In November the American people sent a pretty clear message to the far right that they are done with all the conspiracies and crap that they have been peddling for the past six or seven years. Apparently they haven't gotten the message.
This week there have been two more stories about how the far right continues to spread misinformation about the risks of Covid and the safety of the vaccines that are out in the marketplace. We also got our first look at who is dying from Covid and the news is not good if you are a follower of one specific party.
First some history.
Since early in 2020 there have been 1,112,944 deaths from Covid in the United States an inconceivable number of our family and friends that have died from this virus. The good news is that since the introduction of the vaccines this number has slowed down dramatically, so while people are still dying, they are not dying as fast as before the vaccines.
The Covid vaccines were extremely fast tracked to the market. Initial testing started in late 2019 and one year later they were approved. Compare this to the last medical emergency we had in the USA, Polio, when Jonas Salk gave his family the first test shots in 1953 and they were approved and given out in 1955. Most vaccines take between 10 and 15 years from start to approval as an example.
The first bit of news on anti Covid vaccines came last week from the National Bureau of Economic Research who looked into how your political party affiliation effected the death rate from Covid and the news isn't good if you are a follower of the Republican Party.
They studied the excess death rates in Florida and Ohio. These are the deaths above what is normal that can be attributed to Covid. What they discovered, by using the registered voter records, is that Republicans are 76% more likely to die from Covid than Democrats. It is almost impossible to believe the gap is that big. When you also look at the numbers that show 90% of people who consider themselves Democrats have been vaccinated compared to only 50% of those who claim to be Republican, you can see why these numbers are likely accurate.
Next up on the crazy list, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he was calling for the state Supreme Court to convene a Grand Jury to look into, and bring, legal accountability for those who committed misconduct and other wrongdoings associated with the Covid vaccine rollout. He also was going to create a Public Health Integrity Committee to "offer critical assessment" of recommendations and policies from federal agencies like the FDA and the CDC.
So what has this idiots hair on fire? It seems as if some other nut job in his cabinet claims that there are people contracting Myocarditis and Pericarditis in concerning numbers from the Covid vaccines. (So that you don't have to look this up these are inflammations of the heart muscle and outer lining of the heart, consecutively, that are treatable and go away in a few weeks.)
There have been 613 million Covid vaccine shots given to date in the USA. There have been confirmed 1000 cases of these two side effects, with no deaths. That is an almost impossible to calculate low number, percentage wise, and almost all cases have been in young men between the ages of 16-24 only. This is an exceedingly rare event that he is getting all worked up over. Another of his political ploys wasting taxpayer money for no reason.
Finally, the dopes in the Democratic party in Washington, yesterday, allowed these guys, the Republican caucus, in the Senate and the House, to add a rider to the bill just passed to fund the military. This rider will no longer make it mandatory for those serving in the military to be vaccinated for Covid. Forget the other 17 vaccines they must have to serve, Covid is now off that list.
Aside from just being stupid, it has now put the military in an awkward position. There are several countries where our military deploys that have a policy that everyone coming into their country must have a Covid vaccine. Now the leaders in the military have to check to see if the troops they want to send have been vaccinated or not causing potential problems if any need to be sent in a hurry.
This is just so idiotic that it defies common sense and for the Democrats to go along with this shit show is disgusting. I saw some crazy Republican Senator proudly mentioning their great success in getting this passed and demanding that Biden go on TV to show the whole world that the USA is not going to be pushed around by Russia, North Korea, or China. WHAT?!?!?!
The nuttiness of this once proud party knows no limits. It is going to take ten years of election cycles to root these dangerous far right extremists from government. Anyone who voted for these people should be ashamed. This is now a party of death and destruction of the Constitution.
In the meantime people are still dying because they believe the shit these clowns are telling them.