Vaxed or not.

No, I see you extremist Righties as thinking your decision to either be unvaccinated or not to wear masks happening in a vacuum. Here's a clue, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. When the free-DUMB crowd decides that they know more than the health experts and they listen to Fox News spewing COVID misinformation 24/7, somehow, they get the idea that their decisions won't affect anybody else in society. I'd give anything if that were true. It would be absolutely wonderful to watch these idiots get deathly ill while living their idiotic convictions while the rest of us sat back and watched the show. A good time had by almost all.

However, when you decide that you know more than everyone else, and you don't care about your fellow Americans, your community, your family, or random strangers, aren't you really the one ordaining yourself as judge, jury, and in some cases, executioner? And somehow, you fail to recognize any fault in your own decisions.

 

Had this entire fiasco not become political drama of the highest magnitude, we would have never gotten to this awful place. In the words of Rahm Emanuel, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste"..... Bout sums it all up for me.

 

There is only one political party that has called the pandemic a hoax, fake news, said that it would magically disappear, fought the use of masks and spreads COVID misinformation from both the governor's mansions around the country and through the GOP mouthpiece known as Fox News. So yes, this has been politicized and when do you guys plan to stop doing that?

P.S. Winston Churchill said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Here is what Rahm Emanuel said and why he said it.

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

― Rahm Emanuel

 

Bullcrap artist! There are plenty of false COVID claims levied from both sides of the aisle, and you know it.

 

It's alright. History will clearly differentiate between those who did the heavy lifting from those who had nothing constructive to offer during these times.

 

Ahhh! Bothsiderisms now. Care to go tit-for-tat on those claims?

 

And those that actively obstructed sane public health measures. We know just who they are. You can't erase all the video evidence, so citing history isn't really going to help you with this one.

 

Whoa! Talk about a political party "politicizing" the vaccine, nothing is worse than Kamal-toe Harris who said that she wouldn't take the vaccine if President Trump recommended it. How many liberal lemmings followed her advice and are dead today?

On the other hand, think of all the liberals who DIDN'T listen to Kamal-toe, but DID follow President Trump's recommendation. JoeNation is obviously among those who did since he is apparently, to some degree, still alive.

Thank President Trump for the speedy delivery of the vaccines and for encouraging all Americans to take it.

 

Aren't you the ones pushing horse worm medicine and hydroxychloroquine, your own urine, and any number of other treatments/preventatives that are complete bullshit? You know you are. Why do I even have to ask.

 

Jesus….. Be for real.

 

...but unfortunately, brain-dead.

 

This is real.

 

I listened to this MSNBC talking head. He is quite fond of the usage of the term "American privilege" which told me right off jump street that this pundit is every bit as extreme as the extremists he has chosen to opine on. That being said, here is my rebuttal. Also very much opinion based.

• I contracted Covid last October. I was fully vaccinated, practiced social distancing and wore a cloth mask in public. Still, I contracted a fairly serious case of Covid and yet today I am still very pro-vax.
• I have eight employees. Two weeks ago, five of them contracted Covid. Four of which were fully vaccinated. I still maintain a very pro-vax status.

He spent a great deal of energy espousing his opinion of our early grasps at a potential remedy for Covid. Yes, in hindsight it does seem we were grasping at straws. But early on in this pandemic we were all grasping at straws, Joe. We were all in the same sinking ship and were hanging on any word a medical professional would tell us. That was then. We now have vaccines that have shown effectiveness so we now can rationalize this thing from a different perspective. It's akin to laughing at a drowning man because he was grasping at a straw. He didn't know a life jacket was just ahead and he was terrified of drowning at the time.... So this man opining on our irrational hopes of yesteryear is as enlightening as discussing the use of leeches to treat illness in a bygone era.

I am vaccinated. I am conservative and I have contracted Covid and I am fully healthy thanks to the work of our medical professionals. I haven't been ordained as judge over alcoholics, those addicted to drugs, vegetarians, smokers or anti-vax people so I don't burden them with my own opinions. I am astute enough to know that imposing my opinion only serves to solidify their opposition. So using an extreme pundit to to highlight extremism makes as much sense to me as listening to David Duke espouse his opinion on BLM. Sorry, Joe... I wouldn't be very proud of posting that one.

 

Randy, it seems that you put a lot of thought into this post, and I appreciate the effort. I don't watch much cable news since I retired but I posted this YouTube video because it was pertinent to the conversation regarding The Right-wing stance on the pandemic from vaccines to public health in general. I don't watch Chris Hayes or Rachel Maddow or Tucker Carlson or .... OK I can't name anyone on CNN but I do get a lot of news from various web sources and there is a broad variety of sources to choose from. This particular clip from MSNBC simply had a sound bite from a Right-wing news outlet that clearly demonstrated how the pandemic was being characterized by the Right. They are literally killing people with lies and deceptive misinformation. They are still doing it today.

I agree that we were flying by the seat of our pants much of 2020 with regard to what was safe and what wasn't safe but that doesn't explain the pushing of malaria medicine and horse dewormer long after the medical experts clearly and unambiguously denounced these treatments as total hogwash. You have people like Ron Desantis whining about the Biden Administration halting the delivery of therapeutics to Florida that have no effectiveness against Omicron. Since 99% of cases are now as a result of Omicron, the treatment is less than useless and even the drug manufacturer has ceased distribution. The treatment was highly effect for Delta but not for Omicron but that doesn't stop Desantis from claiming that Biden is the problem here not his own gross lack of competency as a leader. That is a textbook case of politicizing the pandemic. I guess he listened to Churchill also.

How am I or anyone else not supposed to have any opinions about such an important, potentially life-threatening situation like a world-wide pandemic? Especially when the very science of fighting this awful disease is being undermined daily. Everything in this entire forum is an opinion and mostly uneducated, uninformed, and highly partisan opinions at that. I remember when you first came to this forum. You wanted to see if there was some middle ground between "us and them". I think you yearned for the past when we were a more civil society and people knew their places and maybe you like your place in that society and miss it. How is your "let's close the divide" rhetoric working out these days? You seem to have fallen right in line with the rest of the partisans on this site from my vantagepoint. Maybe you were just reaching for something that is no longer there but can't bring yourself to the reality that it may be gone forever. The past is the past after all.

The reality of this pandemic is that we are making it worse than it has to be by conflating relatively simply public health measures with freedom, government paranoia, right-wing political opportunism, and straight up grifters and charlatans. We would never have been able to completely prevent any virus transmissions, but we easily could have lessened the impact with a united front and sound scientific practices if we weren't so polarized by inflammatory politics. This is clearly a case where the Right-wing has sought to get back into power by demonizing everything the Democrats say or do to the detriment of hundreds of thousands of our citizens. You don't see Democrats at the local level or the politically elite ranks trying to end mask wearing, or denounce vaccines, or sue to end common sense preventative measures but you see Republican after Republican doing exactly that. It has to be the most shortsighted, self-serving, callous display I have ever witnessed in all of my life.

If you can't grasp what I am saying because you are unwilling to see beyond your comfort zone, I understand. You wouldn't be the first or the last. I see both sides of the polarization and from my perspective, the Right in this country is all about owning the libs no matter the actual personal costs. I see this as the most immature attitude a grown adult can have. It reminds me of a spoiled child. Nothing you say or do can dissuade a child in the middle of a temper tantrum and you might as well let them cry it out.

 

You are dead right about one thing. I dearly miss the days when we could stand in line at a polling place. I cast my vote for the conservative, you cast your vote for the liberal, and we leave to go have a beer and laugh at all of them. I suppose I have witnessed this polarization taking place since the days of Clinton and didn’t realize what the end game would be twenty years down the road and I do desperately lament the loss of civil discourse between two opposing opinions. I have always said and still believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle and that is why our democracy worked.

I also still feel that this polarization causes both sides to focus on the extreme elements of either opposing side. Those of us that rationalize somewhere in the middle view all of this as utter insanity. I happen to lean right because I was in the Army when the Reagan administration came in. The change in the armed forces was absolutely palpable and I have called myself a Republican ever since.

Back to the subject at hand…. I have said that I don’t force my pro-vax opinion on folks. My newest employee is a young man in his thirties and a staunch anti-vax guy. I asked him once to please vaccinate and he was firm in his conviction so I have left it alone. It so happens that he contracted Covid last in my office. When the young man called me, he sounded mildly sick and overwhelmingly scared. The young man then called me several times a day describing his symptoms wanting to know if they were normal and should he go to the hospital. The boy was absolutely terrified…. He will be back to work next week and I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that he will quiz me on where to get vaccinated before the week is out.

I’ll offer one more personal perspective. My wife leans far more right than I do. When the vaccine became available for youngsters, she and I had several fairly heated conversations about getting our girl vaccinated. I wanted her vaccinated NOW. Seems my wife had read that their could be future child bearing complications for young ladies. We agreed to go and speak to her pediatrician together before we arrive at a decision. The pediatrician set her mind at ease and my daughter is now vaccinated.

Point being that there is always a middle ground for people to meet and reach an understanding. Some have to get sick to realize the correct course of action. And some have to have mediation to arrive at a decision….. But as long as this whole thing is a political powder keg, it will remain a heated polarizing issue. Sadly to the detriment of others.

 

Washington State Trooper Who Quit Over Vaccine Mandates Reportedly Dies Of COVID
Robert LaMay famously quit his job with a bitter videotaped sign-off directed at Gov. Jay Islee over his strict COVID vaccine mandates.

He left 4 kids and a wife. I'm glad he quit and I'm glad he decided to use his position to stick a finger in the eyes of those people he disagreed with. Anti-vaxxers are a special kind of ignorant. And thank you Fox for giving him a platform. You guys sure owned the libs.

 

Now I realize why people dislike you, relishing in the misery of others.

 

Look up the word "Karma".

 

That's the best you can do? So, you agree your ill-speak garners animosity and ire?
You really are a