Rob,
I read your recent letter to the editor directed toward Supervisor Steve Christy. I have known Steve for quite some time and am keenly aware of the politics in Pima County. I take great exception to your negative and false characterization of him. While in writing this I am not specifically endorsing any candidate in the contested primary for supervisor in district 4, I do want to try to set the record straight.
First, unless you are a mind reader, you cannot possibly know what motivates an individual. As someone who knows Steve, I can tell you he is one of the most honorable gentlemen I know. Yes, he is an experienced businessman, but I can assure you his expressed concern over the state of affairs in Pima County is based on firsthand experience of the matters at hand, balancing health concerns with living life. Your tirade reads like a partisan attack that I believe it is.
As a registered Democrat, who perhaps values freedom less than Steve, it is your right to express your viewpoint, but you are wrong for trying to make it sound non-partisan. Your attack is partisan. If you took the time to do your own research on COVID-19, and not blindly believe the spoon fed politically driven hype that the mainstream media is pushing, you might think otherwise.
Yes, COVID is bad for some. The actual death rate, which is the only metric thinking people would use, is between. 0.04 and 0.18 percent. It is incredibly low; in many cases less than the death rate for the flu. Does that justify shutting down the country and violating the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 14th amendment? I say no.
Additionally, the increase in infections is by itself nothing to be alarmed with. Getting herd immunity is a good thing. Those not at risk have a right to live their lives and pursue life, liberty, and happiness. As a constitutional scholar I can tell you the constitution that you and I and Steve have taken an oath to protect and defend is not a suicide pact.
At first the “experts” said it would be no big deal. Then they said millions would die. Under a scenario like that I can understand a temporary lockdown, but in recent months we now know otherwise. Violating individual rights is no longer justified. Countries like Sweden and South Korea are fine after no lockdown at all. Many countries have been using Hydroxychloroquine, zinc, inhaled steroids via nebulizer, anti-biotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, etc. with great success. We should be doing the same and getting back to normal.
It is not Steve Christy who is to blame. I am sure Steve understands most if not all of what I am saying. It is you who do not; nor do the media, the incompetent and politically motivated people in government agencies, and the multi-national corporations driving the hype to ensure power and money for themselves. Your anger should be directed at them. I think we need to get away from medicine by the media and medicine controlled by the government and get back to individual based healthcare between a doctor and patient based on science and the particular circumstances of each person. That is the American way, a way that works. I predict this “crisis” will largely be over on November 4th.
Respectfully submitted,
Ray Ihly
Vail, Arizona
