I have been watching carefully the administration’s fixation on vaccinations and masks as a methodology for slowing the spread of the COVID virus.  This fixation has now reached the point that it is threatening the health and welfare of the country.  A fixation that is not based on medical facts.  It is a fixation based upon the administration’s own fear mongering.  It is a power fixation.  The Biden administration believes that it can train us like Pavlovian dogs to respond to its tyrannical whims—better known as mandates.

The administration believes that it can survive by mandates.  It has no way to explain the health and economic vigor that exists in the states like Florida and Texas that have no mandates.  Mandates are power and not obeying a mandate is treasonous, according to Biden.  But this is unravelling.  The Marines and Air Force are talking about each losing thousands of service members who have resisted the vaccine mandate through mandatory separation.  An Air Force officer has been relieved for failure to push vaccinations.  Are they going to man our armed services with illegal immigrants?

The same applies to the vaccination of children.  Again, there is no proven risk to children, but we must make them and their parents subservient to the government.  In spite of what the school union says the data shows that children have a very, very low incidence of hospitalization.  But the teachers’ unions are an arm of the socialist left that seek power over all Americans.

A second grader in Florida is being kicked out of school for refusing to wear a mask to school.  However, Wednesday’s TV appearance with Governor DeSantis may cause the Palm Beach School Board to either be thrown out by the people or thrown in jail by the governor.  Then there is Virginia.  One can anticipate significant changes there in terms of mandates and responsiveness of the boards of education.

Why mandates?  The law of unintended consequences whirls around mandates.  Biden and Harris, before the election pontificated against the vaccines, but after being elected they found it necessary to try and get the population vaccinated.  Voluntary vaccinations were not occurring fast enough for them and they couldn’t try to sell them to the population after having railed against them.  The only other solution was a mandate.  Mandates are the government saying thou shalt, without necessarily the law behind them.  They are expedient and given the “follow-you culture that they are trying to create, where government knows best, they were the answer.  However, mandates, whether they be for masks or shots have a huge unintended consequence—the people saying NO!

Some will argue that there is a history of mandates on vaccinations in the country—that is true as far as it goes.  In most cases mandates for COVID have occurred at the state level where the history and legal precedents are stronger.  Federal mandates have not occurred without Congressional consent.  In every past mass inoculation, there has been a significant attempt to “sell” the inoculations.  But how do you sell something that you said was unsafe?  You mandate without congressional approval!  Previous mandates had clear medical need.  With a survival rate approaching 99% (close to 100%  for children), new cases plummeting, and cases of adverse reactions all over the web those that are still unvaccinated are saying” “I’m not taking the risk.”

This is the first mandate where companies with federal contracts are being leveraged to force their employees and subcontractors to comply.

Saying NO is reaching rebellion levels.  Thousands of aero-space workers are refusing the vaccinations with life long Democrats saying they are leaving the party.  What happens to their production?  Their employers are in a box.  They want to obey the mandate, but they don’t want to go broke.  The government is in a similar box.  They don’t want (I hope) to wreck the military or business but can’t appear weak and indecisive.  They have created their own unintended consequence—potential rebellion.

The recently announced treatments for COVID may save the administration’s hide. They could provide a graceful way out of the box that they got themselves into.  Once can hope that they will take it, however their track record on resolving issues is not good.  Proving that they are in charge may be more important than avoiding this unintended consequence.

As workers from California to Maine resist different mandates civil government becomes more and more tenuous—fire and police stations are closed in New York.  Texas and Florida are urging these skilled workers from multiple states to move to their states.  Fortunately, to date, the rebellion is being fought in the courts, but how long will people tolerate their slow-motion approach?  Maybe electoral victories like in Virginia and elsewhere may reduce some heat.  The key will be how the administration reacts.  Right now, they seem to be doubling down rather than smoothly trying to change direction.  Maybe all they know is authoritarianism. If this is the case the next year may be a night mare of skirmishes, which could become dangerous. 

It is interesting to put this in perspective.  Former president Obama had a message for the American people who are horrified by the radical changes unfolding before their eyes, from Critical Race Theory in schools to doubly-expensive gas at the pump: “You’re just not used to change!”  Speaking in a CBS Mornings interview with Bruce Springsteen, the former president said: “You end up having, on the one hand, change happening very rapidly, too rapidly for a big portion of the population.” Sure. It’s just “change.” Not chaos and economic mismanagement, but “change.”

Obama, in trying to explain the poor performance of the economy actually put his finger on something else—the need for authoritarian approaches to achieve the change that he wants.  He and the White House staff understand that they really only have less than a year left to get all of these socialist and authoritarian policies, programs and perspectives in place.  They realize that with a razor thin margin in Congress that they can only achieve their goals by draconian methods—damn the constitution, full speed ahead. 

Thus, the Biden administration’s government by mandate has led us to the edge of some form of rebellion that is damaging our economy and weakening our military through a series of unintended (I hope) consequences.  We can hope that the Congress continues to stall on the big spending bills as they sound like they have consequences that will change the scope and nature of the rebellion.