Welcomes the commentary magazine Daily Podcast. Today's Monday September. When he seventeen twenty twenty one. I am John ports. The editor of Commentary magazine with me, as always: executive editor, a remote hi Ho Jon senior writer, Christine rose high, Christine Hygiene and back with us after a two day break Associate at Renault Rossman Heine our job, ok, so

if you're following the gigantic Whoopi, do in Washington this week. The it's like it's like a time When you are, moving and your kid graduating from high school. And your parents are having a fiftieth anniversary party and- There's a hurricane coming all at once, so we have the hard infrastructure bill. We have the reconciliation bill. We have the debt ceiling and we have the government funding and government shut down. All I hitting their crisis moments this week in this war they period today, Monday September. Twenty seventh was supposed to be the day according to the agreement that was struck in August

for the house to vote on the hard infrastructure bill which, as people may remember, is the bill that funds actual transportation things and construction projects and passed Through the Senate filibuster Proof majority, but is threatened in the house by progressives who do not want to vote for it because they want to use the bill as leverage to force the moderates in their caucus, who do want to vote for it, but don't want to vote for the three and a half trillion dollar reconciliation bill to vote for the three five trillion dollar reconciliation? So Nancy Pelosi Thou speakers finding herself in a position where she needs to figure

out a way to get that bill to the floor and voted on without it being destroyed by members of her own party and, as she said yesterday, she won't bring a bill to the floor of the house if she doesn't have the to pass it, and she postpone this vote that you promised for this afternoon until Thursday presume because she didn't work out and they don't have the votes to pass it. The one piece of legislation in America over the past. You know four years that actually has bipartisan support and left. His Democrats are right now in a position to kill it, so they don't have the votes today. Clearly, why are we I'll have the vote on Thursday? What's gonna change?

she just came to the progressives, she's undermining moderates significantly. This was their demand and their demand has been sacrificed. So where did these votes come from? What is what does she put on the table to sweeten the package for progressive now, because their entire their demands are entirely contingent on the Senate, doing things well,. Here's one way of looking at it and and and and Christine as our resident liberal whisperer. Maybe you can help us here, some, a friend of mine who knows who has forgotten more about. You know serve like the ins and outs of democratic carcass politics them than them. I will ever know. And his point is that we are misunderstanding: the depth of democratic support for the social infrastructure bill.

As he said, ninety percent of the Democrats in the house would happily vote for them. bill, and ninety percent of the Democrats in the Senate would happily vote for that bill and Ninety percent of those ninety percent would have voted for six trillion, so in fact, among Democrats, elected Democrats in the house, in the Senate, the soft infrastructure great society package is vastly more popular, then

smaller hard infrastructure bill, and so what we don't understand is that's actually the bill. The Democrats want that's what they want. We're saying: what are you crazy? You could get this success by, can count a success of the great with independence and kill the Republicans on their heels, and they want three and a half to six trillion dollars in new social smoke, but happily that somehow our system works because, happily, we still occasionally elect Democrats in red States and Republicans in blue ones, and that's what's stopping it, which is exactly how our system is

post to work because, however much the Democrats are very eager to embrace this new kind of social spending, which I still kind of and baffled by the fact that that is, if I am a liberal whisper, I have talked a lot of my friends about this now. This is good. This is what we ve been heading towards what this country needs. They never used the word that the Democratic and Congress, including anti, posing, use all the time which is transformative there actually trying to downplay how much this costs, but the average American is concerned about the causing there haven't been enough responses, partly by the Biden. Ministration, were spent support miss this push for spending about how this is all gonna get paid for, and I think that's probably word that there's a lot of people are going her, even if the Democrats of it well there's been one big response which, The president of Europe, because nothing, it costs nothing. It's analysed Christmas, you because it because it's gonna come out of taxes.

which, as we all know, is nothing Catherine, ran PAL economics columnist for the Washington Post became the subject of a twitter com the mercy over the weekend because she went on some show. I think, on CNN and said everybody is talking about the cost of this bill and the truth is that's ridiculous, because the bill isn't gonna cost anything once it's, because it's gonna be paid for right and Republicans. Conservatives are friends stuff, while, like all went berserk and said what is this like? This is crazy. I mean so so. Tax cuts, which return the money to tax payers cost, but spending that takes money from taxpayers and spends it at the federal government level,

is cost free. This is now the pretzel logic that has come to dominate respectable, liberal economic thinking, which is in the end you gonna do this. It's gonna have all these wonderful positive consequences: they'll be better health care outcomes, they'll be better educational outcomes because of early childhood spending, they'll be better climate change outcome, so they'll be fewer storms that will that will engender as much public emergency spending is you have to use, and over time this is actually going. This is an investment that is going to pay off in economic growth and total wonderment.

The bill. The small version of the bill represents, I believe, well to thirteen percent, would add twelve to thirteen percent. all GDP in the United States over the GDP, the United States is like twenty two trillion right. This bill is three and a half trillion dollars are granted spread over I'm not large, but you're talking about now, I'm not over the smaller version, not the six trillion dollar version, Three and a half trillion dollar version. Six trillion dollar version. What is six trillion out of twenty two trillion? That's like almost thirty! That's like thirty percent anyway, whatever is, but it's going to cost anything cause. It's all gonna have these wonderful consequences, and if there is one thing we know about gigantic large scale: federal

programmes. It is that they have all kinds of consequences and a lot of them are bad and some can be good and it's ridiculous, say: they're, not Medicare Party has been a success. I think everybody serve acknowledges that this new entitlement, even though its you know it has had some financial deleterious consequences, has been a success and a lot of people said It was going to be a catastrophe, so you can't say that all government spending is bad, but when you can say they were going to spend three and one slash two to six trillion dollars in one go. they're going to be all kinds of weird effects that it's going to have just like. We saw this year, not that those those effects were all that weird you subsidize unemployment and you get more unemployment. That's what happened! That's why we still have a labor shortage or why the labor shortages? Probably now that's because the federal three hundred dollars a week Svensson is now over, and people can

we must therefore go back to work and fill those nine million empty jobs. Here was somebody who's said just recently moved and looking for service providers. I can tell you that the labour shortages nowhere near over ants get hit. It's free, terrible, but right back to your friends point in thinking about this. If his logic holds and its true that what Democrats really love, is this metaphysical infrastructure belfry point five trillion? What they don't love is the hard infrastructure bill. Then republicans are legislative geniuses without parallel, because then they manage to kill this proposal in June by forcing Democrats to acknowledge the distinction between what they want to say is infrastructure everything under the sun and what you think of when you think of the word infrastructure that messaging war ended in Republicans favour in over the early summer.

late spring early Tsar and its essentially citizen Cora trajectory that let us here, which is maybe get us nothing, nothing at all or old age. I had been hesitant to give Republicans that much credit honestly that that's that's what this does. What his logic, oh yeah, I think I'll. I don't think it's it's too, that the sort of negative credit enough of the abide administration who came up with this. You know wacky, I get a call social spending infrastructure. It was a bad that was the bad message that was bound to fail. It didn't it doesn't take a genius to today,

That message right, that's kind of the point I'm trying to make okay, so the global cat. So who was it who said is of Herodotus? I came over which Greek said whom the gods to ask will assume the gods to store. They first make man right that that is the. So we talk about this. The other day game out the last nine or ten months Biden wins the election with exactly the same number of electoral voters, Trump four and a half million vote margin. Entire margin come from Europe in California, which is internationally, which is fine. He wins by forty three thousand boats and three states Trump, one by eighty, eight thousand votes in three states, whatever doesn't really matter same electoral margin, no coattails right. democratic majority shrinks and the house, they don't take the Senate that, as in November right, they did their they're down

Down in the Senate, Trump Dense goes bananas and depresses about in Georgia and Democrats democratically, two seats in Georgia, and suddenly they have fifty seats. or forty eight seats, plus two independence carcasses with them. They have fifty seeds plus the plus the vice president game. This out and trumped doesn't do that and they don't have those its and they really dont have them, because, even though there are fifty nominal democratic seat, it turns out they have forty eight, because there are two democratic Senators Mansion Cinema who are not with the programme. so they are nominally with a, but you know, and cinema hasn't voted against Biden once in in the in the last nine months. So she had a hundred percent voting record democratic voting. But on this she said, I'm not doing it and mention the cinema. Doing. So whatever happens happens and the Democrats

combination of utopian frenzy and terrified panic about everything, decide to shoot for them right. There's gonna shoot for the moon and the panic is Republicans or on the march to limit voting rights and to do another, their controlling elections and states, and their gerrymander do whatever it is they're gonna do, although of course all that is happening in deep breaths tickets, unclear its unclear like why that's so terrible for them. It does really changed following its happening in Massachusetts that republican trompe Republicans are taking over the elect. We know the elections process. Nonetheless doing all this. We have this period of time until the mid term elections, and then everything is going

way. So we have to do this and do as much as we can as fast as we can to stave off. You know a disaster, including apocalyptic environmental disaster, in the form of will, however, much spending in this joint bills for climate change and everybody's with us, love. This built, like look at the polling, ask people: do you want a lot of free stuff they say. Yes, it up so Biden. You know people somebody once said to me. Somebody who worked for Trump said to me that he only things that had the next five minutes. That's why Why why so much like? Isn't any given situation? He'll say the thing and it said it get him through the next five minutes gloating in depositions and things like that.

I don't see how Biden as much different this whole thing that you pointed out about how they called it. The infrastructure bill was a solution to a particular problem at a given moment in time. It sounded good at the time. The consequences of it are the logical call these with it. We're not enough tat people go do. Maybe we shouldn't do that, because it is establishing a parallel baseline that the bull screw us up like? Let's not do that, let's call it something else build back better, which is what they started to call it, and nobody like that. So then they pulled in it said people like infrastructure, so they called it infrastructure now now they they screwed it all up. Every turn of the road here every twist and the Biden Road involves decisions that are being made without much for thought about where they are going to lead six weeks

Peter, including, of course, the biggest and most horrible thing that happened, which is the Afghanistan pull out where apparently nobody was allowed to game out what the consequences would be, but we're having this absolutely right now, but this that this is now now there there's some restlessness among among the left about that. The rights of last week remember there is this much much fanfare made about how bindings gonna just so down with these different groups? He had them all. Unto the White House he's gonna talk it out, he's gonna solve everything. Is that's what he does. That's what he ran on its efforts at all, or nothing came of it still. Tat still am ass, an morning, we have a lot of moderate Democrats leaking to political and other news outlets. Hang fighting needs to do something you should get on the phone to take a stand. He needs to actually encourage people to act in a particular way. This whole

Listening to or not that the horror listening mood is not working, but it's not clear, as you say, John, it's up clear that they can pivot when things go badly, so he wanted to have the perception of competence in management and bi partisanship, but he doesn't actually want to make the hard decisions about forcing month, after the other to cave or baby. He can't force, though, when right this way what I have just described to us by the meadow coattails, he didn't win them the Senate. He lot. Fifteen seats in the house were lost right. He got himself elected, they got trump out that that is the unifying twin Twenty thing was we gotta get traumatic here, and the Democrats succeeded in that aim and they succeeded in almost nothing else, and maybe Biden just has no sway. I mean you know He should want a democratic president to succeed, and the analogue to Trump therefore, is interesting because trumpet also had very little sway in the earth.

we going among Republicans, then scared the S out of them. Let me keep did it through intimidation like he went and intimidated the Republicans he went after Corker, he went after flaking. You know he endorsed primary potency, scared, the politicians and the party who thought he said in a way what that ever. We just do whatever we're gonna do because he's not any isn't a damaged and governing all that so binds not scaring them. He's got no coattails. He doesn't seem to have the public with him, even though they in a big days until a couple weeks ago, they seem to like him when they disliked him. who's. You gonna pushed push around what he has to go to them and say this: is it like my purse? currency, is over that what you want it September beat outwards. Gonna be the beginning of October of twenty twenty one. You are going to end my presidency,

you're going to lose next November. I am going to be a figurehead. The Republicans are going to run everything and they're going to win in twenty. Twenty four. Is that what you want is that something Biden can say cuz. I don't think he thinks it's because he's an idiot and it's the truth, but he's a moron because you say to him: you're gonna be f the areas like I'm gonna be acting. Are you know yeah Let's pull out of Afghanistan summonses. Maybe we shouldn't he's like you shut up, let's get out a backroom that at least the least, that was a clear objective, articulated. Clearly I want out I don't care how we get their progressive reporters in Europe clearly favourable towards leftwing objectives. Their greatest right now is that people like Dimension Chris Cinema just in southern Africa

they're very unclear about what their demand risk and Jill Abram Kirsten Cinema. I believe that my correct. I have no idea. How has this been along weakened the so they're very unclear about what their demands are? They don't say what the price they would sit over the years can build brand and Kyrgyzstan Cinema blacks. Are two persons gladly cleaner to check that it so but they sang out. Then only appears that yes, Socrates, Send it back into Kamel a territory just because we were stuck in that Maria S. We worked with modest here's a little eyes out its ways. Verdicts go ahead some anyway, yes,

very clear about what they want? They don't tell you what they want, and so they're kind of stringing us along in the least charitable interpretation of that is that their stream along in order to kill the whole process. That's what their latest frustration, as with these two centres in particular, but Joe Biden doesn't particularly what he wants either. Apparently, in this meeting he didn't make any demands of anybody you didn't establishing. Oh he likes to establish timelines. It established timelines. He said on the moderates. You'd moderates into figure out some sort of an offer to progressive

and just google the at work can do it, which is again terrible, Mangi, real style, Donald Trump wasn't very good either because he would tell you exactly what he wanted and then changed my two minutes later until you exactly what he wanted now it conflicts with what he wanted to minutes ago by at least here ticketed objectives and and generally he would have accepted whatever. Whatever the Republican led Congress would hand him by and large and Joe Biden probably is in the same position. He would do it. It would sign what what's put in front of him, but he's the one who put all these demands on Congress he's the one who said that the progressive strategy now he's the one who said I want to go. That does by hard infrastructure bill unless it is accompanied by the unit everything else package, so he's mimicking down trumps style in a way that, I think, is reflective of why his presidency is not going so well, because, as will, the two of them have very distinct tonal,

urges to politics. There. Managerial style is very similar in so far as he sort of deeds. Justice has is no hand on the tiller. Know him until rather kind of thing he's just backing off in living Congress. Sick leave and Congress doesn't function that what had I want to know, and I think it's an excellent point out- it's not just the managerial style it. It dictates the goals to write. He just wants big things they ignore. There's a big pushes, let you ok, let's begin booster shots now push him out gets go at. Let's grab So now I don't care how wild, but do you know there's nothing is targeted. Nothing is nuanced. It's it's! It's not just in the strategy, its it's also in the ambitions themselves. That's really important because I think that's probably why they only talk about these bills and in their in terms of their cost, that the price tag wrote the only reason. No, it would we talk about the reconciliation.

Deletion bill as the three point. Five trillion dollar bill: that's how it's! No! No it because of its price. Had that's how that shorthand for this bill and that's what they want. They want to spend big numbers and do really big things and that's how they qualify it literally by by the price tag, but that's also why it's gonna fail. If it fails, it will fail because of its mammoth gigantic price tag and the fact that nobody knows what is supposed to do brother but Chris, but Christine my friend says when Biden siding with the progressives. He is in

siding with the vast majority of the elected officials and his party. If he sides with mansion and cinema, he is actually siding with a tiny majority minority in his party in Washington, but I do not reflect the parties but does reflect more Americans. I think I think that's the distinction and he has that line tat, tat, walk which folks in Congress do not. He has to answer to everyone and re election in a few years, and I dont think that most Americans to knowest point they don't even know what all this money getting spent on and, however much you promised people free stuff and some of it I think, is actually supported by the public people do want paid leave. People want a lot of these things, but Americans also want to know how that's gonna get paid for, and people dont want to. Tax increase right out.

Oh. I am not convinced that he's not trying to block that line for himself and his own political interests and that's a separate issue from a Congress congressional Democrats want, themselves. If you want to know about unintended consequences of large scale, american government economic policy, you should turn to our friends at the bonds group and David bonds to news letters, the deed, It's a data com and dividend cafe dot com. This is some over arching subject of his writings that emerge from the bonds and group. a three billion dollar financial management and consulting and services firm by coastal. That David runs with twenty eight associates, I believe, and and and he

applies very serious macro and micro, economic analysis to daily numbers and weekly events, to try to figure out what you, an individual investor, the people that he advises on how to invest, need to do to protect themselves from from large scale, government action that may have deleterious consequences or to figure out how to profit from some of these changes. If there is profit to be had so goaded, dividend cafe, dot com and subscribe to bond since two newsletters Divan CAFE and the deceit today that one being daily, obviously different, CAFE being weakly and be enlightened.

and better educated about all these topics that we are talking about with from our friends at the bonds and group, the antidote to the intellectual, spaghetti of the financial services and management industry a little more about Congress and some of the other way ancillary weirdness is that have been going on. I was struck by, and we talked about this on Friday, everybody's talking at the weird behaviour of Alexandria, Pass Cortez, changing her vote against iron dome having having helped spike the funding for the iron dumb or the inclusion of the iron funding to replenish iron, domes

he missile system in the continuing budget resolution on Tuesday and then having a stand alone vote on Thursday that she then, instead of voting no on voted present harder than dissolved into tears, go ahead precisely because we, I love our listeners, because that discuss on Friday prompted several insightful emails, several of which pointed out that the reason she might have what voted present and then begun sobbing. Is it she's she's strategically position yourself to challenge trucks, humour in the Senate, and she cannot if she has to appeal to a wide range of your voters outside of her critically districts, She cannot be seen on the record to oppose that funding, but it just made her cry how frustrating for her that I guess she shouldn't one percent, because it's just too emotionally taxing really it so hard on her poor. But I mean the problem, What this theory, which, as you know, yes, she wants to maintain a future social voted president's have now, but then

issued a statement saying she was against the funding, so I don't know how this helps her like a if she did this in order to preserve her viability within the New York state, democratic parties or electoral system ass. She did it. For job of it, she's had like done absolutely nothing to mitigate the possibility of that of her behaviour. The sweeping used against her in any future election, ok, but but let me just point out that her long, an extremely poorly written statement if she wrote it herself that sad if someone else rota for that person should be fired, but that statement went out on her official government. Twitter account not on a personal account, not honour Instagram. She is. These are different constituencies. She serving there's her fan service, which is most of our social. The other person social media, which gives her the clout in the media to put pressure on members of Congress who have far more experience and knowledge than she does so she's she's still trying to work.

That line I agree on. I don't think she's gonna manage to do that for much longer cause that that it's just such a diametrically opposed approach, but she still trying to do that. Ok, but I I was I was. I was hit the memory or Europe or an analogy to her behave. you're a literary analogy toward behavior. I wanted to share with everybody maybe the greatest of all novels about politics, about the functioning of politics. Certainly the gray series of novels about politics or by Anthony trawl up the Palliser Novel six novels about government Basically, I'm about a family in about people and all kinds of stuff, but but but about government and the third novel in the palace or Series is called Phineas Finn and Phineas Finn is the store

Ray of light of a twenty five year old, who gets elected to parliament. A poor man of no means from Ireland comes to London, shocking turn of events, ends up surfing. Mr Smith goes to Washington ends up in London. Is the story of his journey in the thickets of party politics and government in nineteenth century in the nineteenth century. parliament and he becomes arising star and the crew, of the novel, involves a demand that he vote. for a bill as a member of the government that is hostile to his

constituency and his deepest beliefs involving irish tenant farming that doesn't matter what the what the bill is about. But his incredible conflict in the book is his future, as an ambitious politician requires that he vote for the government's position, even though it is dealing here, even though it is something that he deeply disagrees with, and and is something that happened at it. So this is exactly what has happened here also has a grotesque. Thirty, one years old, she was elected when she was twenty nine. I think twenty eight and twenty nine The parallel are you from an obscure hurriedly obscure, but

out of nowhere rises, that nowhere comes or becomes a big star, and all of that- and here she and supposedly represents all that's good at young and dumb idealistic in politics and hope to really improve people's lives using politics as a lever to do that, and she finds herself faced with this kind of choice where she this put before her that if she continues to espouse her deeply held views wrong though they may be, they might be deleterious to her future added Phineas Finn. Who was a very admirable character, and the book is all about the temptations of ambition. That's why it is such a great novel and why he really is deeply deeply seduced by power,

Money and wealth and influence and the hunger to have all of them is faced with this existential crisis and in the end he does what's right. He votes the way he must vote the ways conscience dictates he resigned from the government and he returns to Ireland, Alexandria, Cassio, Cortez, faced with that kind of choice, behaved in a craven reputable and entirely careerists fashion, and I really hope, though, I doubt that her followers and the people who think so highly of her we'll take a hard look at this and wonder what else she will be willing to betray on her way. Whatever her ambitions, might be. That's my monologue of

honest with you. I drank her. I think your followers are more impressed by the tears. Then then discouraged by the by the present thought. Well, that would be the difference. Reminding Suggest London is actually rose. Sentry wanting answered, you haven't instagram account correctness, though we have at the emotional that that I think that's a very astute point, because they are moved by her displays of emotion. They love the personal incite she supposedly giving when she performs you know,

cooking super talking about here are marking up a bill. I mean they love that crap, I'm sorry. I find it to be extremely cynically manipulative crap, but people love it and it's perfect for that medium. But it's not. The same thing is governing I've sent for another example: words, sheep, she's. Turning you know politics into the kind of wellness project your boots also into wellness project. That itself is a is a smoking horse were radical politics. Its purpose is not wellness its purposes to adapt and adopt the techniques of you know new aid, you wellness too. You know socialism. Basically, right I mean it's, it's not genuine. It is. It is literally up again distance. But that's I mean this was broke, a bottomless project right to just make himself into a lifestyle brand, and that's probably a lot of the reason why his presidency isn't remember. Does anything particularly transformative

Because I didn't get a lot done, but he did make himself into a brand and that's what politics has become an across the board across the spectrum of has become a series of competing lifestyle brands that, as you say, our stopping horses for There are gender items in there, but can anybody say that they ve it's been effective vehicle for for those Jenna Adams? I haven't worked for abundant, didn't work for Donald Trump and Joe Biden is handing the reins overnight to progressive Super eight, just about everything, a peace that european political there's another people are talking using other progressive he's

Joe Biden, knows, that progressive are keeping him on track and keeping him on his agenda in line and are pursuing it in ways that he he making might lose sight of the data diminution of governing and your buttons handing rings over the regressive and in then, as a result, he's allowing this lifestyle brain to consume his presidency, and I will based on the conversation we had over the last half hour, doesn't sound like it's very effective, so as much as it's kind of annoying to us. Why wouldn't we welcome it, especially if it's not me, I'm getting anything done its tarnishing politics, it's making politics really of noxious, but it's also not effective.

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ring than Abe actually manage to completely discredited just by looking at another charge in the New York Times. This piece is about how overtime covered is now following absolute hard line political patterns, the political divide over vaccinations are so large that almost every reliably blue state now is a higher vaccination rate than almost every light. Reliably red state and covered deaths uncovered cases are worse in Trump counties, then in Biden counties everywhere in every way. We can welcome all of that excess. Ah, are they tell us what we were talking about this just before them? Aid goes to the New York Times in clicks on the state level

listen, death rate stuff, and ah, what did you find? It wasn't wasn't my intentions to debunk his peace, but I sense that that there is some can be some confusion, because In all the red states he's talking about while gather they experienced huge surgeries and they are they are, they are more. They are less apt to have significant percentages of the vaccinated people, their surge, their delta surges are way down. I don't have it in front of me right now: But you know down by down to some states, but by an order, if you know thirty five forty percent over to go over over, I guess the two two week cases are down.

and cases in the northeast arise and in blue states arising. So I think. It is to some extent his peace is another example of what's been happening. This whole time, which is a little bit of sort of like Triumphal ism based on it. Nap shot at any given moment at any given moment when cases are high or I've been high or when, when covered, has wreaked havoc on red states, lotta people from blue states say look what's happening, they ve missed it all up. We were smart, they were dumb. This was this does happen before the vaccines room available and then the virus moves geographically seasonably. It moves and that's happening again

now, of course, it is much better to be vaccinated and not what will win when this happens, but I think the virus will always kind of make. You look a little petty when you start taking that kind of approach because Inevitably, when you're pointing fingers had states were, numbers are high, its it comes around for you to its one. read in the same paper on this, you know on the same website, little notes in the New York Times. Next to there current of ours in the? U S latest map in case count, right quote: new infections and hospitalizations are declining Actually, though, some northern states can save the growing outbreaks those northern states are New York was constant, Minnesota, ah guess who?

Guess what states those are those are tightened states now, maybe count by county those are disproportionately trump. Voters who are the areas, our trump counties or something. Nonetheless, you know that that gets very granular you we can talk about that Florida, which was regularly identifying more than twenty thousand affections a day in August, is now averaging when seven thousand cases each day fewer than half as many covert. Ninety patients are hospitalized net sate as there, A month ago anyway heard that he heard the Florida that the crisis is or in Florida that that that that the hospitalized patient numbers down by half a month, I dont think give hurt them what's an odd, if actually an ongoing joke on the right right that when, whenever there is a there's, a spike at a democratic state, the joke

run dissenters. How dare you? Why did you do that to us amended, because that the focus is on particularly on the Santer? Florida has been relentlessly negative. Having said all this, it is still the case that ninety nine percent of the deaths among the vaccinated the vaccines have been around since March, and I do not see this as a public policy crisis. I see this as a series of tragic, false choices that people have made that have led to a terrible consequences and again, why why we should all be wearing masks when we're double vaccinated and protected in an arm in our blue states here. It is and remains a bizarre, a mystery to me unless you think that

at any moment the variants can mutate and turn into something so horrible and you're gonna, be on the leading edge of those leading edge debian of that before anybody can even identify it. So with that sort of the essential truth that wasn't gonna regardless of his analysis. The truth that he's dead dead letter is landed on here is that covered hasn't been a national crisis for a very long time regional crisis. Now those regions can change, those regions have changed, they will continue to change, but this is why we have federalism. Is there should be tailored approaches here for case for Idaho that don't make a lot of sense, for New York, and there is no reason why we should be imposing the same mitigation measures on Yorkers as we are in Nebraska that's the sort of thing that we have crafted this system in order to address and

and say that out loud in certain circles is regarded as says denials of denying the virus exist, somehow for some bizarre about reason, until you're getting licence to people who want to be reckless and wanted. You know, spread this disease and overrun hospital systems. I don't I don't the lodger changes, but there what they want is and a national covered a protocol that just doesn't make sense and hasn't for a very long time. It's very consistent with what we were talking about regarding bugs broach right. No new wants nothing targeted even before he got in office. He was talking about now no man, it right, I mean the horrible part about this. Is that you need a policy in Idaho And- and I too hope remains bizarrely skeptical. You know I mean that there is an emergency room. Cried there is

and I see you crisis absolutely in Idaho and then there's a very distinct political culture in Idaho does not shared by the people of Michigan. I don't know why that's difficult to say You just said it: how many people are talking about this job, I say all your kids should not wear masks where the vaccination at seventy five plus, I don't I mean the problem- is as we keep saying, is that the mask means something else now. It is ultimately a talisman and and a social and political badge, two thousand against disease, that it does not prevent you from getting, though it might prevent you from spreading and it is a slow. stolen political and ideological badge that on this point because either

wearing it because you are deeply committed to the idea of you know having up outward manifestation of your vote or you have been kowtow into it and are therefore displaying the power of that consensus view wherever you're you're you're living right. I mean, I know that there is any real dead distinction, their exactly and, and that seems now to be ever everlasting tragic Let me talk to you about our final advertiser today, Ora Cuz, the way you use the internet has changed dramatically over the last decade, but security tools are mostly stayed the same or provides complete digital security to help you protect your online accounts finances devices and, more all in one easy to use app most credit card companies do a good job of protecting against fraudulent purchases, but what? If a scam?

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the issues and for a limited time or as offering our listeners up to forty percent off plans when you visit aura dot com, slashed commentary, gotta or a dot com, slash commentary to get complete protection and savings of up to forty four, That's a you are a dot com, slash commentary. Ok, I want to conclude on a cultural note, mother that the Phineas Finn thing was the whole culture among the tony words were last night, Broadway Right, Broadway people, aid I'd, but it was off basically from us. You know, eighteen months from is now back its reopening and they had a tony awards for an abbreviated season that had been postponed for a year, and none of that is interesting. a lot of political staff in yards of reckoning there there's a there was a tap dance, Number about tat our away with a rap about whether you want to do arrest and arrest people

or have a rest, see, arrest and arrest and stuff like that. But here's what's interesting, there were two big plays up for best play. One is called the inheritance. What was called slave play? The inheritance is, it was Play staged in London written by an American, a gay latino American, they Matthew, Lopez a seven hour to part, adapt gay adaptation of Howard's and Volume Forster, which is our funding, Cassim forced her was himself gay and the four probably openly assembly, openly gay writer pretty much in world history but Howard's end is a book about. heterosexuals, but so some I didn't see, preserve adapted and slave play, which is, by Thirty year old, black gay Your name, Germany, O Harris which set two different times and dead, there's a lot of sex stuff in there. You know that sex devices and

slaves and runaway slaves- and I didn't see this- you just have to make this clear slave lives after twelve Tony's. The inherent up for ten parents with staged in London then brought United in those american play. And given the reckoning, the reckoning black lives matter and the reckoning of our time- and you know, broadway- is now committed to having fifty percent representation of all minorities in everything it does, including backstage and people are either yelling at each other. About whether their mean or nice to bite, non binary people and blah blah blah blah blah. The vote comes out and guess what the inheritance wins- everything they herons wins best play. It ones best director, everyone's best actor ones, Bessie morning, actress and slay play nominated for twelve Tony's gets nothing blanked. Now, let's go back to the Oscars in March.

All these things were prospers Judas in the black Messiah and I can't remember what did all these end. You know Chadwick Bozeman loses damping Hopkins and juice. The black Messiah loses two nomad land. What's going on here, secret ballot is what's going on here and my friend, Michael Real, has written for commentary is the most powerful smartest theatre columnist in America has been for the last twenty years, says privately secretly. People on Broadway our pissed off that their liberal bonus This has been called into question and that the notion that they should vote for black stuff as opposed to gay stuff like broadways.

he gave three Tony's two August Wilson you down, Broadway, has done in Broadway, has had colorblind casting for twenty five years, blot this notion that you know an end and in Hollywood, some the same stuff and basically all these commies are going into the private voting booth and our voting against black lives matter pc. You know cultural revolution, kowtowing of the sort that a brought about in his peace. Yes, this is a revolution, a what do you make of it? Well, it's hard to be happy about it because the sad parties, if that's it, that's the response, then there's going to be works of great merit that involve african american issues written by black writers, black registrar and that that won't get the credit that they should get based on artistic merit right, because now, if now, if this is just

become a sort of political street fight, that's that's hashed out it by secret ballot. Then then, but this is always the danger when you, when you turn you no questions of artistic married into the questions of the report Right, you're every even if you're, not an identity, politics, foot soldier, you're drunk. Into the army unwittingly, simply because of the accident of birth, that your end, if you're an artist who happens to be black, who isn't it near then included with or without your own? Commissioner, you have brought us to say that I have no problem believing riddles take because I know The theatre, people- and I know they ve gone through hell sense since, since the George Floyd, killed. All sorts of manifestoes went out in the field of community, all sorts of theatres and.

People who run small theatres for ages were cancelled, revamp sort of taken over by the activists, everything so so they Their world has been turned upside down and your team, about a world is John, says that has always been or even in Yoke, he always been.

It has been well, I mean that's. The thing like their woke is woke was invented two years ago, like Durban, people who have been doing what they have been told to do it illogically forever and guess what it turns out that it's never enough and their old and their tired and they're losing their jobs and their being accused of of of spiritually, racially ideologically criminal actions, and there too cowardly to stand up and say: go screw yourselves, but they're not too cowardly to vote how they want to vote when they're in their own ballot box. The Bradley effect it's the Bradley effect in show business, and it's interesting. I think it's more. I think it's more suggestive. I don't know what it's suggestive of it. It doesn't

the matter you turn, but eight hundred and fifty people who vote for the Tony's. So again, you know I'm not saying it's its representative of anything, but it is very interesting and its also interesting enough for us to end on thanks for listening, we'll be back tomorrow. four April steam. No, I'm John outwards. Keep the camera yeah.