Does being in a cult mean that you must be suicidal? Of course, this is a hyperbolic question but the fact is that the pernicious effects of Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic lingers on where the support for his reign is strongest. Imagine the difference had Dear Leader NOT minimized the threat and had used his bully pulpit to encourage mask wearing, social distancing and, yes, fear of the virus.
Jim Jones Redux?
Published
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
The COVID vaccines are probably the most scrutinized, investigated, verified and, unfortunately, vilified, medicines rolled out in history.
Most new drug effectiveness, problems and recalls are page 6 business news except in this case. Conspiracies abound among the Republican faithful. Which, of course, means that tens of thousands, if not more, scientists, doctors, specialists, manufacturers have to all be in on the scam.
And just like the “Big Lie”, the “COVID scam” lives on in the minds of the smitten. Will drug manufacturers be assaulted by those looking to find captive children in the basements?
Hard to take these folks seriously yet this divide is deadly serious. Thank you mr. ex-president for making masks political and all the other pandemic issues that followed.
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RE: “The COVID vaccines are probably the most scrutinized, investigated, verified and, unfortunately, vilified, medicines rolled out in history.”
How so? They are the first of their kind ever approved for use, and the approval itself short-circuited standard procedures which normally take years to complete. You can thank “mr. ex-president” for their existence and availability.
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Don’t you find it odd that members of the Trump cult want to give him credit for the existence of the vaccine while at the same time are the most reluctant to actually get the protection it offers? Or, am I asking too much to expect anything about Trump worship to make sense?
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RE: “Don’t you find it odd that members of the Trump cult want to give him credit for the existence of the vaccine while at the same time are the most reluctant to actually get the protection it offers?”
I don’t find it odd that such irrational drek gets posted here from time to time. In fact, I find that liberals are profoundly more cult-like than conservatives.
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The posting is hardly “irrational drek.” It is factual reporting about who is getting vaccinated and who is not. And whether you are capable of admitting it or not, there is an odd disconnect between praising Trump’s role in the vaccine and refusing to get vaccinated.
You can say that liberals are more cult-like than “conservatives” all you want. In fact, it is expected. But reality is what it is and Trumpism is a cult of personality. I do not have to agree with everything President Biden does or says to remain a Democrat in good standing. Republicans, on the other hand . . .
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“You can say that liberals are more cult-like than “conservatives” all you want.”
It’s called projection and it was learned by many during the Era of 45.
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Irrational drek?
Like pizzagate? QAnon? The Big Lie? # LIBERATE?
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@Paul Muphy:
Your source article describes a correlation that may or may not be informative in any way. YOU are the one who added all the blather about cults and Donald Trump, none of which is supported by the source itself.
@lenrothman:
Yes, if you wish. Can’t see how that matters, though.
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Anyone have a link to the underlying data?
Offhand, I would want to know the racial breakdown, as the lagging states also have large Black populations, which is another group that is leery of the vaccine.
It may be a wrong assumption that it is political philosophy that is the cause.
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“It may be a wrong assumption that it is political philosophy that is the cause.”
Not exactly an assumption. Many polls show that Republicans are far more hesitant about the vaccine than Democrats. It follows that states with more Republicans would have more problems getting people to take the shot. Your apparent thought that Blacks share Trump followers’s vaccine hesitancy may not be accurate. In fact, maybe because of the Trump effect, Blacks are more likely to seek vaccination than Whites.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/12/976172586/little-difference-in-vaccine-hesitancy-among-white-and-black-americans-poll-find
But, even if there are other factors, it remains that political followers of Trump are putting themselves in danger out of the sort of misguided science denial promoted by Trump. Probably the same people you have referred to as sociopaths because of their refusal to mask up.
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You might want to tell Northam as he has been claiming the opposite since the rollout began, going so far as to prioritizing vaccination through Black churches.
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Uh, I just reported the facts. Maybe you should let the facts change the preconceived idea in your head?
Are you mixing apples and oranges? Being more vulnerable to the virus is not the same as being unwilling to take the shot. Sure, Northam reached out to Blacks because the disease hits them harder. And maybe his efforts are part of the reason that the poll came out the way it did. Too bad that Trump did not do the same for his people.
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Anti-vax sentiments defy rational explanation, but for months we were told by Northam and others that Black distrust of the vaccine was a problem, even citing the Tuskegee Syphilis study as a cause for the distrust.
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/16/967011614/in-tuskegee-painful-history-shadows-efforts-to-vaccinate-african-americans
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Antivax sentiments are puzzling until you notice that irrational conspiracies are the part and parcel for too many Americans. As a nation we have always been wary of power unless we wield it ourselves.
Many Americans are convinced that our enemies are the press, the government and most Americans. So real enemies like COVID or cyber warriors are given short shrift.
That is why we lead the world in deaths even though we are the richest, most powerful nation with more resources and scientists than others by far.
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I just reported the facts as they were found by reputable polling. Based on those facts, your theory that it may not be Trump supporters that make it hard for Red states to match Blue states vaccination rates because of Blacks living there seems pretty thin. And doubly so given the overwhelming evidence that Trump supporters as a group are significantly more vaccine adverse compared to others.
I am not disputing what the situation was a few months back. It appears based on polling then and polling now that, overall, black Democrats are more educable than white Republicans.
If people want to kill themselves out of fealty to Trump I will not shed a tear when they are gone. My real concern about their behavior is that they are making it harder to get to herd immunity and creating more opportunities for dangerous mutations to take root.
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RE: “I just reported the facts as they were found by reputable polling.”
The “facts” in the source you shared describe a correlation. YOU are the one spinning it is a causation.
You link political affiliation to vaccine hesitancy, but other factors may explain the correlation so irresponsibly reported by the article you cite: population density, for example.
Your post is irresponsible, even dishonest.
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What we really need is a vaccine for left wing extremist babbling rhetoric. More conservatives would line up for it but, sadly, a lot of black people would hesitate to have it just like the Covid vaccine. News stories abound on this.
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Weird, Covid cases on the rise regardless of vaccinations and I see plenty of blue states in the mix. What’s up with that?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.axios.com/coronavirus-cases-infections-vaccines-variants-e3e14f79-7fe4-4bbe-a6ca-8ef2c3cd0940.html
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“What’s up with that?”
Young people who believe they are 10 foot tall and bullet proof (like we did when we were younger)? States dropping mask mandates and people thinking the vaccine is a magic bullet even if they DON’T take it? Anti-vax individuals who go to their death beds still thinking the virus is a big hoax?
That’s just a short list of possibilities.
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