Officials in some counties in rural Virginia are passing resolutions denouncing their governor for "tyranny" for mandating masks and imposing certain restriction on businesses due to the raging pandemic. I have no doubt that officials in other states are taking or contemplating the same action.
There is no reasoning with these people. The witness of the scientific community and an army of public health officials does not convince them; citing statistics on Covid19 hospitalizations does not persuade them; naming the dead does not disturb their studied ignorance. So, I say it is time for drastic measures to protect ourselves from fools.
Herewith a modest proposal: A system of political triage.
Put a few questions to every person seeking hospitalization for Covid19 symptoms. Do you think this whole coronavirus thing is a hoax? Then you can't come in. Go home and treat whatever you think you have with an aspirin and a prayer.
Do you wear a mask and conscientiously practice social distancing? No? Sorry, you can't enter the ICU and receive intensive care.
Did you travel over the holidays and/or meet in a large group of people? Keep travelling; you brought this on yourself.
This proposal may sound cruel; it may seem heartless. I no longer care.
Those of us who wear masks, keep our distance, and stay at home as much as possible are fighting for our lives, literally in many cases. We are cancer survivors, we suffer from asthma, we have heart conditions, or we have children, parents, or grandparents who do. If we become infected, we will most certainly die. And folks, my physical survival trumps what you seem to believe is your constitutional right to not be inconvenienced.
In such a fight, anything is allowable. Sacrificing a few willfully ignorant fools, Forever Trumpers, and members of the cornstalk militia to save the rest of us is neither evil nor excessive.
It's just common sense.
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