Biden’s gaffes, sometimes innocent (albeit disconcerting) stumbles of his age, can be momentary transparencies into the troubling motivations behind his administration’s policies. Biden’s latest stumble is especially telling of the White House’s arbitrary, power-hungry Covid agenda.
Last week, the president had to issue a correction for confusing the termination of Title 42 — a pandemic-related limit on asylum at the border — and the end of the mask mandate for public transit. When asked by a reporter whether he would delay the termination of Title 42, Biden answered that “there’s going to be an appeal by the Justice Department . . . if — in fact — it is strongly concluded by the scientists that we need Title 42, that we be able to do that.”
The president was, in fact, referring to the mask mandate. Issuing the correction, he said:
I want to clarify that, in comments at the conclusion of my remarks this morning, I was referring to the CDC’s mask mandate and there is no Department of Justice action on Title 42.
Indeed, the Justice Department is gearing up to appeal the mask ruling in the name of public health. DOJ spokesperson Anthony Coley said that the appeal “remains necessary to protect the public health,” according to assessments by the CDC.
Interesting. Because another Biden-administration official has said the exact opposite regarding “the science” behind lifting Title 42. When asked whether the Biden administration would delay lifting Title 42, the official told Politico that the policy “is simply a public health directive on whether there is a public health risk associated with processing migrants or not” and that the CDC has determined “that there wasn’t [a risk] and that we’re OK to move forward with lifting it on May 23.”
It seems the president applies “the science” differently to both issues (unless, of course, Title 42 abides by “The Science” and masking follows “the science”). Until the White House enlightens us with the distinction, this Biden gaffe reveals the White House Covid policy for what it is: a tool for control — unless, that is, there’s a more important progressive priority.
The Biden administration does not apply Covid precautions equally across issues. When it comes to masking, for instance, its propensity for control trumps the autonomy and independent risk tolerance of Americans. With lifting Title 42, a progressive immigration priority, Covid is no longer a threat.
Last week, Nate Hochman pointed out that the Left approaches Covid with an “if it saves just one life, it’s worth it” mentality. In the waning stages of this pandemic, this is a risk calculation that disregards the very real consequences of draconian Covid policy. Hochman listed “mental health, drug addiction, education outcomes, basic constitutional freedoms” as just some of many consequences. Fundamentally, the administration’s approach takes away Americans’ autonomy in determining their own risk tolerance.
And as a testament to the weak logic of this approach, it’s not even a broadly applicable strategy to government and risk mitigation. If we were to always implement this “authoritarian” stance on public health, as Hochman categorizes it, then the government might as well chuck anything that carries deadly risk (which is just about everything):
Car accidents consistently rank among the top causes of death in America. So why not just lower the speed limit to five miles per hour — or better yet, close the highways, ban cars, and revert back to the horse and buggy? Well, mostly because that would be insane. Politics is about assessing trade-offs; men are not angels, and angels do not govern men. In our fallen world, there is no policy that does not come with a corresponding cost. The great lie of the progressive desire for rule via “the experts” is that no amount of scientific information or expertise can actually tell us how to navigate and weigh these varying considerations. That’s what politics, properly understood, is for. But if Covid has taught us anything, it’s that many of our leading experts — blinded as they are by their singular focus, unwilling to acknowledge even the existence of trade-offs — are unable to see the bigger picture.
“Insane,” indeed. That is, if you are thinking about the autonomy of Americans and rational trade-offs.
But for the power-hungry Biden administration, what would be an utterly irrational risk calculation for a normal citizen is part of a political strategy.
Title 42 is the last of Trump-era border policies under this administration and has drawn the ire of border activists and progressives. It is, therefore, politically salient enough to escape “the science” of the White House. Masks on airplanes, however, don’t seem to anger the Left, so they merit different treatment.