So I just started my morning \u201cread\u201d with a look at what\u2019s coming across on Facebook.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cmeme\u201d that stood out to me was about Voter Identification Laws.\u00a0\u00a0It was a series of pictures:\u00a0\u00a0people using ID to get their bank account, buy a gun, buy cigarettes and alcohol \u2013 and then asks \u201ctell me again why an ID for voting is bad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I almost commented.\u00a0\u00a0There are two parts to voting, registration and casting an actual vote.\u00a0\u00a0For over a century, a signature has been required to register to vote.\u00a0\u00a0When someone actually votes, that signature is matched to the one on file.\u00a0\u00a0That, by the way, is how we still use \u201cchecks\u201d (yep, I know that\u2019s old fashioned too).\u00a0\u00a0And, just like checks, when a question arises about the validity of the signature, then more investigation is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And to say that to vote absentee you need to have a copy of State ID attached, or worse, a notarized copy, defeats the entire purpose of absentee voting. The idea of absentee voting is to allow someone to vote from their own home, for convenience, illness, or calendar conflict. Forcing them to go out and make a copy, or worse, a notarized copy of their State ID, defeats the entire purpose. It makes voting so much more difficult. Which of course, is the \u201creal\u201d purpose of those laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t comment on Facebook though. My theory is that if someone actually writes a comment, I\u2019ll respond. If they simply copy\/paste a picture, then they really aren\u2019t looking for responses, just affirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it did strike me that they really don\u2019t believe what they say. Let\u2019s take their argument onto its next logical conclusion. If you need ID for banking and cigarettes, alcohol and guns, then sure as Hell we should have ID to make sure you\u2019ve received the COVID vaccine and you\u2019re not spreading the \u201cvirus\u201d to the rest of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can there be a more important goal for our country than to stop the spread of COVID? We ALL know that the longer it spreads, the more likely there will be genetic mutations in the virus. Those mutations could well render the vaccines and treatments ineffective, setting the nation and ultimately the world back to \u201csquare one\u201d in combatting the disease. \u201cSquare One\u201d by the way, is March of 2020, when the nation was forced to shut down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While keeping bad checks from being cashed and preventing underage folks from getting smokes and booze are all laudable goals; there can be nothing more immediately important to our society than to keep the virus in check. Getting everyone vaccinated is clearly the way to do that. Currently, less than twenty percent of Americans are fully protected, though that number is increasing by one and a half million a day (one half of one percent). But to get back to \u201cthe ballgame\u201d safely, or the bar, or the concert, or high school graduations, we need to have eighty percent or more protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it seems reasonable that we should be able to PROVE that folks have done the intelligent thing and gotten the vaccine. And what about those who cannot, for medical reasons, take the shot? Well, until we get our whole society to the level of \u201cherd immunity\u201d, approximately eighty percent or so, then those folks are a risk. They need to protect themselves from crowds and exposure, until the rest of us do the \u201cright\u201d thing. And, for areas of greater exposure like crowds, this isn\u2019t something we should take anyone\u2019s \u201cword\u201d on. Our nation has been far too divided to chance that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t take people\u2019s \u201cword\u201d when they vote. We take their registration signature, and match their ballot signature. If they don\u2019t match, then we further investigate. In a nation that is battling its way out of a year of economic and social upheaval of COVID-19, why in the world would we take their \u201cword\u201d on being vaccinated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s simple: there\u2019s a \u201capp\u201d for that. Other nations throughout the world are using it as a \u201cticket\u201d back to normal life. But somehow here in America, some see this as a \u201cinvasion\u201d of their personal rights. Several states are even considering outlawing it. What\u2019s funny though, is that they are the same folks who are demanding ID for voting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They need to get their story straight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"