The Three Big Lies of 2022: Two Concern the Pandemic

By Steven Jonas

“Three Big Lies,” you might ask? “I thought that there was only one.” “Well yes,” I would say. “There is indeed only one REALLY Big Lie, which is going to have very serious long-term POLITICAL consequences for the United States.” As is well-known, it is indeed the Trumpian Big Lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from him, the persistence of which and the belief in it of many people is currently helping the Republican Party lead the nation down the road to fascism. (While this formulation was seen infrequently in political commentary just a few years ago, it is no, unfortunately, becoming commonplace.) And note that I said that it is the Republican Party, not the “Trumpublican Party” as I have referred to it over the past couple of years, that is leading this endeavour. The Republican strategy is targeted voter suppression (and it is always targeted towards specific population groups, not just aimed at fixing a somewhat creaky system over all). It leads the way in all Republican strategy and tactics, with Trump having little if any active role to play in either the strategy or the tactics other than acting as a cheerleader. Thus, it is clear that it is the Party as a whole that is pulling the nation, or at least significant chunks of it geographically and ideologically, in that direction. Which of course is why I have taken to labelling it the Republo-fascist Party. While it is very important to note that it was Trump himself who began developing the Big Lie message of the “rigged election,” actually back in 2016, it is the Republo-fascists that have taken it over for their own, broader, purposes. That is Big Lie No. 1.

Following Big Lie No. 1 of the “stolen election” come the Two Big Lies of the Pandemic, to which the bulk of the rest of this column is devoted. As it happens, they relate closely to the first and to the propaganda that the Republicans are using to drive the nation to fascism. The first of the Two Big Lies of the Pandemic is that the word “Mandate” in the (Democratic) government’s program for dealing with the Pandemic and bringing it under control means forcing everybody and anybody to be vaccinated, whether they want to be or not. The second is that any national program for vaccination is comparable to the Nazi Holocaust. This latter one has not been as widely used as the false “mandates” one, but it is gaining in popularity as part of the anti-vaxx propaganda movement. It has been widely promoted by such prominent anti-vaxxers as Bobby Kennedy Jr. (self-styled-in-this-context) Left.

First as to the word “mandate.” It has been widely used in the national vaccination program. However, whether from the Centers for Disease Control, or from state and local health departments which are sponsoring wide-spread vaccination programs, or from voluntary agencies which are doing the same, it has never, and I mean NEVER, been taken to mean, by any of them, forcing anyone who has not been vaccinated, and doesn’t want to be, to be. “Informed consent” is one of the prime ethical principles of medical care and medical practice in this country. No one, and no agency, whether in a position of authority or acting in a voluntary capacity, in any vaccination program, has proposed dropping it, that is eliminating it, for vaccination. Where the word “mandate” has been used is, in relation to vaccination, requiring an individual to be vaccinated, should they want to engage in one or more occupations or activities.

While of course vaccination benefits the person receiving it, requiring vaccination to be in an enclosed space, whether for work or pleasure is a central part of any public health program designed to prevent the spread of a disease which, like COVID-19 is spread through the air from person-to-person. The concept behind requiring vaccination in such circumstances is that while no one can be forced to be vaccinated pe se, neither can one, on their own authority, expose others to infection with this disease. And that’s what “mandate” in this context means: that if, for given occupations, one must get vaccinated, or one wants to participate in certain indoor activities, one must get vaccinated. Unfortunately, the anti-vaxx community has given to “mandate” the meaning that everyone must be vaccinated per se, whether they want to be or not. That is simply not true, and thus we have Big Lie No. 2.

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Source: OpEdNews.com