When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) spoke to Republican activists recently, she suggested that it would be okay to harm vaccination workers. She used the 2nd Amendment to validate this line of alarmingly hateful rhetoric at the Alabama Federation of Republican Women rally earlier this week, according to Mikael Thalen for The Daily Dot on Aug. 5, 2021.
In the secretly recorded video, Greene began to sarcastically complain about the president sending his brownshirts to Alabama because they were the most unvaccinated state in the country. However, the crowd cheered and applauded when Greene mentioned the state’s low vaccination rates.
Greene continued when the hoots died down, “Well, Joe Biden wants to talk to you guys. He’s gonna be sending one of his police state guy/friends” knocking. She rattled off a list of personal questions, like name, phone number, family’s names, and their numbers, even a social security number. Then they will ask a most invasive and personal question whether or not “you’ve had the vaccine.”
The freshman House member added that the brownshirts should remember that Southerners “just love our 2nd Amendment rights, and we don’t like it when strangers come knocking.” Greene smirked and suggestively quipped that they might not be happy with the resulting welcome.
It is true, Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the United States and Washington D.C. — 51st, with only 34.61 percent of its population being fully vaccinated as of August 6. However, the injection rate has improved since Gov. Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) addressed the low numbers in her state.
When looking at the stark contrast between states run by Republican lawmakers and those with Democrats, the decision to take the shot is far from personal. Instead, it appears to be a politically-based choice. But, then, not more than two months ago, politicians like Greene declared they would not be vaccinated only to flip the story and assert asking is too personal a question. Greene says it violates her HIPPA protection when asked about her vaccination status.
First, asking a politician, or anyone for that matter, about their health or if they have been vaccinated does not break any doctor-patient confidentiality rules. That would only be the case if Greene’s doctor were asked about Greene’s status and the physician answered yes or no as the case may be — that does violate HIPPA, but the doctor would be guilty, not the asker.
It is suspicious when a person flips from not getting vaccinated to it is none of anyone’s business. It seems as though, Greene would say — of course not, I will never take that shot! — if she were still unvaccinated. Right?
Second, while President Biden said: “his administration would send people door to door, set up clinics at workplaces and urge employers to offer paid time off as part of a renewed push to reach tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans,” he has not moved forward with creating a strategy to implement sure an undertaking. Instead, he pleaded with the unvaccinated.
Nonetheless, Greene and her fellow “fight against Biden no matter what” Republican politicians spread misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines so often it is hard to keep up with who is sharing today’s negative talking points. Oftentimes the cacophony of voices, lies, and misdirection is overwhelming. But Greene inferring that volunteers offering information about vaccines should be greeted with the business end of a weapon is downright heinous.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
The Daily Dot: Marjorie Taylor Greene hints at shooting volunteers who want to help with vaccination efforts; by Mikael Thalen
ALFRW: About
FactCheck.org: Greene’s Deceptive Claims of Forced COVID-19 Vaccinations and Vaccination ‘Deaths;’ by D’Angelo
Becker’s Healthcare: States ranked by percentage of population fully vaccinated: Aug. 6; by Katie Adams
The New York Times: Biden Calls for Door-to-Door Vaccine Push; Experts Say More Is Needed; by Michael D. Shear and Noah Weiland
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Jenn Durfey’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
