The Washington Post editorial board published a mostly reasonable piece yesterday titled “Congress has time for UFOs — but not for pandemic funding.” The board writes:
This is a good moment to appreciate the central lesson of this public health catastrophe: It will surprise, and surprise again. We must keep our eyes open for unexpected change. . . . That’s why it is inexplicable that Congress has yet to act on legislation funding the purchase of vaccines, tests and treatments for use in the autumn. No one knows how the pandemic will evolve, but failing to allocate funds is an abdication of responsibility. Other nations are already lining up to buy coronavirus shots. How is it that a House committee this week could hold a hearing on UFOs while legislators drag their feet on money for therapeutics and vaccines?
Okay, yes. Vaccines and therapeutics are good, and Congress should be acting to secure them for Americans in need.
But . . .
Congressional hearings on UFOs are pretty cool, too. As the Post details in a separate piece on the hearings:
Congress held a rare public hearing Tuesday into the existence of what the government calls unidentified aerial phenomena, more commonly known as UFOs, a subject of scrutiny by the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies following an increase in sightings by military personnel and pilots in recent years.
By taking testimony from senior government officials, lawmakers intended to bring “out of the shadows” a Defense Department organization that has been tracking the sightings, said Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), chairman of the House Intelligence subcommittee on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and counterproliferation.
I mean, c’mon. Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater — we can walk and chew gum at the same time here. Secure funding for Covid treatments, yes. But there’s no need to kill the most interesting congressional hearings of the year while you’re at it.