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Anti-Vaccine Trumpist Focus Group Goes Horribly Wrong
Pollster Frank Luntz conduced a focus group with twenty vaccine-hesitant conservatives to discuss their fears about the coronavirus vaccine. Polls have shown that Trump supporters are among those least likely to take the COVID vaccine and Luntz wanted to figure out why. The results from the focus group were deeply concerning, with many of the participants echoing bogus reasons for not getting the shot. Some said they had more fears about the COVID vaccine than they did about catching COVID itself. Others pointed out that the development was too “rushed” or that the vaccines aren’t safe or efficacious.
Ultimately, much of the group’s vaccine skepticism went back to politics. Right-wing skepticism over the severity of coronavirus is now affecting the vaccine rollout. One participant in the focus group said, “if you really want us to trust the science, I think politics has to be taken out of it.” It is Trump and his allies on the right who made the virus political. It did not help that the former president took his shots in private and still refuses to give a full-throated recommendation for his supporters to get immunized. In other developed countries, matters of science like disease are not political. But in the United States, our level of discourse has been dumbed down to the point where people view things like vaccines and the severity of COVID-19 as up for debate and a left/right issue.
Equating Guns to Cars is Really Stupid
Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, commented on two recent mass shootings in the United States during a congressional hearing and made some really dumb comparisons to driving automobiles. Kennedy argued that guns should not be restricted or banned over the shootings, because society does not do the same with cars over drunk driving accidents. This is part of an ongoing effort from Republicans to prevent gun control legislation, even though basic measures like background checks are supported by their own voters. Kennedy said on Capitol Hill yesterday, “we have a lot of drunk drivers in America that kill a lot of people. We ought to try to combat that too . . . the answer is not to get rid of all sober drivers.”
Senator Kennedy’s analogy falls apart for a few different reasons: For one, cars are not designed or intended to kill people; car deaths are almost always accidents. Guns, on the other hand, especially military-style assault weapons, are designed to kill people and most gun deaths are homicides or suicides. Further, there are already plenty of restrictions on cars and those who can drive them. People have to obtain and renew a license in order to drive and in many states the vehicle has to be inspected and insured. People die in vehicle accidents, but society has made a number of restrictions, from speed limits to seatbelts, to reduce the number of fatalities. The same can be done with guns, while still allowing people to own weapons and keeping in place the Second Amendment.
From yesterday’s show:
Trump Lawyer Says All Her Election Claims Were Lies
Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell is trying to get a lawsuit dismissed against her by Dominion Voting Systems. Powell is being sued by Dominion for $1.3 billion over allegations of defamation during the presidential transition period. On many occasions, Powell claimed without evidence that the voting machines were rigged to change Trump votes to Biden votes. Now, she is trying to get out of the lawsuit by making a compelling case — that no reasonable person should have believed her. Powell’s lawyers said in a statement, “those members of the public who were interested in the controversy were free to, and did, review that evidence and reached their own conclusions—or awaited resolution of the matter by the courts before making up their minds.” This defense is similar to those of Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones when they were in legal jeopardy. When consequences are on the table, these folks claim to just be playing characters and argue that people shouldn’t be taking them seriously.
--More on the show:
--Joe Biden is reportedly considering a $3 trillion infrastructure package as his next major initiative
--The NRA bragged about blocking a bill banning AR-15 rifles just days before one was used to kill ten people in Colorado
--33% of Republican voters believe that Republican lawmakers voted for the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that was recently passed, despite the reality that not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for it
--Donald Trump releases a bizarre "future of the Republican Party" list, which is mostly made up of people that suck up to him
--Looking at the primary reason that so many independent media shows fail to ever become sustainable
--Jeopardy, a game show based on facts and empirical knowledge, invites pseudoscience-peddling "Doctor Oz" to guest host the show
--Voicemail caller wonders when Republicans will start blaming the recent mass shooting in Colorado on Joe Biden's air strikes in Syria
--On the Bonus Show: Oakland launches guaranteed pay plan, South Dakota Governor aims to block trans athletes from nationwide competition, roads getting deadlier for pedestrians, much more...
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