Politics, Covid, and Vaccinations...Oh My!

I try not to keep most of my political and societal opinions to myself or my close inner circle, because those are usually the only people who may really care about my opinions or have engaged me in a conversation where sharing my thoughts was welcomed. However, we now live in a world where social media allows anybody that you're 'friends' with to share their opinions without you soliciting them. As you are casually scrolling to see what your friends have been up to and how their family is doing, without warning or provocation you may find out your 'friends' views on abortion, border security, gun laws, trans-genders, or Black Lives Matter protests.

In 2016, social media really began to take on a different role in our society, mainly as it became entwined with politics in our country. If you want to see how intentionally influential and manipulative social media is, I strongly suggest watching "The Great Hack" on Netflix. That documentary explains how our information is stolen from us through social media and digital platforms and used to target us where we are most vulnerable, our personal interests. It is why we see ads for the items we were just browsing on every website we visit. It is also why our timelines and feeds on our social media become so focused on certain people and items. The suggested articles for us to read, pages to click on, or groups to join are all based on information that has been stolen from us based on our social media habits and searches.

A lot of people were stunned in 2016 that a man like Donald Trump, without any political experience or initial strong backing from a party could become president. While "The Great Hack" does not focus directly on Trump and his campaign, it goes into detail on how Trump's political team used social media habits to really find the issues that triggered certain Americans and could sway voters who were uncertain about who they were going to vote for to either vote for him or not vote at all.

So what does all of this have to do with getting vaccinated? I'm getting there, and for those who know me best, you know I always get to my point in a round about way. My point in bringing all of that up, is that in the year 2021, with all of the news outlets and social media at our fingertips, we should be more educated than ever, exposed to more viewpoints than ever, and more aware of multiple viewpoints than ever, but I think we are getting further away from all of those because of the world we live in.

I will circle back to this, but I want everyone to understand where I stand politically first. I am trying not be hypocritical by sharing my thoughts and opinions, which is why I am writing about all of this in my blog and not on my Facebook timeline. By clicking on the link and reading this far, you have made the choice to read my thoughts. Some of you by now have undoubtedly already started to scroll ahead to see how long this article is and when I'm going to make my point. However, before I do I want everyone to know that I have no political agenda. I openly admit that I vote for both parties. I am disappointed in both political parties at how they have become so entrenched in certain viewpoints and special interest groups and funding that they refuse to see that there should be common ground to try and unite our country on issues. Compromise is now viewed as a sign of political weakness and suicide, so each side spends countless dollars and resources trying to make the other look bad and obtain power in government so they can pass their own political agenda without the consent or blessing of the other party. Politicians are more concerned with staying in office than they are with doing what they know is right for the people. These are sad times in our country, and Covid has only made things worse.

There are all sorts of theories out there about Covid, the timing of it, and how the media used it to push certain agendas. I think most conspiracy theories are a joke, but I do think that Covid was the perfect storm during some of the stormiest times in recent U.S. history. As someone who usually evaluates issues, the current state of things in our country, and the campaign messages that candidates choose to run on, my mind usually isn't made up on candidates until Election Day approaches. A lot of people I know say that, but I know that's bullshit.

I am VERY liberal on a lot of issues, but I am also against the government getting involved in so many aspects of our society. I vote Democratic on many issues. I don't agree with a lot of their ideals, but I view them as the party that wants to try and help those in need. Those are the people I work with and where my heart goes out to. I do not believe in 'trickle down economics' and I find it ironic that most people say they despise Socialism but are fine with social security, Medicare, labor laws, and public education.

I think our country needs gun control reform in a major way, but I fully support the 2nd Amendment. I hope that nobody I know would ever have an abortion, but I fully support a woman's right to choose to do what is best for her own situation. I can't imagine the pain and guilt that person must deal with the rest of their live, but I am totally against abortions after a certain date. I think that pro-life demonstrators should have to adopt and raise unwanted children or foster kids in CPS. I have become disenfranchised from organized religion, and I cannot stand how an organization that has tax exemptions can promote one party or candidates beliefs over another. I think every human being has the right to fall in love with whoever they want of legal age, and their rights should in no way be less diminished than my own. I think racism is horribly thriving in our country, and white people that try to act like it doesn't or it isn't as bad as groups make it out to be are part of the problem. I think police officers have the most ungrateful job in our country, and we only hear about them when something goes wrong. I do think there are systemic issues with policing in our country, but that means more money needs to be put into training and vetting of applicants. I think that anyone who flees from the police or resists arrest should face even stiffer penalties, whether they committed a crime or not. I believe that drugs should be legalized, but I think murderers should face the death penalty, unless the majority of evidence is circumstantial. I think that all states should work with prisoners to prepare them for life outside of prison and all states should have felony expungement programs to help people show they have changed, and so they actually have a chance at making something of their lives instead of being forced back into crime to try and survive. I feel horrible for store and property owners that lose everything during protests, but I don't think that people understand those kinds of protests are completely necessary to bring about change in our society. Without making the people that run and control our society uncomfortable, power and change will never be willfully granted. I believe in fiscal responsibility. I don't believe that giving people money puts them in a better position to succeed. I think childcare needs to government subsidized. I think minimum wage needs to be increased drastically, and if you don't think people working minimum wage jobs deserve it then stop going to those businesses and see how drastically different your life is. Those are just my opinions, and they are not any better or worse than yours. Those opinions were shaped by my life experiences, just as yours were by your own life experiences and values.

I have yet to see a candidate or a party come out and say those things, and I probably never will. They will lose funding or never be funded by the financial political backers that are needed to get a candidate elected into office. However, as passionate or as passive as I may feel about those issues, none of them have directly factored into my life. I'd be willing to bet that most people reading this cannot think of a situation where this has DIRECTLY applied to their daily lives either, but yet they have passionate opinions and loyalties to political parties, regardless of the situation, and that is perfectly fine.

People have been saying that we need another 9/11 in our country to bring us back together. However, I will argue that if Covid wasn't that moment or opportunity, I hope I'm not around to see what it will take to bring our country together.

I will fully admit that I was a Never Trumper. I believe he is a horrible, narcistic human being, that brought out all sorts of evil in our country. He had some decent political ideas, but I could never get past the racial and cultural divide he brought to the surface of our country. In no way did he create it, but he emboldened people to speak their mind, and in some cases, take actions that really made me feel disgusted. I work with immigrants and minorities every day. I saw the fear in their eyes and heard the uncertainty in their voices on a daily basis when we would discuss current affairs, and they would share how certain things were impacting their lives. I heard the stories about how they were being treated by fellow Americans that wanted to 'Make America Great Again,' that didn't happen before Trump was in office. As I white male, I would have never been introduced to those perspectives in many jobs. I learned about racial profiling from people who had experienced it first hand, and I'm a better person for having gained that perspective.

I will say that I'm not a big fan of Biden either. The Democrats ran on a campaign of "We're Not Donald Trump," and that was good enough for me and the majority of other Americans. Other than Trump's horrible character, they really didn't have much else to run on except for Covid. Trump had one major issue to handle as president, and he failed. The Democrats seized that opportunity and ran with it. The media's handling of Covid painted Trump as a dismissive leader who did not know how to lead. Covid became the one thing in America that everyone was truly impacted by, and our president failed miserably in the spotlight he cherished so badly.

Now, before any Trump supporters want to berate me, let me make these points clear. There was nothing Trump or anyone could have done to stop Covid from coming to America, and he is not responsible for all of the deaths in America, as Democrats like to try and suggest. Here is what he is directly responsible for in my opinion: caring more about himself and staying in power than the country he was elected to run.

Last March, nobody understood what we were in for with Covid. People had an idea and they tried to warn him, but Trump chose to not alert the American public about this impending health crisis. While I don't agree with the decision, I can at least respect why that decision was made. However, as Covid quickly shut down our country, Trump had two paths to take. 1. Listen to the top scientists and doctors in our country, follow their instructions, be transparent with the data and the fact we were living through an event that rarely happens in human history, and ask our country to unite and honor medical workers and members of the greatest generation, or 2. Discredit scientists and doctors to downplay the impact this was having on our country, focus on himself, the economy, and his re-election, and make following the advice of medical experts and doctors a sign of weakness, which divided the country almost immediately after we came together like post 9/11 to try and limit the spread of Covid.

There was a time in late March, where everyone in America was doing what it took to try and prevent Covid from spreading. We didn't really fully understand Covid yet, but when leaders told us to shelter in place, we did it. Most of us hated it and complained about it, but for the most part it worked. We were Americans, and we were willing to unite and follow government orders and restrictions to try and stop this virus. As top doctors advised that we were nowhere near the end of its impact in our country, most of us grew tired of not being able to go out and do the things we were used to doing in our normal lives. By late April we were at a crossroads in our country, and this is where we diverged from the post 9/11 society we somewhat had where people were pulling together, to the political and medical nightmare that Covid became.

Trump's greatest calling card during his presidency were his economic numbers. The longer our country had to deal with Covid, the bigger a threat it became to his greatest asset to re-election. At the time, I was ready for the country to re-open too. I wasn't concerned about the economy, but I wanted to get back to seeing people and going out for entertainment. I didn't like the idea of having to wear masks out in public, and I thought we had avoided a true health crisis in our country. As we began to re-open, doctors and scientists were waving the yellow caution flag, and we reached another crossroad in our battle with Covid. This crossroad was the defining one that would set our country on a path towards division and is what sadly defines the state of our country.

Instead of promoting and thanking doctors and scientists for their work in educating the American public, Trump chose to make a mockery of them. As doctors promoted wearing masks, Trump chose to criticize them and suggest that they were not necessary. Suddenly, wearing a mask became a political calling card. Americans were told to not trust doctors and scientists, and to believe the person who cared more about his economy and re-election than anything else. It didn't take long before doctors and scientists were mocked and called liars. Every time they had changed up guidelines or shared new ways the virus could be transmitted or the impacts it could have on your body, the more they were discredited. Democrats doubled down in defiance of Trump by trying to limit what citizens in their states could do. Instead of finding a common ground to take on this pandemic, people were literally divided by red and blue states. Living directly on the border or a red and blue state I saw this firsthand. I also heard about it directly from family and friends who lived on the border of two other red and blue states. Red states and blue states seemed to be locked in this game of seeing who could rush to one extreme the quickest.

I understand that we live in an era of instant information, but we were dealing with a global pandemic from a new virus. Doctors and scientists were dealing with the best information they had at the time, and they were making the best predictions they could at the time with the information they had. It is precisely what doctors and scientists do during uncertain times. For those of use that are old enough, remember how terrifying AIDS was? People were unsure of how exactly is could be transmitted, and the science was always shifting. Doctors weren't dubbed fools and discredited as they gained new information on the disease. Their efforts were appreciated and helped calm the anxiety of people over a number of years. It may not be entirely fair to compare Covid to AIDS, as the death rates are vastly different, but the views of scientists and doctors should not be changed.

When it came to wearing a mask, I was very much against it at first. I thought it was unnecessary since our nationwide numbers were so low. However, if that is what it took to get back to a life of normalcy, I trusted the doctors and went along. Yet, somehow people returning to work and normalcy wasn't enough to satisfy our president. As the country seemed to be winning our initial battle with Covid, masks somehow became a divisive political symbol. Trump challenged whether they were necessary and made a mockery of those who wore them. Suddenly you were viewed as weak, scared, and a sheep in you wore a mask. People would intentionally not wear a mask to seek out confrontation to share their political views. Trump convinced people to distrust science and doctors, and trust him.

Inevitably and predictably, the most protected man on the planet eventually got the virus by not following the advise of doctors. Instead of using this as an opportunity to praise the doctors and scientists who helped him make a speedy recovery and speak of the cautions needed with Covid, he remained steadfast that masks were not necessary as our Covid cases surged to record numbers. He forged ahead in somehow dividing our country, in what should have been our most universal time. All Americans were fighting the same disease. By the fall of 2020, all of us had known someone who had contracted Covid, a lot of us knew someone who died from Covid, and a good amount had even contracted Covid themselves. We all should have been united to stop this, but our country had never seemed so divided. We missed our chance to live in a post 9/11 society where we were all Americans before we were Republicans or Democrats.

I grew more and more saddened by things each day. By this time, we had some good science and a much better understanding of the disease. Vaccines seemed imminent, we just had to make it through a few more months. We lived through a election process that I hope we'll never experience again in our history, where our president tried to overturn the will of the people he claimed to love. As Trump sank lower and lower in his efforts to try and retain power, I reflected on our society and how much it had changed over a couple of generations. To perpetuate this, our president was telling his supporters not to believe election results, doctors, and scientists. It really became frightening what some of his more ardent supporters would believe.

Somehow in the era of 24/7 news and social media constantly at our fingertips, we seemed to have become less educated on issues and more individualized than ever. Literally, everything that we choose to entertain us is catered to our specific likes and interests. We can choose which news outlet we want to watch that will spin every story to our liking. Social media allows us to view exactly who and what we want to see. The more we 'like' something, the more likely we are to see it again and again. Suddenly, even though we have access to more of the world than we ever have before, our focus becomes smaller. Our beliefs of who and what we think are right become more solidified, and our ability to find common-ground on issues is less and less likely. Both political parties had taken us to extreme viewpoints as well, where there was an absolute solution to problems, instead of well-thought out common ground.

Another thing that amazed me is how many legal experts have emerged over the past year. As a history teacher, I am very proud of how many people are aware of the 1st Amendment. Yet, I am horribly saddened by how few teachers have made their students aware of the 9th Amendment. This past year we had a lot of Americans walking around talking about their 1st Amendment rights and how masks were violating them. First of all, I find it comical when people talk about rights that they did nothing to earn except being born where they were. I wonder if there is any reflection on the people who truly fought and sacrificed to allow you to inherit those rights. I'll come back to this when I explain why I chose to get vaccinated, but more importantly, if any of your rights are being violated it is your 9th Amendment rights.

If you're still reading, you've already shown a lot more grit and persistence than most people today who saw how long this article was and said to heck with it. I'm also guessing that if you're still reading this you're racking your brain trying to figure out what the 9th Amendment says. I'll put you out of your misery and put it right here for you:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

All of the wisdom of our forefathers, and that is what they came up with. So what does that actually mean? It means that the government cannot take away certain, obvious rights. It also means that the government has the power to do things it feels best for the people it governs, as long as it doesn't take away those rights. Basically, what we have are the ultimate gray areas that allow our courts to decide when a violation of our rights, that are not specifically outlined in the Constitution, has occurred. This is what helps give schools and workplaces the right to enforce dress codes and regulations. Under our Core Democratic Values, we support the right to safety and doing things that benefit the common good. This allows rules to be in place that might limit our individual freedoms once we head out into public places with others.

During the pandemic, it blew my mind how many people objected to wearing a mask to help to try and keep others safe, but never once questioned why they had to have a shirt or shoes on to enter a place of business. People weren't suddenly defiantly not wearing seat belts or checking ID's when it came to serving alcohol or tobacco products. People didn't suddenly revolt when their bags were being checked at the airport or ignore all traffic laws. All of these are examples of the 9th Amendment in action that we accept without much thought, but somehow wearing a mask on your face to potentially protect others from catching a virus became a matter of infringing on your rights? It just didn't make sense, and I do not like wearing a mask. However, I have no problem doing it because the top doctors suggest that it helps limit the potential spread of the virus and keeps others safe. That may or may not be the case, but they are far more educated on these topics than I am. I didn't hear Republican doctors coming out to denounce the validity of wearing a mask. It was truly saddening at how many people couldn't think of someone other than themselves during the pandemic.

Now, I also see the viewpoint of the data behind the disease. The fatality rate is very low, and the most at risk people are the elderly and the obese. The overwhelming majority of the population, even if they contracted Covid, would have minimal risk of needing medical attention that required a hospital visit or actually dying. Therefore, it is easy to just tell those that are most at risk to stay home and let the rest of us go about our lives. Why should I have to wear an uncomfortable mask all day? Can't you just stay home if you're scared of this disease and let me resume my normal activities? A lot of people felt that way, and it is possible to understand why they could feel that way, until you start to think about who they are asking to stay home.

The reason our country has all of these freedoms are because of the generations before us. The people most at risk of dying from Covid are the people who went overseas to protect and preserve our freedom in World War II. They knew the risks, and yet a great amount of men volunteered to go fight for our country. Too many men never got to live to an advanced age because they were killed at an age that is not much older than my kids are right now. The women who were left behind jumped into the workforce to keep our country going. Then came the Korean War, and our attempts to stop the spread of communism. Boys who remembered World War II but were too young to serve, enlisted or were drafted into service. Again, they knew the risks, but they did what was asked for by our country. A decade later, we were involved in Vietnam. While the support for foreign wars against communism had faded, thousands of young men were drafted into service to fight for the freedoms and ideals we believe are what makes our society and way of life better than others.

Those heroes who made it back and are still with us are now at the highest risk from the effects of Covid. World War II vets are in their 90's, Korean vets in their 80's, and Vietnam vets in their 70's. Persian Gulf vets are in their 50's. They risked their lives to give me the life I have enjoyed. They put it all on the line, so our country can enjoy the advances of education, technology, medicine, and science that we take for granted. So it greatly disappointed me that during our nation's opportunity to step up for them, we told them to stay home and let us go on with our lives. I don't want to wear a mask or get vaccinated to support you.

Now, I will fully admit that did not adhere to social distancing from neighbors and friends in 2020. I enjoyed living in a Republican state where our governor had guidelines in place that allowed people to make their own decisions, while adhering to policies that would still protect people as best they could. I thought Indiana was a model for how all states should have handled Covid. I think people that stayed at home for months on end were too far to the other extreme and had some irrational fears. I had a relatively normal 2020 and early 2021, and I was on the fence about getting vaccinated. I didn't see the point since I was still relatively young and healthy. I figured that if I got Covid I would be fine. I didn't want to inconvenience myself with appointments to get vaccinated and then worry about the side-effects. After all, I hadn't been sick once in a couple of years.

As vaccines started becoming more readily available, more people I knew were going to get them. When they would ask if I was going to get vaccinated, I would tell them that I was waiting to go until things weren't quite as chaotic. Yet, in the back of my mind, I was weighing the risks versus the benefits. I started thinking about my own risks versus the benefits for everyone else. This is where the media comes in.

I'm confused by people that say they watch or follow the news. CNN and Fox News are not news stations, they are outlets that share news and viewpoints. They cater to specific audiences and political viewpoints. They are in competition with other media outlets for viewership. The same goes for the local network news stations. As information is more readily available, people have so many more options to get their news than ever before. This is why news outlets now create outlandish headlines or focus on the outliers that will draw controversy or debate. In today's society, we don't want the news, we want the headlines. We want something that confirms our pre-existing viewpoint. News outlets know this and use this to draw people in. Local network news outlets don't post much news on social media, they produce controversial topics that cause people to comment, which in turn draws more traffic to their site. They are doing their job by trying to create interest and 'viewership' which in turn generates revenue for them. In turn, the media has become great at scaring people and making them wait to see what outlandish story they'll share next.

In 2020, the narrative was how scary Covid was and how we needed a vaccine. Now that we have vaccines, 2021 is all about finding the story about someone who has had a negative reaction and scaring people away from getting a vaccine. These stories are good for their business, and reporting the 'news' is a business. They are looking to get a reaction from their audience, and that is what they have been doing.

So as I contemplated whether or not to get vaccinated, I thought of the great men and women who came before me. Those that are with us and those that never even came close to experiencing the things I have been able to because they died on foreign soil somewhere before the prime of their life. I decided that no matter how little I thought I needed to actually get vaccinated, I would do it so those veterans and others in that generation could get back to seeing their grandkids and families. I felt that they deserved to live a normal life again too. I also wanted to do my part for the greater good. I knew that if I got vaccinated, I would help in moving our country one step closer to the way of life that we loved.

I understood that the risks of anything coming from the shot were far less that the risks people so outlandishly downplayed as an excuse to not even wear a mask in the first place. Again, you have a higher risk of dying from Covid than you do of having a life altering issue from getting vaccinated. The media won't allow you to think that because it's not good for business, but I don't see people walking around thumping their chests saying bring on polio because I'm not a sheep. I was getting vaccinated to honor the hard work of the best doctors and scientists in the world and to pay homage to those that decided to make far greater sacrifices for the benefit of our country.

I signed up to get my single dose vaccination for March 25th. I thought that was the best option since I was still relatively healthy and low risk. I was impressed by how efficient everything ran that day. I felt pretty good coming home, knowing that whatever little uncertainty I had about Covid in the back of my mind was now going to be gone. I had done my part by wearing a mask for months while still doing my best to support local restaurants and bars, and getting vaccinated would allow our entire society to get one step closer to normalcy. I didn't feel it necessary to share this news on social media, as this was a personal choice that didn't need or deserve any fanfare.

I walked into the house in the early evening that day. Nobody else was even home yet. I felt pretty good about things, and then my wife came home and told me she had tested positive for Covid. She hadn't been feeling well for a couple days, but we didn't think it would be Covid. Nevertheless, she continued to have more issues with fatigue, breathing, and no appetite. She isolated herself from the family, and the rest of us just sat and waited. Myself and the kids couldn't go to school, my oldest son couldn't go to work, and our freshman son couldn't go to baseball practice. Then a couple days later I started having Covid symptoms. I had contracted it before I had gotten vaccinated, so my vaccination couldn't help me. I didn't have the same severity as my wife, but the signs had been there before she was officially diagnosed.

Fortunately, both of us are 'fine' and our kids never displayed any issues. Having gone through Covid, I will tell everyone I know that it is not anything to be taken lightly. I believe that my wife and I being in relatively good shape is what kept us from having to go to the hospital. There is nothing more frightening than not being able to catch your breath or feel like you're getting enough oxygen. We didn't really share our experiences with others, but there were times where we both told each other that we were scared because we couldn't breathe. I don't understand why anyone would want to put themselves at risk of this when a vaccine could prevent this from ever happening to them.

Now, just over two months from the onset of Covid, I am here to tell anyone that will listen that it is not a joke. I am still dealing with issues from Covid. I am not going to disclose what those issues are, but there are things in my body that have not returned to normal after two months. I am tough and stubborn to a fault, but I am worried if things will ever return to normal. I have read and researched about the effects of Long Covid, and am worried that is what I'm dealing with. I never go to the doctor, but I will be scheduling an appointment soon to see if I can get these issues addressed and corrected. I am openly worried and fearful of what I might learn. I don't see the bravery and boldness in not getting a shot that could prevent this. I see arrogance and foolishness, and I was right there on that fence a couple months ago.

I think back to the timeline of events and decisions. I signed up to get vaccinated the first day I was eligible, so I don't have the regret of wishing that I had gotten it earlier. I respect those who choose not to get vaccinated, but I do not understand the reasoning. I politely ask that you support your fellow citizens and step up to help those in the medical field who have given so much to us this past year. Speak to them about what their daily lives have been like because of Covid. I ask that you honor the veterans from the past that faced monumentally greater risks than getting vaccinated for our country. I am speaking from personal experience that you do not want Covid. Understand that for nearly every product you use in your daily life, a minute amount of people have had a life altering side effect from it. Those stories don't stop us from using cell phones or ingesting things into our bodies that we know cause damage on a daily basis. We don't hesitate to pop Tylenol into our body when our head or joints hurt, even though people have died from Tylenol. If you're waiting to see what will happen to people that are vaccinated, as someone that continues to deal with Covid I suggest that those side effects are far less than the ones you could face from having it.

I hope this has help persuade one person that was still on the fence about getting vaccinated. I wrote this because I wanted to share my story and document my thoughts on this past year or so. I wanted to try and convince someone who is still hesitant about getting vaccinated for political reasons or because they don't think Covid is a big deal. If you still don't want to get vaccinated, think of the people who truly sacrificed for our country. Those are the people and the generation I did it for. I don't know how they would feel about Covid and vaccinations, but explain to me how you would look them in the eye and tell them why you are not getting vaccinated. Try explaining your fear to them. Try telling them about your rights and why you won't sacrifice to help others.

Please, actually read the information that is out there and available. Do not just look at headlines. Don't make fun of people who decide to get vaccinated to keep themselves, their loved ones, and you safe. Instead of making fun of someone for getting vaccinated and calling them a sheep, thank them for allowing you to have a better chance of not getting sick. Thank them for being willing to step up and help end this pandemic and allowing you to get back to a life of normalcy. It is time we get back to trusting science and doctors in this country, instead of bashing them like we have police officers and teachers. European countries are WAY ahead of us in terms of the percentage of people in their countries that are fully vaccinated because they don't have devise political parties and leaders who tell them not to trust science.

We are coming out of an era where it was promoted to attack and belittle people who were different than you and didn't share the same opinions as you. People that had a better understanding of science that didn't line up with political agendas were mocked, and drove us all into corners where we were forced to choose one side or the other. I hope we can somehow leave those times behind. Embrace the freedom that this country provides, but don't get upset when those that have chosen to be vaccinated get other privileges that unvaccinated people may not. We give those privileges to military personnel without second thought. I am not trying to make that comparison, but rights and privileges come from sacrifice, and the 9th Amendment protects those rights and privileges.

Good health and unity to all.

Mike