OPINION
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 6, 2021
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Vaccine bribes a sad sign of the times BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ Tribune Columnist
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here have been many phases in our country’s response to COVID-19 pandemic – denial, incompetence, surging effectiveness – but this latest development I did not see coming. We’re now down to bribing people to do the right thing and get vaccinated. The madness started in early May in Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced his state’s Vax-a-Million lottery, which each week awards a cool million bucks and full-ride college scholarships to vaccinated registrants. The �irst winner? Abbigail Bugenske, 22, a Cincinnati resident who plans to donate some of her million bucks to charity, then invest the rest – after splurging on a new ride.
“I think buying a used car is still in my future,” Bugenske said at a press conference. Clearly, a free million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to once upon a time. Other states and businesses quickly started playing Santa in Ohio’s wake. There’s “Colorado Comeback Cash,” Maryland “Vax To Win,” a million-dollar lottery in Oregon and $1.5 million prizes in California, where they’re offering “$50,000 Fridays” to 30 lucky randomly selected winners. In West Virginia, they’re giving away cash plus two new custom pickup trucks and 10 custom hunting ri�les and shotguns. In New York, they’re giving away free Lottery scratcher tickets for a shot at $5 million and free tickets to Mets and Yankees baseball games. There’s a thought: Given how abysmal the last-place Diamondbacks are playing, maybe newly vaccinated children can pitch the seventh inning during next week’s games against the Angels and Giants.
Random fourth-graders would be much more entertaining than the Dbacks’ current bullpen. In fairness, here in Arizona we haven’t commenced government giveaways yet, though the private sector has gotten into the act. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 entitles you to a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme, a free sweepstakes entry at CVS pharmacies, and 10 percent off groceries if you get vaccinated at a Safeway, Fry’s or Albertson’s. Then there’s Anheuser-Busch, which has teamed up with the White House to offer free beer to 200,000 Americans – provided the nation reaches President Biden’s goal of 70 percent of U.S. adults with at least one shot in the arm by Independence Day. “That’s right. Get a shot and have a beer,” Biden announced at a June 2 press conference. “Free beer for everyone 21 years or over to celebrate the independence from
the virus.” We still have a ways to go: Currently, only 63 percent of adults have been vaccinated. That means we’re about 20 million adults short of the herd immunity goal. Will bribery get us there, when mass education campaigns, social responsibility and social shaming seem to have failed? My guess is, not quite. This is America after all, where you can never underestimate the amount of selfishness, fear and lunacy that prevails in a fraction of the population. It’s a depressing thought, though perhaps less depressing than if the opposite proves to be true and naked bribes actually work. What would it say about us as a people, if millions of us couldn’t be bothered to get vaccinated purely to take care of
But this is more than just an episode of internet insensitivity; it is, instead, the latest portent of policy changes at the Pentagon. The Biden White House wants uniformity among those who wear the uniform – not only in line formation, but also in political orientation. It is certainly true that the January 6th March on the Capitol included mob action, but to accept the media narrative that all the blame must rest at the feet of Trump supporters is as ludicrous as Joe Biden’s assessment that the tragic, sorry episode was “the worst assault on our democracy since the Civil War,” conveniently forgetting Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 7, 1941. It’s simple to see where the Left hopes to lead us: to that place where political dissent and conservative opinion can be rede�ined as “domestic terrorism.” That’s why new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – two weeks after being sworn in – ordered a full military “stand down.” Previously, such actions have been limited to speci�ic branches of the service or geographic theaters of operation, and have been prompted
by technical failures of equipment or poor performance by personnel. This latest “stand down” was quite different. Not only did it involve all our military everywhere our forces are based, it also featured a broad mandate: “address extremism.” What is extremism? Why, whatever the Commander-in-Chief says it is! Despite the cognitive challenges Joe Biden faces, a half-century of pursuing and procuring political power has imbued him with an instinct to consolidate that power at all costs – especially at the expense of the opposition. What better way to short-circuit our political process and constitutional freedoms than by proclaiming the “loyal opposition” disloyal? Equally dangerous is the temptation to keep those in military service from enjoying the very freedoms they �ight and die to defend. Clearly, command authority and discipline within the ranks cannot be discarded – but neither can individual liberties. Sadly, that appears to be the case with the sacking of Space Force Lt. Col. Mat-
thew Lohmeier. He was relieved of his command in mid-May for comments he made on the podcast, “Information Operation,” where he promoted his self-published book, in which he denounced Marxism and “Critical Race Theory.” But Lt. Col. Lohmeier’s “�iring offense” may have come with this evaluation of recent changes to military life: “What you see happening in the U.S. military at the moment is that if you’re a conservative, then you’re lumped into a group of people who are labeled extremists, if you’re willing to voice your views. And if you’re aligned with the Left, then it’s okay to be an activist online because no one’s gonna hold you accountable.” So Matthew Lohmeier appears headed for an early retirement due to an accurate assessment of what’s happened in our military, while Kamala Harris remains a heartbeat away from the Presidency for a cold-hearted dismissal of Memorial Day as part of a “long weekend.” The French have an expression for it: “C’est la vie.”
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Our military pressured into political uniformity BY JD HAYWORTH Tribune Columnist
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o wonder President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their spouses dined at a French restaurant on May 31. It was only �itting, as the nation’s “Number Two” was fresh from a political faux pas not seen since Marie Antionette’s alleged infamous comment, “Let them eat cake.” As America prepared to remember its fallen, the Veep tweeted a vacuous wish: “Enjoy the long weekend.” The backlash nearly fricasseed her twitter feed. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) asked the obvious: “Care to mention WHY we’re having the long weekend, Kamala?” A Gold Star Mother posted a picture, worth far more than a thousand words. It was the image of a young man, killed in action at age 19. “Always and forever in my heart, my American Hero Son,” she wrote. No stinging rebuke of Harris was necessary; the photo is poignant and its implied criticism, potent.
