A revolting display

At a City Council meeting in Springfield, Mo., last week, about 15 of those in the crowd that had come to oppose a nonbinding resolution encouraging vaccinations showed up wearing big yellow Stars of David pinned to their shirts and dresses.

Not just anti-science, but anti-semitic, too, those stars told us.

And since the disgusting comparison of lifesaving covid-19 public health measures to the murder of 6 million Jews is now a regular feature of these mad protests, it’s time to take such displays for what they are, which is the mark of a hate group.

The resolution that those who had come to heckle and jeer were comparing to the Holocaust said this: “Vaccination is the leading prevention strategy to end the covid-19 pandemic and should be strongly encouraged for all eligible individuals.” Somehow, this reminded opponents of the Nazis’ attempt to rid the world of Jews, homosexuals and Roma.

One member of the council, Angela Romine, who has falsely suggested that the vaccine is more dangerous than covid-19, was the hero of the mostly unmasked crowd, while those who spoke in favor of efforts to beat the pandemic were mocked.

One citizen who spoke said that getting vaccinated makes you more likely to get covid-19. Her proof?

In Israel, she said, there are more vaccinated than unvaccinated people getting infected. (Since the majority of Israelis are vaccinated, yes, there are more cases among those who’ve had their shots. The woman did not mention that hospitalizations have fallen off a cliff since most people got vaccinated.)

When a member of the council asked why health authorities the world over would have said the vaccines are both safe and fantastically effective if that were not the case, the mob roared that they were clearly being paid to lie.

Council members were taunted for five hours. And after all that, that even this timid resolution passed 8-1 could be seen as an act of bravery by Springfield officials.

A similarly furious crowd at the St. Louis County Council last week got their way when the council voted down a mask mandate. Several speakers there also made references to Nazi Germany.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing to block mask mandates, including the one in Kansas City. And while Schmitt wears no yellow star, his completely unscientific opposition to public health interventions in our state have only encouraged those who do.