Honestly, I want to backhand my Trumper vaccine denying neighbors so bad.
I daresay you are right to think that. I even daresay that the majority of Dopers think you are right. Certainly those in this thread at least. Mr_Hoogly possibly excepted.
I was interviewed on ABC7 in Sherman Oaks, CA last week.
Link: Los Angeles Councilmembers Kevin de León, Mark Ridley-Thomas among city officials who want vaccine mandate for municipal workers - ABC7 Los Angeles
They asked my opinion on required vaccinations for state workers. I basically said that it’s about time. I pointed out that even though I’m vaccinated, I’ve still got diabetes and HBP and that all the misinformation leading to people staying unvaccinated can still be harmful to me and others like me. Many others like me may be older and unvaccinated due to medical conditions. And the Delta virus continues to flow.
So if you CAN get vaccinated, but don’t, you’re an asshole. A complete fucking douchebag. A misled, narcissistic fucking waste of sperm and an egg. And if it’s a religious opt-out, my insults and name calling count twice. Your god/goddess will throw shit on your judgement day for willingly spreading a virus that brought pain and suffering to others.
The unvaccinated includes everyone under 12.
Well I meant the adults, obviously.
They’re narcissistic and egotistical. They think it’s all about them. They’ll talk ad nauseam about rights without any understanding of the implicit obligation to civic duty. They don’t even understand the concept of rights. They have the mind of a 6-year-old and I’ve known 6-year-olds who have better reasoning capabilities.
I’ve been watching bits and pieces of news stories from conservative counties not so very far from me. Parents are protesting the possibility of a public school mask mandate.
I haven’t heard a single parent interviewed (nor read a single picket sign, even less surprisingly) whose argument made logical, factual, or rational sense.
The most common picket sign I’ve seen from this cohort reads “Our Children, Our Choice.”
Fair enough. Let’s run with that.
This is a pretty big 2dA supporting crowd. I wonder if they’d choose to allow their kids – and by extension, support other parents allowing their kids – to bring loaded handguns to school.
This is an area where, for example, a big indoor gun range is opening and is seeking approval to operate a bar on their premises (what could possibly go wrong ?).
I wonder if nine year old Johnny, an accomplished video gamer and strong student, should be allowed to operate motor vehicles on our public roadways.
And since Johnny is a varsity athlete with lightning fast reflexes, and who is very in tune with his body, I wonder whether he should be allowed to drive while significantly impaired.
Should we allow these parents to opt to have their first-graders work 60 hours a week on the line at the poultry processing facility ? It ‘builds character,’ amirite ? And who couldn’t use the extra spending money right now ?
It really is disheartening when you can’t explain why this is infinitely more like the drunk driving analogy than it is like the seat belt or motorcycle helmet analogies.
It really is disheartening when – no matter how genuinely you want to have a sincere and fruitful conversation with these folks – you utterly don’t have a clue how to achieve such a noble goal.
[sigh]
Hawaii will now require the vaccine for students who want to participate in sports. Sports are not required, it’s strictly voluntary, and I say good on Hawaii. There was a protest yesterday by disgruntled parents, and the ones interviewed sounded ludicrous. They went on like it was worse than being shoveled into ovens at Auschwitz. A lot of them said they planned to ship their kids to the mainland to live with relatives so they could play sports there without a vaccine.
To those parents and all others like them, I issue a hearty FUCK YOU.
I grew up in Hawaii, and it’s almost comforting that Selfish Asshole Conservatives™ are the same across the country.
They are fewer here than elsewhere but have grown more noticeable during the pandemic. Especially the FREEDOM nuts. Many are not even conservative, they’re old hippies from the '60s. It’s like Larry King once pointed out, the extreme right and the extreme left meet each other coming around the corner.
Gah. If I had children, I’d homeschool at this point.
[quote=“DavidNRockies, post:427, topic:946870”]…
I haven’t heard a single parent interviewed (nor read a single picket sign, even less surprisingly) whose argument made logical, factual, or rational sense.
The most common picket sign I’ve seen from this cohort reads “Our Children, Our Choice.”…
[/quote]
I just saw a term on Fark. And it may surprise Republicans that there is a nickname for covid-19 that isn’t racist or xenophobic.
“Freedom Flu”.
Heh, it will “free” them from their lives.
Thank you for stating my feelings succinctly - I am going to borrow some or all of this.
I think we should reserve our ire to those exploiting understandable fears about anything “new” to put in your body to make a buck or gain a political advantage. It is really not on their audience to “know better” than their news sources or representatives. Legal requirements for news outlets should be raised (maybe every “news” story should include the official CDC position on masks, vaccines, gatherings and distancing?). I feel these clowns are getting away with literal murder. At some point calling yourself a news outlet should require some actual news. At the very least rescind their press passes.
I absolutely think that there should be class action lawsuits brought against those who have been kicking around misinformation deliberately.
Yup. “The United States of America vs. Tucker Carlson” sounds pretty good to me.
IANAL, but my understanding is that it’s entirely possible for someone to sue for being sick as a result of misinformation. However, it’s more likely to be a third party that would have standing to sue.
If Jim Bob watches Fox News and says he didn’t get vaccinated because he saw a bunch of false reports on the Hannity show or Tucker Carlson, Jim Bob probably wouldn’t have standing to sue because a judge would say that he should have done his homework.
But it’s entirely possible that Jim Bob’s wife, son, daughter, neighbor, or coworker could sue if they could determine that a) they got COVID from Jim Bob and b) establish with some degree of certainty that Jim Bob based his behavior on the information he obtained from watching Fox.
I could see this becoming a thing, and I hope it happens. I personally would have no problem suing someone individually for negligence if I could establish that they gave me a breakthrough infection because they were not vaccinated.
We are now dependent on the likes of Facebook and Twitter (the companies not the platforms) to remove disinformation about this pandemic. I would be happy to give some power in that arena to the likes of the WHO or the CDC.
I know that there are all kinds of freedom of expression problems with that: I don’t care, what we are doing now is not working. We should be the best informed generation ever. Instead ~1/3 of humanity believes all kinds of bullshit. We need to build worldwide tools to rectify this.
“Every news story should include the officially-issued version” or else take away their press access?
How could this possibly turn out for the worst…
Who of course will always and forever be led by incorruptible Priests of Science…
We do. But protecting us from the stupid is not the be all and end all of what is right and just. We have no basis for believing that establishing an enforceable Official Source of THE Truth will be strictly limited to public health protection.
1/3 of humanity has ALWAYS been up for believing all kinds of bullshit that will hurt them and us if carried out. Before the internet they were reading printed conspiracy-theory literature and listening to their respective cult leaders’ rants in person. Y’all are just now noticing because they are on social media and able to encourage one another.