Affluent, well-educated, vaccinated, and liberal. These are four adjectives that describe both the typical clientele of an urban Trader Joe’s and those who will likely be attending former President Barack Obama’s 60th birthday party this week. We would expect these two groups to behave very similarly, especially in relation to the coronavirus. But maybe not.
While liberal politicians ignore mask mandates, which they themselves implemented, to rub shoulders with other members of the nation’s elite, or to host massive celebrations in honor of themselves, their supporters among the general citizenry are not just following public health guidance, but going well beyond what is recommended of them.
Anecdotally, we all know this to be true. I shop at a Trader Joe’s in an upscale part of Washington, D.C. Given the demographic that frequents this location, it is highly probable that most everyone in the store at a given time is vaccinated. Even though Trader Joe’s allows vaccinated guests to go about their business mask-free, I would often find myself to be the only one not wearing a mask (or two). Half the country’s insistence on taking cumbersome measures to protect against a virus that, due to our impressive vaccine rollout, no longer poses much of a threat to them can largely be attributed to the influence exerted by liberal thought leaders.
Funny enough, many of these thought leaders do not seem to share in the concern which they have sown.
As mentioned earlier, Obama plans to host a massive birthday celebration, despite the surge in COVID-19 case incidence spurred by the virus’ delta variant. Even though the liberal press has hyped up the delta variant as a baleful harbinger of mass death, Obama has 700 people set to attend his party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate. A get-together of this magnitude is not something a person who shares the media’s apocalyptic view of the delta variant would host.
People such as Obama and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser understand that high vaccination rates make large gatherings safe, even in the absence of masks. This is why they feel comfortable flouting the restrictions imposed on everyone else.
The contradictory nature of the public positions professed by the liberal elite and their actions in private is concerning. Due to their, at times misleading, portrayal of the virus, liberals have made those who trust them steadfastly terrified of COVID-19. Given that policymakers often need to work within the bounds of public opinion when crafting responses to COVID-19 trends, the fearmongering of liberals has unnecessarily prolonged or reintroduced coronavirus restrictions in many localities.
It is possible that some liberal leaders truly feel that reopening is safe but are bound to keep limits on social interaction in place by the electorate who they spent months planting the seeds of paranoia among.
Democratic elites and the regular people who support them, in many cases, do not share the same dogmatic approach to public health precautions. Perhaps the fact that not even their liberal idols privately wear masks or socially distance should cue everyday liberals into how nonsensical their dictates are.
