America’s Political Virus
How Our Toxic Politics Will Weaken Us Well Beyond the Pandemic
This is the second essay in Civic Way’s series on the pandemic. In our last essay, we broke down our pandemic response. In this essay, we confront the pandemic’s politicization and how it broke our nation. In our next essay, we will discuss the lessons that could help prepare us for the next crisis. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving government agencies.
Highlights:
The political virus has damaged—perhaps irrevocably—our nation’s capacity to unite, posing a more acute and enduring threat to our future than Covid-19
The cynical, self-serving political and media campaign against proven public health measures has severely damaged our nation and weakened our ability to fight the next pandemic
Vaccines and other public health mandates have protected our health for over two centuries, but, if today’s political virus had infected our past, we would still have smallpox and polio, but no nation
Our fragmented, haphazard 50-state approach to fighting pandemics is doomed to failure
We must overlook our differences and confront the future as one nation
Fighting the Other Virus
The Covid-19 pandemic will not magically disappear as once promised, but it will likely, after more outbursts (especially in under-vaccinated areas), fade from prominence. In the face of yet another surge, we should take stock. This pandemic has killed at least 760,000 Americans and 5.1 million humans. It has left the survivors bereft, broken and brutalized. It has changed our lives forever.
As devastating as the Covid-19 pandemic has been, we cannot afford to ignore the other virus in our midst. The political virus infecting millions of Americans has done lasting damage to our ability to govern. It has gutted—perhaps irrevocably—our nation’s capacity to unite. Not only to solve big problems, but to protect future generations from the threats that will surely come.
Vaccines and Freedom
First, some historical context. Periodic mandates have protected our nation’s health for over two centuries. Vaccines have protected us from a host of contagious diseases—polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. In a way, vaccines assured our national independence. During America’s Revolutionary War against Great Britain, smallpox vaccines arguably saved the Continental Army.
During the 20th Century, vaccines became an essential public health tool. In 1902, the Cambridge Massachusetts Board of Health ordered smallpox vaccinations. In 1905, the US Supreme Court ruled in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that the law under which the Cambridge vaccinations were ordered did not violate the US Constitution. The Court affirmed that mandatory vaccinations were neither arbitrary nor oppressive if they are “reasonably required for the safety of the public.”
During World War I, the US Army ordered typhoid vaccines. During World War II, the military required vaccines for influenza, tetanus, cholera, diphtheria, plague and yellow fever. In 1947, New York City vaccinated 5 million people against smallpox in two weeks. Since then, vaccines have saved millions of lives and eradicated terrifying diseases like polio.
Vaccines have become an inextricable part of the national fabric. The US armed forces require 13 different vaccines. Many health-care and child-care workers must show proof of vaccination for such diseases as Hepatitis B, influenza, measles, mumps and rubella. Most school districts and many universities require vaccinations against a whole host of diseases. We came to accept vaccines as a cost of survival.
Not this time.
The Political Virus
Perhaps the virus was always there. Lurking beneath the tiresome culture wars. Skulking behind the noisy—often pointless—partisan skirmishes between Democrats and Republicans. Hiding in plain sight as liberals and conservatives clashed. Patiently waiting for the right moment to strike, to weaken our collective resolve, to turn us against one another, to compel us to see our neighbors as enemies.
That moment arrived early in the pandemic. By early April 2020, as US public health experts scrambled to understand the virus, they offered us the same advice that saved earlier generations. Masks. Social distancing. Travel suspension. Business closures. Desperate to save lives, they urged such measures early and often, but especially when they were most needed—before the arrival of vaccines.
Regrettably, it was these very public health measures that became politicized. Despite the fact that they flattened the curve and bought time for our beleaguered health care workers. Notwithstanding the knowledge that they represented the best way to save lives and reopen the economy. Former President Trump quickly abandoned any public health measures that threatened his reelection prospects.
The battle cry for this unprecedented assault on science and public health? Personal freedom—the right for one person to act alone, regardless of the impact on others. Suddenly, we were in a foxhole with people who cared more about themselves than their community. Who claimed the right to stay in the foxhole while others carried the fight to the enemy.
The Most Cynical Political Campaign in US History
GOP politicians cynically saw the political upside and pounced. Instead of supporting public health officials, they demonized them. Instead of working together with Democrats to protect people, they undermined traditional public health measures. Trump’s allies launched a well-organized campaign to shift blame for US pandemic failures and salvage the President’s reelection.
Every campaign needs an enemy. And the GOP found one in Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released Facebook ads demanding Fauci’s firing (and, of course, requesting campaign donations). GOP operatives followed with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of more anti-Fauci ads.
Fauci, a medical professional dedicating his life to public health and saving lives, soon became the enemy. Congressman Madison Cawthorne called Fauci a “demon doctor,” accusing him of playing roles in torturing puppies and creating the virus. Florida Governor DeSantis’ political operation started selling merchandise displaying “Don’t Fauci My Florida.” Others called him a war criminal and worse.
This shameful campaign’s end game? Not to save lives or promote community health. It is nakedly partisan. It is about helping Republicans at the expense of Democrats, regardless of any collateral damage.
The Reckless Media Fans the Flames
Right-wing media joined the chorus. Given the dearth of reliable national data on the pandemic, they seized the opportunity to inflame their viewers’ passions and expand their audience (and inflate their profits). Fox. Newsmax. One America News. Without conscience or hesitation, they ignited the anti-government biases of their viewers with Covid-19 conspiracy theories and lies.
Two examples. On his July 8th show, Tucker Carlson told viewers that those refusing the vaccine will "wind up on a government list." On her July 12th show, Jeanine Pirro claimed that the Biden administration's vaccine outreach program was "about confiscating your gun." Both unsubstantiated. Both brazen lies.
Over 500 websites and social media platforms also spread wild lies and vulgar attacks. Not just about vaccines, but all public health measures and the dedicated public servants behind them. Anti-vaxxers joined forces with libertarian groups invoking such slogans as “freedom” and “choice” to justify their opposition to public health measures (the irony was not lost on pro-choice abortion advocates).
In the absence of a uniform federal pandemic dashboard, professional news sites were forced to turn to private sources to track the Covid-19 virus. Johns Hopkins University or The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project. But, such sources, as credible as they were, were no match for the relentless stream of lies from right-wing media.
The people running right-wing outlets aren’t stupid. They know the difference between truth and lies. They understand that misinformation can kill. It’s not that they want people to die, it’s just that, from their remote perch, some risks are worth taking to attain short-term political ends.
Our Fractured Political Leadership
The fissures appeared early. The Trump Administration downplayed the virus in an effort to suppress panic (or preserve reelection prospects, depending on one’s perspective). The CDC lost credibility and never recovered. The daily Presidential press conferences quickly devolved into comic fodder for late night talk shows.
With a presidential election on the horizon, Trump and his allies began questioning Dr. Fauci’s somber pleas. Charged political rhetoric from the right seeded doubts about mask wearing, testing and isolation protocols. and vaccines. Reckless rhetoric from the left besmirched vaccines long before they became available (remember that, as a presidential candidate, Kamala Harris once said she wouldn’t take a Trump vaccine).
Quickly, it became painfully clear. The US would not mount a coherent, cohesive national response. The states were on their own. Many states—like Florida and Texas—responded with a political playbook. Other states—both Democratic and Republican—chose science and public health over politics. In most cases, states and their political leaders proved unworthy of the challenge.
In red states (i.e., states politically controlled by Republican legislatures), political leaders belittled mask mandates and business closures. Even as their hospitals were overwhelmed by new cases, they promoted large mask-less gatherings. They allowed health care workers to work even after testing positive for Covid-19. Under the guise of personal freedom, and in the face of an ominous threat, they abandoned public health.
Blue states also floundered. To their credit, many responded forcefully to the threat. They followed the science, but in some cases undermined public trust with hypocrisy. Some Democrats were caught violating the very restrictions they imposed (e.g., Austin Mayor Adler, Denver Mayor Hancock and California Governor Newsom to name a few). Some blue states lacked sufficient pre-pandemic capacity (e.g., ICU beds). Others found that even the strongest containment measures did not prevent serious outbreaks.
The jury is still out regarding the link between politics and public health outcomes. During the first 18 months, no clear red state-blue state pattern emerged, especially after adjusting for other variables (e.g., age, timing, climate and geography). California and Texas, for example, pursued dramatically different strategies, but both suffered comparable fatalities.
Still, most public health experts believe that, as more data becomes available, a positive correlation between policies and outbreak severity will materialize. Such findings will affirm the efficacy of public health measures, but they will do nothing to refute the utter futility of asking 50 states to combat global pandemics.
Look Out, We're Coming for You
The Covid-19 deaths have been heart-wrenching, especially when so many were preventable. Instead of fighting the Covid-19 virus as one nation, we fought each other. The former President spewed tweets like "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!", "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment.” Right-wing militia groups hung Democratic governors in effigy.
The political virus spread. Shouting matches at Walmarts. Brawls at school board meetings. Fights on airplanes. Threats against doctors and public health officials—for the crime of doing their jobs. When Dodger Stadium was converted to a mass vaccination site, far-right and anti-vax groups forced police to temporarily shut it down.
According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study, viewers of right-wing media outlets are at least three times more likely to believe Covid-19 misinformation and anti-vax conspiracy theories than viewers of other outlets. Without such lies, vaccine hesitancy would not be so high and vaccination rates so low.
And, as Dr. Anthony Fauci sadly conceded, "If we had the kind of false information that's being spread now … decades ago, … we would still have smallpox and polio." When the next virus attacks, our public health officials will likely have even less power or influence to protect us. Public trust has been so subverted, we may not trust public health orders enough to boil contaminated drinking water.
Facing the Future Together
Not too long ago, there was reason to hope that we could eradicate catastrophic infectious diseases. After watching the US miserably fail during the Covid-19 pandemic, this hope seems naive.
This pandemic could have been worse, especially without early public health measures and effective treatments and vaccines. But, with a unified, non-politicized national response, it also could have been so much less serious. Fewer fatalities, shorter business closures and a quicker recovery. After watching our nation descend into paralyzing strife over this pandemic, our ability to survive a more serious crisis seems improbable.
Ultimately, it depends on us. Will we continue to fight among ourselves or will we learn from our mistakes and prepare for the next war? Will we hide alone in our foxholes or emerge to fight the next enemy together?
The answer is clear. We must set aside our individual differences and confront the next challenge as one nation. We must prepare for the next crisis as if our lives depend on it. Because they do.