Glenn Youngkin, the governor-elect in Virginia who won a surprising victory Tuesday night, is, in many ways, a younger version of Mitt Romney. They both got Harvard MBAs and they both made fortunes in the financial world. They both have older male model good looks. They both are happily married with lots of kids. On policy, they probably agree on 98 percent of the issues. Youngkin is not, of course, LDS, but he is very open about his Christian religion.

But Glenn Youngkin is a much better politician. He understands that to be elected you need to build a large base of supporters, but you never should virtue signal to the left. The left will always hate you and other non-woke politicians. The left will happily use you (as they have used Mitt Romney for several years now, apparently without his ever catching on), but they will always hate you.

Mitt Romney allowed himself to be used viciously by the left during the Trump years. His naivete was obscene to watch, and it ended up with him getting booed at the state Republican convention in Utah.

Here is the thing that Mitt Romney never realized: he has absolutely nothing to gain by endlessly criticizing Trump. Trump acts like a petulant child, but he is beloved by 40-plus percent of the electorate. There are thousands of people in my semi-rural area of Colorado who STILL have Trump flags and signs on their houses today, a year after the 2020 election. Why would you trigger these people if you want to create a political coalition?

And, let’s be frank: the WORST way to deal with a petulant child is to become petulant and self-righteous, which is Mitt Romney’s default position.

Youngkin, by contrast, was endorsed by Trump but turned down Trump campaigning in Virginia. He was able to increase turnout in the conservative, rural areas of Virginia (areas filled with Trump supporters) and also to increase turnout in the suburban areas where Trump was unpopular. Youngkin successfully walked the Trump tightrope by not embracing the former president but also not criticizing him.

Note to Mitt: this is called building a POLITICAL BIG TENT. Ronald Reagan used to say that the 11th commandment was for a Republican never to criticize a fellow Republican. Focus your criticism on the real enemy, ie the other large political party and specifically the evil leftists in that political party.

Let’s remember that Mitt Romney lost the presidency in part because he was considered an unprincipled flip-flopper. And here is where Romney has stood historically on Trump: Mitt Romney sought Trump’s endorsement in 2012, and bragged about it when he got an endorsement. Then Mitt came out against Trump in 2016, and then went begging for a Cabinet position in 2017 (see photo above), then sought Trump’s endorsement when he ran for the Senate in 2018 (which Trump graciously gave), and then Mitt repudiated Trump in 2019 and ultimately voted for impeachment in 2020 and 2021. No reasonable person can look at this record and see a consistent policy of integrity on Mitt’s part. Unprincipled flip-flopper? Yes indeed.

I am sincere when I say that Mitt should look at how Youngkin handled the Trump issue and learn from it. Whether Mitt decides to run for reelection or not, people should always take in new knowledge. Youngkin’s success may help Mitt understand better why he lost in 2008 and 2012. A bit of humility is always a good thing.

The COVID-19 vaccines that were rushed to market have serious problems. This will become more clear over time, and the fallout will be devastating.

Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recommended people get vaccinated, and many people have done so. I have no problem with this recommendation. The Church has always recommended vaccination with past vaccines. The Church is anxious to keep temples open and to continue the work of the Gospel. There are many high-risk people who should get vaccinated.

Regardless of what happens with the vaccines, and as I say the information coming out is very negative, the Church is still true. The prophet is still the prophet. Nothing has changed. I want to make sure that I make it clear that my faith does not depend on the Church’s position on COVID vaccines. Your faith should not depend on that either.

In the meantime, it is important that readers of this blog are aware of the problems with the vaccines so they are prepared.

I already warned in this recent post that the antibody protection provided by the vaccines is fading, and in many locations there are more cases of the virus and hospitalizations and deaths among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Senate held a hearing today on adverse reactions to the COVID 19 vaccines. Here is a partial list of people who testified:

• Cody Flint, an airline pilot from Cleveland, Mississippi, who accumulated 10,000 hours of flight time was diagnosed with left and right perilymphatic fistula, Eustachian tube dysfunction and elevated intracranial pressure following Pfizer vaccination.
• Ernest Ramirez, a father from Austin, Texas, whose only son collapsed playing basketball and passed away from myocarditis following Pfizer vaccination.
• Amy and Abby Alvo from Los Angeles, California, whose daughter suffered an adverse reaction from her first dose of Pfizer vaccine, having been denied a medical exemption twice, she will be kicked off her collegiate cheer team if she is not fully vaccinated.
• Doug Cameron, farm operations manager from Idaho, permanently paralyzed following vaccination.
• Kyle Werner, a professional mountain bike racer from Boise, Idaho was diagnosed with pericarditis following vaccination.
• Suzanna Newell, a triathlete from Saint Paul, Minneapolis, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and reliant on a walker or cane to walk following vaccination.
• Kelly Ann Rodriguez, a young mother from Tacoma, Washington is reliant on a walker following vaccination.
• Maddie de Garay, a 12-year-old Pfizer clinical trial participant from Cincinnati, Ohio, is confined to a wheelchair and feeding tube.
• Brianne Dressen, an AstraZeneca clinical trial participant from Utah, co-founded react19.org, a patient advocacy organization dedicated to increasing awareness of adverse events.
• Dr. Joel Wallskog, an orthopedic surgeon from Mequon, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with transverse myelitis following Moderna vaccination.

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If there was ever a time to make sure that you have enough food storage, a clean water supply and extra medicines on hand, it is now.

Nearly a year ago I warned that supply chain disruptions caused by lockdowns and mandates would create chaos, and now we are seeing increasing shortages. Even CNN was forced to admit the supply chain worries. Here is what I wrote in November 2020:

Let’s discuss supply chain disruptions, which sound rather pedestrian but are essential to understanding the devastating impact on the world’s poor from the response to the pandemic. You may have noticed that many of your favorite products in the United States are not available in the stores right now. And this is in a relatively free market for consumer goods. I cannot buy my favorite beverages all the time, and many kinds of meats are often not available. I am a big user of Lysol, but it is impossible to find it on the shelves these days. Interestingly, you can find Lysol on Amazon Prime, but it is five times its normal price.

Whenever there is a disruption in the global supply chain, this means that many products that used to be inexpensive become more expensive (think of the Lysol example above). The world’s poorest people spend 60 to 70 percent of their income on food. So, if food becomes scarce, richer people (like most Americans) can usually find it, and they may have to spend a bit more putting dinner on the table. But what happens to the world’s poor? Instead of spending 60 to 70 percent of their income on food, they must spend 100 percent, and they must borrow. And when the lockdowns go on for months (as has happened in 2020), the poor simply run out of money and begin to starve to death.

When the global supply chain is disrupted because factories are closed or meat packing plants are closed, this inevitably means that the world’s poorest people in places like Yemen, Malawi and Haiti are the hardest hit of all.

This is why it is essential that governments allow people, especially the young and healthy who are not as likely to die from COVID-19, to continue to work and produce — it actually helps the global supply chain, which helps the poor.

So what has happened in the last year? The results are devastating for the world’s poor:

Lockdowns and movement restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have led to decreased incomes globally. The GFPR reports that global poverty is estimated to increase by about 150 million people, or 20 percent above pre-pandemic levels. In Africa south of the Sahara, the recent trend of economic growth has been interrupted, with millions more people falling into extreme poverty over the course of 2020. Several African countries are now facing significant fiscal crisis as a result of the pandemic and the resulting economic impacts. In Latin America and the Caribbean, both urbanization and high obesity rates have resulted in rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus; in addition to these health impacts, a heavy reliance on informal employment in the region has translated into a significant loss of incomes and livelihoods as movement restrictions disrupted labor opportunities. The extent of impacts in Asia has varied, but the region has seen reduced incomes due to labor disruptions and a loss of remittances.   

Let me emphasize this point: 150 million people worldwide in poverty because of panic about a virus with a 99.7 survival rate. The response to the pandemic — fueled almost entirely by relatively rich people who can afford to stay home and sit on Zoom calls — has been a declaration of war on the world’s poor.

Isaiah 3:15: “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.“

To be perfectly clear: if you support lockdowns and mandates, you are guilty of grinding the face of the poor because of your irrational fears.

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