To hear Fox News and many Republicans the Canadian Truckers are hero’s fighting for Freedom. Does that surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me. Of course mostly white truck drivers protesting restrictions that are actually making people safe have to be heroes to people like Ted Cruz. Millions have died all over the world that shouldn’t have but what the heck? Let’s protest against the people that are trying to save lives. Public discourse is just fine as long as you are protesting against things that will save people’s lives. Mask mandates in schools? What save a child’s life? We can’t have the government protecting children.

White truckers protesting for what they think is freedom and they are hailed as heroes. Black Lives protestors protesting for their freedom and equal rights are considered anarchists and thugs. Both are protesting the government they feel is suppressing their rights but one is considered righteous and the others are considered criminals. What is the difference between the two? The biggest difference is skin color, the truckers are mostly white and the Black Lives Matter protestors are of course mostly black. Of course there are other differences like Black Live Matter protestors are literally protesting because they are being treated differently and sometimes killed because of the color of their skin. Truckers are protesting against government mandates that are trying to save people’s lives. So in a nut shell you have one group trying to not be killed and another group thinking it is ok to kill. You can say that is harsh but is it really?  We are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and we have people that are still treating it like a hoax, some type of left wing conspiracy. The lying about Covid has killed way too many people and some have been children. One child dying that could have been saved is unacceptable.

I have never met a person that sat around trying to figure out what type of mandates should happen next. Just like most people I don’t like mandates but like most people I also know that they are necessary. I worked in healthcare. It was mandated that every year I got a flu shot. That was a condition of my employment and if I didn’t like it I was free to find another job. TB test were also mandated along with the Hepatitis shot. I worked IT so I was not a person that had regular patient contact but my job did take me onto the hospital floors and into the doctor’s offices. The first thing that they always preached was patient safety. Made sense to me, they were there to get well and not get sicker. Safety for everyone is important but safety for our elderly and the sick is doubly so. So is safety for our children.

Why do we have to have mandates? We have mandates in almost every situation of our lives. You could consider a speed limit a mandate forcing you to drive responsibly. The seatbelt law is a mandate. Not being able to drive until you pass a test is a mandate. Having proof on insurance is a mandate. It is mandated that you have to have proof of insurance before you can get a home loan. Yes, those are mandates. Mandates are just rules to live by. You don’t want to take the mandated driver’s test then don’t drive. You don’t want to get the mandated home insurance don’t buy a home. You have alternatives but they are not attractive alternatives.

Why have a speed limit? Do you think it is so they can write you speeding tickets? No, it is because they don’t trust everyone will drive a safe speed. Just drive down McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers and see how fast people will drive. We had two boys die hitting a tree by our complex and they were going over a hundred miles an hour in a 45 zone. If we could trust everyone there would be no reason to have mandates but guess what? Not everyone can be trusted. That is the reason for mandates. Too many people will just not do the right thing and it is getting worse. It would be real nice to be able to trust my neighbor. It would be real nice to know that the guy next to me has my back. That is not what we have. You get mandates when you prove that you can’t be trusted to do the right thing.

We have Fox News and people in the Republican Party like Ted Cruz wanting the truckers to bring their discontent here. They encourage civil discourse by White Truckers while they condemn Black Protestors.  Getting vaccinated to me is the right thing. Wearing a mask to me is the right thing. Protecting the people around you is the right thing. Why do people not want to do the right thing? This is a pandemic. Millions worldwide have died and we are approaching One Million just here in the United States. Just think of all of the lives that would have been saved if we had reacted sooner. This should not be a situation where the Republicans try to create another revolt. This is the time were Americans think of fellow Americans. Let the motto not be America first. Let it motto be Americans first.