Here is a suggestion for journalists: Every time Republican officials complain about President Biden's new vaccine mandates — or threaten to file a lawsuit against the federal government — those officials should be asked how they propose to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control.
You don't like the president's new rules? How would you do better? What's your plan?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Vaccine mandates are heavy-handed. At this point, however, they are entirely justifiable. America is once again facing a dire COVID-19 emergency. The country is facing the equivalent of 9/11's death toll every two days. Hospitals across the country are staggering under the pressure of overflowing ICUs. All of this carnage is driven largely by the unvaccinated. The tools to fix the problem, or at least substantially mitigate it, are sitting there unused by the people who need it.
It's a catastrophe that cries out for a solution. Biden, whatever the faults of his plan, is offering one.
Republicans do have the power and responsibility to help bring about solutions — they control the governorships of 27 states, after all. And there are conservative ideas to tackle the crisis. Ross Douthat, the New York Times columnist, has suggested the federal government should offer to write big checks to Americans to entice them to get their shots. Presumably there are other freedom-honoring proposals from the right. But while some GOP governors have made the case for vaccines to reluctant constituents, the party's leading players have mostly devoted their policy energies to campaigning against vaccine passports and mask mandates. The results have been disastrous.
Right now, they're making the problem worse.
The GOP's obstinacy has caused some progressive commentators to conclude the party is actually encouraging COVID's spread to undermine Biden's presidency. I'd like to believe that's not true. Unless Republicans start offering solutions, though, their unstinting opposition will continue to look cynical — and worse, have deadly ramifications for their constituents.
-
The rise in unregulated pregnancy scansUnder The Radar Industry body says some private scan clinics offer dangerously misleading advice
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind,’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Nick Fuentes’ Groyper antisemitism is splitting the rightTalking Points Interview with Tucker Carlson draws conservative backlash
-
Is Mike Johnson rendering the House ‘irrelevant’?Talking Points Speaker has put the House on indefinite hiatus
-
Young Republicans: Does the GOP have a Nazi problem?Feature Leaked chats from members of the Young Republican National Federation reveal racist slurs and Nazi jokes
-
Will Republicans kill the filibuster to end the shutdown?Talking Points GOP officials contemplate the ‘nuclear option’
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Actspeed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
