politicalscience | thependulumswings

“Follow the science,” we were told by our political leaders. “Ok,” we mostly replied.

“It’ll be two weeks to flatten the curve,” we were promised. “Sounds good,” we begrudgingly replied.

“Two masks are better than one,” the power-hungry cried. “Go to hell,” all but the most obedient sighed.

“No real change can occur until we can have the masses vaccinated,” came the disappointing announcement. “Ugh,” we collectively uttered.

And, after a year and counting, last week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that the science now provided a comfort level for them to make a proclamation. People fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, the director of the CDC announced Thursday.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 briefing. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”

Calling it an “exciting and powerful moment,” Walensky said the science supports the updated CDC guidance.

But the science must not apply in Washington DC. At least not yet.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced a resolution to update the House’s mask policies in light of the CDC’s revised guidelines. McCarthy introduced H. Res. 414, a privileged resolution that would direct Congress’s Attending Physician to update the House’s mask policies in light of the updated guidelines on masks.

Why is the resolution privileged? Isn’t everything in DC privileged? We digress. Who knew Congress had an attending physician? Isn’t everyone in Congress privileged? We digress again.

Democrats blocked the resolution to update the House’s mask policies straight down partisan lines, with 218 votes cast against vs 210 Republicans voting in favor.

Not one Democrat followed the science. Not one Republican disagreed with the science. Amazing? No. Shameful? Yes.

Resolution co-authors, along with McCarthy, released the following as part of their full statement after the vote.

After a year of lockdowns and restrictions, Americans are yearning for normalcy, and we should celebrate the progress the vaccines have helped us achieve in just a few months.

Vaccinated Americans should have the confidence to return to their pre-pandemic routines, and the federal government should help reinforce trust in the vaccine. This should start with our leadership in Congress. That is why we are calling on Speaker Pelosi to stop politicizing science as a personal vendetta against her political opponents. Instead, she should adopt the same mask guidance from the CDC, which the White House and Senate are using as the basis for their protocols.

As elected officials, we have a responsibility to send a message to the American people that we believe in the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

In other words, that same science that we followed at the outset of this pandemic should be followed now.

“The Speaker’s reluctance to trust the science will only help to sow distrust in the vaccines,” the Republicans concluded in their statement.

In other words, if you can’t trust the CDC’s recommendation on masks, why should you trust the recommendation to get vaccinated? Sixty-three percent of Americans haven’t been vaccinated yet.

Last week BBR published the results of the Rasmussen Poll that asked Americans how much longer should we continue to wear masks. If you recall six percent said indefinitely. Was Speaker Pelosi one of those in that six percent polled?

No, she and her 217 followers in Congress were not.

They love watching the polls though. Political polls. Always.

We’re guessing one shows that a good bit of their vaccinated base isn’t quite ready to shed their baby blanket, er, mask.

Maybe it is about science after all. Political science that is.