The Idaho Way: Thanks a lot, anti-vaxxers, now we’re back to wearing masks again
By Scott McIntosh, Opinion Editor
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Well, that didn’t last long. Our little taste of life as somewhat normal has been short-lived. We’re back to wearing masks indoors and talking about canceling live events because of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
This is infuriating and frustrating, especially for those of us who have been doing the right things all along.
The delta variant of the novel coronavirus is spreading like wildfire, driving up COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and some people who are unvaccinated and unmasked are walking around like “back to normal.”
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. I know that you thought you could fly under the radar, until things went back to normal, and when all of us vaccinated people took off our masks like Mary Tyler Moore in the middle of midtown Minneapolis, you all thought you got away with it. Well, you didn’t, and here we are, back to the pandemic.
And for those of us who have sacrificed these past 16 months — working from home, missing events, wearing masks, doing all the right things — we are tired of it, and we are mad as hell at you folks not getting your vaccine and ruining the recovery for the rest of us.
Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling us we need to go back to wearing masks indoors, which we’ll do, but we sure as heck aren’t happy about it. We’ll probably be back to travel restrictions and canceled events that we’ve all been looking forward to returning to.
Thanks a lot.
As Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said last week, “Folks (are) supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”
If you don’t like the new mask recommendations and a return to restrictions, there’s one simple thing you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19: Get the vaccine. Otherwise, this is never going to end.
And the rest of us are tired of it.
We’re begging you, please
It’s sad that there are so many things that people have to be begged to do. From the vaccine and wearing your seat belt to not starting wildfires, it’s incredible that some people have to be begged to just do the right thing.
Indoctrination task force targets higher education
On Thursday, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s education indoctrination task force set its sights on higher education. Idaho Statesman reporter Becca Savransky did an incredible job interviewing teachers who said they’ve been vilified and left out of the conversation completely. It’s worth your time to hear from them.
So what is it like inside a university classroom? Boise State University professor emeritus Mohan Limaye wrote a wonderful guest opinion piece this week explaining what higher education is really like.
Support for Simpson’s dam breaching plan
Western Leaders Network, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization composed of 450 local and tribal elected officials across the Interior West, has expanded its conservation work to include salmon restoration and to garner support for U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s Columbia Basin Initiative. Rudy Soto, the indigenous leaders organizer for Western Leaders Network, explains why in a guest opinion this week.
What you’re saying
This week, we’ve received letters on tax cuts, Murgoitio Park, the city of Boise’s failed efforts at community engagement, the vaccine requirement, salmon, drought, climate change and more.
You can read those letters and more by clicking here.
You can submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion by clicking here.
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