VFKadmin - August 20, 2008
This vaccination case in Maryland certainly raised eyebrows (and tempers) at the time. For us parents in Maryland who have chosen not to vaccinate our children, the case is far from "resolved" regardless of what the mainstream media would have you believe. The issues that were raised in this case are serious ones and are ones that should not be forgotten by all Marylanders.
This case has twists and turns like all good stories. Some of which will make you wonder how in the world our little state has gotten this crazy.
First, let's recount what all happened.
Several stories in the Washington Post will explain what happened in the MSM (mainstream media) perspective:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301408.html
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601161.html
Now, it isn't quite as clear as the media stories would like you to believe. The thing that happened here is that the media, the schools, and Prince George's County all colluded in a nice, neat little scheme to use truancy to push parents into a corner... forcing them to vaccinate their children. Stick with me on this one... trust me. There is more to this story.
So, I agree that *probably* more parents than not in this case just "didn't vaccinate" their children without any deep conviction or real reason. (Although there are a number of reports that many parents have failed to produce the records of vaccination, having already gotten their children the shots.) However, this case presses on the educated and caring people in this state who choose to not vaccinate for religious and other reasons. Why? Take a look at the spin used in the local Fox 5 news reports that wrongly stated that it is the law to be vaccinated. They are just plain "wrong". Take the time to view the video embedded in the following link:
www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2007/141107Immunize.htm
This story would have you believe that IT IS THE LAW THAT YOU MUST VACCINATE! That just ISN'T TRUE! Even worse than that is that the actual tactic being used against the parents in this case isn't the "not vaccinating" part per se, it is "truancy". Why were the students truant? They were kicked out of school because of the lack of vaccinations. So, it seems that the "powers that be" couldn't slap the parents directly for not vaccinating, but they used that reason to boot the children out... causing them to miss school... which, in turn, gave the County leverage against the parents.
The State Attorney, Glenn Ivey, who spoke the nice line in the news clip "... we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way...", came under some pressure from folks that were looking into this case. Some of the larger revelations came from his telephone interview on Alex Jones' national radio show. You can hear the clip at this link:
prisonplanet.com/audio/151107ivey.mp3
There are some important points that Alex got Mr. Ivey to concede: 1.) There is no law requiring the vaccinations, 2.) Exemptions are in place and can be used, 3.) He admitted to using the truancy "trick" under with the "children needing supervision statute" tactic, and 4.) HE CHOSE TO NOT GET THE HepB SHOTS FOR HIS OWN CHILDREN!
You can't make this stuff up. Truth is stranger than fiction, folks.