By Ray Cardello for July 22, 2021 Season 2 / Post 38

Can you feel the forces at work? Can you see and hear the hints all around us? Are you ready for Big Brother to make the call, and all of us will be wearing masks again by Labor Day? Most of us have had a brief reprise and have been able to enjoy a summer without mask tan lines adorning our faces. Don’t you feel that this has been a temporary break, and we will be shopping for the new Fall and Winter line of masks in a few weeks? Sorry, but the thought sucks, and I am sickened by the false narratives, hypocrisy, and manipulation.

I was watching SkyNews the other day. I think they are the most honest news network available. They painted a very negative picture of the COVID situation in Europe and Australia and the failing vaccine program in America. The daily counts are rising, hospital beds are filling up, and the death count is active again. Americans are not yet convinced of the effectiveness of the vaccine. No matter how often Biden whispers to get the vaccine or how many celebrities film PSAs, the needle is not moving towards the vaccination goal needed to prevent another COVID spread.

One of the reasons for the lack of faith in vaccines is that trust is very low for all levels of government. People do not believe in the effectiveness and the low incidents of side effects. There is no good argument for a young woman in a low threat level category to risk getting the shots and possibly becoming unable to have children. Or should a teenage boy who is at low risk get the shots and risk an enlarged heart? Tough questions with few answers.

On the recent escape from responsibility, the Texas lawmakers who boarded buses and private jets without masks now have over 10% of their group testing positive. How ironic if this group of people who avoided their responsibility becomes a superspreader event? Do all of these folks have the vaccine as promised, or did they misrepresent their status? Such heroes? Not! Arrogance, incompetence, and hypocrisy are all present in two costly private jets. By the way, this group will spend $1.5 Million on this stunt to garner attention.

LA County has gone back to masks. The local Post Office still requires masks, and their workers are behind plastic. There is already talk of students and teachers wearing masks in the fall. The threat of the variant strain is gaining momentum. The vaccine program is stalling. We are being conditioned for the call to put the masks back on. COVID was not our fault, but the way we have responded and recovered is the government’s fault. Had they been straight with us from the beginning, had they not been caught in so many lies, had they not been caught doing exactly what they told us we could not, then maybe we would be in a better place. Perhaps more people would have conformed to recommendations. Maybe, just maybe, we would be looking forward with optimism instead of doubt and fear.