Vaccine distributors deserve protection, too
Re “County lays out who will get vaccines first; health care workers top priority” (Dec. 3): The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is ignoring two important cohorts in its recommendation for vaccine distribution priorities.
I believe the most important groups are those technicians making the vaccines, followed by the delivery people who distribute them. Without these workers, we will not have the vaccines for nursing homes and health care workers. Robert Rosenthal
Solana Beach
the most democratic republic on the planet, because they were convinced a professional politician couldn’t be trusted to run the country in a way that favored their priorities.
Their chosen leader understands the influence that social networks and mass media have over millions of our citizens. More importantly, he understands the power of filling the public space, convincing people to listen only to him by discrediting sources of objective information without evidence, and claiming to be the victim of a rigged system by declaring “many people are saying it.” He depends upon people who, like those in George Orwell’s book “1984,” willingly believe legal investigations are witch hunts, professional journalists are enemies of the people and other people’s truths are fake news.
As any magician knows, you can do almost anything behind the scenes when the audience is looking elsewhere. Thus, the soon-to-be former president spent the past four years distracting us with sensational tweets and outrageous actions that served to hide his true intentions — transforming the federal government by shrinking its “for all the people” agenda and growing its “for the elite few” agenda. The realized accomplishments of his administration include:
Discouraging talk of or action on climate change throughout the federal government; evading federal responsibility for financially supporting state efforts to battle COVID-19; supporting the termination of the Affordable Care Act without having a plan for its replacement; refocusing policies to “balance” the desired quality of our air and water with the cost of maintaining that quality; reducing the stature and influence of our country on the world stage.
Under his leadership, the Republican Party doesn’t have a platform that identifies what it plans to accomplish going forward other than to remain in power and appoint conservative judges. The issues we wanted to see addressed in his term include:
Providing funds for the repair or replacement of our country’s crumbling infrastructure; increasing the availability of goodpaying jobs that can sustain an improving quality of life; implementing sound immigration policy that protects the rights of citizens, businesses, universities and those who seek a better life; leveling the playing field so all of us may lead happy, healthy and prosperous lives.
The Republican Party needs to forcefully reject the notion that its opposition is evil, refocus its efforts on governing and work with Democrats to address the significant issues before us. Party leaders must have competence, compassion and respect for our people, our democracy and the rule of law. It’s unlikely that Donald J. Trump will ever meet these requirements, and may not be available in 2024 should he find himself in a New York state prison for bank fraud and tax evasion.