There is no "back to normal" so let's stop saying it
Politicians owe us one thing... specificity as to what we are and aren't allowed to do
End the tyranny of “back to normal”
I demand the end of normal.
Well, more specifically an end of the hunt for “normal.”
In Joe Biden’s first national address since becoming president he promised us a slice of normal. He said that by July 4th we could have small outdoor gatherings with friends and families.
For some this infused a little hope into the summer. The famously reclusive candidate tipping his baby toe into the waters of optimism. Offering a prescription that (while loaded with qualifiers) actually inspired… hope.
For others it’s an eyeroll. Thanks for the permission Joe but some people have been having “small outdoor gathering” for over a year. Right Boosie?
This brings me to my larger point.
Normal is a state of mind. It’s a feeling. Artists should define normal. Poets can tell us when it’s returned.
Normal doesn’t mean the same thing to all of us. Some of us think normal isn’t far away or would be comfortable if some parts of a pre-COVID world never came back. Others are desperate for the ability to move about freely. Some have totally disregarded lockdown measures from the jump.
Which brings up another point. From the opposite ends of that perspective, their perceptions of the opposing ends “normal” is very scary. Reckless. Deadly.
Side note on Biden’s speech which in general I found effective, if dour. He missed a very easy moment to give Trump credit for Operation Warp Speed. It could have been an easy, “me and the former president don’t agree on much but we agree that Operation Warp speed put these vaccines in our hands faster than they would have gotten here otherwise.” The benefit wouldn’t have purely been Sorkonian bipartisanship. But rather a way to thaw vaccine hesitancy with white Republican Trump voters by tying said vaccines to someone they admire. Unfortunately for Joe Biden and #NeverTrump #Resistance, getting to 70% national vaccine adoption is going to mean convincing people Joe isn’t currently reaching. Any little bit can help, Biden didn’t want to reach for it.
But that’s minor. I really only want one thing from politicians in regards to COVID messaging: specificity.
The vague concept of “a return to normalcy” was something we could muse about during 2020 before significant portions of the country were being vaccinated. We’re around that bend now.
The onus for all politicians is to detail all lockdown measures and explain exactly the metrics for which they will be recalled.
Not normal. Restaurant capacity?
Not normal. Gathering restrictions?
Not normal. Theater operation?
Not normal. Indoor school schedule?
Not normal. When can I go see Rage Against the Machine live in concert which I have now missed out on twice in my lifetime, once because they broke up in the 90s before they played a tour stop with the Beastie Boys in Boca Raton and more recently because of COVID at Oracle Arena in Oakland?
That last one might be personal.
But you get my point.
We can agree to disagree on what’s normal. But we can all agree that I deserve to see Rage Against The Machine in concert and every level of government needs to be painting a very clear picture of when that can happen.
Celebrity activist Sarah Silverman out of party politics?
Does Cuomo survive the week?
When it’s New York State Democrats, it’s a headline in the New York Post.
When it’s federal congressfolk from New York State, it’s a headline in the Washington Post.
When both Senators from New York State tell you to resign in unison it might be time to start thinking about your post-government career.
The women keep coming. The damning pieces about a toxic work culture are appearing too.
The only stops left in the Democratic Party org chart are Biden and Obama. As long as they stay silent Cuomo can still hold out hope that he can ride this out.
While I have been a steadfast proponent of betting Cuomo would survive this, even I’m getting a little nervous here. He doesn’t seem to have his friends in high places coming to his defense. Even a leaked “Biden is waiting to see the Attorney General report” would give him cover.
If he does go down, what a glorious time for it to happen! We are rounding the bend into anniversary season for #Cuomosexual Twitter.
Please respond to this email with the worst-aged Cuomo tweets.
I will run every single one of them on Wednesday’s newsletter.
Every.
One.
Trump’s email to Twitter pipeline
The former president isn't on Twitter anymore, he’s just moved to my inbox and I don’t think I’m thrilled about it.
After his first missives were more traditional long-form fare about issues he cared about (Mitch McConnell sucking, the Wall Street Journal sucking, Karl Rove sucking) he has now reverted back to his bite-sized Twitter style in large part because it’s easier to tweet about.
But that’s not what’s annoying.
What’s annoying is that he’s been kind of boring.
Obviously, by politician standards Trump is still active and colorful but by OG Trump Twitter standards… he’s kind of… lame?
The most controversial thing he’s said is that Herschel Walker should run for Senate, which is just kind of like a decent idea?
No retweets of bizarre egg accounts. No misspellings. No tweet storms that bound the world together.
Also… I guess I miss the circus. Everyone freaking out like it was the end of the world. Severing friendships, damaging reputations. Pure carnage in the digital streets, dignity smeared on pavement with every thrust of tribal warfare.
No one ever started a fight like Donny.
Oh well.
You can never go home again.
Rubio: Union Man
Marco Rubio backed the Amazon union in Alabama. It’s a naked attempt to rework his image as a working class hero to take advantage of the demo Trump left. It’s smart.
Just wanted to get that out there.
Does the EU have a vaccination problem?
The two biggest things I am watching to see if they develop this week are Biden’s response to what is happening on the border and the vaccine rollout in the EU.
Let’s focus on the EU situation.
Effective vaccine rollouts (based on Bloomberg’s excellent tracker) seem to be happening in the US, UK and Israel with a few smaller countries making the list as well.
In the US, 21% of the population has received at least one shot, therefore building immunity as the virus wanes from its winter peaks. In the UK it’s 36%. In Israel it’s 56%.
It comes as no coincidence that the US and UK are countries where the most popular vaccines were developed.
But the rest of mainland Europe? Not so great.
Countries that defined the pandemic a year ago have been slow on the uptake. Spain is at 8%. Italy and France are both at 7%. Even Germany is at 7%.
This is becoming an active problem as variants are beginning to push their COVID case numbers up again.
What’s more? The most prevalent vaccine in Europe, AstraZeneca, is now being suspended in EU countries like Ireland and the Netherlands. The reason why? A blood clot issue with some patients that got the vaccine.
AstraZeneca says nothing in their trials suggested the vaccine could be the cause and considering it’s current usage the clots are more statistically likely to be random. But beyond the current lost time, you can’t imagine the stoppage will do anything to excite people to get the vaccine once it’s available again.
In response to the suspension the UK said they will continue to vaccinate. The whole situation hands a total gift to Boris Johnson and Brexit fans who now can say he got vaccinating faster than any country on the planet AND kept doing it while the EU blinked.
On top of that there is a shortage. The US is unwilling to part with any of our stash of AstraZeneca even though we haven’t even approved it for use here.
As we begin yet another COVID year we are going to see the real-time effects of vaccines as the UK and US continue to trend down in the face of the variants while EU countries like Italy and Germany begin to look northward again.
And that’s that for this newsletter. Respond with your thoughts or leave a comment. I got vaccinated last week and I encourage you to do so. Mostly because I think we should all go to Boosie’s pool party this year.
- Justin