The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

16 NEWS Best of the American columnists

THE WEEK 12 September 2020

History shows

good vaccines

take time

Jen Christensen

CNN

Everyone wants avaccinefor Covid-19, saysJen Christensen,but the Trumpadministration’s recent

announcementthatit might give emergencyauthorisationforoneassoonas October, beforethe

completionof late-stageclinicaltrials,istroubling.Historyshows it’sunwisetorushthesethings.

In1955,theUSgovernmentannouncedthefirstvaccinetoprotectchildrenagainst polio. Within

days,labshadchurnedout thousands ofdoses.Theprocess wasdefective,andmanyofthosedoses

containedlive poliovirus.Ofthe 200,000childrenvaccinatedbeforetheprogramme was aban-

doned,40,00^0 contractedthe diseaseandabout ten died.Asimilar,thoughlessserious,disaster

happenedin 1976, whenPresidentFord,eager toimpress inanelection year,fast-trackedamass

vaccinationcampaignfollowinganoutbreakofswineflu inanarmy base inNewJersey.Inthe

event,thatdiseaseturnedoutnotto beveryvirulentatall.Itnevermadeitoutofthe base andcost

the lifeofjust one recruit.Yetthevaccinewaslaterlinkedtohundreds ofcasesofasevere neuro-

logicaldisorder.Thisadministrationmusttreadcarefully.Rushingoutavaccinecouldsavelives, but

it c ouldalsoendanger people’shealth,and inthe processlight afireunde rtheanti-vaxxer movement.

Stop talking:

your silence

will save lives

Derek Thompson

The Atlantic

In the war against the virus, there is one simple and highly effective tactic that has gone unaccount-

ablyignoredinthe US,saysDerekThompson.It’sthis:speakingless,or lessloudly.The virus is

transmittedprimarilythroughthe particles that eruptfromour faces when wesneeze, cough,talk

or sing–and thevolumeat whichwe dothese things makes ahugedifferenceto howmanyvirus-

ladendroplets weproduce.ThismaypartlyexplainwhyJapanhasreportednooutbreakslinked

toTokyo’sfamouslycrowded subways.It’snotjustthatJapanesecommutersare goodat wearing

masks;they a lsoavoid talking loudly ontrains, if at all.New York City spends$15m eachmonth

blasting its subwayswith anti-microbial sprays, but itcoul dsave that money if passengersemulated

the Japanese by just “masking upandshutting up”. In deed,Americaas awhole could speedits

returnto “a m ore mutedformofnorma lcy” by introducing“libraryrules” for all enclosed public

spaces.It’s al lverywelltrying tostop tr ansmissionbyimproving ventilation, andasking peopleto

keep theirdistance fromothers andto wear masks. Butwhy“ignor ethe founding event,which is

the minting of the viralbullet? Spareyourvoice;save alife.”

Just abouttheonlythingRepublicans and Democratsagree on these days is the need to talk tough

on China,sayJessica ChenWeiss andAli Wyne.President Trump recently warnedthat “China

would own ourcountryifJoe Bidengotelected”. JoeBiden, in turn ,has pledgedthat as faras

pandemicpreparedness goes, America“willnever again beat themercyofChina”. While this stuff

is “mostly campaign-trail rhetoric”,the next USpresident should bewareof casting America’s China

policyintoo “nati onalistic terms”. It wouldonly be counterproductive. There’scerta inly noreason

to ban allChinese Communist Party membersandtheir families from travellingtothe US,asthe

Trump administrationisreportedly thinking of doing.The partyhas roughly92million adherents,

many of whom only joined to further their career prospects.No, the best responsetoPresidentXi’s

increasinglyauthoritarian regimeistoadopt “anasymmetric approach”–reaffirming theUS’s

democraticvalues andcalmly coordinating with al lies. Beijing’s aggressive tacticshave alienated

many countrieslately, anditwill payapric efor that in time.“Americannationalismwill on ly beget

moreChines enationalism.” Bettertolet China’s chauvinisticstrategy“runagroundon itsown”.

Bashing China

will only make

it worse

Jessica Chen Weiss and

Ali Wyne

The New York Times

SenatorEdwardMarkeypulledoff

whatmanyregardedasanimpossible

featlastweek,saidE.J.DionneJrin

TheWashingtonPost.Hethrashed

amemberoftheKennedyclanina

congressionalrace–inMassachusetts.

Itendedanunbrokenstringof 26

primaryvictoriesbytheKennedys

intheirhomestate,datingbackto

196 8.Thefamilynamewasonceso

powerfulthataGillettestockroom

supervisornamedJohnF.Kennedy

–norelationtothepoliticaldynasty

–managedtowintheelectionforstate

treasurerin1954,justbygettinghis

nameontheballot(hewentonto

servethreeterms).ButforJoeKennedyIII–the3 9 -year-old

grandsonofBobbyandEthelKennedy–thefamilyname

wasn’tenough.Hisbidtounseatthe74-year-oldMarkey,and

becomeaDemocraticsenatorforMassachusetts,cameunstuck

whenhelostlastweek’sprimaryby4 4 .6%to55.4%.

Thisdefeat“placesa2 020 marker”onthegravestoneofthe

Kennedydynasty, saidPeterS.Canelloson Politico.The

“powerfulsenseofattachment”that votersfeltafterthe

Kennedyassassinationsisno more. “And much ofwhat

remainsinphotosand videoclipsofthe once-famousKennedy

styleisobnoxioustothepublicmood:

sleeklydressedmenwithsometimes

leeringeyes,captivespouses,cocktails

andcigarettes.”Theironyisthatthe

“unassuming”JoeKennedyisnothing

likehisscandal-proneforebears,yet

he’stheonewhohas“finallygotthe

electoralslapintheface”.

Thatmaybealittleunfaironhim,

saidNicholasGoldbergintheLos

AngelesTimes,butstill,“it’sgreat

toseeadynastythwarted”.There

hasalwaysseemedsomethingwrong

aboutpoliticalofficebeingpassed

downinfamilies–beittheKen nedys,

RooseveltsorBushes–inoursupposedlymeritocraticcountry.

Itwasa“resoundingdefeatforthenotionthatfamilybrands

mattermorethanpartyorideology”,saidMattBaiinThe

WashingtonPost.Anditwaswell-timed,comingasitdidinthe

wakeofaRepublicanconventionthatfeaturedspeechesfrom

nofewerthansevenmembersoftheTrumpclan.Ifa“perfectly

likeableKennedy”canberebuffedonhishometurf,then

“perhapsthere’s awarningfortheTrumpsofManhattanin

theirbidtoacquire red-stateAmerica”.We’dbetterhopeso.

The“onlythingweneedlessthancelebrity politiciansright

nowistheuncontainable ambitionoftheirentitledkids”.

JoeKennedyIII:an“electoralslapintheface”

The end of an era for the Kennedy clan