Letters to the Editor

To the editor,

I am extremely worried about the current COVID-19 situation, and my concern has nothing to do with coughing, sneezing, or any other symptoms of the common cold/flu. The extreme measures that are being taken in our state (and also the world) are incredibly concerning, and I am worried about my rights as a human being.

In the recent video press release on May 31, 2020 Jay Inslee mandated that all workers in Washington state, effective June 8, must now wear a face covering at all times, and if they don’t abide by these rules are subject to all sorts of fines, although, in classic Inslee fashion, he is indefinite about the specifics, leaving us to infer the worst. Inslee loves to talk about science, and how he is adhering to the facts. Well, here’s an interesting fact:

Back in March 30, 2020, the Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programmer, Michael J. Ryan said, “We don’t generally recommend the wearing of masks in public by otherwise well individuals because it has not up to now been associated with any particular benefit.”

WHO also stated on their website: “If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19. “WHO, the organization that declared the pandemic–based, presumably on science–has very different ideas about face masks than does Mr. Inslee. (At least for now. Governmental organizations have a disturbing tendency to rapidly change their minds.)

But perhaps Mr. Inslee is following CDC guidelines, which encourage wearing masks pretty much everywhere, at all times. Given a choice between two Scientific opinions, Mr. Inslee opts for the more restrictive.

Another interesting fact: the Washington State Department of Health says on their website, updated April 13, 2020, “There is limited evidence to suggest that use of cloth face coverings help reduce disease and transmission.”

Jay Inslee describes wearing a face mask as a sign of love–no, I do not see it that way. Wearing a face mask is dehumanizing and humiliating, a sign of blind obedience to draconian orders, and ultimately making one more susceptible to giving oneself an illness. For example, common sense tells us that If someone has allergies and needs to sneeze they can either sneeze into their own mask and breathe in their germs, or they can lift up the mask, sneeze, and be subject to all the judgmental stares/glares being directed their way. Will they be fined for that?

And whatever happened to “my body, my choice”? For years, it has been legal and acceptable to kill an unborn baby who has no choice in the matter, but when it comes to wearing a mask that limits one’s ability to breathe, keeps germs close to one’s mouth, and, for some people, results in the skin breaking out, there is no choice.

And what about when the vaccination is developed? Will people have a choice about saying no to having foreign materials, heavy metals, and a chemical concoction with unknown short- and LONG-TERM side effects injected into their body?

If Jay Inslee continues along the path he is presently on–creating laws without benefit of input from our State Legislative Representatives or the people who elect them–the only choice there will be . . . is his.

As citizens of Washington State and human beings who live, presumably, in a free country, we need to ask questions–a lot of them–and not passively accept Inslee’s decrees and mandates as the final word on the situation. Or, as I recently heard someone say, “Think. It’s not illegal. Yet.”

Savonnah Henderson

Dayton, Wash.