When you lose your crowd over vaccinations
Lindsey Graham is a walking, talking contradiction.
The longtime public servant has stood on principle for much of his adult life.
But there are times when he鈥檚 been known to crumble under the weight of some withering public scrutiny.
Let鈥檚 first look at his public service.
He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force in 1982.
He served on active duty until 1989 when he joined the South Carolina Air National Guard.
When he retired from the military, he had served for 33 years; served on duty several times in Iraq and Afghanistan; rose to the rank of colonel, and was the recipient of the Bronze Star.
Much of that while also serving at first as a South Carolina state representative, and currently (since 2003) as a U.S. senator.
He鈥檚 been busy.
Sen. Graham has, at times, been at odds with Donald Trump. He famously stood on the floor of the Senate on Jan. 6, and he signaled it was time to get on the with electoral vote count, while many of his fellow Republicans were objecting to certifying Biden had won it.
鈥淎ll I can say is count me out. Enough is enough,鈥� he announced on the day of the insurrection.
But he鈥檚 also freely sung Trump鈥檚 tune. He even sounds like him at times.
Back in August, at a rally in Alabama, Trump gave faint praise to vaccinations to fight COVID-19.
He hardly got the vaccine recommendation out of his mouth when he heard the boos emanating from the crowd.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 OK. You got your freedoms,鈥� he replied, with the knowledge that even he couldn鈥檛 sell his biggest fans on the benefits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
A similar scene was repeated last week when Lindsey Graham took part in a Republican event in Summerville, S.C.
鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 had the vaccine, you ought to think about getting it,鈥� he said matter-of-factly.
The response was immediate.
鈥淣o, No, No!,鈥� could be heard throughout the makeshift tent.
Graham thought fast. He knew he might not escape with his good Republican reputation intact.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 tell you to get it. Just think about it,鈥� he added.
That didn鈥檛 work either. So, he added another defensive measure.
鈥淣inety-two percent of the people in hospitals in South Carolina are unvaccinated,鈥� he said in a way that sounded like he knew he was making a great point.
Nope.
鈥淥h, Lord. Lies,鈥� could be heard in the crowd.
Some fellow began yelling at Graham. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to lose my job in 60 days. You gotta stop it now,鈥� he proclaimed as if Graham could wave a wand and end any mandated vaccinations.
You could clearly see that the malevolence of the crowd was beginning to take its toll on Graham.
He did what Trump had done at his rally in Alabama a couple of months ago: 鈥淚鈥檓 with you about it being mandated. I鈥檓 with you that it鈥檚 probably unconstitutional,鈥� he added, with the hope that he鈥檇 no longer be the target of such unexpected derision.
Graham may have done better to have left it at being 鈥渦nconstitutional.鈥�
He didn鈥檛.
鈥淗ow many of you have taken measles shots?鈥� he asked.
(Note: That鈥檚 always a great question to ask those anti-vaxxers, who got the usual regimen of vaccinations as children. But who鈥檝e found curious reasons not to get them now.)
鈥淚T鈥橲 NOT THE SAME!鈥� somebody yelled from the crowd. By then, Graham was forced to ask, 鈥淎re you against the vaccine?鈥�
The reply from the fellow who said he only had 60 days before he鈥檇 be fired from his job without being vaccinated was, 鈥淣o. I鈥檓 against the mandate.鈥�
With that, Graham moved on to other topics.
If your only resistance to getting vaccinated is because it鈥檚 mandated, I suppose, then you probably can鈥檛 be convinced about how dumb that is.
Good luck.
In the meantime, I鈥檓 pretty sure there are some legitimate reasons to avoid getting jabbed.
Unfortunately, I can鈥檛 think of a single one of them.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.