Front-line responders bucking vaccine mandates are modern Paul Reveres

OPINION:

Thousands upon thousands of first responders, backed by their union leaders, are resisting coronavirus vaccine mandates, refusing to cave to what they characterize as an unconstitutional and immoral intrusion of government into personal choice.

These are today’s American heroes. They’re the Paul Reveres of modern time, riding madly across the land to warn of impending dangers, i.e. wars on liberty.

Their fight is the right fight. Their rebellion is a moral cause. And if it means police departments lose manpower, and fire departments fall short on staff, and paramedic and hospital and medical clinic services go dark because of lack of workers? Well then, so be it.

Fights for freedom always bring uncomfortable consequences. But without the brave fighters who are willing to endure the uncomfortable consequences and pay the oft-steep prices, the enemies of freedom win.

From Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, on that city’s vaccine mandate for city residents: “[It’s] unreasonable [and void of common sense.”

From John Catanzara, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s demand for all city workers to be vaccinated or stay home: No.

“At Least 150 State Police Members Resigning Over [Gov. Charlie] Baker’s Vaccine Mandate: Union,” NBC 10 in Boston reported. And that’s added to the already short-staffed state police levels, the city’s union reported.

In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced a refusal to force his department’s 18,000 or so workers abide and obey a county-issued vaccine mandate.

That’s courage. Courage combined with common sense.

“Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Could Further Strain Rural Hospitals,” Pew Trusts just reported. Why? These front-line workers â€" the ones who put personal lives and safety at risk by working with coronavirus patients early in the COVID-19 crisis, when vaccines weren’t even available â€" these same front-line workers are suddenly Public Enemy Number One if they choose not to vaccinate.

And many, for whatever reason, are indeed choosing not to vaccinate. They’d rather quit. They’d rather be fired. They’d rather lose their jobs. And really, shouldn’t these medical experts be paid attention to, given their expertise in medicine and medical matters, including vaccine safety and efficacy?

“I’ve talked with administrators of hospitals that have estimated anywhere from 3% to as much as 20% of their workforce may have to quit their jobs if they’re required to have the vaccine as a condition of their employment,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer for the National Rural Health Association, in Pew Trusts.

It’s critical care time â€" for the Constitution. For the state of American freedoms. For the future of individual choice, individualism and God-given individual liberties versus Big Government and collectivism.

It’s not just the first responders and their union leadership who are emerging as modern-day revolutionaries. Private businesses are being swept into the mix as government’s little enforcers. And the ensuing effect is disastrous for the market â€" though thankfully, some businesses are joining the first-responder fight and bucking government mandates.

“Police unions, business groups protest COVID-19 vaccine mantes,” the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota wrote, in a recent headline.

“Businesses warn mandates will hurt supply chain,” the piece went on to state, warning that the National Retail Federation and the American Trucking Association have both sent messages to the Joe Biden administration about the looming loss of potential revenue due to vaccine mandates.

“Raytheon warns of worker losses as companies impose vaccine mandate,” Reuters wrote, just a couple days ago.

In-N-Out burger joint owners say they’d rather close and face fines than make customers show vaccine compliance as a condition of indoor eating â€" and they indeed have closed and faced fines, at several spots in California.

These are not rebels without cause. In fact, their cause is the crucial liberty fight of modern times â€"particularly when it’s considered, based on the government’s own medical reporting, that more and more vaccinated people are dying from COVID-19. Wasn’t that what the vaccine was supposed to prevent â€" death?

“Between Oct. 11 and Oct. 18, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s cumulative count for breakthrough deaths jumped by 51% Fromm 7,178 to 10,857,” KATU 2 ABC just reported. 

The government will take that data and spin. The Big Pharma types will take those figures and pirouette. The “I am zee law” Democrats and globalists and anti-Americans and Big Government bureaucrats with their elitist holier-than-thou ways of thinking and patronizing will take those numbers and scoff. But isn’t that what individual choice is about in the first place?

What one medical professional recommends, another dissuades, still another makes demands. In the end, in America, it’s the individual’s choice.

That’s how it’s supposed to be, anyway. 

These first responders who are fighting to maintain that right are in essence demanding the very liberties that are at the core of free society â€" the ability to self-govern, the authority to self-determine. Their fight is our fight.

Their fight is an American fight.

And their fight makes them heroes who should be â€" who must be â€" supported by every U.S. citizen who cherishes the Constitution and the concept of God-given rights.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.

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