees it a different way.
“We’re in an endemic now, not a pandemic, and I guess you can continue that [testing] protocol as far into the future as you want to, but sometimes your policies can get to be very inconvenient when they don’t make sense.”
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana feels it is all Karma for the Democrats trying to save lives apparently.
“When you’re trying to put forward bad bills, you get attendance problems.”
In the House, physical attendance isn’t requirement to get things done if Covid has a member, or many, in isolation. Proxy voting is allowed, so the business there faces little threat.
The senate has no proxy voting, so attendance is important and Covid caution is seen as a blessing especially when two Democrat senators, Mancin and Sinema, already threaten the passage of bills by threatening a majority vote.
While the Democrats follow protocols. not just to protect themselves but also others, the Republican attitude can be summed up by South Dakota Senator Roger Wicker.
“I test when I’m asked to test. I wouldn’t be afraid to test if I had symptoms. But I’m not having symptoms, I’m not going out of my way to test.”
Apparently, he never sent for his free home test kits.
Some Republican Senators, like Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, have admitted to not having been tested since they took the test required for attending the inauguration in January 2021, and many admit they decline invites to the White House because a Covid test is required.
But, unlike the Democrats whose testing reveals the many who have the virus and who should take steps to control it, the Republican way has produced fewer positive test results, and is, thereore, the most effective aproach.
My head hurts.
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