Even this Republican Governor is finally drawing the line

| 6:00 pm EDT July 23, 2021
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Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is a Republican and this perforce means she holds some reprehensible views and is behind some deleterious decision-making. This week, however, she said some things about COVID vaccinations that sensible people can agree with. It’s unusual to hear a GOP leader state what most of us on the left have known to be true for quite some time. Governor Ivey deserves no hearty approbation for speaking up at this late point, but at least she’s come around when it comes to vaccines against the coronavirus.

Ivey’s state is tied with Mississippi for least-vaccinated state in the nation, with only about a third of its citizens being fully vaccinated. Speaking with the CBS station in Birmingham, Ivey was asked how she’d encourage more of her constituents to get vaccinated. She said “I’ve done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.” She is correct in that she can’t make people take care of themselves, but it’s other parts of her interview that are more telling.

Ivey correctly stated that “it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks.” The governor went on to say that “these folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle and self-inflicted pain” by not getting vaccinated. In a surprising move, Ivey continued by urging the media to “start reporting the facts… new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100 percent of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks.” Again, Governor Ivey deserves no high praise at this point, but it’s worth noting that the top official in a deep red and generally regressive state like Alabama has come out so strongly in favor of vaccines to fight the scourge of COVID. The governor has been vaccinated since December 2020.