ACE OF SHADE (AND BLAME, AND SHAME, AND . . .)

But Djokovic went prepared, taking all the antidotes that were provided to him by the non-sheeple movements of the free world (buy yours for 10.99 at any .inf website), remaining his sovereign self.

Also note how They tried to smash the Djokovic brand’s windows and wipe out his entire value in an attempt to send a message to the world: either fall in line or face the hammer of annihilation.

Exaggerations? Sure, and they don’t stop there.

Here’s the other side, the counter-fundamentalist approach so prevalent in parts of vaccinated society, about which we don’t talk enough.

So, let’s talk…

For starters, if you’re not a Djokovic fan and/or if you happen to support the vaccination programs for COVID-19, the signs are on the wall, and the answers crystal clear. No-vac Djokovic is a monstrous millionaire – duh! – who sustains himself with freshly killed baby seals and the tears of virgin unicorns. Rich people like him are all the same – bloodthirsty brats with swamps for a conscience, abusing their power to subvert the system and get away with murder. He doesn’t care how many people he kills with COVID. He’s a murderer, like all unvaccinated people.

A medical exemption? Please, No-vac didn’t merit one. If he did, why not make his medical records public immediately? What was he afraid of? Privacy, our left foot! This was a public matter. No, the two independent medical panels that granted No-vac a medical exemption suffered a lapse in judgment. Yes, they’re part of the system in whose name Australians rose up in arms to prevent Djokovic to ride shotgun, but that’s beside the point. The panels’ unanimous decision was misguided. The unvaccinated fat cat, lean as he may appear, had to be cut down no matter what.

Sure, Djokovic contracted COVID a few weeks prior to flying to Australia, meaning he had antibodies when he entered the country, but screw that. He was unvaccinated, and that’s reason enough to pillory him, his situation be damned. The vaccinated world’s duty to science and critical thinking obliges us to stop people like No-vac in their tracks and send a clear message: Get vaxxed, or go f–– yourselves!

By the way, how insensitive of No-vac to apply for a medical exemption at a time when Australians suffer the fatigue of endless restrictions, cumulative lockdowns, etc. Has he no empathy at all?

As for the medical exemptions that were granted to other tennis players, whatever. The panels approved those requests in line with government requirements, and the exhaustive testing around the venue means that the Australian Open 2022 will be as safe as can be. Plus, the little guys and gals deserved a break. Let them play; no need to raise a fuss about their exemptions. The point was to cut down any and all unicorn-harvesting millionaires and their cadres. There’s no place for them in our open, fair, critical-thinking society.

Of course, dare to point out that both approaches, the anti- and pro-vaxxers alike, make a great argument when they point out how insane the other side is when it goes to extremes, and we’re way off base. Don’t we know anything? It’s an all-or-nothing world. Anti-vaxxers are completely and utterly wrong in everything they say and do. The same with pro-vaxxers. The other side will tell you how it is. Argue that both approaches take things too far, to each their own, and their supporters will have us strung up by the thumbs for the public enemies that we are.

In other words, there’s no room for disagreement. One is expected to embrace a point of view in full. Failure to do so and we’re branded an obstacle that must be removed.

And when one points out that the above two approaches are two sides of the same toxic currency, mentalities that thrive on ignorance, hysteria, intimidation, and closed-mindedness, you become a universal target. Nothing unites those who thrive on fear and loathing like the sound of reason and a call for balance. In a world of polar opposites, the zealots hate their opposites as much as they despise those who cry for middle ground. They abhor sanity and want nothing to do with those who don’t fully agree with them, so expect them to come after anyone who calls them out.

Having reviewed the situation, let’s take a moment to state the obvious about Novak Djokovic. He is, in all likelihood, playing everyone for a fool, at least that’s what his behavior implies. He either forged a positive COVID test to get an Australian visa exemption as a “recovering patient” (hence his public appearances in Europe immediately after his diagnosis – he didn’t really have COVID, did he?), or he contracted COVID for real and then skipped quarantine because he couldn’t give a toss about other people’s health or the rule of law.

Either way, the man (his management?) failed to handle the situation. Djokovic comes across as a childish amateur in that respect, and one wonders how a multi-million-dollar brand is capable of so many basic mistakes on so many fronts.

Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact that some of the reactions in the vaccinated parts of society were, and are, as hysterical and fundamentalist as those of anti-vaxxers. The vaccinated world, for one, demanded empathy for all Australians, but what a politically expedient oversimplification that was. Medical exemptions are neither illegitimate nor immoral. Asking for one isn’t a condemnable act. Failing to back up the request is the real problem, which can only be recognized once the process runs its course.

Also, how about respecting the panels that were appointed to judge all matters of exemption? Let the experts lend their expertise.

Let’s recognize the immunity of recovering COVID patients. Failure to acknowledge said immunity makes the pro-vaccine world sound like hypocritical maniacs driven by ideology rather than science.

Like it or not, being on the side of science – and on the right side of history – comes with the responsibility of being reasonable. Just because anti-vaxxers and deniers have lost the plot doesn’t mean that we must do the same.

Sadly, the world is as polarized as ever, locked in an absurd dance of attrition.

It’s important to recognize the problem, if we’re to move forward.

But neither side will let us. When we point out that the real victims of the world’s COVID-19 division are open society, critical thinking, and functionality at large, both sides call us weak, confused, indecisive and naive, or sold out, or closeted something-or-others with hidden agendas because only closeted-something-or-others would dare consider the opposite point of view. Engage with the other side in any way, they say, and we deserve the axe.

Meanwhile, children all over the world wonder what on earth has gotten into adults lately, and why everyone is at each other’s throats instead of sorting things out in a mature and civilized manner – in other words, practice what we preach – so we can enjoy life rather than mess it up even more.