Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris seems to be awfully dismissive of the good people of the great state of Alabama for very little reason.
Harris oversees what the American media reminds us is one of the worst vaccine rollouts in the nation.
While speaking at the Medical Association of Alabama’s (MASA) annual meeting, Harris blamed rural and conservative Alabamians for our coronavirus issues, without evidence. Despite the fact that we masked up, we socially distanced and we changed our lives.
The relevant portion starting around 1 hour and 5 minutes in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJPYPoH9fA8&t=3950s
Take that, you bumpkins.
What’s frustrating about this is all the haranguing and smearing by the American media of people who were hesitant to support shutdowns and lockdowns forever but were actually right.
Florida, Texas and other states that opened up far before Alabama are faring fine. States with the most stringent lockdowns are still failing. This includes New York, California and New Jersey.
The science is clear that the experts were wrong.
In spite of this, Harris admits that Alabama is doing pretty well with the virus.
Several members who attended this meeting were reportedly offended by Harris’ dismissive comments. Not only are they MASA members, but they are also conservatives from Alabama. Some of them could possibly be rural residents as well.
Interestingly, Harris is not accountable to the governor or the legislature but to MASA alone. Legislators talked a big game about rolling this back, but it doesn’t appear that will actually happen.
But every Alabamian should be bothered by this. Harris is the one calling the shots in the state. And, after admitting the vaccine rollout was slow, he blamed those problems on those pesky rural and conservative voters.
The worst part here is Harris is completely unaccountable to anyone.
The frustration is certainly real. Former State Senator Phil Williams, who is now the chief policy officer for the Alabama Policy Institute, noted correctly on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” “The people of this state have been exceedingly patient and generally compliant while Dr. Harris has made his proclamations and plans. How he can possibly blame the vaccine rollout on conservatism is beyond me and he needs to recant those comments.”
Maybe Scott Harris needs to know his actual audience isn’t the Medical Association of Alabama, the governor or the media — but the people. However, in Harris’ mind, those darned conservatives are the only thing standing in the way of truly effective governance.
Harris sounds a lot like Dr. Anthony Fauci, a man who has lost the support and respect of plenty across the country.
When we go back and look at this pandemic, we will learn that the American media and the experts destroyed their reputation and their ability to lead people with comments like this.
Fauci’s and Harris’ comments and ineffectiveness are the problems. Their credibility issues create a vacuum. That vacuum is filled by ignoramuses and bad actors.
Elites have been complaining about how experts aren’t listened to anymore. A book called “The Death of Expertise” was written on this phenomenon.
So, let’s be clear. No one is going to record videos to ask their hayseed friends to get vaccinated, and no one is going to be swayed by a video of someone lecturing them about vaccination. This is just more out-of-touch garbage.
Numbers are trending down, people are getting vaccinated and people are actually predisposed to trust the government.
We largely did what was asked of us, and we should be praised for that — not insulted by a Dr. Fauci wannabe.
Listen:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AM weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10AM to noon.
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