Opinion: Deciding To Get Vaccinated & Wear A Mask Was Not An Easy One. Here’s Why I Did Anyway by Rick London

Rick London is the founder of Google & MSN’s #1 Ranked Offbeat Cartoons and Funny Gifts. His Webcomics site has 5000+ cartoons and 250,000+ cartoon gifts & has lured 8.7 million+ visitors.

I’d like to discuss something important.

I’ve been putting it off a very long time as I tend to (try to be) a live and let live type in my later years.

Most who know me personally, know I have butted heads with Big Pharma from time to time.  Sometimes I turned out to be right, and sometimes not. 

My personal preference in medicine tends to be naturopathic medicine from herbs, flowers and plants.  In many cases these work beautifully. In other cases they are just hype.   The same is so for allopathic pharmaceuticals. 

To say my emotions are mixed would be an understatement.

Lee, my beloved wife will tell you, I’ve spent a good deal over the past few years perusing peer-reviewed research regarding viruses (particularly in the Corona family) i.e. Covid-19 being one. 

I’d like to ask all my friends who enjoy and appreciate life and consider it a gift to consider being vaccinated.   The new Delta variant is much deadlier than the first wave. 

I’ve heard all the misinformation, conspiracy theories, evil doings behind the scenes, etc.

I can only ask that you believe me when I tell you they are not true.

But I’ll tell you something more important than that. 

When founding father Benjamin Franklin was not certain about a tough decision, he drew a “T”.  On the left side he named “Positives” and the right side was named “Negatives”. 

He listed all the positives and negatives on either side of the horizontal line in this “T” letter.   I did the same thing.   I named mine “risks” and “rewards”.   While studying (mostly peer-reviewed studies), I learned the rewards of being vaccinated far outweigh the risks of not getting it.

Even if one does not think the vaccination is a positive thing, think of it like you would any other important decision.  I am a relatively healthy person (even though I have heart disease and other health issues) that I developed years ago when my lifestyle was not so healthy.  At the risk of sounding overly-dramatic, I have come close to death on more than one occasion.

And what about masks?  I hate wearing a mask in public (I don’t wear one in my car or at home).  But I do in public.  Are they as effective as a hazmat suit?  Of course not.  The right mask worn properly, combined with being vaccinated provide a safety net that you’ll get nowhere else.

I have nothing to gain from this.  I own no stock in any vaccine manufacturer, mask maker, etc.  I only want my friends to be healthy.

This is an excerpt from Columbia Law School’s Newsletter…..

“As Tom Cruise famously exclaimed in A Few Good Men, “It’s not what I believe but what I can prove!” Though anti-maskers believe the Constitution supports their argument, they can’t prove it. Using the Constitution to support an argument against wearing masks is insincere and would turn that document into a suicide pact. The Supreme Court has never interpreted the Constitution as anti-maskers insist, and decades ago, neither did people of similar ideology.

Anti-maskers offer no textual support for their position because none exists. If anti-maskers can put aside the politics that infect this discussion, maybe they will understand that the call for mask-wearing isn’t a step toward governmental tyranny but, rather, a constitutionally-based step toward preserving humankind.”

The whole spirit of the Constitution is written to protect the well-being of Americans.  Sometimes that takes an effort on our part.  This time it certainly does.

General George Washington knew quite a bit about the Constitution.  I can only imagine that is why he commanded his entire military to be vaccinated against smallpox (which saved a great many lives).

If George can do it, so can we.  Thank you for your consideration.

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