A “poke” is a 16th century term for a bag and the term refers to a concealed item being sold. It wasn’t until the 19th century that it was explained as a confidence trick, where a farmer would substitute a cat for a suckling pig when bringing it to market.
Joe Biden ran against Donald Trump on two promises, reports Kimberley Strassel in the WSJ
#1: National Unity, which he has redefined as Republicans agreeing to his agenda.
#2: Control: “Get control of the virus that’s ruined so many lives”—enabled, Biden says, by the Trump administration and “the worst performance of any nation on earth.” He would do this by “finally” imposing “a plan” to get the economy running, schools open, vaccines distributed.
The new administration has spent every minute talking coronavirus. Yet 90% of its energy has gone to trashing its predecessor and resetting expectations, not to any sweeping policy change. Logistically, it would seem Mr. Biden inherited a fine plan after all. In the few areas where he might actually force improvement—notably reopening schools—the president has whiffed.
On the top priorities, vaccine production and distribution, Mr. Biden continues to pretend he had to start from scratch. This week he accused the Trump administration of misleading his team about the amount of “vaccine available.” How so? The prior administration started placing bets on vaccine candidates last summer, helping companies manufacture them before clinical trials were complete. By December, two vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, had panned out, and officials had announced that a total of 400 million doses would be delivered by summer.
The Biden administration has failed to take steps that would do real good.
Parents are revolting now that their children have been denied education for nearly a year. The CDC issued a study saying it’s safe to return, and the Biden-appointed CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, last week reaffirmed the teachers can safely return to the classroom prior to getting a vaccine. Yet White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki now says Ms. Walensky was speaking (at an official briefing) in her “personal capacity.” So much for “listening to the experts” and “following the science.”
Read Biden’s plan for opening schools once a week: https://www.richardcyoung.com/politics/opening-schools-once-a-week/
Most of what the administration is doing seems aimed at aggravating the nuisance of Covid mitigation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now suggests that two face masks are better than one, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is busy on a plan to make airline travel even more onerous.
Joe Biden’s promises on the pandemic were a “me-too” plan, “little different on the substance” from what the previous administration had been doing, continues Ms. Strassel.
But the voters who believed him are getting a sharp awakening. Get ready for a lot more expectations management.
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