Rep. Steve Berch Newsletter – Don’t ask a politician for medical advice

Here’s a question for legislators who dismiss or downplay the risks of the current pandemic:

What if you’re wrong?

. . . Like the north Idaho Representative who stood up in the House chamber earlier this year and declared with authoritative certainty that “the pandemic is over.” WRONG. Just ask the relatives of unvaccinated constituents in the hospital or who have died due to COVID since this decree.

. . . Like another north Idaho Representative who mused, “I thought a lot of people had to die for there to be a pandemic.” WRONG. Just ask polio victims who were kept alive by an iron lung.

. . . Like the Treasure Valley Representative, who blithely claimed: “It has been proven time and time again scientifically that children are not really carriers; that they don’t spread COVID.” WRONG. Just ask any school administrator about the challenges they now face keeping kids – and teachers – in the classroom as COVID rifles through their student population.

. . . Like the Representative from central Idaho, who led children in statewide mask-burning rallies in the midst of a pandemic. WRONG. It is one thing to argue that wearing a mask is a choice. It is quite another to teach children to mock those who choose to wear a mask. This Representative is now playing a lead role in re-writing the science standards for all Idaho public schools.

. . . Like several Representatives this year who survived COVID and dismissed it as just being a “bad flu.”  WRONG. Just ask hospital administrators across Idaho who are gravely concerned that anyone with any treatable ailment is at risk of dying because COVID has depleted their staff and their ICU beds are filled with COVID patients who refused to get vaccinated.

. . . Like the extremists in the Legislature who bemoan the “tyranny of government” when it comes to masks and vaccines.  WRONG. When you and your family are rounded up at gunpoint and put in boxcars; when you are shipped hundreds of miles to a desolate concentration camp; when you are stripped naked and herded into a gas chamber with scores of other people; when your lungs are filled with Zyklon B gas (hydrogen cyanide) until you are dead; when your body is incinerated in an oven until it turns to ash; when your ashes are dumped in a ditch – then you can talk about the “tyranny of government.”

There is a cynical political saying: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” It is appalling to watch so many people in leadership positions (and their third-party allies) politicize the pandemic for political gain with careless rhetoric, repetition of misinformation, and outright lies.

Consider this: It is easy to convince someone who knows nothing about astronomy that the sun revolves around the Earth. Don’t take my word for it - see for yourself. Look where the sun is in the sky in the morning and then look where it is in the evening. Who are you going to believe, some “expert” or your own eyes?

So, here’s my advice for deciding how to deal with the pandemic:  ASK YOUR DOCTOR – the person you trust for sound medical advice and the only person who knows your personal medical history to determine what is best and safe for you.

Don’t ask a politician for medical advice, especially those who amplify fear and inflame emotions as they run for re-election.