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Thank you, Mr. Schumacher , for calling out this monstrosity of an"opinion" column. I was appalled by Mr. Mann's column and disgusted with The Leader for printing what is effectively hate speech, laden with misinformation and lies. It is a slippery slope from mocking and name-calling to advocating violence and you, Port Townsend Leader, have an ethical responsibility not to glorify or incite violence. Shame on you for running this series of schoolyard taunts by an ignorant bully.

Mr. Mann, be assured that many of us in this community and throughout the world who are questioning the demands that we give away authority over our own bodies are not "MAGA-centric"; we are liberal, progressive, and capable of free- and critical thinking. We are unafraid to ask questions, to look past the mainstream narrative of fear to the facts. Many of us are not against vaccinations, not by a long shot (pun intended), but then again, there isn't yet a true vaccination available for COVID-19; there are short-lived injections designed to ward off severe illness. There is strong evidence that these injections are in fact driving mutations, and creating their own super-spreader events by the vaccinated who carry and transmit a heavy viral load... asymptomatically. But we don't yet know, do we? It takes time to gather data. Viruses mutate constantly. This is why vaccines typically take YEARS to come to market. ALL variables are tested, rigorously. In the case of the mRNA injections, the public is being coerced, shamed, and soon forced, to be the experiment.

Mr. Schumacher has provided links to a host of articles and recent studies refuting the misinformation contained in Mr. Mann's rant, including data just released on Wednesday from Israel showing vaccinated individuals had 27 times higher risk of symptomatic COVID infection compared to those with natural immunity from prior COVID disease . Do your own due diligence as many of us are doing; Mr. Schumacher has made it easy for you. But don't take his word for it. The Wall Street Journal, Nature, Science, The Washington Post , The Guardian (UK) are among more mainstream sources that are publishing articles and op-eds questioning the propaganda churned out on the daily, and changed nearly as frequently, by those who claim to have our best interests at heart.

I will offer to those who are questioning and waiting for more reliable and complete information words taken in part from an open letter to the unvaccinated, published by a group of Canadian physicians and researchers in early August: https://ocla.ca/a-letter-to-the-unvaccinated/

"It is entirely reasonable and legitimate to say ‘no’ to insufficiently tested vaccines for which there is no reliable science. You have a right to assert guardianship of your body and to refuse medical treatments if you see fit. You are right to say ‘no’ to a violation of your dignity, your integrity and your bodily autonomy. You are right to fight for your children against their mass vaccination in school.

You are right to question whether free and informed consent is at all possible under present circumstances. Long-term effects are unknown. Transgenerational effects are unknown. Vaccine-induced deregulation of natural immunity is unknown. Potential harm is unknown as the adverse event reporting is delayed, incomplete and inconsistent...

You are inaccurately accused of being a factory for new SARS-CoV-2 variants, when in fact, according to leading scientists, your natural immune system generates immunity to multiple components of the virus. This will promote your protection against a vast range of viral variants and abrogates further spread to anyone else.

Do not be intimidated. You are showing resilience, integrity and grit. You are coming together in your communities, making plans to help one another and standing for scientific accountability and free speech, which are required for society to thrive. We are among many who stand with you."

Again, PT Leader, please think carefully about the consequences to our community by condoning such inflammatory language as displayed in Mr. Mann's column, and the misinformation contained therein. You are not a passive observer here; you have an ethical responsibility to uphold. Shame on you, Leader, and you, Mr. Mann. Your words are beneath the dignity of our community.