Young kids are handling COVID 'less childishly' than Bari Weiss, other 'done with COVID' elites, MSNBC host says
While hospitals are still fighting a huge wave of COVID-19 cases, verified talking heads on social media and TV are having a heated discussion about whether we should be "done" with the pandemic. (Not that the pandemic cares: New U.S. cases and hospitalizations are starting to fall from record highs as the Omicron surge peaks, but an average of 2,018 Americans are still dying each day from the virus.)
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan went on a "60-second rant" Sunday night about the "done with COVID" crowd, singling out Bari Weiss and her denunciation of ongoing COVID restrictions on Friday night's Real Time With Bill Maher. "The people who should be complaining right now are our overworked health-care workers," he said, very fast. "But no, it's never them moaning or whingeing about the pandemic — it's the Bari Weisses and Bill Mahers and Tucker Carlsons of this world!"
"My young children have handled this pandemic more maturely and less childishly than the likes of Bari Weiss, who — I'm sorry — can't go to as many indoor parties as she'd like to," Hasan concluded.
Subscribe to 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.
Weiss made a slightly more nuanced case on Real Time, while Maher's other panelist, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), noted that restrictions are easing even as people are still dying from COVID-19 in large numbers.
Alex Pareene, in the essay Hasan cited, said he finds "the tenor of discussion around COVID-19 restrictions genuinely bewildering," because "there basically aren't any." Despite the "well-publicized opining" from "people for whom COVID-19 is just a thing they are sick of hearing and thinking about," he argued, "the United States is powering through the Omicron wave with its usual enforced individualism. The hard restrictions on our activities are, for the most part, not mandated or enforced by the state, acting at the behest of liberals who refuse to go back to normal because they are addicted to panic and quarantine; the limits are imposed by the virus that isn't going away."
Pareene noted that his child's New York City school, like most schools, is open, even though lots of students and teachers are out with COVID. "As usual in the United States," he said, "the people who won the political argument are now complaining the loudest that they're dissatisfied with the results, and, apparently, it's all the fault of the losers." Read his full essay at The AP (Alex Pareene) Newsletter.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortable
The Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in Russia
Speed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Sri Lanka's new Marxist leader wins huge majority
Speed Read The left-leaning coalition of newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 159 of the legislature's 225 seats
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden arrives in Peru for final summits
Speed Read President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, visit the Amazon rainforest and attend two major international summits
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Senate GOP selects Thune, House GOP keeps Johnson
Speed Read John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader, and Mike Johnson will remain House speaker in Congress
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump tests GOP loyalty with Gaetz, Gabbard picks
Speed Read He named Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Both have little experience in their proposed jurisdictions.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published