Harris: Trying to Fix That Which Is Not Broken

Vice-president Camilla Harris, in a virtual interview with the Arizona Republic noted that administration of President Joe Biden intended to “nationalize” the distribution of vaccines for the China virus (COVID-19).

“Vice President Kamala Harris and two senior administration officials told The Arizona Republic on Thursday that the American Rescue Plan legislation backed by President Joe Biden’s administration would not only offer economic relief to Arizona, but it would create a national vaccine program that will create community vaccination centers and mobile vaccination units.”

Her predicate for doing so was what she described as a chaotic distribution of the vaccines. As usual, Ms. Harris didn’t know what she was talking about. It was just her latest slur at the previous administration of President Donald Trump. There maybe chaos in her native California due to her good friend Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), or in New York due to the continuing ineptness of her friend Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) (the guy that deliberately lied about the number of nursing homes deaths caused by his order requiring those nursing homes to accept patients already diagnosed as having the virus – it’s 15,000 not 5,000 you self-centered moron).

But there is no similar chaos in Arizona which is run by an extraordinarily competent former business executive Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ). One only had to go through one of the massive distribution facilities organized in Phoenix – like the one at the Arizona Cardinals stadium which is processing nearly 7,000 patients per day and which takes about 25 minutes from entry to exit with the majority of that time being dedicated to post inoculation observation (15 minutes). That inoculation site is only one of a number of mass immunization sites, including Phoenix Municipal Stadium and the State Fair Grounds. Most of the major hospitals have opened sites in their parking areas and local pharmacies are targeting specific areas where there is a concentration of seniors. Ms. Harris could have visited any of them and she would be startled to learn that they are run professionally and efficiently. None of them need “help” from the federal government. They sure do not need the type of “woke” interference for which the Biden administration is becoming infamous.

Ms. Harris could have asked about the number of inoculations processed in Arizona (one million as of this past Friday). There are 7.5 million people in Arizona – 4.5 million live in the Phoenix Metro area. With one million vaccinated, Arizona is racing toward “herd immunity.”

But Ms. Harris never inquired. Mr. Biden never inquired. The mainstream media never inquired. Neither Facebook nor Twitter inquired. In sum and substance, the ignorant are now in charge and facts do not matter.

There are three lessons to be learned from this dust up.

First, the government class never knows what is actually going on in the world nor do they particularly care because they think that all intelligence is centered in their little myopic world. Ms. Harris is a prime example of someone who remains studiously ignorant of the facts and even her early losses in the recent Democratic presidential primary processes due to that kind of superficiality has not taught her how woefully ignorant she remains.

Second, one size does not fit all. The political class in Washington thinks that there is a singular solution for complex problems. Once they seize upon a solution they attempt to force it into every situation. In the process they create chaos where none existed, deprivation where there had been efficiency and excessive costs where they promised savings. The rollout of Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) is a prime example of the error in assuming that the whole world looks and reacts alike. Mr. Trump, in recognition of the likelihood of variables, left the states to customize the “final mile” of delivery of the COVID vaccines and, instead, focused on the distribution chain from the manufacturer to the regional staging areas. Well-run states like Arizona and Florida are tearing the face off the incompetence in states like California and New York. (Hint to Messrs. Newsom and Cuomo: give Chick-Fil-A a call, they daily provide an extraordinarily efficient distribution of food during rush hour – far better than anything you’ve devised since they are focused on the customer, not political correctness.)

And finally, the Democrats continue to be wedded to form over substance. For them it is more about the optics than the results. And there is a good reason for that – getting results is hard work with attention to detail and a commitment to adjust on an on-going basis as variables occur. The Democrats have proven to be early observers of complex problems (poverty, racism, pollution, etc.) but have thus far proven to be completely inept at resolving the problems. (Think of the billions we have spent on the War on Poverty, the deepening of the racial animus ever since the election of President Barack Obama, and the failure to stem illegal immigration.) In lieu of doing the hard work, the Democrats have catchy slogans, Hollywood celebrities and concerts, earnest speeches and photo ops ad nauseum. It is as if pointing at the problem, throwing money at others who point at the problem, and including reference to the problem in every utterance is sufficient. An old advertising program by Wendy’s provides the catchphrase that we should all ask when we listen to yet another empty promise of the Democrats – “Where’s the beef.” Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris and the Democrats are delivering a lot of stale buns with virtually no beef. (And frankly, the Republicans are not much better because they are afraid of the criticism that comes with hard choices.)

Nationalizing the COVID vaccine distribution is a poor choice riddled with woke politics and a lack of science. The vaccine should go to those most vulnerable to death from COVID regardless of how much money they raised for Mr. Biden and the Democrats. Mr. Biden would be better served by helping Mr. Newsom fix California rather than lauding California as the standard that the United States should emulate. But don’t hold your breath. Mr. Biden has a history of being dead wrong on virtually every national crisis since his entry to the United States Senate fifty years ago – there’s no fool, like an old fool.