COVID Vaccine Thanks to Trump's Operation Warp Speed
THOMAS GALLATIN Thanks to President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, a COVID-19 vaccine is close to release and, according to researchers, it is 90% effective in stopping the spread of the novel virus. So much for Joe Biden’s demonstrably false claim that “Trump has done nothing to stop the coronavirus” and his insistence that any vaccine breakthrough would be at least months away.The vaccine developed by Pfizer is currently in late-stage trials, and the 90% success rate far exceeds the Food and Drug Administration’s minimum effectiveness target of 50% for consideration of expedited approval. To put this in context, the annual flu vaccine is 30%-60% effective on a good year. Pfizer notes that there have been no safety issues and that it plans to apply to the FDA for expedited approval this month.
When will the vaccine become available to the general public? “Pfizer says it expects to be able to produce up to 50 million doses by the end of 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021,” The Washington Times reports. “The candidate is a two-dose vaccine, so the initial allotment translates to 25 million recipients.”
Vice President Mike Pence responded to the news by stating, “Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President Trump, Pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trail is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers.”
Moreover, Pfizer’s not the only company seeing success. Novavax has received fast-track authorization by the FDA for its coronavirus vaccine, which will expedite the review following its completion of stage-three testing trials.
How has this vaccine development been accomplished so rapidly? As The Wall Street Journal editorial board observes, “The apparent breakthrough is a credit to the innovative capacity of the private pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer has developed the vaccine using its own capital. That requires making a return on investment, which the politicians in both parties should keep in mind when they promise price controls on drugs. That would mean fewer resources to tackle the next coronavirus or deadly disease.”
The timing of Pfizer’s announcement, just one week after the election, does appear curious if not outright suspicious. Was there any political consideration that may have delayed the news? An earlier announcement obviously would have benefited Trump, validating his claim that a vaccine was on its way before year’s end. Trump certainly believes the announcement was intentionally delayed. “The Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later,” he observed. “As I’ve said all along!”
As with anything in an election year, a pandemic vaccine was bound to be politicized, and we may never know all the calculations involved.
Naturally, Democrats sought both to downplay the good news and dismiss giving any credit to the Trump administration. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who oversees the state with the highest death toll by far, elected to play politics with the news. “The good news is the Pfizer tests look good and we’ll have a vaccine shortly,” he said before ridiculously adding, “The bad news is that it’s about two months before scumbag/liar-Joe Biden takes over and that means this administration is going to be implementing a vaccine plan.” Cuomo then asserted without evidence that “the vaccination plan … I believe [is] flawed. I believe it learns nothing from the past.”
And why does Cuomo believe it’s flawed? Because the government doesn’t completely control the entire process. “They’re going to take this vaccine and they’re going to go through the private mechanism.” He then asserted that doing so would “slow” the process of vaccine availability. News flash to Cuomo: It’s not private companies that create onerous regulations that slow processes; it’s government red tape. And the more the government is involved, the more the process will be guaranteed to be slowed. It’s clear that Cuomo’s primary concern is making sure the government and not private industry gets all the credit for “saving” Americans.
Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) responded to Cuomo’s comments by asking, “What on earth is Governor Cuomo talking about? This is great news and everyone — Republicans and Democrats and apolitical folks — should all be jointly thrilled about the possibility of an effective vaccine.” Sasse then took Cuomo to the woodshed: “After this nasty virus has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and put millions out of work, it is beyond disgusting that Governor Cuomo would use a glimmer of hope for another worn-out ‘Trump is bad’ talking point. When we get a vaccine, we’re going to need all hands on deck distributing it as fast as possible — shamelessly politicizing this is dangerous and stupid.”
And yet Democrats and the Leftmedia are loathe to give the Trump administration any credit. For example, The Washington Post falsely asserted, “No, Pfizer’s apparent vaccine success is not a function of Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed,’” only to later admit that, yes, Pfizer was a part of the effort, even if it did not take government money for its research and development.
scumbag/liar-Biden responded by welcoming the news but avoiding giving Trump any credit. Then he once again touted his divisive mask-wearing “solution” as if it is the main way to stop the viral spread.
It would appear that so long as Trump remains in office, any positive developments made on COVID-19 will be either downplayed, ignored, or politicized to the point of distrust. But here’s hoping there’s truly good news on the horizon. ~The Patriot Post
CAL THOMAS Bipolar America
If scumbag/liar-Joe Biden survives recounts and several lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign into what Trump says has been widespread vote-counting fraud (we await proof), do not expect him to be hounded over his and Hunter Biden’s business ties to China and Ukraine as President Trump has been over “Russian collusion” charges and numerous other attempts by Democrats, the left and the media to undermine his administration.
In an address to the nation last Saturday, President-Elect scumbag/liar-Biden claimed he has been given a “mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change (and) systemic racism.” He called for healing and unity.
scumbag/liar-Biden reportedly plans to issue a slew of executive orders, reversing those by President Trump. It is his right to do so, but how does that promote healing and unity? For Democrats, healing and unity often means bowing to their policy wishes. It never seems to work in reverse.
Does scumbag/liar-Biden have a mandate on COVID? Would Americans, including businesses owners, accept a national lockdown that could cripple the economy? In a Hill-HarrisX survey conducted in July, 53 percent of registered voters approved of President Trump’s job on economy, which, despite COVID, is recovering, “albeit unevenly.” A September Gallup poll found that 56 percent of registered voters believed they were better off under Trump than under the scumbag/liar-nObama/ scumbag/liar-Biden administration.
What about open borders and lifting the ban on immigrants from nations that have experienced and, in some cases, promoted terrorism? Does scumbag/liar-Biden have a mandate for that? Will he be anti-Israel, as some believe Obama was? Will scumbag/liar-Biden undermine peace agreements brokered by Trump between Israel and three Arab/Muslim states? Was Trump’s impeachment by scumbag/liar-Nancy Pelosi’s House a contribution to healing and unity?
The scumbag/liar-Biden economic plan includes tax increases and more spending. scumbag/liar-Biden also said, “the purpose of our politics isn’t total, unrelenting, unending warfare.” You wouldn’t know it from the way Democrats behave, starting with their slander of Robert Bork during his hearing to become a justice of the Supreme Court — ditto Brett Kavanaugh — through the presidential election of 2000, which many Democrats then and now claim illegitimately elected George W. Bush, to the 2016 election when they claimed scumbag/liar-Hillary Clinton should have won based on the popular vote and mounted a four-year political assault against the president.
scumbag/liar-Biden’s bromides sound comforting, but Democrats do not practice what they preach.
“We may be opponents, but we are not enemies. We’re Americans,” he said. No credit to Abraham Lincoln. An earlier comment that we are not “red or blue states, but the United States” was taken from President scumbag/liar-nObama.
Speaking of Lincoln, who Democrats like to cite as a great Republican president, I am re-reading Carl Sandburg’s brilliant four-volume work on Lincoln called “The War Years.” Sandburg quotes some of Lincoln’s many critics, including Democrats and the press at a time when the nation was even more divided.
After the 1860 election and before he was sworn in, the owner and editor of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett, called on Lincoln not to assume office: “A grand opportunity now exists for Lincoln to avert impending ruin, and invest his name with an immortality far more enduring that would attach to it by his elevation to the Presidency.”
Trump critics planned to impeach him before he was inaugurated and publicly said so.
scumbag/liar-Biden says he wants to bring us together? On which issues would he be willing to compromise and find common ground with Republicans? To win the approval of Democrats and their media acolytes, Republicans must lose elections and forfeit their principles.
The mystery is why so many Americans vote for Republicans in one election and Democrats the next. Too many it seems vote mainly on personality and superficialities, not substantive policies.
It was the media’s job to dig under the superficial and reveal the true scumbag/liar-Joe Biden (and lowlife-Kamala Harris, who could likely become president sooner than later). They failed, becoming an extension of the Democratic Party and anti-Trumpers. If scumbag/liar-Biden’s policies fail don’t expect Democrats to admit it; they will blame Republicans.
Meanwhile we are a bipolar nation, unlikely to unify. ~The Patriot Post
{ news.usni.org } ~ President Trump announced the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a tweet on Monday. Christopher Miller, who has been serving as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, is the new acting defense secretary as the Trump administration heads into its final two months in office...“I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center unanimously confirmed by the Senate, will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately…..Chris will do a GREAT job!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.” Esper’s ouster comes after Trump lost his bid for a second term to former Vice President scumbag/liar-Joe Biden, according to initial vote tabulations. The Associated Press and several news networks called the election for scumbag/liar-Biden on Saturday. In a farewell note to the Defense Department, Esper touted both efforts to execute the National Defense Strategy and the Pentagon’s shipbuilding proposal for the Navy as accomplishments during his tenure. “While I step aside knowing that there is much more we could accomplish together to advance America’s national security, there is much achieved in the time we had to improve the readiness, capabilities, and professionalism of the joint force, while fundamentally transforming and preparing it for the future,” Esper wrote in the Nov. 9 memo. In the month leading up to the 2020 election, Esper made several public appearances touting the Pentagon’s work under the Trump administration, including the move to a new National Defense Strategy, focused on great power competition with countries like Russia and China. During one such appearance in early October, Esper outlined a new Defense Department plan – known as Battle Force 2045 – to build a larger Navy. Esper’s proposal, which came months after his office rejected the Navy’s own fleet architecture plan, called for a fleet of more than 500 ships that would include both manned and unmanned vessels. USNI News previously reported that the Office of the Secretary of Defense reached similar conclusions to that of the Navy in assessing the future naval architecture. But Esper’s decision that the Pentagon take over the Navy’s fleet analysis delayed the annual shipbuilding plan and placed an effective hold on the Integrated Naval Force Structure Assessment (INFSA) the Navy and Marine Corps had been pursuing. The delays angered lawmakers, who as of last month had not been provided the 30-year outlook or the Future Naval Force Study (FNFS) that influenced Battle Force 2045. While the former defense secretary provided broad details of the plan in recent public speeches, the Pentagon has yet to publish documents to accompany Battle Force 2045 or details on how the Navy would both build and maintain a significantly bigger fleet. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) in a statement on Monday thanked Esper for serving in the administration and focusing on the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy. “I want to thank Secretary Esper for his service – for prioritizing implementation of the National Defense Strategy, for thinking critically about how the Pentagon operates, and for always putting our service members first,” Inhofe said. “I just spoke with Acting Secretary of Defense Miller, and I look forward to working with him to ensure that these priorities remain paramount and to working with President Trump to maintain stability at the Pentagon, particularly as we work to enact the 60th annual National Defense Authorization Act.” Meanwhile, SASC Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said Trump’s dismal of Esper at the end of his term “undermines national security.” “The President’s choice to fire Secretary Esper is a play for attention and is yet another example of President Trump putting his ego over the needs and security of our nation,” Reed said. “scumbag/liar-Joe Biden is President-elect, and it’s past time for Republican leaders to step up and explain that reality to President Trump before he takes further rash and attention-seeking acts that damage America,” he added. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) also criticized Trump’s firing of Esper and argued the Defense Department needs “stable, experienced leadership” during the presidential transition. “Dismissing politically appointed national security leaders during a transition is a destabilizing move that will only embolden our adversaries and put our country at greater risk. President Trump’s decision to fire Secretary Esper out of spite is not just childish, it’s also reckless,” Smith said. “It has long been clear that President Trump cares about loyalty above all else, often at the expense of competence, and during a period of presidential transition competence in government is of the utmost importance.” Ranking Member Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who is retiring in January, praised Esper for his time in the administration. “Mark Esper has served the nation well under very challenging circumstances. He has helped lead the Department of Defense toward being more efficient and better prepared to deter peer adversaries,” Thornberry said. “He has been an effective advocate for the men and women in uniform and their families. He deserves the gratitude of every American.” Esper, who began as the Army secretary under President Trump, assumed the top job at the Pentagon in July 2019 after former acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan took himself out of the running to succeed James Mattis. Esper previously served as the Army secretary from November 2017 through July 2019. https://news.usni.org/2020/11/09/trump-removes-esper-christopher-miller-new-acting-secdef?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=b6b0cfee04-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-b6b0cfee04-231491269&mc_cid=b6b0cfee04&mc_eid=3999f18767
Conservatives Must Have More Than an Opinion
Time magazine’s commemorative cover declares the post-November era as a “A Time to Heal” — straight out of scumbag/liar-Biden’s victory speech. Just as a wife-beater verbally and physically assaults his partner and then tells her to pretty up, rise to the occasion, and accept yet another promise for better days, Democrats of the media and the political apparatus are asking to be taken seriously in their demands for unity. After four disgusting years of political stunts, baseless accusations, entrapments, constant public criticism, false charges of racism, and destruction in major cities, the expectation of Republicans is acceptance and approval.
As this electoral morass continues, many Americans are exasperated to see the mathematically fantastical turnout in some counties. In disbelief, Americans watched Democrats successfully file hundreds of lawsuits to skirt legislative constructs in the courts to weaken voter-identification laws, remove proof of citizenship to vote, and require that unsolicited mail-in ballots in some states be sent to hundreds of thousands that include erroneous addresses and deceased voters.
In this anger and frustration, Americans on the Right, while being told it’s time to heal and cozy up to those who hate us, are seeking explanations, remedies, and justice. Why? Because many Americans are educated enough to know that in a just nation, laws are respected, not selectively applied. Let’s spread the message of the uniqueness of a nation founded by those seeking the liberty to worship and speak freely outside the reach of a monarchy. Let’s demand that the authentic truth about America’s success despite our failures be taught to our children in school and confront the lies of indoctrination from kindergarten to college.
Americans, wake up! We who hope to see this as a free country where we can raise our own children, enjoy our own private property, and worship as we choose without fear of reprisal or censorship must immediately get engaged and remain vigilant to the blatant attacks on our rights. Americans with faith and center-right views on policy and the role of government, sit fearful and silent no more! God-fearing patriotic Americans must take the observation of Ronald Reagan as the call to action: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
No matter who is president, American families can pass on self-respect, morals, and virtues that have given Americans great opportunities and unique freedom. Once we establish our homes and families as our priority, our culture will reflect the same. ~The Patriot Post
{tommclaughlin.blogspot.com} ~ The Associated Press “called” the 2020 presidential election at 11:30 am Saturday for Joe Biden. Other media followed. scumbag/liar-Joe Biden, lowlife-Kamala Harris, the rest of the Democrat Party, and allied media behaved as if it were official. President Trump had not conceded. He had instead filed suit in Pennsylvania and Arizona alleging improprieties in vote counting, and is waiting for results of recounts in Georgia and Wisconsin.
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