It's very sad, in fact it's tragic that COVID-19 is being politicized. COVID is a matter of public health. The most important thing is to protect people from the disease. Unfortunately, those on the far right are using masks and vaccines to express their anti-government political beliefs. They rail against such protective measures. "The government can't tell us what to do," they whine. What about our freedom!" Oh yes, their precious freedom to infect others is sacrosanct. Their freedom to cause themselves and others to die must be defended.
Some anti-vaxxers are so extreme that they would die or have someone else die in order to protect their warped concept of freedom. Almost nothing can be done to change their minds. So, the rest of us have to suffer because of their delusions. I could tell a right-wing anti-vaxxer over and over again that freedom is not absolute. I could tell them ad infinitum that they don't have the right to harm others. They will seldom listen.
The right-wing anti-vaxxers are not necessarily uneducated individuals. Take Senator Ted Cruz for instance. He's a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. So, what has been concerning him lately? Climate change? The pandemic? Inflation? Homelessness and poverty? Health care? Why, of course not! He's in an a terrible tizzy over that awful Big Bird on Sesame Street. That yellow Muppet has some nerve! He's encouraging children to get vaccinated. The horror! That dastardly bird actually declared that he had received the COVID-19 vaccine. He then remarked, "My wing is feeling a little sore, but it'll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy." That's when the Texas Republican took immediate action. "Government propaganda . . . for your 5-year-old!" Cruz tweeted.
My! My! What a hero! What a patriot, that Ted Cruz! He's protecting children from becoming brain-washed. Where was Senator Cruz last winter when millions of people in Texas were without water or power due to a storm, He was on a family vacation in Cancun, Mexico, while his constituents froze in the dark. He later called it a "mistake.", but such thoughtlessness shouldn't have happened in the first place. Would he even have acknowledged his "mistake" if he hadn't been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar? It wasn't a tiny error either. Ted Cruz abandoned millions of people who were suffering from a disaster.
Football star Aaron Rodgers is another example. Rodgers is the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. He attended Butte College and the University of California, Berkeley. He was also knowledgeable enough to be a guest host on the popular game show Jeopardy! You'd think he would have known better than not to protect himself and other from COVID. Such was not the case. Rodgers said he had been vaccinated when he hadn't. Then he tested positive for the virus. While unvaccinated, he violated COVID protocol and appeared unmasked at postgame press conferences.
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| Aaron Rodgers |
Rodgers denied that he was an anti-vaxxer. He claimed that he had an "allergy to an ingredient that's in the mRNA vaccines." Then he said that he did his own research with the assistance of reliable conspiracy-minded podcaster Joe Regan. He also spouted the usual right-wing rhetoric about "cancel culture" and "the woke mob."
If it weren't for the anti-vaxxers, the world would certainly b much further ahead in the fight against COVID-19. What a shame! It's a good thing they weren't around back when the polio vaccine came out.
- Joanne
