Politics, COVID, and Legislation

First, I’ll give you a moment to say, “Aw” after seeing the cute kitten. Who could resist that face?

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I seem to preface many blog posts with, “I didn’t want to do it.” And this is another case of that. But, you who read my missives know that I can’t hold back when I need to speak out about matters of importance, so, here goes.

The state of our government and the wrangling in Congress just wears me down.

For months and months the House and Senate delayed passage of two important bills, because they couldn’t agree on so much of the content, and it’s been so disheartening to get the news reports on the debate that was filled with accusations and vitriol.

It was a relief on Friday to hear that the bill focused on infrastructure passed, but not after much trimming and arguing and political maneuvering.

The second part of Biden’s Build Back Better plan that was to bolster social infrastructure is still being argued over, with possibly a resolution by mid November.

Possibly.

We’ll see.

What has disappointed me most about the past year – yes it’s been a year since we elected President Biden, and he attempted to get the ball rolling on his plans – is the fact that it all became so politicized that senators and members of the House couldn’t seem to make a move without weighing how said move might affect their ability to get reelected in the future.

I’ve said it many times, but I’ll say it again, “That’s not how government is supposed to work.”

I blame both sides equally for taking almost a full year to enact legislation that should’ve passed last spring. Sadly, it’s hard to find a politician in D.C. – or most state governments – who actually focuses more on the job they’re supposed to do than next term’s election.

Term limits anyone?

That said – about blaming both sides – I have to admit that I’m more upset with some Republican governors and senators than the Dems. Some of those members of the GOP are quick to point fingers at the current administration, saying that all the problems facing us today, as well as the inability to pass legislation, are the fault of Joe Biden and the other top Democrats.

In just one example of finger-pointing, last summer Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blamed Biden for the rise in COVID. DeSantis said that it was the open-border immigration policy that led to so many new cases and deaths in his state. That statement’s so patently false, and The Washington Post has a good breakdown of fact and fiction in the article at the above link. It’s well worth the read.

To those people who say that Biden isn’t doing enough, or he’s personally responsible for the surge in COVID cases and deaths this past summer, I ask you to consider the fact that nobody could predict the devastation that the Delta 8 variant would cause. Before it reared its ugly head, we were on the road to recovery physically and economically. We thought the nasty corona virus was going away.

Last spring and early summer, new hope blossomed, and having that hope dashed was a hard emotional blow to all of us. Tough decisions had to be made and tough measures taken; many of those measures flying in the face of what people want or think they need. Now social media is ablaze with ranting about masks and vaccines, with much of what’s posted misinformation. (Boston University has a great breakdown of the Myths and facts of the COVID vaccines.)

If you think the vaccines don’t work. Consider the people who have died from COVID after loudly protesting against the medical community that was urging people to get the shot.

Also consider the case of my neighbors.

Most of the members of this family have been vaccinated, but the husband kept putting it off. Not because he was against getting the shot, but he worked long hours at his job and never seemed to find a good time to get it done. Six weeks ago, he came down with COVID, as did one of his sons. The son, who was vaccinated, recovered quickly from serious symptoms, but only had to be in the hospital for a couple of days. The father, was in ICU on a ventilator for most of the past six weeks until he died less than a week ago.

According to his wife, he’d recovered from the COVID, but it had left his lungs so badly damaged, he literally suffocated to death.

If any of you reading my blog today have not been vaccinated, I urge you to reconsider your reluctance. Don’t join my neighbor in heaven.

That is all.