The State of Idaho has a song that I still recall fondly from my early school years.
“And here we have Idaho,
Winning her way to fame,
Silver and gold in the sunlight blaze,
And romance lies in her name….
The song heralds the wonders our land does possess and the ideals that are the legacy of the pioneers. So, how is it possible that spirit of hard work, enterprise and neighbors helping neighbors has turned into a senseless conflict. Idaho has just entered a health care rationing protocol prompted by unvaccinated Idahoan’s filling our emergency rooms and ICU’s. Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U. S. states with only about 40% of our residents fully vaccinated against COVID 19. Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allocated to the patients most likely to survive. It is possible the best care you can expect is pain relievers and palliative care. My experience with health care providers tells me this is the worst possible situation imaginable. What the hell?
Reports from St. Luke’s last week, Idaho’s largest health care system, paint the picture. Some patients are being ventilated by hand, with a nurse or doctor squeezing a bag for up to hours at a time while hospital staff tries to free up a mechanical ventilator. 92% of all COVID patients in St. Lukes were unvaccinated with nearly 80% of the available 78 beds occupied by COVID patients. In spite of pleading with Idahoans to get vaccinated they have managed to put our entire state at risk and in the headlines. You can hope you or a loved one does not have a non COVID related medical emergency. Stricken by a heart attack, stroke, trauma related to an accident your hospital bed and other resources may not be available. None of this makes any sense at all when viewed in any rational perspective.
In the face of this crisis, an Idaho legislative interim committee is gearing up to fight Biden’s vaccine executive order for companies over 100 employees. The Governor of Idaho is unwilling to take a definitive stand on the wearing of masks and opposes the Biden order. I totally understand it is all about personal rights but those freedom’s should take a back seat to public health and safety.
Seems like there were some protests when we adopted, no smoking in public places. Does that not violate your personal rights? At least that addiction is mostly contained to personal harm to the individual. All 50 states mandate vaccination as a condition of entry into school, exceptions vary but why would you expose your children to polio, measles, diphtheria, or COVID-19? Get ready for approved vaccines for children over 5, I am thankful for our scientists and listen to them.
I started out to write about the Ryder Cup and I did a bit of research about the origin, history, greatest moments, and the rivalry that captures the world every two years. I will be watching the event and hoping that each player has their A game and the winning team simply played the best under pressure. The players do not earn anything for their efforts except the pride and honor of representing their nation and their team. It would be great if our nation could pull together to win the battle with a virus that threatens so many of our friends and family.
Enjoy the week end. Mike
Making Headlines
