Let’s unify as Americans

The parents or grandparents of NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and NBA star Kyrie Irving probably received polio vaccines, given in the 1950s, saving them and millions of others, including me, from being crippled by or dying from that deadly disease.

For me and those of us in elementary school at that time, the vaccine’s first dose — then the drop in the sugar cube — were given automatically. Now, however, sports figures such as Rodgers and Irving can opt not to be vaccinated for COVID, regardless of the danger that decision presents to everyone they come in contact with, certainly their teammates.

These so-called role-models (whether they like it or not) are giving their vaccinated fans very little to admire or respect and are giving support to unvaccinated fans who won’t believe COVID’s threat until they or their loved ones end up in the hospital or the mortuary.

The strength of this wonderful nation is such that it is almost immune to attacks from the outside. Try as they might, our enemies cannot bring us down. The only thing that can bring us down is internal strife. We all know this, and yet the gulf between the haves and the have-nots, the conservatives and the liberals, has grown not only wider but deeper and uglier.

If we allow this to continue, we may soon be staring at the end of democracy and the loss of our cherished rights and

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is unvaccinated. He tested positive earlier this season and sat out 10 days while in COVID protocol.

freedom. We really have no time to waste. The new year is as good a time as any to rally behind our rightfully elected president to unify the country. Now is the time to show that, despite our political beliefs and our differences with our neighbors, we are Americans first and Republicans or Democrats second.

We must stop squabbling over minor issues and stop asking who is to blame. Let us replace the meaningless slogan “Put America First” with a more meaningful slogan “We Are Americans First,” and let’s act like it.