# Leftists are trying to kill the Right **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 21, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086 "2021-09-21T21:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/41 "2021-09-22T13:24:37Z")
Can you explain how those graphs illustrate your point? From what I can tell, if the pink and red lines are longer than the gray line, then the demographic in question is outperforming their percentage of the population in terms of getting vaccinated (similarly on the other graph, with blue and gray lines). I think that what your graphs show is that, yes, Blacks, for example, were slower to get vaccinated (the fully vaccinated graphs on the right), but are now outperforming, say, Whites, in getting vaccinated (lots of recent vaccinations in the red lines on the left). Am I reading that wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/42 "2021-09-22T13:45:56Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Clearly, you call in to Howard Stern. Be sure to use the secret word “Bababooie”. > [@RitterSport](#): > > Can you explain how those graphs illustrate your point? From what I can tell, if the pink and red lines are longer than the gray line, then the demographic in question is outperforming their percentage of the population in terms of getting vaccinated (similarly on the other graph, with blue and gray lines). > > I think that what your graphs show is that, yes, Blacks, for example, were slower to get vaccinated (the fully vaccinated graphs on the right), but are now outperforming, say, Whites, in getting vaccinated (lots of recent vaccinations in the red lines on the left). > > Am I reading that wrong? That’s how I read it too, which aligns with what we previously knew - that there was initial hesitancy in black communities to get the vaccine for rather significant historical reasons, but now that the vaccine appears to be effective they are getting vaccinated at higher rates now and catching up. But I am yet again amused at the claims by the right that “Democrats are being mean for mocking Republicans” whenever Democrats point out that Republicans are doing something profoundly - and _dangerously_ - stupid. Once again, **it is not the fault of the left if it cannot save the right from its own ignorance, delusion and malice**. The Party of Personal Responsibility is responsible for its own actions and beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/43 "2021-09-22T13:47:41Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Look, there is no doubt that there are more conservatives than liberals among the unvaxxed. But it’s more complex than that. For one thing, Republicans tend to be more rural, so it may be a sign more of a rural/urban split than an ideological one, at least partially. Also, many of the red states have large Black and Hispanic populations, and they are way behind everyone else in vaccinations. Conservative thinking in a nutshell: when there’s an obvious explanation that implicates conservatives making bad choices, you talk about every possible explanation _except_ the obvious and parsimonious one. _That_ is the reason conservatives have weaponized a virus and are killing each other by the hundreds of thousands. This reality simply isn’t a thinkable thought for them, so they don’t protect themselves against it. Evidenced in the quote above, evidenced in the Breitbart article, they look everywhere except the most parsimonious explanation: you’re screwing yourselves and it’s entirely your own fault. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/44 "2021-09-22T13:48:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > That’s how I read it too, which aligns with what we previously knew - that there was initial hesitancy in black communities to get the vaccine for rather significant historical reasons, but now that the vaccine appears to be effective they are getting vaccinated at higher rates now and catching up. But, doesn’t this refute what Sam was saying? Of course, what he was saying has nothing to do with this thread, which is about the projection and idiocy of some right wingers. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/45 "2021-09-22T13:49:46Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > But, doesn’t this refute what Sam was saying? Yes, and…? I’m not seeing anything on that site that supports his claims, but I would certainly welcome an explanation from him. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/46 "2021-09-22T13:51:41Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > …but I would certainly welcome an explanation from him. Me as well. It’s just weird to post a cite that refutes your own claims. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/47 "2021-09-22T14:12:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Once again, **it is not the fault of the left if it cannot save the right from its own ignorance, delusion and malice**. The Party of Personal Responsibility is responsible for its own actions and beliefs. If you keep ignoring the warning signs, and falling down the same manhole, it’s not my fault because I am laughing at you. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/48 "2021-09-22T14:39:27Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Of course, what he was saying has nothing to do with this thread, which is about the projection and idiocy of some right wingers. THe only way I see his contributions as relating to the thread is as an object lesson in how some folks on the right will try to deflect responsibility and, absurdly, blame the left for the foolishness of conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/49 "2021-09-22T15:50:48Z")
I know I’m risking ruining a perfectly dynamic derail here, but: @Sam_Stone, what are your thoughts about the article in the OP? Do you think it _isn’t_ completely stupid? _We_ don’t think the unvaxxed are all conservatives. In fact _we_ have been talking about the problems of access from the beginning and have pushed solutions like paid time off for vaccination and recovery, vaccine clinics in underserved areas, etc. while REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS have actively blocked such solutions. You’re plainly JAQ-ing off here, building a straw man of nuance that is completely irrelevant to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/50 "2021-09-22T16:53:56Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > It’s certainly true that there is more vaccine hesitancy on the right. I suspect that’s because everything is political now, and Democrats/Liberals are in power. Remember the vaccine hesitancy on the left while Trump was still President? No. Do you have a cite for that? I remember Dems/libs being very anxious to get a working and safe vaccine pretty much from the get-go, and I remember lots of them eagerly getting it as soon as mass vaccinations began in December 2020. The chief reason there is more vaccine hesitancy on the right, AFAICT, is because right-wing media and leaders have been irresponsibly misinforming and distracting their followers about COVID vaccination in order to energize partisan anger and loyalty. None of that is the fault of Democrats or liberals. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Anyway, as someone trying to get more conservatives to vaccinate, I have to say thst this constant politicization of the issue is not helpful. Have you thought of telling your fellow conservatives that their constant politicization of the issue is not helpful? Or is it only when you can accuse liberals of politicization that you complain about it? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/51 "2021-09-22T17:00:38Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Anyway, as someone trying to get more conservatives to vaccinate, I have to say thst this constant politicization of the issue is not helpful. I agree, but let me point out that outside of Alberta (AKA Texas North), it has not been politicized in Canada. Even Doug Ford has behaved responsibly. And now Alberta is in trouble. I guess the Libs were too successful in convincing Albertans that the vaccine is a Liberal plot. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/52 "2021-09-22T17:24:46Z")
[An article](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/16/alberta-covid-u-turn-crisis-unvaccinated-icu-beds) from last week on the Alberta situation: > [@](#): > > Premier Jason Kennedy admits ‘we were wrong –and, for that, I apologize’ as he warns ICU beds may run out in 10 days […] > > Alberta’s premier has announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a “crisis of the unvaccinated”. > > The new measures marked a major reversal from Jason Kenney’s hands-off approach to the pandemic previously, and come amid warnings from frontline medical workers that the province’s healthcare system is [on the verge of collapse](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/15/canada-alberta-healthcare-system-covid-cases-rise). […] > > Kenney, whose government consists of moderate and far-right conservatives, has previously resisted vaccine passport systems, citing privacy concerns. But on Wednesday evening, he admitted he had little choice. > > “The government’s first obligation must be to avoid large numbers of preventable deaths. We must deal with the reality that we are facing. We cannot wish it away,” he said. “Morally, ethically and legally, the protection of life must be our paramount concern.” Now he figures that out. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/53 "2021-09-22T18:03:36Z")
I really wish our moderate conservatives were this reasonable. I wish we still had moderate conservatives… ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/54 "2021-09-22T18:18:10Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > > It’s certainly true that there is more vaccine hesitancy on the right. I suspect that’s because everything is political now, and Democrats/Liberals are in power. Remember the vaccine hesitancy on the left while Trump was still President? > > No. Do you have a cite for that? I remember Dems/libs being very anxious to get a working and safe vaccine pretty much from the get-go, and I remember lots of them eagerly getting it as soon as mass vaccinations began in December 2020. I don’t have a cite, but I do recall that there was some lib hesitancy because of how fast the vaccine was being pushed through. Given Trump’s overall shoddy behavior, it could be reasonably assumed that the cure would be a shoddy one, too. It’s not that libs didn’t want the vaccine; they just didn’t want to be first. But trials and studies from reputable organizations mollified most of that pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/55 "2021-09-22T18:28:52Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Given Trump’s overall shoddy behavior, it could be reasonably assumed that the cure would be a shoddy one, too. Yeah, what I remember (and I’m paraphrasing here) is Trump getting up to the lectern and saying, “I know more about medicine than these idiot scientists who want to take forever with their ‘safety’ and their ‘data’ and their ‘control groups’! Just shoot a sunbeam straight up your ass, follow it with a bleach and whiskey sour, and COVID’s no problem, stupid libs, it’s beautiful, we’ll have a vaccine ready by the end of the year!” It was reasonable to think that the “vaccine by the end of the year” had the same truth value as everything else he was saying, and to feel a little uneasy about it. Once scientists started saying, “Actually, forget the anal sunshine, but the vaccine by the end of the year is plausible,” things were different. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/56 "2021-09-22T18:46:24Z")
“by the end of the year” would have been reasonable and turned out to be true. But Trump wasn’t saying that, he was saying “by October” which felt like pressure to rush a vaccine before the election. As it was, Pfizer was unblinded shortly after the election. If I recall correctly, Pfizer also did not take government money, which bolstered its reputation as apolitical. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/57 "2021-09-22T19:03:49Z")
[Good point.](https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-ap-fact-check-donald-trump-business-virus-outbreak-108077c4b716db604ee49b42c6d64af0) > [@Trump](#): > > What I said is by the end of the year, but I think it could even be sooner than that. . . . It could be during the month of October, actually could be before November. and more at the link. He was trying to politicize the approval process, and conservatives said he wasn’t. Now that he’s out of power, conservatives are taking a process that wasn’t political and saying it was. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/58 "2021-09-22T19:06:06Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I really wish our moderate conservatives were this reasonable. I wish we still had moderate conservatives… We do. They’re called democrats. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/59 "2021-09-22T19:11:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, what I remember (and I’m paraphrasing here) is Trump getting up to the lectern and saying, “I know more about medicine than these idiot scientists who want to take forever with their ‘safety’ and their ‘data’ and their ‘control groups’! Just shoot a sunbeam straight up your ass, follow it with a bleach and whiskey sour, and COVID’s no problem, stupid libs, it’s beautiful, we’ll have a vaccine ready by the end of the year!” Yep. If Trump says that the sky is blue, we check to make sure. We don’t double down and insist that it’s green with yellow and purple polka dots. So if a vaccine had come out in mid-2020, I would have been skeptical because I do not trust him at all as a source of authority or truth nor do I/did I trust the people he had put in front of agencies. _However_, there are other people/institutions that I do trust, so if the vaccine(s) had been approved by Health Canada, MHRA, and/or EMA (as well as the broader scientific community) that would have given me the requisite confidence in the vaccines, even if he had been touting them too. So, I believe I would have gotten the vaccination. And possibly/probably many on the left would have for the similar reasons. Unfortunately, it feels like the only people they trust are either nutjobs (who are currently proponents of ingesting, applying, and nebulizing weird combinations of poisons, vitamins, and antiparasitics in lethal dosage levels) and sociopathic opportunists who have taken the vaccine themselves while encouraging their followers not to. I have no idea what can be done about that. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086/60 "2021-09-22T19:56:38Z")
I feel obliged to reiterate what’s obvious to most of us here: It was not and is not “the left” advocating masking, distancing and vaccinations. It’s every competent public health organization and all the public and private leaders who are smart enough to trust them. But, because it was a way to score political points, certain parties labeled all the above “the left.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leftists-are-trying-to-kill-the-right/951086.md?page=4)