[Lathum]

What Biden should learn from Obamacare - POLITICO


If you scroll down to the parting words one of my best friends band gets a shout out. Pretty nice free publicity on Politico

Nightly’s Tyler Weyant emails from the shores of Assawoman Bay in Ocean City, Md.:

I went to my first concert since being vaccinated last night. It was at Seacrets, a popular Ocean City night club, and yes, it was the suspendered and straw-hatted cover band The Amish Outlaws. Through the rapidly changing genres of songs and falling confetti, I kept thinking about one thing: the Delta variant.

At this point, you may have questions. Tyler, you were at a crowded concert, even though you synthesize Covid coverage every day? Weren’t you worried or afraid? Not really, because I trust the vaccines. Are the Amish Outlaws real? Yes, they are quite real.

A follow-up, then: If you weren’t afraid, why were you thinking about the Delta variant? It’s a good question. I hadn’t thought about it on my way there. I was focused on a fun night out with family members whom I haven’t been able to see much during the throes of Covid. I’d say it was sometime between “We Are the Champions” and “Blinding Lights” that I began to grapple with a set of realizations in my mind. They went something like this:

“Oh dear goodness, this crowd is screaming lyrics to songs left and right, and I bet a good portion aren’t vaccinated, and holy cow, look at that woman just screaming and sloshing her drink around, goodness, let me pull up the New York Times map of vaccination rates, but wait I probably shouldn’t, but it will only take a second, first hold on a second … PAAAAAANAMA. PANAMA-A-A-A-A-A.”

To answer another follow-up, yes, I am considered fun at parties. But more seriously, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about my moment of panic. It was a sharp reminder of the risk assessments even the vaccinated have to make if we want to return to the things we loved before March 2020. We all have a choice to make: Either we trust the vaccines, and go out and live our lives, or we revert back to the state of isolation and fear that none of us cared for before our shots. I am trying to choose the former.