On Sunday, I wrote a piece that got a bit of attention. I blamed the GOP for NC State’s dismissal from the College World Series. I got a lot of blowback. Instead, of changing my mind, though, the comments just validated my point.
Half of the NC State players were unvaccinated despite knowing that if they were vaccinated, they would not be tested unless other players on the team were positive. In the case of State, four unvaccinated players tested positive for the virus after the coach mentioned that several players had a “bug.” When the whole team was tested, four more players turned up positive, even though four of them were vaccinated. The team was eliminated since the positives indicated there was obvious spread among State’s players.
Coach Elliot Avent said he didn’t discuss vaccines with his players because he didn’t want “to indoctrinate my kids with my values or my opinions.” He refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether or not he was vaccinated because it was too “political.” Clearly, Avent was more influenced by the people who believe the vaccine is dangerous or that the disease is not that serious. The people living in that reality are steadfast in their loyalty to disinformation.
According to people who took offense at my article, the vaccine is more dangerous than COVID. One commenter said, “there are plenty of people dying today from getting the vaccine and also from contracting covid and dying after they are vaccinated.” Another wrote, “This opinion piece is yet another attempt to pressure ppl into getting a shot that could possibly kill you. Wake up people, you cannot stop this virus, it has to run its course.” Still another complimented me with, “You are what is wrong with this country. You’re an idiot who can’t think for yourself, and you listen to the ‘experts’ who have been proven to be liars… You don’t even understand that these vaccines are killing young men and others.”
Some commenters who dislike experts are experts themselves. One woman commented:
The PCR test are NOT to be used for identification of any virus, disease or illness. Also at what cycle threshold was the PCR test ran at? Was it above 25 cycles? If so, the PCR test could throw a false positive as it is amplified above the recommended cycle threshold of 25cycles.
Now let’s talk about the “vaccinated”. These individuals have entered into a “human experiment” as these vaccines are experimental and NOT FDA approved and are currently in the last 2-3 years of their safety trials. It is UNSAFE for these individuals to be an elect group to participate in social activities such as baseball.
Another science commenter wrote, “The enormous amounts of graphene nanoparticles that are found in the vaccine must have already gotten to the writer’s brain.”
These comments don’t reflect differences of opinions. They reflect a grossly misinformed public that lives in a dystopian reality created and promoted by mostly right-wing communications outlets like Fox News and OAN. According to Pew, 67% of the people who say they will definitely not get vaccinated are Republicans. Their unwillingness to accept the danger of the disease or the efficiency and effectiveness of the vaccine is a threat to our health. Their inability to sort fact from fiction is a threat to our democracy. They are the Republican base.
Republicans who know better have stayed silent while the ignorant right-wing ecosystem has taken hold of their party. They now are too scared to refute the lies that permeate their electorate for fear of alienating their base. In the GOP, disinformation has become more the norm than the exception. Four years of accepting the dishonesty of the Trump administration has left them unable and unwilling discern truth from fiction.
Yes, the Republicans’ cowardice in standing up to the lies of Donald Trump and the right-wing media establishment led to the end the of State’s season. In North Carolina, they found the governor’s attempt to curb the virus more threatening than the disease itself. They spent the pandemic worked up over abuse of executive power while turning a deaf ear to the disinformation transforming their party into a cesspool of misinformation and dystopian nightmares. Now that we have a way out of the pandemic, they are silent as red America remains in the grip of the pandemic from which the rest of the country is emerging. Not only are they costing college baseball teams chances at glory, they’re costing people their lives.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
To risk one’s own life out of fealty to one man is tantamount to madness. What in God’s name is wrong with these people?
There is no curing stupid
With his comment — “I don’t try to indoctrinate my kids with my values or my opinions” — I’d bet his coaching style is “Like ok, guys, go play something.” so he doesn’t indoctrinate them with his value of winning and his opinion of the right way to play.
As a front-line worker, I have gotten my vaccine shots. I did feel a little sluggish after both shots (particularly the first) and my arm was sore at the spot where I got the shot, but I feel a whole lot relieved that I did. I got those vaccines not because of what I saw or heard on the national news, but because leading scientists and medical researchers said it was best for all concerned to get the vaccines. While most of (intelligent) America knows that the hard-right media is just pure propaganda, there are some supposed left-wing outlets that do not completely cover the truth. They do it not so much from an ideological perspective, but from the fact that since they are corporations, they have a vested interest in keeping the left-wing without all the facts. Consider that some corporate outlets and corporate businesses (Walmart comes to mind) donate to BOTH parties. That is the primary reason why little in the legislation gets passed by our national government. When corporate establishments dole out tons of money to BOTH sides, do you think anything will get done for the American people? I doubt it!
But we really haven’t answered WHY they were even testing these players. That’s what I think is silly:
Anyone who wants a vaccination can get one, so who was getting protected by testing the players? People who don’t want a vaccine? Obviously from your article you say it’s the players’ fault for not getting vaccinated. Isn’t the same true of anyone the players might give the disease to?
The players are in the age group where their chances of serious complications from covid is incredibly low. Roughly the same as their chances of complications from the vaccine. 18-24 year olds have as much to fear from the flu as they do covid. Statistically they have more to fear from playing baseball which sends over 100,000 kids a year to the hospital and causes more fatalities among children than any other sport.
If only half the State players were vaccinated (and of course we don’t know how many of the other teams’ players were), then the percentage of players testing positive for covid among the unvaccinated and the vaccinated were identical since 4 from each group were positive. So why not test all players on all teams whether vaccinated or not? If you don’t care if the vaccinated are positive, why care if the unvaccinated are since obviously either group can have it?
The 4 teams left by the weekend consisted of less than 100 players combined. Attendance at the games will be over 300,000 combined, yet the fans aren’t tested and are sitting beside each other cheering, which we’ve been told is a super spreader opportunity. And many fans are quite a bit older and therefore more vulnerable. So why test the players if you aren’t going to test the thousands of fans?
You are absolutely correct. North Carolina will remain a sick state unless we reach a 70% vaccination rate. Covid does not “run it’s course.” It kills, evolves and kills again. Every unvaccinated person will eventually become infected with a stronger variant, killing others by exposure along the way. mRNA technology is now being used to develop cancer vaccinations. Are these people not going to protect themselves against cancer either?
Well there are 2 ways to get to 70%. Obviously the first is to get more people vaccinated. The second is for the population of unvaccinated to die off. At this point in the process, I’m pretty much fine with either, since breakthrough infections of vaccinated persons almost always result in mild cases, and may even boost antibody production beyond what the vaccine does (disclaimer: I haven’t read any studies to support that last bit, but it makes sense).
You can’t fix stupid, but you can let natural selection take care of it. And a this point in the process, where there are multiple vaccines that have been in widespread use for several months to good effect (we’re seeing the lowest daily infection rates since March 2020), and those vaccines are available free of charge to anyone who wants them I have no quarrel with natural selection.