Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, and catch the occasional whiff of seditionist right-wing rhetoric. But I hadn’t really fully understood just how horrifying that combination of right-wing extremism, Facebook, and a killer virus was until I became a regular at the Herman Cain Awards subreddit. This series will document some of those stories, so we are aware of what the other side is doing to our country.
Today’s cautionary tale, Red, is schooled by a friend.
Soldiers literally get dozens of shots. I did when I served, and my son did as well during his own Basic Training this summer. Our job is to be ready for deployment, and no unit can deploy if it is wracked by disease. That’s why George Washington forced a mass vaccination of the Continental Army against smallpox.
And if “my body, my choice” isn’t good enough for a woman’s right to choose, why would it suddenly be okay in this situation? I wish they’d pick one already! Either it’s “my body, my choice,” and shut the f*ck up about vaccines; or it’s not, then shut the f*ck up about abortion.
Ah yes, “man-made bio weapon.” If she really believed that, why wouldn’t she deploy countermeasures? “The Chinese made this vaccine on purpose!” Okay, so why did you make it easy for the Chinese to destroy your lungs? When an enemy attacks you, you defend yourself! If he attacks you with a pathogen, then train your immune system to fight it with a jab!
This is where the anti-vaxxers get tripped up, especially when trying to pass the blame to someone else. Every conspiracy theory gets thrown against the wall, and it doesn’t matter whether it makes sense or not. They don’t prize internal logic. “I’m doing all I can,” she says, when she’s literally doing nothing to help everyone emerge from this nightmare.
When will it stop? When everyone gets vaccinated. Then you won’t have so many deaths, so many orphans, so many damaged survivors, so much economic devastation.
Meanwhile, she still has double pneumonia. She’s not out of the woods.
Is there a “standing ovation” emoji?
Or how about a “slow clap” one?
“The vaccine is worse than Covid.” Once latched on, they won’t let go of their conspiracies no matter what evidence they’re presented with. That’s why those Q morons keep gathering in Dallas expecting JFK Jr. to be resurrected.
According to the CDC, 446,250,342 doses of vaccine have been administered to 228.6 million Americans. At the same time, 767,000 Americans have died of COVID. If the vaccine was worse than the disease, that would mean that more than 800,000 would have died from the vaccine. Did that happen? No, of course not. Googling around, I found three deaths attributed to vaccines back in July, after hundreds of millions of doses had been administered.
Even then, that claim is a bastardization of the dumbest conspiracies. The most ridiculous one uses CDC’s VAERS data to claim that 150,000 people have died from the vaccine. That claim, obviously, is bull. And even if it wasn’t, 150,000 is still less than 767,000.
But it’s hard to say, “I’m going to suffer lifelong medical damage and lose all my hair because I was too stupid to accept reality.” Much easier to stay in their toxic little bubble, claim that nothing would’ve been different had they vaccinated, and assign racist blame to the virus. And if anyone dare try and pierce that bubble? Why, circle the wagons, and do your best to keep out the pesky truth.
Today’s cautionary tale, Red, is schooled by a friend.
Soldiers literally get dozens of shots. I did when I served, and my son did as well during his own Basic Training this summer. Our job is to be ready for deployment, and no unit can deploy if it is wracked by disease. That’s why George Washington forced a mass vaccination of the Continental Army against smallpox.
And if “my body, my choice” isn’t good enough for a woman’s right to choose, why would it suddenly be okay in this situation? I wish they’d pick one already! Either it’s “my body, my choice,” and shut the f*ck up about vaccines; or it’s not, then shut the f*ck up about abortion.
Ah yes, “man-made bio weapon.” If she really believed that, why wouldn’t she deploy countermeasures? “The Chinese made this vaccine on purpose!” Okay, so why did you make it easy for the Chinese to destroy your lungs? When an enemy attacks you, you defend yourself! If he attacks you with a pathogen, then train your immune system to fight it with a jab!
This is where the anti-vaxxers get tripped up, especially when trying to pass the blame to someone else. Every conspiracy theory gets thrown against the wall, and it doesn’t matter whether it makes sense or not. They don’t prize internal logic. “I’m doing all I can,” she says, when she’s literally doing nothing to help everyone emerge from this nightmare.
When will it stop? When everyone gets vaccinated. Then you won’t have so many deaths, so many orphans, so many damaged survivors, so much economic devastation.
Meanwhile, she still has double pneumonia. She’s not out of the woods.
Is there a “standing ovation” emoji?
Or how about a “slow clap” one?
“The vaccine is worse than Covid.” Once latched on, they won’t let go of their conspiracies no matter what evidence they’re presented with. That’s why those Q morons keep gathering in Dallas expecting JFK Jr. to be resurrected.
According to the CDC, 446,250,342 doses of vaccine have been administered to 228.6 million Americans. At the same time, 767,000 Americans have died of COVID. If the vaccine was worse than the disease, that would mean that more than 800,000 would have died from the vaccine. Did that happen? No, of course not. Googling around, I found three deaths attributed to vaccines back in July, after hundreds of millions of doses had been administered.
Even then, that claim is a bastardization of the dumbest conspiracies. The most ridiculous one uses CDC’s VAERS data to claim that 150,000 people have died from the vaccine. That claim, obviously, is bull. And even if it wasn’t, 150,000 is still less than 767,000.
But it’s hard to say, “I’m going to suffer lifelong medical damage and lose all my hair because I was too stupid to accept reality.” Much easier to stay in their toxic little bubble, claim that nothing would’ve been different had they vaccinated, and assign racist blame to the virus. And if anyone dare try and pierce that bubble? Why, circle the wagons, and do your best to keep out the pesky truth.