20 thoughts on “The 4th Of July”

    2. I am not an anti-vaxxer (at all!) but I don’t think this story would be persuasive to one. Here’s why:

      Some of Washington’s troops were expected to die as the result of the inoculation itself, and this was deemed acceptable, given that they were even more at risk of getting smallpox — but only if they remained in the ranks of the Continental Army. From an anti-vaxxer point of view, it might make sense inoculate soldiers who are already engaged in the risky activity of war, but it wouldn’t make sense to take such a risk if you can simply isolate yourself.

      And when it comes to kids, the 1776 story might seem even more irrelevant: anti-vaccine parents are not going to send their 3 year old daughter off to war, they aren’t going to give her a musket to play with, and similarly, they don’t want to give her a terribly dangerous injection…

      Still, it is a cool history lesson!

      1. Right. Anti-vaxxers could care less about history, but probably would zero in on the risks of vaccination 200+ years ago, completely ignoring the several orders of magnitude difference in risks of today’s innoculation, and ignore our much greater population density and movement of people. They’re innumerate and/or gullible.

        1. “Anti-vaxxers could care less about history, but probably would zero in on the risks of vaccination 200+ years ago, completely ignoring the several orders of magnitude difference in risks of today’s innoculation, …”

          Ignorant Pro-Choicers do the same thing…they claim that risk of death for the woman during child birth is a serious issue.

          The odds are tiny.

          But they list that Because Emotion.

      3. Here’s another cool history lesson:

        In the late 1700’s, after the Rev War, the Town Leaders of a Massachusetts seacoast town wanted to install a smallpox vaccine hospital on an island about a mile offshore from the mainland. Inoculated people would be kept at the island until after the chance of contagion was passed.

        Some of the townspeople were virulently (pun intended) against that. They rioted.

        The rioters came to one of leaders – a General in the Rev War home with pitchforks and torches and were about to trash the house.

        The home owner slowly opened the front door where he had place a 4 pounder cannon in his “foyer” pointing out the door.

        He calmly walked out and told the rioters to disperse.

        They did.

        The hospital was removed later when the tech and knowledge advanced to where they didn’t have to worry about contagion.

        1. Sounds fishy. Everyone keeps saying that the founding fathers didn’t want anyone having cannon.

      1. I read pjmedia only reluctantly, because of their split-up of the message (for no apparent reason).

        [Read more below]

          1. It’s irritating, I agree, but all one need do is select “View as Single Page” at the bottom of the first page, and thereafter it’s all united as one page.

  4. Interesting little-known fact. The real Independence Day is July 2 when the vote for independence passed. July 4 is when the Declaration was approved & signed.

    John Adams accurately predicted the nation-wide celebration of the holiday, but he got the day wrong.

    Missed it by that much…

  6. My annual (mostly rhetorical) question: What–if anything–do “liberals” (and by that I mean of course “tax-happy, coercion-addicted, power-tripping government sniffers and State fellators”) celebrate on July 4th?

    1. To leftists, the only allowable freedom is with what or whom you can intercourse anywhere and anytime.

      All other freedoms are merely allowances from the government.

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