In 2021, patriots bare their arms -- March 18, 2021 column

By MARSHA MERCER

Last year, wearing face masks divided Americans.

Now, a political gap has opened around the COVID-19 vaccine – with some Republicans saying they are hesitant, at least, to get the jab.

One in three Republicans say they will not get the vaccine when it becomes available, a CBS News poll found.

An Associated Press-NORC Center poll reported 42% of Republicans said they probably or definitely will not get the shot, compared with just 17% of Democrats.

Nearly half of those who supported President Donald Trump in 2020 said they would not get vaccinated, according to an NPR-Marist poll, and 59% of Republicans said in a Monmouth poll they’d either wait or wouldn’t get vaccinated at all.

Some say they are concerned about allergies and side effects, while others cited a distrust of the government, the polls reported.

“I don’t quite understand . . . this sort of macho thing about `I’m not gonna get the vaccine. I have a right as an American, my freedom not to do it,” President Joe Biden said in an ABC News interview that aired Wednesday. “Well, why don’t you be a patriot, protect other people?”

Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers may think saying no is about personal freedom, but let’s call it what it is: selfish and unpatriotic.

The idea of a patriot has been usurped by some on the political right. Trump talked about forming a Patriot Party though has backed off. His supporters, sometimes armed, wear Patriot T-shirts and wave Patriot banners at “Patriot” rallies. Several political parties already have Patriot in their names.

It’s time to reclaim the word patriot, as Merriam-Webster defines it: “one who loves and supports his or her country.”  

Americans who revere the right to keep and bear arms should also bare their arms for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Getting vaccinated is a patriotic act because someone is taking  responsibility not only for their own health and wellbeing but for that of their community, state and nation.

More than 111 million Americans have received at least one dose, and 15% of adults are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among those 65 and older, nearly 37% are fully vaccinated. But we still have a long way to go.

For the United States to reopen safely and fully, we need what’s called herd immunity and that means upwards of 75% of adults need to get vaccinated, health officials say.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George Bush recently starred in a public service video showing themselves getting vaccinated and urged Americans to follow suit.

Trump and his wife got vaccinated before they left the White House in January but didn’t make their vaccinations known to the public until this month. He acknowledged on Fox News that many of his supporters don’t want to get vaccinated and he recommended, in a qualified way, they do so.

‘I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it. And a lot of those people voted for me, frankly,” he said. “But, you know, again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree with that, also.

“But it’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine. And it’s something that works,” Trump said.

Getting vaccinated doesn’t mean you won’t get the virus, but it does mean the effects likely will be less and you’ll be less likely to need hospitalization. So, if patriotism doesn’t move you, how about enlightened self interest?

Or follow the lead of about two dozen men and women of faith who rolled up their sleeves at Washington National Cathedral the other day. Think of getting vaccinated as a form of prayer for a healthier, better country.

Biden has directed states to make every adult eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine no later than May 1. He also wants to make signing up for and getting vaccinations easier. The administration is expanding vaccine distribution, the number of vaccination sites and the ranks of professionals authorized to give the shots.

It’s an impressive effort aimed at getting as many people vaccinated as soon as possible.

But the effort will succeed only if people -- patriots -- bare their arms.

©2021 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

More women make it to Congress -- and face gridlock -- Nov. 8, 2018 column

By MARSHA MERCER

The day after Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, half a million women marched on Washington. The new president largely ignored them.

He bragged about the size of his own inauguration crowd but didn’t mention the hundreds of thousands of women in pink hats on the streets protesting him and his policies -- until the following day.

“Watched the protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt the cause badly,” he tweeted.

Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Trump.

Many of the protesters probably did vote – for Hillary Clinton. Then, they turned their disappointment and anger into action. Democratic women ran -- and won -- in record numbers for Congress.   

At least 118 women will serve in the House and Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Currently 110 women serve in Congress.

In Virginia on Tuesday, three Democratic women candidates flipped reliably red House districts to blue.

Elaine Luria, a retired Navy commander, beat Rep. Scott Taylor in the Hampton Roads suburbs.

Abigail Spanberger, self-described as a former CIA operative and a Girl Scout leader, narrowly defeated Tea Party favorite Rep. Dave Brat in the Richmond suburbs.

And Jennifer Wexton, a state senator since 2014, rolled over longtime Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock in the Northern Virginia suburbs.

Precisely how many women will be in Congress depends on still-undecided races. One thing is clear, though: Trump can’t ignore women anymore.

Women voters helped drive the blue wave, such as it was, by generally choosing Democrats for Congress. Fifty-five percent of women voted for a Democratic congressional candidate, and only 41 percent for a Republican, the AP’s exit poll reported. Men’s votes were more evenly split.

In 2016, Trump won 53 percent of white women’s votes. In the midterms, 50 percent of white women voted for a Democrat for Congress and 46 percent for a Republican, according to exit polls.  

Republicans acknowledge the party is turning off white, college-educated, suburban women. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, who lost to Brat four years ago, blames “cultural signals” sent by the party.

It’s incumbent on GOP legislators to step up with an agenda both men and women can support, including help for child care and health care, Cantor told Bloomberg Radio Wednesday.

But with the House in Democratic hands for the first time since 2010, Trump will need to work with Democrats or watch his agenda grind to a halt. The GOP strengthened its control of the Senate Tuesday by two or three senators, but the House has the power of the purse.

The incoming freshman class of House Democrats is refreshingly diverse – with the first two Muslim women, first two Native American women, and the first black woman member from Massachusetts. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is the youngest member of Congress at 29.

It’s tempting to feel exuberant about the new attitudes and policies the freshmen women will bring, but the reality is sobering. Stalemate is more likely than progress in divided government.

Before anything else, the new members must decide whether to support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, an effective party builder and a lightning rod for critics, for Speaker.

Spanberger is among the few newly elected representatives who promises not to support Pelosi “under any circumstances.” Luria and Wexton have said they’ll wait and see.  

Trump, of all people, says Pelosi deserves to be Speaker and he’ll even help her get elected to the post. He claims he’s sincere; others think he’s setting her up.

Pelosi expects to regain the Speaker’s gavel. She says subpoena power may become a negotiating tool as Democratic committee chairmen dig into Trump’s businesses and his administration.  

Trump threatens a “warlike posture” if Democrats investigate him, vowing to retaliate with investigations of Democrats.

“They can play that game, but we can play it better, because we have a thing called the United States Senate,” he said.

Such talk by both sides makes gridlock almost inevitable -- and nobody voted for that.

 © 2018 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

Canaries, anyone? Our presidential inaugurations quiz -- Jan. 12, 2017 column

At noon on Jan. 20, Donald John Trump will take the 35-word oath of office and become the 45^th president of the United States. The oath is prescribed in the Constitution, but much of what happens during the peaceful transfer of power is rooted in tradition. Get ready for the big show and test your H.Q. – Historical Quotient – with our 10-question quiz. Answers are below.

1             1) Presidential inaugurations used to be on March 4. Why are they on Jan. 20, a day that’s often snowy and bone-chillingly cold?

A.   Washington was rainy and muddy in March, and carriages got stuck.

B.   The Supreme Court picked it.

C.   The 20^th Amendment says so.

D.   It’s when Jupiter aligns with Mars.

2)  Which president gave the longest inaugural address and what happened?

A.   Bill Clinton spoke so long that when he said “in conclusion,” everybody cheered.

B.   Despite a snowstorm, William Henry Harrison in 1841 spoke for an hour and 45 minutes without a hat or coat. He caught pneumonia and died a month later.

C.   Ronald Reagan told so many stories about his old Hollywood days that Nancy Reagan unplugged his microphone.  

3              3) Who gave the shortest inaugural address?

A.   Abraham Lincoln

B.   Franklin Roosevelt

C.   George Washington

                4) How did Thomas Jefferson at his 1801 inauguration break with his predecessors?

A.   Jefferson wore the clothes “of a plain citizen without any distinctive badge of office,” a newspaper reported, unlike the elegant suits with swords favored by Washington and Adams.

B.   Jefferson walked from his rooming house to the Capitol, rather than being driven in a liveried coach.

C.   Both A and B 

5               5) What do canaries have to do with Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration?    

A)  Canaries – roasted in cream sauce – were served at the inaugural luncheon.

B)   At the frigid inaugural ball, hundreds of canaries in cages were suspended from the ceiling as decoration. The birds froze to death and dropped onto the heads of dancers below.

C)   First lady Julia Grant’s hat was covered with canary feathers, setting off the first fashion trend by a first lady.

6) Who was the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile?

A.   Warren Harding in 1921, a Packard

B.   William McKinley in 1897, a Stanley Steamer

C.   William Howard Taft in 1909, a Pierce-Arrow

                7) Which president wore a ring containing a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair to his inauguration?

A.   Barack Obama

B.   Teddy Roosevelt

C.   Ulysses S. Grant

D.   Nobody. This is fake news.

8              8) Match the president with the theme of his inauguration -- Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

A.   “Celebrating America’s Spirit Together”

B.   “Crusade America”

C.   “An American Journey: Building a Bridge to the 21^st Century”

D.   “Forward Together”

                9) Whose inaugural address was the first to be broadcast on TV?

A.   Dwight Eisenhower

B.   John F. Kennedy

C.   Harry S Truman

               10) When a citizen tried to wish this newly inaugurated president joy in the White House, the president smiled and said: “I would advise you to follow my example on nuptial occasions when I always tell the bridegroom I will wait until the end of the year before offering any congratulations.” Who was the president?

A)  John Calvin Coolidge

B)   Thomas Jefferson

C)   Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answers

1) C -- Ratified in 1933, the 20^th Amendment states: “The terms of the president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20^th day of January . . . the terms of successors shall then begin.”

2) B

3) C – Washington’s second inaugural address was the shortest in history at 135 words. FDR’s fourth inaugural address was 559 words, and Lincoln’s second was 700 words.

4) C

5) B

6) A

7) B – strange but true.

8 – A Bush, B Eisenhower, C Clinton, D Nixon

9       C – in 1949.

10   B

     SOURCES: National Archives, American Presidency Project, www.history.com, Thomas Jefferson Foundation – Monticello, White House Historical Association

--Compiled by Marsha Mercer

If only the 2016 campaign could rise to poetry -- April 7, 2016 column

By MARSHA MERCER

It’s National Poetry Month, so let us praise politicians who campaign in poetry in 2016.

Anyone . . . Anyone?

In the 1980s, Mario Cuomo could say without irony: “You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose.”

Obviously, Cuomo couldn’t have imagined today’s presidential contest when he made the distinction between the lofty words that inspire voters and the gritty compromises needed to make policy.

In January, the prospects for poetry in the campaign looked promising. When Bernie Sanders launched his brilliant ad using Simon and Garfunkel’s “America,” Hillary Clinton said she loved it.

“We need a lot more poetry in this campaign and in our country,” she told Chris Cuomo of CNN at a Democratic town hall in Iowa. “So I applaud that. I love the feeling. I love the energy.”

The feel-good feeling didn’t last. The campaign soon devolved from poetry to a coarse limerick.

Rare in 2016 is the presidential candidate who appeals to what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. Two exceptions: Democrat Martin O’Malley, who was given to recitations of Irish poetry, and Republican John Kasich, who stays more cheerful than combative in a campaign marked by insults, anger and ridicule.

We know how far quoting Eavan Boland by heart took O’Malley. We’ll see whether Kasich can parlay civility and thoughtfulness into anything higher than third place. Donald J. Trump’s wordsmithing begins and ends with taunts --“Lyin’ Ted,” meet “Low-energy Jeb.”

It wasn’t always like this.

“Our nation’s first great politicians were also among the nation’s first great writers and scholars,” then-Sen. John F. Kennedy recounted in a 1956 commencement address at Harvard, his alma mater. “Books were their tools, not their enemies.” He himself won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957 for “Profiles in Courage.”

Americans’ appreciation for poetry is reflected in the fact that 42 states and the federal government have poets laureate.

The Virginia state Senate in February invited Virginia poet laureate James Ronald Smith, who teaches at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, to read a poem on the Senate floor.

Margaret Britton Vaughn received a lifetime appointment as Tennessee’s poet laureate in 1996. Alabama poet laureate Andrew Glaze died in February at the age of 95.

The term of the U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera ends in May. Several presidents, starting with JFK, have invited poets to read at their inaugurations.

We celebrate National Poetry Month because the American Academy of Poets decided in 1996 that poetry should have its own month the way black history and women’s history do. It’s grown into the largest literary celebration in the world, the academy says.

At a poetry month celebration at the White House last April, President Barack Obama said: “The greatness of a country is not just the size of its military, or the size of its economy, or how much territory it controls. It’s also measured by the richness of its culture.”

And, Obama said, “If you want to understand America, then you better read some Walt Whitman. If you want to understand America, you need to know Langston Hughes.”

The Library of Congress website has a Presidents as Poets area with information on eight presidents who wrote poetry at some point in their lives, starting with George Washington’s “anguished love poems,” through Obama. Obama had two poems published in the literary magazine at Occidental College when he was an undergraduate.

Asked by The New Yorker in 2007 to evaluate Obama’s work, the estimable Yale literary critic Harold Bloom said one poem was “not bad – a good enough folk poem with some pathos and humor and affection.”

Bloom was less charitable toward published poet Jimmy Carter, calling him, “literally the worst poet in the United States.”

In his 1956 commencement speech, JFK told a story about an English mother who wrote her son’s school: “Don’t teach my boy poetry; he is going to stand for Parliament.”

“Well, perhaps she was right,” Kennedy said, “but if more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place to live.”

I agree, but we need not wait for the politicians. April 21 is Poem in Your Pocket Day, when people find a poem they love and carry it with them to share. What’s yours?

©2016 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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