Taking none for the team
What is a strong immune system, and what is healthy? These are questions that many people believe they can answer even if they haven’t a clue. People like myself who have an autoimmune disease have some of the strongest immune systems, but it does not make us healthy. Our immune systems are so strong that they are constantly at work, even when they are not needed. Our immune systems attack healthy tissue, so we must actively suppress them.
There are various types of health, and overall health cannot be assessed by a look in the mirror, a hop on the scale, or a temperature reading. It is said that oral health is a good indicator of overall health. I have never had a cavity in my life, but I wouldn’t describe myself as being in excellent health.
Ironically, someone in my extended family who needed dentures in her mid-fifties would describe herself as having excellent health to the point that she believed she did not need to be vaccinated. I am sure she believes this, at least in part, because she is thin, just as I am sure that many people believe that many of my health problems are related to obesity, even though there is little evidence to suggest this.
People who believe they are immune from COVID without getting vaccinated exhibit both hubris and privilege. Anyone who refuses vaccination but then lie about being vaccinated are narcissists. Public figures are no different. Enter Aaron Rodgers.
Here is a man who believed he was immune but got sick. How bad his symptoms are is neither here nor there. Anyone with COVID can spread it to others, and while people with pre-existing conditions are the most susceptible to having a serious case, COVID has claimed the lives of people who were believed to be healthy.
There are actual health cults in this country. Their members take human growth hormone (HGH) because it helps them lose weight, look younger, and feel good, but all the while they are increasing their risk for certain types of cancer. I wonder if HGH was one of the “holistic, homeopathic” immunizations that Rodgers received.
Much of the time, anti-vaxxers are assumed to be Trump-supporting Republicans, but I have known many liberals who have been against vaccines way before COVID arrived on the scene, and most of these people have not changed their minds. They believe that they can prevent getting COVID by boosting their immune system with a mix of supplements, many of which have not been proven to do anything or pose other health risks.
Anti-vaxxer liberals are the liberal elite, and while Rodgers is attempting to shun politics right now, he has surrounded himself with people who are known liberals and has taken certain stances that would suggest that he is left of center.
Anti-vaxxer liberals are people who believe that their logic is infallible. Somehow they are immune, not just from viruses, but from facts. They engage in magical thinking and believe in conspiracy theories. In so many ways, they resemble Q-anon followers; only instead of being taken advantage of by people who make their money from selling porn on the Internet, they are taken advantage of by people who sell CBD as a cure-all.
I only wish there was a vaccine against stupidity, but then again, the people who need it most wouldn’t get it.
Aaron Rodgers complains of being “cancelled,” but for someone who is cancelled, he sure is getting to run off at the mouth enough. With every excuse he utters, he is driving another nail into his coffin. He is a great quarterback, but he is also a crybaby. Sportsmanship matters. He fails to see that the problem isn’t that he didn’t get vaccinated, but that he lied about it and failed to follow the NFL protocols for players choosing to not be vaccinated.
The person in my life who lied to me about getting vaccinated is no longer in my life. I cut her out of my life not because she was unvaccinated, but because she lied to me about it. She lied to me; someone who must take immunosuppressants for multiple sclerosis, and therefore at heightened risk for serious illness despite being fully vaccinated.
People who fail to atone for lying to and endangering others are not worthy of a second chance. It is all the worse when such a person continues to play the victim card in every nauseating interview. Apparently Rodgers didn’t get the memo: Being a whiny little bitch is not a good look. But that doesn’t matter; Rodgers will be welcomed back because of the Packers’ loss to the Chiefs.
People will say that Jordan Love had a bad showing, but he was actually doing okay in the last quarter. There was tremendous pressure placed upon a rookie who has had little practice time with key players, so I don’t think any of us have a clear picture of Love’s ability from this one game. Kicker Mason Crosby had an off day, but most people will fail to talk about that.
It sickens me to think about how Rodger’s wrongdoings will soon be swept under the rug, while knowing that another gifted quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was booted from the league for exercising his constitutional rights. Man, people have a warped perception of freedom!
No matter what else happens, the Packers likely will be on the lookout for another quarterback. Aaron Rodgers, as good as he is at throwing the ball, isn’t worth the huge sums he demands.