Mike Rowe Rises Against Demonization Of Those Who Decline Vax

P. Gardner Goldsmith | August 11, 2021
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Ethical, liberty-respecting Americans now know that we are in a war – and have been in one for a long, long time. It’s a war of words shaping false narratives, demonizing people who simply want to be left alone, and constantly pushing Americans into technocratic corrals where political ranchers will tell them to wear masks and discuss mandating so-called “jab-passports,” even as they falsely call it an “option.”

This is a moment in history where more and more of us are beginning to protest their trite, freedom-crushing, twaddle.

One of those Americans is “Dirty Jobs” host, author, and documentary narrator Mike Rowe.

As Katie Jerkovich reports for The Daily Caller, Thursday last week, Mike responded to a question from a Facebook-connected fan who spewed fear-porn about the so-called “Delta Variant” and uninformed adoration of the so-called “vaccine.” 

The questioner, “Steve Minchin,” wrote:

Mike – I read several months ago that you got the vaccine. I’m glad. But I’m also curious. You have a lot of people on this page who respect your opinion - many of whom I’d wager are unvaccinated. Have you encouraged them to follow your example? If not, what are you waiting for? As you surely know, Delta is raging. The sooner we’re all vaccinated, the sooner we can get back to normal!

We’ll get into the fallacies, worry-words, and unsubstantiated claims in Steve’s quote in a moment, and first focus on Mike’s valuable response

The short answer is no – I have not publicly encouraged anyone to get vaccinated. In fact, I have recently declined to participate in several PSA’s designed to persuade people to get the jab. That’s not because I’m opposed to vaccines, obviously. Vaccines have saved more lives than any other advancement in the long history of medicine, and to your point, I got the shots the minute I was eligible.

And Rowe expanded on his position:

True, I did appear in a few PSA’s early on, back when they assured us that locking down was essential to keeping our hospitals from being overrun. ‘Two weeks to flatten the curve!’ Remember that one? That of course, turned out to be untrue, and I regret my role in helping perpetuate that particular falsehood.

And Mike went on to note not only that many people suffered from the lockdowns, but also that it is unjust to attack on people who might not want to get vaccinated. 

 

Related: Mike Rowe Puts Top Democrat In His Place For Saying A College Degree Is Required To Be President

 

First, he noted that worries about the virus appear to be overblown.

Here in California if you’re inside, you must now wear a mask, vaccinated or not. What kind of message does that send? Yes, we have a new variant, and from what I’ve read, it’s highly contagious, but far less virulent – especially if you’re vaccinated. According to the CDC, just one 1 in 27,000 vaccinated people have contracted it. That means if you’re vaccinated, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than contract COVID. And yet, people are once again calling for more lockdowns, more restrictions, and more compliance from those who already got their shots.

Then, Mike noted that skeptics who question the tax-funded, government-mandated, pop-media-promoted lines about the masks, and the lockdowns, and the jabs? Well, they have solid reasons to be skeptical.

The fact is, millions of reasonable Americans have every right to feel confused and skeptical. Those people you refer to, Steve – the ones now telling us that we can ‘get back to normal just as soon as everyone is vaccinated’ – those are the same people who said, ‘two weeks to flatten the curve!’ Those are the same people who told us that masks were ‘useless’ before they told us they were ‘critical.’ Those are the same people who told us that a return to normalcy would occur just as soon as ‘the most vulnerable’ among us were vaccinated. Then, just as soon as ‘half the population’ was vaccinated. Then, just as soon as we achieved ‘herd immunity.’ Those are the same people who told us they wouldn’t trust ANY vaccine developed under the last administration. Now, those very same people are belittling the skeptics!

Well said. In a world where many Americans recognize that the theory of “herd immunity through jabs” is not grounded in reality, because the timing of jabs for different folks, the short-term length of “immunity,” and fundamental question of any immunity at all, create a probabilistic puzzle that is impossible to suss, is it any wonder people are skeptical?

In a world where politicians tell us that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated” when, first, the term pandemic is misapplied thanks to a 2009 lowering of the lethality requirement needed to term an infectious disease a “pandemic,” is it any wonder why people might be skeptical?

Leftist demonization of normal, curious, skeptical people is beneath contempt, and Mike Rowe sums it up.

If this were a Peanuts cartoon, those people would be Lucy, pulling away the football at the last moment while a nation full of Charlie Browns land flat on their collective back, over and over and over again. Those people you refer to - elected officials, journalists, and most disturbingly, more than a few medical experts - have moved the goalposts time and time again, while ignoring the same rules and restrictions they demand we all live by. They’re always certain, usually wrong, incapable of shame, and utterly void of humility. Is it any wonder millions find them unpersuasive?

Kudos to Mr. Rowe. He understands humility, skepticism, and the nature of being a good neighbor who respects freedom of association.

It’s a shame so many politicians and their leftist news lackeys do not.

 

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