Tennessee Republicans, faced with decency, public law, and common sense, sided with Beelzebub again. I know you’ve seen the headlines. The Tennessee Public Health director for vaccine-preventable disease reminded people to get their kids immunized. That’s her job, after all. She added that long-established Tennessee state law says that many teenagers can ask for vaccines themselves. That’s true, too. It’s a public virtue to make vaccinations as easy as possible. But the GOP couldn’t have that. Time for more of the Devil’s work.
First: retaliation. The state Republicans forced that poor doctor from public office for her sin of explaining Tennessee law to people. Nobody denied that she was telling the truth; they just didn’t like it. Republicans blocked vaccination events and forbade any informational mailings about vaccines that might reach teenagers. So much for the Tennessee law that gives older teenagers the right to make their own decisions.
I’m deliberately not repeating the good doctor’s name or her image. I’m confident she already has enough death threats from idiots who call themselves God-fearing. Have any of them read the Bible? They’re just terrorists.
Next; the spastic reaction. The butt-hurt state Republicans searched for the most egregious and damaging response possible. I’m sure the GOP wants to ban COVID vaccines entirely. (They already got their shots.) Thankfully, they didn’t have the power to block COVID vaccination. So, they did the worst they could find: they stopped vaccinating teenagers, ratcheted up their intimidation, locked away helpful information, and forbid all vaccine outreach by Tennessee Public Health officials. All of it. Not just COVID outreach or vaccination events; all vaccine outreach. They banned any public outreach for polio, measles, whooping cough, Diphtheria, tetanus, mumps, flu, pneumonia, meningitis, Hepatitis B, etc. Republicans weren’t unconcerned; they objected powerfully to public health in general and vaccination specifically. Next up, I’m sure, they’ll threaten what little public health funding is left.
That’s the Devil’s work, all right. Republicans found another way to increase the GOP kill ratio. The Father of Lies should be well pleased that his faithful are doing the Devil’s work for him.
So, another day and another new stream of sick and dead Americans. What are the ethics of that? I’m assuming that most Republicans aren’t idiots. (Yes, even in Tennessee.) Outside of the wingnut fringe, most of them know that immunizations work. That means they’ve just traded these new, unnecessary deaths for something. I’m guessing the Son of Perdition will reward them with a gush of political donations and a few more votes from the Insane Clown Party faithful. That’s the Devil’s work.
What’s wrong with us, that we see this open evil and only sigh?
