Rodney Dial: The freedoms you surrender now will never be returned

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By MAYOR RODNEY DIAL / KETCHIKAN BOROUGH

On Sept. 13, I was scheduled to travel to Haines, along with other elected officials in our community, to attend the 2021 Southeast Conference. I was looking forward to attending, as it is a worthwhile event and would mark the first time I traveled for the Borough of Ketchikan in more than a year.

However, a few days prior to leaving, I received an email from conference officials stating that all who attend were expected to be vaccinated, that mask wearing would be required for the entire event, and that in addition to vaccines and masks, attendees could go the extra mile and be tested as well.

After confirming the requirements with the director of Southeast Conference; I asked staff to cancel my in person attendance and arranged to participate electronically instead.

For me, the issue boils down to this: I will not support or use taxpayer funds to “normalize” people/organizations that turn “rights into privileges” doled out on the basis of a persons obedience.

I need to stress that I am not an anti-vaxxer. However I also realize that statement will go in one ear and out the other of some.

I spent the last 18 months working with many others to support the safety of our community and protect our economy to the best of our ability. I have also opposed mandates from the beginning and supported personal rights and responsibility.

Finally, I kept my opinions off social media to not add fuel to a toxic divide growing in our country (that is why I have been silent on Facebook).

However, with the president’s recent speech and the growing segregation of our country and world, I am asking that you spend a few minutes to consider where this is heading and if the outcome is something you can support.

The freedoms you surrender now will never be returned.

I believe we have reached the point where the actions of the federal government are no longer just about Covid mitigation. If they were, those with natural immunity from a prior infection would be considered protected along with the vaccinated.

What I believe we are witnessing now is a movement to link privileges/freedom with obedience. The end result will be a de-facto “social credit” system. Once the public is conditioned into taking an action, to obtain permission to engage in an activity, the government can add future requirements to maintain that ability, and most will comply.

Do you support vaccine mandates? If so, my question to you is to what point do you support them? I expect that in the coming weeks third “booster” shots will be suggested at first, then required based upon length of time since the individuals first shot. When this happens, refusal to comply with the booster will result in a vaccinated person being considered the same as an un-vaccinated.

In Israel, one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, the passport system called Green Pass expires six months after the second injection is received, making additional booster shots mandatory in order for citizens to maintain permissions to engage in society.

Keep in mind that anything in life that you become required to have, you also become required to show proof you obtained it. With each passing day more businesses are requiring proof of vaccination; currently that proof is a vaccination card. Soon that card will not be enough. You will be told cards are inadequate because they are too easy to lose or misplace, too ripe for fraud and take too long to verify.

In the future you will be asked, at first, to use electronic verification. Scan the app on your phone to enter a restaurant, or board a plane, or access a service. But of course now, you haven’t just reported your vaccination status, but your movements as well. Data will be obtained on where you go, when, who you associate with, and more. This is all in the name of “safety.”

Normalcy bias keeps many from seeing where this is heading. Prior to 9-11-2001, people could travel the country without an ID. Soon, your electronic verification will be required to travel between states.

Last year, before a single citizen in our community was vaccinated, I brought forward a resolution supporting protection of individual civil rights relative to Covid-19 vaccine requirements. For me, this was important because from a historical perspective major events like this pandemic are always used as a pretext for greater governmental control and the erosion of liberty and God-given freedoms.

In a presentation I gave last April, I offered several examples of this: the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the Palmer Raids, the Enemies Act of WWII, the Patriot Act after 911, and now how this pandemic will be used to an even greater extent to limit freedom. And not just in this country, we see it all around the world — just look at Australia, France, the UK, Canada, Israel, and others. Increasingly it is happening in the United States.

What I am asking is that you consider that we are being moved from point “A” to “B” incrementally.

On a side note, up until July, our positivity rate among the vaccinated was about 4%, which was in line with what we were told was the effectiveness of the vaccines. By the first 10 days in July, that rate increased to over 30%. By the end of July it was more than 50%. By the first few days in August, we had reporting days where more than 70% of cases were among the vaccinated. Shortly thereafter, the State of Alaska took over the community dashboard. Since that time instead of knowing the vaccination status of all cases; a large segment of cases are now reported as unknown.

Regardless, even with the State of Alaska managing the dashboard, vaccinated individuals in Ketchikan consistently represent a significant percentage of all cases. I mention this not to discourage vaccines, but to encourage citizens to not be that person pointing their finger at their neighbor blaming them for the pandemic because they are not vaccinated. If you want a vaccine, get one. If you don’t, I support your decision and right to make that choice. But please do not be that person blaming others for their decision.

These are my own personal comments and do not represent any other person or entity.

Rodney Dial is the mayor of the Ketchikan Borough. Dial graduated from high school early and joined the U.S. Army, enlisting as a Ranger. He had several overseas deployments, including joint operations with the Contra Rebels in Honduras. In 1990, he was hired as an Alaska State Trooper and stationed in Fairbanks.

65 COMMENTS

  1. “Over 70% of positive cases in august were amongst vaccinated people.” Same in the UK and Israel.
    Why are they lying to us?!? That’s really why we need to ask ourselves.
    Why are they not being fully transparent about effects of the jab and why are they forcing mass vaccination?!? It’s absolutely being used as a tool and means of controlling is and many are walking blindly right into it.

    • The problem is, when you get a shot, it turns you into a real Republican. Not everybody can stand the complications of that. Liberals can’t and one of the other side effects is libertarians which are rampant in Alaska actually fall to the left side of the fence avoiding the shot. By getting a shot, it means you’re trying to preserve life and assets that makes you a conservative. You start thinking about things like I wonder how I can get better miles per gallon on my car, or save a few bucks at the grocery store. Maybe not have that second helping of mashed potatoes and save the leftovers for a potato cakes tomorrow night. Yeah be careful about getting a shot because the aftermath can be life altering to some.

      • Greg, you are quite the enigma aren’t you. Some days you make sense and other days you are an absolute troll. You either have alter egos that come to play at different times of day, or you have intention of stimulating both sides to think differently.

        Either way, it is quite entertaining to interact with you.

        • Thank you so much. Sometimes I feel like fighting to defend my point of view and other times I feel like it’s useless and it’s just entertaining. But in all reality I blame it on the Maker’s Mark.

      • Greg, trying to boil this down to left vs right as you are attempting sort of falls apart when you try to practice it in reality. Self-described conservatives in America are more vaccine hesitant than their liberal counterparts. It’s not to say conservatives used to be focused on compromising today in order to better serve tomorrow. But that ship sailed years ago in America. Conservatives today are all about me me me, and liberals are the ones concerned with compromising today for the better of tomorrow.

        COVID-19 and Climate change are the two areas that put this contrast on full display. 20 years ago, liberal Al Gore was mocked for spreading the word of climate change science. Today, every corporation on Earth echoes that sentiment, and energy producers, tech developers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and everyone in between is onboard. It’s real, and we need to sacrifice. Shame we hadn’t listened to that leftist wacko who simply stood on a stage and chanted science before an audience.

  3. Spot on! Save this article for a few years and resubmit it, he will look like a soothsayer. We need his type in leadership positions and I don’t know what his political affiliation even is. There are still a few people out there who have a critical thought process.

  4. It is refreshing to hear a elected official lay out what I suspect has been going on . I strongly support his views and analysis of out situation . Our freedom is being diminished more and more every day

  6. Does anyone remember how Dr Fauci created this virus in the Wuhan Lab using “gain of function” technology….please don’t forget who are the real power brokers behind this communist power grab in America. #CDC/CCP

  9. If you are healthy and keeping up on your vitamin D and other nutritional supplements you are better off taking your chance of getting the coronavirus then taking your chances with the vaccine. You will have 10 times better immunity if you do get the virus then if you get the vaccine this has been proven repeatedly and many studies. To tell people that they must get vaccinated even after they have had the virus and recovered is ridiculous. You’re only putting them at unnecessary risk. What Rodney said in this article gives me hope that there are politicians who see through this and are willing to stand up thank you Rodney.

  11. The issue really boils down to me or we. Me me me, or we. We need to get vaccinated in order to save lives, reduce hospital strain, and help businesses get back to normal. If “I don’t want to do that” then “we will all pay for it”. This kind of pride in our community used to be commonplace. Now it’s a sense of pride to be selfish, refuse to compromise, and demand the community serve me me me.

  12. I’ve been saying since the beginning this was about social control, not Covid mitigation.

    After 9-11, the ruling class saw just how quickly we would give away freedoms for an illusion of security. This has been in the planning stages since.

    You got scared America. You gave your freedoms away

  13. So why are the docs at Providence in Anchorage talking about having to ration care and blaming unvaccinated people and the mayor of Anchorage because he won’t institute lockdowns and mask mandates if it doesn’t matter whether vaxxed or not?

  14. I agree with you Rodney. This issue is EVIL. We are being set up to accept – worldwide – the antichrist. People are like sheep following a shepherd – they live blissfully unaware of their surroundings because the shepherd keeps them safe and makes sure they get to good pasture. People want this because they prefer to live in their own cocoon where they are safe, warm, and well fed – to protest or otherwise get involved disturbs this false sense of well-being, so they are easily manipulated. I’m guessing it won’t be long before you will not be able to buy or sell anything without a vaccine identification planted in the skin on the forehead or the back of the hand (issued because cards are so easily forged). Don’t take the mark.

  17. I appreciate the elected officials in Alaska like Mayor Rodney Dial, who having been a government employee in Law Enforcement, are willing to buck the status quo and call out a lie in the system!! Hats off to you sir , for taking a controversial stand and providing the leadership sorely needed in our state and nation!!

  18. The silent majority shall no longer be silent to the tyranny of the extremists. The letter from the Mayor of Ketchikan needs to be sent to the multitude. Mayor Dial has the courage and conviction to speak out against the tyrannical federal government. Let’s see if other political leaders have like judgement of conviction to speak out against these radical left wing cretin’s.

  19. Keep this in mind: The CDC, WHO, and the federal government have done nothing to promote health and well being during this pandemic, they would rather you do nothing, eat fast food, and not even exercise, but all is good if you take the vaccine in which YOU are the clinical trial. These vaccines are NOT approved by the FDA, only the Phizer booster is, yet they claim they are 100% safe and effective. Natural immunity has proven to be 27X more effective than full vaccination. Eat healthy, exercise, take your vitamins and minerals to keep your immune system strong. The Government is NOT who you should be listening to for your health decisions.
    What ever happened to
    “Herd Immunity”?

  20. In my view so much of the division, consternation and overall dissatisfaction could have been avoided had President Trump retaliated against this disease being sent to the world by Red China. I think that Congress should have debated authorizing the assassination of JinPingZing, and President Trump should have knocked out at least a couple ships, to include an aircraft carrier. I’ll admit that the ignominious way we left Afghanistan, with out tails between our legs having been defeated by turbaned boy-chasers on motorbikes (often two or even three to a motorbike) is a cause for concern. But backing down the way we have from China over this virus is not a way to avoid what is looking more and more like an inevitable war. Again, I think that Americans would be much more solid and consolidated on how to respond to this disease were we not so embarrassed over our obvious weakness toward Red China. Of course we should not provoke China while Biden is at the helm, obviously, but Biden should place missiles in Taiwan right now. No question that America could not win WWII today, but the question is can we win WWIII?

  21. I have followed Mayor Dial’s career from the time that he became a dedicated, Alaska Trooper and Patriot. I learned to appreciate his ability to listen to others and with intrepid confidence seek consensus with all concerned. Mayor Dial has used this same calm in this document; appeal for understanding and resolution of series that will impact our future. Please continue your assistance in this important issue.
    Thanks to all
    Bill D.

  22. “The freedoms you surrender now will never be returned” Exhibit A: The (un) Patriot Act. You’ll always have to take off your shoes to get on an airplane, your suit case will always be ransacked “for your safety” and you’ll be looked over for “additional screening” (checking out your junk). You know.. It’s “”der reich” thing to do.

  26. Americans are disrespected around the world. We have countrymen who hate their own country as well. They hate our Christian heritage and beliefs. It is their laughing place. Our elected members of civil society hold us and liberty in derision. The future will be epic. God created this earth and has sustained it. The earth will be worth inheriting inspite of man’s insurrection to God and all that is good.

  28. I fully support a proof of full vaccination (4 jabs)to be able to leave your residence also checking ID before you can vote is racist Full Stop

  29. Why is he scared of getting the shot? After all his rambling he didn’t give one legitimate reason to not just go get it.. the government isn’t asking you to surrender your children. They are simply asking you to get a vaccine. I mean we all get our other vaccines don’t we? Why is this one so disturbing to some people?

  31. This writing sounds like the John Ankerberg Show. It is spoken with such finality. The less freedoms we have, the more I peer my eyes into the sky looking for that Phenomenon yet to come that skeptics laugh/mock at. I just pray I won’t have to be among those skeptics/cynics when worse days comes.

  32. This account of the true nature of the current approach by government with regards to COVID is spot on. The citizens of the US are watching the bill of rights be shredded and a large contingent is doing so with almost zero opposition. Living on your knees is no exchange for freedom.

      • If it was an order, it would be an executive order. Obviously the Psuedo American Leader knows he can’t make it an order and that’s why he is conducting an end run around the constitution by jamming it through the over regulated bureaucracy of OSHA and pressuring business to mandate it.
        .
        Forkner, you are the exact type of Conservative that cost us our Country. The type that would have allowed the king’s army to hold up in your house as you fed, bathed and let them have their way with the woman in your home, just so waves weren’t created. Compliance in the name of safety and security equals cowardice. With men like you, this country would have still belonged to the crown.

  34. An excellent well-written interview. I am impressed with his boldness and stand for freedom with no compromise. I hope that he will seriously consider running for governor. It is likely that it will be the only way that we save the liberties of Alaska.

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