Just this morning, The Hill published a piece from “Opinion Contributor”, Glenn C. Altschuler. Who is Glenn C. Altschuler? He’s a professor of American Studies at Cornell University.

Altschuler of Cornell gives readers his opinion of the unvaccinated for the record in a “how to” hold the unvaccinated accountable.

As the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus spreads across the United States, roughly 15 percent of adults remain unvaccinated. At the greatest risk for severe illness and death, they have already overwhelmed hospitals and intensive care units in many areas of the country, reducing services available to people who have non-COVID related medical issues. Nearly 90 percent of these unvaccinated people indicate they will not change their minds. And a number of governors, most notably Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Greg Abbott (R-Texas), are fighting the Biden administration vaccine mandates and thwarting vaccination requirements by schools and private employers in their states.”-Glenn C. Altschuler, The Hill

Let’s take a wild guess. Altschuler is all about the non-vaccinated being denied a hospital bed should he/she come down with a severe case of COVID-19. There’s been a lot of this being irresponsibly thrown around in the news, not just at The Hill. Take a look:

It was a few weeks ago at a Christmas get-together that I heard this logic recited almost verbatim from a dear member of my family. This person is the sweetest, most loving person I know under normal circumstances so to hear “we should not be giving the unvaccinated hospital beds” from her made me realize how this idea is being spoon-fed to anyone willing to listen to the crap the news cranks out on the daily. As a person who chose the vaccine after a bout with COVID-19 last year, I am not a crazy “anti-vaxxer”, as people like to call the unvaccinated these days. But I am all about a person’s choice in the matter. I explained to her that by this dangerous logic the news is irresponsibly throwing out there, a dear friend of mine would have been widowed and her children fatherless this last October. How is that fair?

That ended the conversation for the time being. But the conversation continues on how to penalize Americans who have chosen to opt out of the Pfizer, The Moderna or the (now “somewhat-ineffective“), Johnson & Johnson shots in the arm. One shot is not enough. You need two. Now three. When is the fourth booster coming? It seems to be never-ending. The Hill states that this is strictly Altschuler’s opinion but, alas, this does not stop The Hill from publishing vaccine propaganda. Hey, everybody is entitled to their opinion, right?

Altschuler goes on with potential solutions to hold unvaccinated Americans accountable. Poor Dr. Anthony Fauci is at a loss. “We’ve sort of run out of options”, he says.

Nah, Fauci. The news media is trying its best to lay it on thick with visuals of unvaccinated kids being hospitalized for COVID. Bad, bad parenting is the undertone they want people to pick up on here. Then, just in time for the holiday season and table discussion, comes the ol’ Booster guilt. (GASP!) You’re not boosted? You have a runny Omicron nose? How do you know you’re not going to kill everyone at this dinner table?!

As we pull this train into the station of the quarantine camp, Altschuler expresses other ways Americans can be held accountable for choosing not to get the jab. Read on:

Smoking is exempted from federal laws restricting discrimination in premiums based on health status. Insurance companies can place a surcharge up to 50 percent (subject to limitations imposed by states) for anyone who uses a tobacco product four or more times per week. Carriers rely on the honor system, but misrepresentation constitutes fraud, and in some states is a felony. Employers providing health insurance often require routine medical examinations, in which nicotine can be detected through samples of blood and urine.”-Glenn C. Altschuler, The Hill

Ahh, yes, increases in health insurance premiums. And we thought healthcare was a human right. Roger that, Glenn. He also thinks Delta Airlines’ model of a $200/monthly surcharge for unvaccinated staff is a killer idea. Or, a “risk pool fee” such as one adopted by Mercy Health of Wisconsin and Illinois, where $60/weekly is deducted from healthcare workers paychecks. More tugging at the heartstrings:

Two years into a pandemic that has claimed over 800,000 lives, blaming and shaming are unlikely to persuade the vast majority of those remaining to take a safe and effective vaccine, for themselves, people they care about, or strangers they encounter in grocery stores or restaurants.”-Glenn C. Altschuler, The Hill

So….why the continued blaming and shaming, Glenn? Because, yeah. You just did just that.

Hit Americans where it hurts most, as the logic goes. Hit them in their bank accounts. Let’s take insurance premiums for smokers as an example. My 78 year-old dad has been a smoker since he was a teenager. He has Stage II COPD and has been hospitalized several times. Despite threats from doctors that he is tempting fate, and several attempts to quit, he still lights up daily. Should he be denied a hospital bed because he is making a decision that the actual science shows, impacts his health? He’s been vaccinated and boosted because he listens to the news and believes everything that comes out of the mouths of the puppets. Arguably, with his conditions, he should be vaccinated. He is utterly afraid of catching COVID-19 but not afraid of what damage a cigarette at any time could do to him. He continues to smoke while berating me to get my booster-even though, he’s had his. (So he should be, in theory, bulletproof, right?) Any logic I try to spin on Dear ol’ Dad about how smoking will get him way before COVID is lost on him. The Hill and other media outlets have done a bang-up job of scaring the living daylights out of our elderly. MSNBC and CNN has been in their living rooms more than their grandkids-sucking the joy right out of their golden years. Thanks for all of that, by the way.

What this professor of American Studies misses in this biased, opinionated editorial for The Hill is the key to what makes us uniquely American. It’s a thing called FREE WILL. Instead of trying to teach unvaccinated Americans a lesson, perhaps this Cornell professor could teach another type of American Studies lesson. Citizens, not subjects. I know. We won’t hold our breath on this one.

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