Tuesday open thread: It's all fun and games until your audience starts dying

An interesting thing happened on Fox News yesterday: Most of the on-air talent turned their shows into PSAs for vaccination. For example:

SEAN HANNITY: "Please take Covid seriously. I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death. Research like crazy. Talk to your doctor... I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination." pic.twitter.com/tOi5ebpqSf

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 20, 2021

That's right: even Lumpy suddenly started to express faith in the vaccines.

This volte face comes as the COVID pandemic enters a new phase, where the unvaccinated are bearing the brunt of the virus. Infection rates in states—mostly Republican—with pitiably low vaccination numbers are skyrocketing, with hospital admissions rivaling what was seen back in January. The media is filled with stories of the infected regretting their decision to forgo vaccination.

Of course, many of those people who decided not to get vaccinated and are now on ventilators did so due to the blandishments of the likes of Sean Hannity. News Corp lawyers may be evil, but they're generally decent lawyers. Fox News has opened itself up to class action lawsuits due to its vaccine lies. Eventually, bereaved families will want to lash out and lay blame; Fox News propaganda would be a good place to start. So, quick, start talking up vaccination as a good thing!

The problem is that it's too late. In an effort to damage President Joe Biden, right wing media has consigned its customers to the pits of Gehenna. They convinced them that vaccinations were a leftwing plot to make them subservient to the state. Any real patriot says "no" to vaccines. A few heartfelt entreaties from the likes of Steven Doocy won't cut the mustard. We're at the point where even were Donald Trump to come out and tell his followers to take the jab he'd be ignored. They threw their followers into a Hell of their own making, but they'd rather be in Hell than give liberals any credit. 

We are, again, two Americas: One which is vaccinated, and one which refuses to vaccinate, and thus is wide open to being ravaged by new variants. Will death and penury convince them to protect themselves? Has it ever? This is a national health emergency; enough coddling. We've used state coercion before to enact needed policies. It's time for a national vaccination mandate.