Maybe my skin color prevents me from following the shift in messaging here…

Yesterday, it was detailed how White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced the administration would begin running public service announcements to encourage a certain segment of the country to get vaccinated. In an effort to compel ‘’white conservative communities’’ to get the shot they will be running spots on “The Deadliest Catch,” and other sponsorships with NASCAR.

Next, why not also place “Get Vaxxed!” stickers on the lid of mayonnaise jars?

Apart from the insipid thinking behind this racist position, there are other problems to be addressed, and these are rooted in the inherent contradictions of the messages. For starters, how is it that the administration and the press are out touting loudly how great and successful the vaccine rollout has been? Reports have enthusiastically detailed how the numbers are exceeding projections, and new records of daily vaccinated citizens are being set regularly. Why do we need to advertise to draw people to what is claimed to be a successful program?

The other issue has to do with the targeting of white conservatives. This is a curious stance to take when just a week or so ago, we were told that white people getting the vaccines was a problem. In one of the many defenses of their indefensibly bad vaccine segment on April 4, “60 Minutes” stated their primary concern was that minority communities were being underserved in the rollout of the vaccine.

This follows another instance where, not so long ago, the opposite position on the matter of those danged whites getting inoculated was problematic. One of the other ways the press tried attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was in claiming that he had been prioritizing the recipients in his state, seeking out white GOP voters for the vaccination, at the detriment of POC residents. This was a garbage accusation.

What was taking place was the state coming into excess doses, and those surplus amounts were targeted to elderly communities where the most vulnerable citizens are found. That some in the press and the Democrats were looking into the voting registration of those areas was a case of politicizing the COVID-19 response, something these same people were lecturing against for much of last year.

Now, not only is it acceptable to question why particular demographics were being treated, the argument is being completely flipped, and it is being done for political purposes again. Under the guise of social concern, it is completely acceptable to address the political construct of those being vaccinated. The result is messaging completely in defiance of itself.

In a matter of weeks, we have gone from it being wrong to politicize the pandemic, to questioning why white conservatives are getting preferential treatment, to now suggesting there is a need of getting those rubes who are white conservatives on board with getting vaccinated. To say that the narrative is getting difficult to follow is to traffic in understatement.

I’m going to have to watch some “Golden Girls” reruns or go look for pamphlets handed out at the Monster Truck rally in order to understand things better.