By Dr. Harold A. Black

blackh@knoxfocus.com

 

Today more than ever who you believe depends on what you believe. Did you see President Biden’s address to “Congress”? Neither did I. But I saw headlines and was struck by several things. First, one media source reported that 85% of viewers approved of the speech. I don’t believe that for a second unless 85% of those polled voted for Biden. Even then, after reading reports of those who voted for Biden not approving of his governing to appease the left, the 85% figure becomes more unbelievable. Of course, since the poll results are only of those who viewed the speech, the only way it could be correct is if all those who are appalled by the first 100 days of this presidency opted out of watching. Second, it is evident that this is a doom and gloom president. How else do you explain his insistence on wearing a mask when he has been vaccinated? If Donald Trump had been reelected instead of speaking to a half empty room, the hall would have been packed with every member of Congress, the cabinet, the Supreme Court and a full gallery, all maskless. This would demonstrate to America that if fully vaccinated, we can return to normal. Instead, speaking before a half empty chamber with all wearing masks Biden is telling us that there really is little point in being vaccinated.  No wonder there is growing vaccination resistance reinforced by the CDC with its head seemingly incapable of delivering a consistent message and Anthony Fauci now being totally unbelievable.

This is not presidential leadership. The only thing that I can figure out is that Biden hates Trump and does not want to give him any credit. However, without Trump’s insistence, there would have not been a vaccine produced so quickly. Does anyone remember Operation Warp Speed? When it was announced in May 2020 with a goal of producing and delivering 300 million doses of an effective vaccine by January 2021, the media had its automatic anti-Trump reflex. Trump, it said was living in a fantasy. It takes on average “10 years to develop a vaccine” we were told. Dr. Fauci said it would take a year just to get an existing vaccine approved and then another year just to get the production required to produce a meaningful number of doses. The press said that Operation Warp Speed was dangerous and would fail given the previous record for developing a new vaccine was four years. I have found numerous sources – some from the usual suspects like the New York Times and CNN – who said that Trump was trying to do the impossible and was wasting billions of dollars in an effort to get reelected. Biden, himself was one of the more vocal skeptics and his vice president said that she did not trust the rush to produce a vaccine and “if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it. I’m not taking it.” Well they were all wrong and were vaccinated in December 2020, prior to their inauguration.

In his speech to Congress, if Biden were really interested in trying to bring the country together (which he is not) he would have spoken to a full chamber with no masks and thanked Donald Trump for doing what everyone said was impossible. Operation Warp Speed was the closest miracle to John Kennedy’s proclamation in May 1961 that by the end of the decade, the United States would place a man on the moon. That we accomplished that feat and succeeded in producing COVID-19 vaccines within a year are tributes to mankind’s genius and will. To deny Donald Trump credit is petty and does little to inspire an already skeptical public of the credibility of this administration and its adherents. As to the content of the speech itself, it was a warning to those of us who cherish freedom and love this country’s founding principles (and founding principals). It appears that 2022 and 2024 will be two of the most defining elections in our history. Let’s hope that we can get there in one piece.