Stop with the propaganda

To the editor:

(re: “Anti-vaxxers target Dinowitz with swastika,” Nov. 25)

I recently received Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s propaganda mailer. His entire justification for turning himself into a one-man dictator and trampling the civil rights of his constituents has been this alleged fealty to science-based research regarding vaccinations.

However, any real scientist or doctor mocks the Assemblyman behind his back for besmirching science’s good name.

The gold standard of science is reproducible outcomes, and despite all of Dinowitz’s overreaching mandates and laws that are tearing this city and state apart, he is unable to point his finger to anything substantively gained. The infection rates are worse in New York City than they are in many other parts of the state and country — including similar-sized cities — despite our vaccination rates being one of the highest in the nation.

The actual science on the omicron variant says that the current vaccines and boosters are only 33 percent effective against them. But again, truth be damned. Dinowitz will not let actual science get in the way of his political platform. He is much more interested in mandating his constituents to continue sticking needles in their arms every three to six months than actually determining whether there is any efficacy to do so.

At least with his measles mandate, there were decades of proof that the vaccine would be effective. In the case of the delta and omicron variants, all the real scientists — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci — caution against assuming the vaccines created to fight the original coronavirus strain would have the same effectiveness.

But is there even a hint of questioning coming from our Assemblyman? No. His biggest character flaw is that he is never able to admit he is wrong. And since all of his actions stem from a desire to continue his family dynasty — and not from a sense of actually producing positive outcomes for his constituents — his reflexive response is just to mandate more. Faster.

He keeps referring to a “fringe minority” of anti-vaxxers that threaten to thwart his complete eradication of democracy and individual choice, and tamp down on his ambitions for his son to achieve higher political office than his own failed career could ever hope to attain. (I’m not betting on his son, either.)

But what he is reluctant to share is that this “fringe” continues to grow in size and intensity by the day. While I wholeheartedly condemn the anti-Semitic overtones present at the demonstrations in front of his office and personal residence, let’s not fail to recognize that the “fringe” anger and animosity toward the Assemblyman and his policies are very real, and continue to attract an ever-wider audience — hopefully without the swastikas, which have no place in civil discourse.

The Assemblyman’s supporters, however, dwindle by the day. And if not for his similarly undemocratic lock on the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club — who should strip the word “democratic” from its name, as it is anything but — we would see many more contested elections where people would at least have a few more choices for whom to vote.

Democracy is not Jeffrey Dinowitz running unopposed in the Democratic primaries — which in this part of town, guarantees victory in the general election. He has only lasted this long because, frankly, there has been no one to replace him. And yet his very unscientific mind translates that into support for his increasingly unpopular policies and strong-arm tactics.

Assemblyman, you likely have done more to hurt democracy and stoke racial and cultural tensions in our district than any other politician in the city. When mobs of people come screaming in front of your office and home, do you ever think that you are not doing something right? Are you so drunk on your own power that winning is no longer about scientifically improving outcomes for your constituents, but rather showing how many bills you can ram through a super-majority legislature without broad-based support?

At a minimum, please stop lying in your written and social media propaganda by constantly referring to the “fringe” minority. That fringe minority is made up of an ever-growing, diverse slice of your constituents — many of whom are ardent vaccination advocates, many of whom are ardent Democratic Party supporters, but all of whom are increasingly sick of your brazen attempts to consolidate power for you and your son while legislating away most of our rights.

The time has come for you to move on and for Riverdale to get an Assembly person who will listen once again to their constituents, rather than just assume they know what is best for everyone. That is called “dictatorship,” and it’s sad to see that you, as a Democrat, are just as capable of falling into that trap as some of our Republican counterparts.

Willy Ramirez

EDITOR’S NOTE: The author appears to be citing a preliminary South African study reported in Forbes magazine that indicated two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine provided 33 percent protection against omicron infection. However, that same study concluded the vaccine provides 70 percent protection against severe illness and hospitalization — protection scientists conducting the study deemed “very good.”

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