Personal freedom from the tyranny of a fascist or totalitarian government is what we all desire. However, the word “freedom” is sometimes used incorrectly.
What has happened in Texas is a textbook example. The government of Texas wanted freedom from wearing masks and getting vaccinated. So covid cases spiked, sickening and killing many, overwhelming the health care system and putting many at unnecessary risk. Of course, the federal government came to the rescue using federal manpower and tax dollars, our tax dollars, to assist the citizens of Texas.
Another example of the misuse of the word “freedom” is what happened in Texas in February. Years ago, because Texas wanted freedom from regulations, leaders established an independent electrical grid system not prepared for severe weather. The energy grid collapsed during a winter snowstorm and cold snap, which in turn caused water system failure. Again, many Texans died, and many suffered extreme hardships. Yet again, federal resources and money had to be used in the rescue operation.
These two disasters did not need to happen. They were caused by people in power bastardizing the word “freedom.” Going against medical advice is irrational, not freedom. Going without regulations for monetary gain is corruption, not freedom. It is not acceptable when personal freedom results in death and destruction to others.
Joanne Garing, North Huntingdon
Booster shots are not so common
I’m writing to address incorrect assumptions in the editorial “Booster shots are as common as vaccines themselves.”
Children do not, as was claimed, get periodic boosters for measles and mumps. They get one combined shot of measles/mumps/rubella at 12 to 15 months, and a second shot entering kindergarten — but the second shot is, technically, not a booster. It’s meant to address primary vaccine failure in the 2% to 10% who fail to produce measles antibodies after the first shot. You can read about it in a May 2004 study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Boosters are given to address secondary vaccine failure — waning immunity.
Five additional doses of tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis vaccine have been added for children over the years because of secondary vaccine failure rates of 27% within one year and 66% within two to four years, as shown in a June 2015 study published in the journal Pediatrics.
But pertussis vaccination, even with repeated boosters, does not prevent transmission, as discussed in a November 2013 FDA news release.
Yellow fever and meningitis vaccines currently are not recommended for U.S. adults, so they are not examples of commonly given boosters.
The bottom line: We cannot assume covid-19 boosters are a given — especially when second shots carry higher risk of more serious adverse reactions, while those rates for boosters are as yet unknown.
Alison Fujito, McCandless
Don’t be fooled by ‘front groups’
I’ve recently read letters and op-eds from people or groups from Philadelphia or out of state, wanting to subvert Pennsylvania laws in the name of changing the statute of limitations. To those folks, I say worry about your own backyard. A Phildadelphia group even purchased billboards in Westmoreland County (“Child safety advocates launch billboard campaign against Sen. Kim Ward.”
None of these folks seem to have acknowledged that a two-year window already was opened to settle these cases, in which most have been. Are those holding out simply waiting for bigger paydays? Trial lawyers stand to make a lot of money off of survivors of sexual abuse. I believe it’s not about the cause, it’s about the cash: Lawyers hide behind organizations with innocent names, but their intention is to get rich while bankrupting the Catholic Church.
In my opinion, these front groups use victims as instruments for their political theater to attack those who don’t want to partake in their religious crusade, and it’s the parishioners, the people, who actually pay. It’s unfair to punish an entire faith for something they aren’t directly responsible for.
The last place Westmoreland County needs advice from is Philadelphia, where they’ve had over 400 homicides this year, kids are going hungry in schools, and businesses are being destroyed and shuttered since covid hit.
We’re lucky we have legislators who use their brains, rationale and logic instead of emotion to craft policy. Bravo to those brave enough to stand up for our Constitution, even if it’s politically difficult and inconvenient.
Jamison Poklembo, Mt. Pleasant Township
Where’s outrage over Biden administration’s actions?
Where is the outrage of what this administration is doing to our country? They’re telling lie after lie without having to answer for it. They’re letting (illegal) immigrants trample our borders — yes, trample — an example being the 12,000 people who were staying under a bridge in Texas until it was finally called out on a news station.
I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what’s in President Biden’s gigantic spending bill. I guess, once again, they don’t want the American people to know.
If you think your job is in jeopardy or the cost of inflation is rising now, just wait. They tell you that big businesses and the rich will pay for it. RIGHT. It’s already trickling down to you and I just from the foolish spending they’re already doing. Do they care? I guess not a bit.
I truly hope our representatives are reading this and do the job they were elected to do, which is stick up for the rights of American citizens and put a stop to the foolishness and stupidity of this administration.
This administration is sticking it to us on a daily basis. Vote them out in 2022 and maybe we can salvage some of our American pride.
Dwayne Buffer, Youngwood
Freedoms don’t allow us to endanger others
Letter-writer Greg Weidner (“Mandates vs. freedoms”) makes an incredibly ridiculous statement: “Couldn’t a student also be sent home if they are vaccinated?”
Please, tell me why that makes sense. Your freedom doesn’t exist when endangering others. If a student is vaccinated, that means he/she has done his/her part to make others safe. Let me remind you that covid is a public global health crisis. Mandates do not infringe on your personal freedom. The vaccine is meant to keep you and others safe from this potentially deadly virus. Are you really that naive? Your statement makes me think that you lack common sense.
Maybe you are the type of person who would also like to see smoking return to restaurants and public facilities, seatbelts outlawed, DUIs erased, etc. These are other examples that undo personal freedom, right?
The level of stupidity in this country is unbelievable!
Jim Raskovsky, Blawnox
Plenty of blame for Afghanistan
In reference to the article “Milley: Afghan war a failure” (Sept. 29): Of course, the war in Afghanistan was a failure; the military and the American people would not know what Afghanistan would look like if the war was a success.
Regardless, Republicans refuse to recognize this and instead are trying to scapegoat President Biden for his leadership during eight months of a 20-year war, which included ending it. Traumatized by 9/11, Americans gave a “free war” pass to George W. Bush and his cohorts (few of whom served in the military).
Every U.S. military action in the region has resulted in the exact opposite of what was intended. Dead military, dead civilians, dead children, destabilized nations, lost treasure and weapons in enemy hands are and have always been the consequences of war, win or lose.
Biden is not to blame for the “failure,” but there is plenty of blame to go around, including most Americans and nearly all representatives in the House and Senate. Authorization for a Bush-led “open-ended war” in the House was 420-1. The Senate vote was 98-0. Biden is to blame only in the capacity of his misguided Senate vote.
Americans need to let the government and politicians know that they will not support any invasion against a nation that is not a direct threat to America, and/or a war that lacks clear conditions for victory and an exit strategy. Maybe this time we will learn, and anti-war positions won’t just be for pacifists in the future.
Tom Spallone, Hempfield
Critical race theory gets it wrong
Critical race theory (CRT) is presumptuous. Even though the most recent Rasmussen polls show that the great majority of us do not believe Americans are inherently racist, CRT works from just that position.
In my opinion, CRT thrives on division so its wielders can seize control. Though the display of religious fervor on the part of Americans over the last 60 years has been confined to church buildings, they still as a whole believe all people were made in the image of God and deserve the love and consideration reflecting that worth.
No matter how antagonistically naysayers scream out their accusations, Americans, for the most part, want to show that love and respect. This is evident in the devotion people of all races in recent years have been exerting just to prove the accusations of CRT advocates wrong. But the CRT-pushers get the press.
Americans want freedom. We all just want the opportunity to do our best, to make the best life for our kids, to love our neighbors and communities. Our good will has been subjected to terrible opposition in recent decades, however, and the main stream narrative has been all too willing to toot the horn of our accusers.
But the jig is up. We know the game plan. Divide and conquer will not work because we love our neighbors and won’t play along anymore.
Rosalind Daily, Monroeville
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October 10, 2021 at 12:15AM
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