Turning 60 years old is unquestionably a big deal, so I can't entirely fault former President Obama for wanting to celebrate his diamond jubilee with friends and family. What I have a harder time reconciling, however, is Obama's apparent decision to ring in his 60th with a blowout birthday bash for several hundred of his closet pals... all in the midst of a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases.
To be clear, the former president's plans to host a massive hootenanny for his 60th — first reported by Axios on Monday — is hardly going to be the Lollapalooza-esque petri dish currently threatening to engulf Chicago in a new wave of COVID's highly communicable Delta variant. As Axios noted, not only will the party take place on Martha's Vineyard, a literal island, but "it will be held outdoors, all guests are asked to be vaccinated and invitees have been told there will be a COVID-coordinator to ensure all proper protocols are followed."
