The big issue facing our country today is whether or not vaccine mandates, or even mask mandates, are American! Do we need a nationalized healthcare system or a robust infrastructure bill, or some kind of regulation on our totalitarian income inequality situation? Nope. Mandates on proven public health measures are still a flashpoint for the policy-free GOP. The Biden administration tried selling conservatives on the idea that if they got vaccinated, they could maybe not worry about mask mandates. Since conservatives found themselves unable to see from out of their ass, having searched for infectious disease information up there, Biden has moved onto more serious executive orders.
Now, even as educators die and thousands more get infected with COVID-19, conservatives continue to mount political theater productions of shaking their fists at the “fascism” of forcing children to wear masks as a mitigation tool that might allow students to return to in-person education. To understand how untenable the conservative position continues to be, we need only look back one year when in-person education was the last big issue with conservatives. After doing nothing to mitigate the spread of the virus, conservatives then screamed that kids could wear masks and go back to school! But one thing that has not changed is the illogical selfishness of conservatives’ fear of change. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah did a piece that tried to remind viewers of how once upon a time, not too long ago, some Americans bristled and freaked out about the government mandating seat belts.
Before jumping back into seat belts and the fact that it was not too long ago that people routinely did not wear them because it didn’t feel “cool” to do so, let’s remember—most Americans are a-okay with vaccines and getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The majority of Americans who can get vaccinated are getting vaccinated. The demographic most resistant to getting vaccinated, according to CIVIQs polling, are conservative 35-49-year-old white folks.* Shocker [said while yawning]!
*This demo makes up arguably the most arrogant and entitled group of people in the history of humanity
Here’s everybody!
Civiqs Results
White Republicans between 35-49.
Civiqs Results
Now let’s talk about seat belts. Seat belts in this day and age are considered a common-sense safety precaution for getting into a vehicle. It’s the kind of thing that any parent will make sure their child does when going anywhere. When I was a kid, forget about car seats or booster seats; we only had to wear a seat belt in the front seat. And that was because my parents were big-time liberals who voted for Jimmy Carter!
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2019, of “the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2019, 47% were not wearing seat belts.” The CDC estimates that between 1975 and 2009, seat belts saved around 255,000 lives. As time has progressed, airbags have also been added to help protect the occupants of a vehicle from serious or fatal injury. In about 15 months, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least 676,000 Americans. This ignores the toll on families, long-term illnesses, and recovery for the millions who survived the virus or are directly affected by someone who has.
Here’s a report on the blowback one small town in Michigan received in 1984, when the city council voted to make not wearing a seat belt a $10 fine.
YouTube Video
And here’s a CBC report looking back at when Alberta, Canada, finally got around to enacting a seat belt law in 1987, and then in 1989, one man won a case saying he didn’t need to wear a seat belt.
YouTube Video
And then finally, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
YouTube Video
Now, even as educators die and thousands more get infected with COVID-19, conservatives continue to mount political theater productions of shaking their fists at the “fascism” of forcing children to wear masks as a mitigation tool that might allow students to return to in-person education. To understand how untenable the conservative position continues to be, we need only look back one year when in-person education was the last big issue with conservatives. After doing nothing to mitigate the spread of the virus, conservatives then screamed that kids could wear masks and go back to school! But one thing that has not changed is the illogical selfishness of conservatives’ fear of change. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah did a piece that tried to remind viewers of how once upon a time, not too long ago, some Americans bristled and freaked out about the government mandating seat belts.
Before jumping back into seat belts and the fact that it was not too long ago that people routinely did not wear them because it didn’t feel “cool” to do so, let’s remember—most Americans are a-okay with vaccines and getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The majority of Americans who can get vaccinated are getting vaccinated. The demographic most resistant to getting vaccinated, according to CIVIQs polling, are conservative 35-49-year-old white folks.* Shocker [said while yawning]!
*This demo makes up arguably the most arrogant and entitled group of people in the history of humanity
Here’s everybody!
Civiqs Results
White Republicans between 35-49.
Civiqs Results
Now let’s talk about seat belts. Seat belts in this day and age are considered a common-sense safety precaution for getting into a vehicle. It’s the kind of thing that any parent will make sure their child does when going anywhere. When I was a kid, forget about car seats or booster seats; we only had to wear a seat belt in the front seat. And that was because my parents were big-time liberals who voted for Jimmy Carter!
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2019, of “the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2019, 47% were not wearing seat belts.” The CDC estimates that between 1975 and 2009, seat belts saved around 255,000 lives. As time has progressed, airbags have also been added to help protect the occupants of a vehicle from serious or fatal injury. In about 15 months, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least 676,000 Americans. This ignores the toll on families, long-term illnesses, and recovery for the millions who survived the virus or are directly affected by someone who has.
Here’s a report on the blowback one small town in Michigan received in 1984, when the city council voted to make not wearing a seat belt a $10 fine.
YouTube Video
And here’s a CBC report looking back at when Alberta, Canada, finally got around to enacting a seat belt law in 1987, and then in 1989, one man won a case saying he didn’t need to wear a seat belt.
YouTube Video
And then finally, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
YouTube Video