It has become quite a normal, and boring, thing for America’s social media users to seize on innocuous things and attempt to out-ridiculous each other in pretend outrage.
Apparently, we are very upset that people are getting vaccines.
Vice President Mike Pence:
Mike and Mother Pence got their vaccines! Will there be only awkward dinner silences, knowing that BOTH of them now have foreign bodies inside them? Or will it bring a new spark to their marriage?
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 19, 2020
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):
Hey @marcorubio, what’s your biblical justification for getting a vaccine for a deadly disease you that you helped to spread before all frontline workers have gotten their shots?
— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) December 20, 2020
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):
Ah the irony of the “relatable” AOC, getting paid a full paycheck as her constituents lose their livelihoods and a rushed vaccine ahead of healthcare workers and elderly. Anyone praising this: you’re brainwashed. https://t.co/vxwwi5AGHk
— Emily Rinaldi (@EmilyRinaldi6) December 21, 2020
And for a fun twist, CBS’s Margret Brennen is upset a somewhat temporarily immune President Donald Trump did not get a vaccine yet:
Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennen, who's not a medical professional, shrieked at Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams demanding Trump get vaccinated on camera despite cited medical reasons he shouldn't (his previous treatment monoclonal antibodies). pic.twitter.com/SbM15A61FV
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 20, 2020
None of these people believe what they are saying.
They all know politicians, public figures and well-known individuals getting a vaccine can help prove it is safe and effective.
And to those who are reading this and saying, “I am not getting a vaccine,” cool. No one in government will be able to force you to get one.
In Alabama, former Governor Robert Bentley (R) received his vaccine, and people are not happy.
Alabama’s desperate political media have reacted in one of three ways:
Sad anger:
So frontline workers now include dermatologist former governors? WTH, Alabama? https://t.co/2OU7DTUdYR
— Kyle Whitmire (@WarOnDumb) December 18, 2020
Unearned self-righteousness:
I usually try to leave ‘em alone after their guilty pleas.
But entitlement and tone-deafness is exactly why Robert Bentley lost his job and his marriage and name and his state. pic.twitter.com/IasaOpWq90
— John Archibald (@JohnArchibald) December 18, 2020
On-brand stupidity:
I’m genuinely confused by this. The former Alabama governor is one of the first in the state to get the vaccine? The one who resigned from office as part of plea deal involving campaign finance and ethics violations and is back to practicing dermatology? https://t.co/DBpOm4rdsX
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 18, 2020
You really have to feel for Kaitlan Collins here. She is a CNN White House reporter, and her brand requires her to take to Twitter and declare that she is confused over very simple concepts.
Collins must tell people simultaneously that she is incapable of understanding but that she also needs to be taken seriously.
It can’t be done. Most people see her claim that she does not understand and then tune her out from there.
But Collins’ take is so incredibly lazy.
Robert Bentley is an old man and a practicing doctor.
He absolutely appears to qualify to be an early vaccine recipient under a 1a subset of ADPH guidelines:
Non hospital based physicians, nurse practitioners, private offices, Federally Qualified Health Centers, County Health Departments, subspecialties, mental health and treatment centers.
“But he’s only a dermatologist!”
Yes, one who sees multiple people every single day — including for skin cancer — and surely has elderly patients who are at risk if they get the coronavirus.
Sounds like he is someone we should all want to get the vaccine. Plus, local public health officials are the ones deciding who gets the vaccine and when.
This is how this should work.
Do these individuals really want politics to come into play in deciding who gets and who doesn’t get the vaccine?
Of course not.
At least, they shouldn’t.
The most obvious thing at play here is the most likely: All of these people complaining are just phonies chasing that social media attention they all crave so much.
Public health and safety is secondary to their thirst for any type of attention they can muster.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AM weekdays on WVNN.
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