This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I continue to be puzzled about why so many people, including some high-level public officials like Texas governor Greg Abott continue to rail against mandating Covid-19 vaccines.

The reality is that lives are at stake and it appears that, for one, Abbott, could care less. 

To illustrate, he enacted an executive order this week barring vaccine mandates in Texas.  The good news is that some major companies doing business in Texas are not complying, believing that presidential orders in favor of vaccines carry more weight.

Meanwhile, consider this fact from Texas:

“On average, about 260 people in Texas died from Covid-19 every day in the last month.”

President Joe Biden’s decision to mandate vaccines for businesses with more than 100 employees is having the desired impact.  Big companies are complying, and more Americans are getting vaccinated every day, protecting themselves, their families and the world around them.  New daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining.

Here’s the way the Washington Post put the Biden-Abbott contrast this morning:

“…in a misguided bit of political grandstanding, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has banned vaccine mandates in the state.

“Ideally, vaccines should not require mandates at all.  They are highly effective, free and widely available.  But millions of Americans are still hesitant.  In a small number of cases, they can and should get religious or health exemptions.

“A larger share of people has been exposed to destructive disinformation and misinformation about vaccines, accelerated by social media.  The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates are that 79.1 per cent of eligible Americans are vaccinated with at least one shot or definitely plan to get it, 8 per cent say they probably will or are unsure, and 13 per cent say definitely not.  That latter figure is down from 19 per cent in early June.”

Abbott is one of those engaging in destructive disinformation and misinformation.

The Post calls Abbott’s action “vaccine demagoguery” and “lethal partisanship.”

And, finally, from the Post:

“Republicans lately have been rallying against Biden’s vaccine mandate as an infringement on personal liberty.  This is foolish logic.  The mandate is intended to save lives, and thus jobs, economies, and families.  

“Do the Republicans intend next to rebel against mandatory automobile seat belts?  Do they think a mandatory stop at a stop sign limits their freedom?  Do they dislike mandatory fire alarms?  After so much loss and death last year and this, it is time to accept that vaccine and mask mandates protect us all.  Let’s get on with ending the pandemic.”

The Post is right to point out the duplicity of opposing vaccines at the same time as anti-vaxxers stop at stop signs (the signs are there because the government put them there), accept mandatory fire alarms (yes, alarms were placed by the government), and pay taxes (yes, taxes are enacted by government).

A friend of mine this week expressed profound anger with this fact:  At an event he/she attended, one person there was not vaccinated and that reality risked infection for others, including one person who came down with Covid-19 as a direct result of exposure.

Which illustrates that one person’s freedom – being unvaccinated – risk’s another person’s health, if not life.

I was struck this week by another routine, down-to-earth reality.  We took our family dog in for his routine examination, including vaccinations.  No one was there at the vet’s door to stop us or protest.   

Normal every-day business?  Yes.

So, I ask Abbott and other anti-vaxxers this simple, straightforward question:  Why take action that literally risks lives? 

Instead, just get and endorse vaccines!