Author: Heather Cox Richardson

We the People? Why Republicans believe that “the government has no role in protecting the population”

We the People? Why Republicans believe that “the government has no role in protecting the population”

Posted by | Jul 24, 2021 |

On July 20, the Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends personality Steve Doocy told viewers to get the coronavirus vaccine because it would “save your life” and noted that 99% of the people now dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Brian Kilmeade answered that not getting the vaccine is a personal choice and that the government has no role in protecting the population. “That’s not their job. It’s not their job to protect anybody,” he said. It is, of course, literally the job of the government to protect us. The preamble to the Constitution reads: “We the People of the...

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Pandemic of the Unvaccinated: America grapples with skyrocketing deaths after spread of misinformation

Pandemic of the Unvaccinated: America grapples with skyrocketing deaths after spread of misinformation

Posted by | Jul 18, 2021 |

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told reporters on July 16 that the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases has jumped almost 70 percent in the prior week. The United States reported more than 33,000 new cases on July 16. Hospital admissions have jumped about 36% over the same period, to about 2,790 a day. And, after dropping for weeks, the seven-day average of deaths per day has also increased, rising 26% to 211 deaths per day. Walensky called it “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Fully vaccinated individuals can still get Covid-19, but...

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What the Future will bring: America faces the most significant test of its democracy since the Civil War

What the Future will bring: America faces the most significant test of its democracy since the Civil War

Posted by | Jul 16, 2021 |

“Are you on the side of truth or lies; fact or fiction; justice or injustice; democracy or autocracy?” – President Joe Biden In a speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on July 13, President Joe Biden asked his audience to take a stand as he called defending the right to vote in America, “a test of our time.” Biden explained that the 2020 election has been examined and reexamined and that “no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards.” The Big Lie that Trump won is just that, he said: a...

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Two Americas: Why the national division has shifted to the Vaccinated and Unvaccinated

Two Americas: Why the national division has shifted to the Vaccinated and Unvaccinated

Posted by | Jul 15, 2021 |

News broke on July 13 that, under pressure from Republican leaders, Republican-dominated Tennessee will no longer conduct vaccine outreach for minors. Only 38% of people in Tennessee are vaccinated, and yet the state Department of Health will no longer reach out to urge minors to get vaccinated. The change affects not only vaccines for the coronavirus, but also all other routine vaccines. On July 12, Tennessee’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tim Jones sent an email to staff saying there should be “no proactive outreach regarding routine vaccines” and “no outreach whatsoever regarding the HPV vaccine.” The HPV vaccine protects...

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The greed of fossil fuel: An opposition to clean energy that can grow the economy and save our future

The greed of fossil fuel: An opposition to clean energy that can grow the economy and save our future

Posted by | Jul 12, 2021 |

Florida governor Ron DeSantis became the latest Republican governor to sign a bill making it harder for citizens to shift away from the fossil fuels that are changing the climate. The move came after Miami, which is in danger as sea levels rise, proposed cutting carbon emissions by banning natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. The bill was written by lawyers for utility companies, based on a pattern written by the American Gas Association. Lobbyists for the Florida Petroleum Association, the Florida Natural Gas Association and the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Home Builders Association, and the National Utility...

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From 2001 to 2021: The military mission of the United States in Afghanistan will finally end on August 31

From 2001 to 2021: The military mission of the United States in Afghanistan will finally end on August 31

Posted by | Jul 11, 2021 |

On July 8, President Joe Biden announced that the military mission of the United States in Afghanistan will end on August 31. We have been in that country for almost 20 years and have lost 2448 troops and personnel. Another 20,722 Americans have been wounded. Estimates of civilian deaths range from 35,000 to 40,000. The mission has cost more than a trillion dollars. Leaving Afghanistan brings up just how much the world has changed in the past two decades. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan a month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — which killed almost 3000 people...

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