By Jack Canfora
Well, to people of Color, he absolutely was. But I’m talking for the moment not about the actual man; I’m talking about the icon whom we’ve held up as a symbol of all things American. Most notably, “Freedom.”
Sorry, I’ve been away far too long, and this is supposed to be a website that serves as a respite from the wrack of this hard world, but sometimes, cruelty and murder must be called out.
Where do we think the Father of Country would stand on the vexing to Vax or not to Vax question? We don’t have to speculate. We know the answer.
George Washington mandated his troops get small pox inoculations (he opposed this at first, as he thought it would make the British think we were too weak, but quickly realized the pros outweighed the cons), at a time when its efficacy wasn’t exactly peer reviewed. He didn’t give both sides “equal time.” He didn’t engage in insipid debates with those who confuse the idea of freedom with utter self-absorption. We as country, and maybe a species, are at a tipping point. Is the massive meteor hurtling towards us to bring Armageddon our own blinkered “thinking”? Is it our seeming pathological need to make EVERYTHING political? Will it be simple willfulness? Because, if the last few years have shown us anything, nothing’s as stubborn as ignorance.
As Jonathan Swift wrote, “You can’t reason a man out of something he wasn’t reasoned into in the first place.”
Do anti-vaxxers refuse to stop at red lights because it robs them of their God-given right to determine to stop and start as they see fit?
Sorry, I’m angry. Thousands of people, some of them babies, are being killed. Not just dying, but being killed. By elected officials.
If you think Governors Greg Abbot and Ron DeSantis know more about core American values than George Washington, you shouldn’t be allowed outdoors unaccompanied. Nor indoors, come to think of it. History will unambiguously damn these politicians and their sociopathic, enabling hucksters who play on peoples’ ignorance and heartlessly sacrifice lives to keep their bloodstained clutches on the levers of power in order to compensate for the gaping holes in their humanity.
But shame on us for letting them.
Apologies for being absent for so long only to leave a rant. But sometimes rants are needed. I promise I’ll be nicer next time.
Allow me to close with the words of another president, as prescient now as ever:
“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?– Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!–All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” ~ A. Lincoln
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Here endeth the rant.
Vaccines are apolitical, neither Republican or Democrat. Sad that our nation has become so politicized and divided over a life threatening issue that affects everyone, promulgated by a divided Congress that behaves like an “Me First”!, out of control Kindergarten class. . . term limits anyone? . . . Ignoring the facts doesn’t change them. Such is my rant.
These are troubling times for sure. It’s hard to see a future where we agree on anything as a nation since the facts are presented differently for each side and flavored with a good amount of opinion. I’m hoping that science saves us sooner or later!
Jack, it’s sad that babies and children under 12 are the latest political footballs. They have no say in whether they wear a mask. They have no access to vaccines. The governors are putting them in schools where they are at risk. I agree that history will not be kind to these politicians. In Dallas, where my daughters live, schools are ignoring the governor’s edict and requiring masks in schools. Good for them! Thank you for the “rant.” I agree with everything you say! 🙂
Well said!
Rants are always great when they make a lot of sense. There’s nothing wrong with being passionate about your opinions and thoughts. Strong words are the best way to express them. Politicians all over the world are playing with people’s lives. Isn’t that their true profession? The vaccine fiasco is prevalent in every country. There’s a glaring line separating the wise from the dumbos. That’s what I would call people who don’t use their own brains. If dying and killing others is the better option, then these folks need to be locked away.
Sometimes, even a balanced leader can’t poke some sense into those who can’t think beyond their noses. It’s sad that the world can’t unite in such troubling times. What a waste of brain matter.
Unfortunately, the science doesn’t agree with you though I’m sure your intentions are moral. Vaccination (and I’m VERY pro-vax) does a great job of preventing serious illness,hospitalisation and death. It is not very good at preventing infection and transmission. Vaccinated people are almost as likely to catch and transmit the virus as unvaccinated people. So please let’s stop trying to make people feel guilty or obligated to wider society to get vaccinated. It’s their choice, their right, their freedom. And making people feel bad, even if it makes you feel good, is always going to be counter-productive as a tactic. Persuasion is way better!
I never said people who are vaxxed are less likely to transmit the disease. Perhaps I should’ve added the urgency of even the vaxxed to wear masks to protect the vulnerable.
But what we do know is that it’s the large percentage of people who haven’t been vaxxed which has in part led to the serious uptick of the illness and its variant. What science and common sense agrees with me on is that roughly 99% of those hospitalized for covid are the anti-vaxxed, which puts an untenable strain on our hospitals. People with heart attacks have had to drive to various hospitals to gain admission. Many people in need of hospital care (of a non CoVid variety) have been and will continue to be denied access to adequate medical care because of these anti vaxxers.
That is beyond dispute.
It is most decidedly NOT their choice or freedom. No more than it’s my freedom to shout fire in a movie house or send my children to school unvaccinated. I don’t have the freedom to do that. The notion that people have the “freedom” not to get a vaccination is a pretty easily debunked canard. No serious person thinks the state mandating that your child be vaccinated for polio or measles infringes on your freedom in any tangible way, other than the extent that freedom does NOT mean the freedom to potentially harm others, which refusing the COVID vaccine demonstrably does (again, science and I are on the same pages here). It’s a logically, legally, and morally untenable position to hold.
You’re right, I should’ve mentioned the moral necessity of wearing masks indoors now (which wasn’t necessary a few months ago and which likely WOULDN’T be necessary has these morons gotten their shots). But how many people who don’t believe in the vaccine are wearing masks so as not to infect children and the immune compromised? Statistically negligible at best.
As for persuasion, I’d refer you to the Jonathan Swift quote. In a country where a significant swath of people refuse to believe there was an insurrection at the Capitol and that the election was “stolen,” persuasion becomes a fool’s errand. In a perfect world, persuasion would be better, but to anyone paying attention to America the last 5+ years, I think it’s naive at best, and foolhardy at worst to think these are persuadable parties.
Absolutely brilliant, brief write up, especially the sentiment, “History will unambiguously… “ Just having conversation on this topic with hubby this morning, then read your post. It’s sad, reckless and ruthless what those in power are pushing. The lowest low for America (I hope, but then every day feels like rock bottom until it’s quickly proven to not be).
Thank you so much!
This piece of news just in that proves your point…..”Mississippi on Friday reported 5,023 new cases, another daily record, the state Department of Health said. Of the new cases, 98% of those are in unvaccinated people, the state’s dashboard shows..”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html
Very powerful notion! Brief yet strongly worded. The finishing quote was a brilliant one! Agree with absolutely everything you said there. Your rant was TOTALLY worth it! “Do anti vaxxers not stop at signals because it violates their freedom?” I’ve wondered about this a lot too. Everything that is said, such as vaccination, masking, etc.. is unarguably for public good. 🙂 Here in my country, there aren’t many “anti-vaxxers”. We just have people who’re apprehensive from all the fake news circulated in social media.