Welcome to the America of Me, Myself and I

By Arlene Violet
Posted 4/29/22

I was not among those jumping for joy when a federal court judge struck down the mask mandate on the basis that the CDC had no authority to require masks on folks using modes of public …

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Welcome to the America of Me, Myself and I

Posted

I was not among those jumping for joy when a federal court judge struck down the mask mandate on the basis that the CDC had no authority to require masks on folks using modes of public transportation. Such a ruling bodes poorly for any future pandemic or health hazard, so it is a good idea to get a definitive ruling on appeal about the authority of the CDC to order measures on the basis of public health preservation.

The decision also revealed the underbelly of how many Americans think today.

The judge’s rationale would equally apply to striking down the ban of smoking on airplanes and other public places. Certainly, in times past, smokers objected to their pariah treatment. Society probably killed a few of them by making them stand in freezing weather and puff outdoors.

Query whether the “right to smoke” trumps control of blowing tobacco smoke, as apparently this judge thinks since she has given an imprimatur to  the unabated breathing  of viral particles.

While the CDC authority issue needs clarification, I was saddened by the societal response of jubilation. Me, Myself, and I seems to be the theme song of far too many Americans. Is there no longer any concern for those who are immune-compromised as COVID variants proliferate?

How many deaths are acceptable? Approximately 990,000 Americans have died from COVID, the highest pro rata outside of China, with another 400 to 500 per day dying from the disease. Are these deaths just how the chips fall?

This nation has become the land of crybabies who assert their “right” to be free. Certainly, that is their prerogative, as long as it doesn’t jeopardize anyone else. Otherwise, drunk or impaired drivers should have the unadulterated right to be tanked in more ways than one since they think they have a “right to the road.”

If you don’t want to be hit by an inebriated driver, then stay home, just like the mask thwarters are advocating that health-compromised folks do now.   God forbid that they should be the ones staying at home. Perhaps they think it’s probably time to have elderly people meet their Maker, since there might not be Social Security funds left.

As for the unvaccinated children, let their parents take care of them, since folks without them shouldn’t be burdened.

If manufacturers are spewing toxins into the air, then so what! Americans have the right to make money, and that’s just how it falls.

These “freedom fighters” want howitzers as their Second Amendment right, and now an unchecked guarantee to do as they well please. Consideration of one’s neighbors is verboten.

Blast that music all night in the neighborhood and the heck with the killjoys next door.

Speed as much as you want so the sissies will pull over and let you pass. This is America, after all!

Indeed, it is. America is hell-bent on becoming the land of “Me” first, last and always. The good of the “Commonwealth” is a quaint idea. A mask is so inconvenient.  What a hardship it is — on the same plane as the civilians in the Ukraine crammed into shelters.

Living La Vida Loca has become much too hard for most people with the inconvenience of masking.  Freedom first.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.

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