Editor’s note: Gary Franks is writing this week’s column for the vacationing Robert Reich.



DESPITE HAVING THREE vaccines ready and available, President Joe Biden has had more Covid-related deaths than his predecessor whose performance on Covid was deemed poor by the media. Today, we see reality clearly. The only difference is in the media coverage. The proof is in the numbers.

As we are looking at the omicron variant of Covid-19, I cannot help but think of remarks by then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden during one of the debates. Biden succinctly stated “There are 220,000 Americans dead. Anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America.”

Well, more than 350,000 Americans have died in 2021, on the watch of now-President Biden. If the public remembers it, hyperbole like this can bite you in the rear end. For Biden’s sake, let those remarks be a forgotten memory.

I do not feel that Biden should leave or resign. Every president hits bumps in the road. I personally pray he is not in a ditch. We tend to minimize the achievement of his bipartisan infrastructure legislation when we are drowning in failures and miscues.

Despite having just a 38% approval rating and 71% of Americans feeling he is leading us in the wrong direction, I genuinely believe he can turn it around. Perhaps studying the fall of the Roman Empire and Emperor Nero’s role in it would help. Border protection, economic missteps, supply chain problems and inflation, and lastly, uncontrollable government spending rank as top reasons for the Roman Empire’s demise.

For radical liberals and socialist Democrats, “tax and spend” policies are their mantra. It is followed by incessant efforts to control your life and make you more dependent on them; the federal government. They doubt the public’s ability to figure out how to take care of their children or help each other after the birth of a new child. Well, surprise. Since the day of the cave man, we have been able to figure it out and get both done without the government’s involvement. They insist on being omnipresent. Government should not be constantly called upon to do what we can do for ourselves.

Fixing the high price of fuel by restoring oil pipelines and encouraging fossil fuel production would show Americans the president gets it, and will result in higher poll numbers.

The federal courts have checked and slowed Biden’s agenda. They’ve stopped his ability to extend the eviction hiatus, as it went beyond the powers of the presidency. They’ve forced him to return to Donald Trump’s border policy by requiring would-be illegals to be returned to Mexico. Thank God. They’ve also stopped Biden from mandating the use of masks.

The vaccines will “help” prevent Covid. We first thought they would eliminate the prospect of getting Covid and reduce its spread. Now, it has long been conceded that you can still get the virus and even die from it despite getting vaccinated. Oh, well.

The constant cry to get vaccinated has worn old. People like to have the freedom to make their own decisions. Thus, to do or say the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different result, is a form of many things, none good.

Also, people cannot be scared into doing things that could affect their lives all the time. You can only scare people by saying “boo” once. The second and third boos do not get the same reaction.

There is good reason to look at Covid like we look at the common flu. The shots would be offered to Americans, but are not forced upon them. We all recognize the advantages and disadvantages of this situation, but we make our own decisions.

I strongly believe that if Covid vaccinations were a 100% guarantee of not getting the virus, like the polio shot, everyone would get one, but we know it is not. So many ask why? Why should we get one? We should respect that. We shouldn’t be losing jobs over it.

What is needed, however, are treatments. The Pfizer pill and similar medications could become as important as regular “over the counter” flu medication. The goal is to keep you alive and out of the hospital. That may be as good as it gets, at least for a while.

I do question why a vaccine took less than a year to develop via Project Warp Speed and yet, it took two years to develop a pill for treating Covid.



Gary Franks served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years and New England’s first Black member of the House. He is the host of the “We Speak Frankly” podcast and author of “With God, For God and For Country.”