Maybe I should just link this piece and call an early lid on this post.

I’m intrigued, though. Why is the most famously vax-skeptical host on American television telling his audience something that’s guaranteed to spook them about catching the virus? The anti-vax line on COVID is that it’s a nothingburger, “just the flu,” 99 percent survival rate, etc. That’s why you supposedly don’t need the shot. Suddenly here’s Tucker Carlson warning true believers that there’s a major risk they might not have considered: Cooties.

You would think he’d make the case that vaccination drains your masculinity, not the virus. But since he’s almost certainly vaccinated himself, I suppose he can’t argue that.

Tucker Carlson: Getting COVID “does feminize people. No one ever says that but it’s true” https://t.co/XrtVSnswCp pic.twitter.com/BoSARprISM

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) December 8, 2021

“So much of current right wing ideology seems to be based on not realizing that General Jack D Ripper was insane,” tweeted former Fox host Andy Levy after watching that clip. It does sound a bit like Ripper talking about his “loss of essence” in “Dr. Strangelove.”

Regardless, the takeaway is clear. If you’re a man, get vaccinated and minimize your risk of losing your essence. Carlson’s not entirely wrong about what COVID can do to your masculinity, after all.

As this video made the rounds last night, people began wondering: Does he think Trump has been “feminized” by his bout with COVID too? I doubt it. His theory about Boris Johnson having been emasculated is probably just a swipe at BoJo for his willingness to impose pandemic restrictions on the UK. The Tories are much more comfortable than American conservatives are with ordering state action to try to mitigate the spread of the virus. Just yesterday, Johnson introduced new measures as the Omicron variant takes off in Britain.

Under the government’s new guidance, known as Plan B, people in England will be urged to work from home if possible, starting next week. They will also be required to wear face masks in cinemas, theaters and most other indoor places, and to show a pass proving their vaccinated status to be allowed into nightclubs and large venues, like sports stadiums. He also said that negative tests would be included on vaccine passes as an alternative to proof of vaccination.

I assume Carlson’s dig at him for having been “feminized” is a nod at the idea that only a woman or an emasculated man would so fear the virus that they’d take action to limit transmission. Trump was leery of restrictions from the start and his party now opposes virtually all precautions, with even voluntary masking disdained. Trump hasn’t lost his masculine essence, therefore. It’s alleged wussies like Chris Christie who were wrecked by the virus and then emerged from the hospital urging people to get jabbed and mask up to spare them the same fate who are [shudder] woman-like.

It’s ironic that Tucker would level this particular criticism at Johnson during this particular week, though. There are two other stories about BoJo circulating today that have nothing to do with his new “Plan B” for COVID. One has to do with his staff apparently having held a Christmas party last year while the rest of the county was under strict rules not to gather, proof that Team Boris *doesn’t* fear infection by the virus. The other is the announcement that Johnson’s wife just gave birth to their second child, which makes this his seventh — at least, as there may be others yet unknown. However we’re defining masculinity here, whether in terms of personal fear or virility, sounds like Johnson’s doing okay.