Jan. 18, 2022 - Epoch Times
15:30
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| Good evening. | |
| Over in Oklahoma, a very, you can say, interesting situation is taking place. | |
| Because even though the U.S. Pentagon is requiring that all U.S. military personnel must get vaccinated, the Oklahoma governor, he is pushing back. | |
| And along that line, the commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, he has just released this memo right here, saying that they will not comply with the federal government's vaccine mandate. | |
| And over in Oklahoma, this is not the only initiative that is pushing back against the vaccine mandates. | |
| That's because a new bill was just introduced into the Oklahoma Senate and it will allow all workers in the state to file lawsuits against their employers for as much as $1 million if they experience any health problems from either vaccines or either forms of medical treatments that were forced upon them by their employers. | |
| Let's go through it all together. | |
| This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times. | |
| And now let's begin today's discussion over in Oklahoma, where the National Guard, the State National Guard, is refusing to comply with the federal government's vaccine mandates. | |
| Let me just repeat that. | |
| The newly appointed commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, who is Army Brigadier General Thomas Mancino, he issued a memo, this one right here, and he stated that he will not implement the Pentagon's vaccine mandate within the state. | |
| I hereby order that no Oklahoma guardsman be required to take the COVID-19 vaccine, notwithstanding any other federal requirement. | |
| Oklahoma's command will continue to process federal vaccine waivers in accordance with the DOD policy. | |
| Additionally, no negative administrative or legal action will be taken against the guardsmen who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine. | |
| Now, in this memo, the general mentioned that he is waiting for the Department of Defense to issue waivers. | |
| And what that's specifically referring to is the fact that earlier this month, the governor of Oklahoma asked the U.S. defense secretary for waivers of the vaccine mandate that they can hand out to the guardsmen who don't wish to take the vaccine. | |
| However, General Mancino mentioned in this memo that they are still waiting for the decision from the federal government on whether they will actually issue these waivers or not. | |
| And in case you're not aware, the reason that this situation can even take place is because the governor of California, he is the legal commander in chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when they are not being mobilized by Title 10 of the U.S. code. | |
| It's a feature of the federal system here in America. | |
| It means that the governor, he is the commanding authority over all the National Guard soldiers when they are within the state's borders and during a time when they are not being mobilized by the U.S. Department of Defense. | |
| So, for instance, right now, at this very moment, while we're in peacetime, while the Oklahoma National Guard troops are on state active duty, they report directly to the governor and they are, in fact, even paid by the state. | |
| And so, the memo that this general sent, the memo that he issued, it had to do with exactly this point. | |
| In fact, here's what the general said during an interview with Fox News on this very exact issue. | |
| We follow all directives of the Secretary of Defense. | |
| Those are valid directives to Oklahoma National Guard until the governor countermands them. | |
| And he further said that this is exactly what happened in this situation. | |
| Because while on the one hand, you have the Pentagon at the federal level ordering that all service members must get vaccinated. | |
| But on the flip side, you have the Oklahoma governor, Mr. Kevin Stitt, ordering, specifically ordering, that guard members are not required to get vaccines while he is in the process of attempting to get waivers for these Oklahoma soldiers. | |
| And the reason that the governor is taking this course of action, just for your reference, is likely twofold. | |
| First of all, this vaccine mandate can be seen as a case of federal overreach. | |
| In fact, on a separate occasion, aside from what's happening with the military, here's what Governor Stitt said when discussing these vaccine mandates. | |
| Oklahomans should have the right to make their own personal health decisions for themselves and their families. | |
| Employers that are mandating vaccines are unfortunately doing so upon their own initiative. | |
| Religious, medical, and personal exemptions should be uniformly approved by those employers at the very least. | |
| This action is not just federal overreach, it's unconstitutional. | |
| And then second of all, a relatively large percentage of Oklahoma soldiers of Oklahoma's National Guard, they are refusing to get the shot. | |
| Specifically, according to an internal review, about 13% of Oklahoma's troops, they are just refusing to get the vaccine. | |
| And so, therefore, the governor said that implementing this vaccine mandate, which would effectively fire 13% of the troops, would be irresponsible. | |
| And so then, the way that it actually played out in the real world was that since the order from the governor was in direct opposition to the order from the national government, General Mancino had to follow the orders of the governor because, again, the National Guard was not being mobilized at the federal level. | |
| Now, the Pentagon did issue an official response to the situation, although they did not really elaborate or provide any concrete details on what they're going to do next. | |
| Here is, though, specifically what Mr. | |
| John Kirby, who is the Pentagon's spokesperson, here's what he told media outlets in a prepared statement. | |
| We are aware of the memo issued by the Oklahoma adjutant general regarding COVID vaccination for guardsmen and the governor's letter requesting exemption. | |
| We will respond to the governor appropriately. | |
| And then when Mr. | |
| Kirby was pressed a little bit harder on this particular point, and he was asked directly about what course of action the federal government is likely to take, he flatly refused to elaborate further, although he did say this. | |
| I believe that a vaccinated force is a more ready force and that it's why he has ordered mandatory vaccines for the total force. | |
| And that includes our National Guard, who contributes significantly to national missions at home and abroad. | |
| Now, what's really interesting to note here is that the memo that's refusing the vaccines in Oklahoma, it was issued just one day after General Mancino assumed command of the Oklahoma National Guard. | |
| The previous commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, it was a man named Major General Michael Thompson, and he was actually a large proponent of vaccine mandates. | |
| He even on one occasion said that Guard members in Oklahoma who refused to take the vaccine, they would face some kind of consequences, although he frankly did not elaborate further. | |
| However, he was let go, and General Thomas Mancino, he assumed command, and then almost immediately issued this new memo, leading many people to assume that the reason that this shakeup in leadership even happened was because the governor wanted to appoint a new general who was willing to fight back against the vaccine mandates. | |
| In fact, here is what the governor's office said in a part of their statement on this issue, although in that statement they refuted the point a little bit. | |
| Here's what they said. | |
| The governor had been exploring making a change for a number of months, and General Thompson had submitted his resignation. | |
| Once the governor selected General Mancino as his replacement, the governor decided to move up the timeline. | |
| However, regardless of the behind the scenes potential politics, what is ostensibly true is that the Oklahoma National Guard has essentially rebelled against the Pentagon and is fighting back against the broad overreach of the COVID vaccines, the COVID mandates that are being pushed upon the National Guard troops. | |
| And while some people are referring to this situation as a potential crisis, General Mancino, he sees it otherwise. | |
| In fact, in a statement to Fox News, he implied that this is exactly the separation of powers working as they should. | |
| Here's what he said again to Fox News. | |
| I am triple vaccinated. | |
| I encourage my soldiers to be vaccinated. | |
| What I've been telling people is that this is not a crisis in the sense that the Constitution is working as intended. | |
| Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we did reach out to the Pentagon for comment on this particular matter to see what course of action they're going to eventually take, but we have yet to hear back. | |
| Regardless, if you'd like to read more about the standoff between the Oklahoma National Guard as well as the Pentagon, I will throw several links, including a link to the PDF of this memo, into the description box below this video for you to check out. | |
| And all I ask in return is that you take a quick, quick second to smash, smash, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. | |
| And now, since we're discussing the topic of Oklahoma, let's talk about another bill that has just entered the Senate that would actually empower people to fight back against vaccine mandates themselves. | |
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| And now, Roman in the studio, back to you. | |
| And now let's continue our discussion about vaccine mandates. | |
| A new bill was just introduced into the Oklahoma Senate, and this new bill would allow all employees in the state to Regardless, by the way, of whether they work for a government entity or a private business, it would allow all employees in the entire state of Oklahoma to file lawsuits against their employers for as much as $1 million if they experience any health problems from either vaccines or any other form of medical treatment that was forced upon them by their employer. | |
| To be more specific, this new bill would allow Oklahomans to sue their employers over any medical issues that are connected to either operations or treatments that they had to get as a condition for their employment. | |
| In fact, here's how Mr. | |
| Rob Standridge, who is a state senator in the state of Oklahoma, he's a Republican, and he's one of the co-sponsors of this bill, here's how he described this new piece of legislation. | |
| Many Oklahomans may not know that COVID-19 vaccines have already been given liability protection from the federal government. | |
| If an employee is required to receive the vaccine or some other medical treatment as a condition of employment and it causes that person harm, our citizens need to know that they'll have some recourse that will provide them with meaningful relief. | |
| That's what my legislation will do. | |
| Now, this particular bill that he introduced is officially called Senate Bill 1106, otherwise known as the Citizen Health Mandate Protection Act. | |
| And here's what the most relevant part of this new bill says. | |
| Notwithstanding any provision of law, to the contrary, an employee may bring a claim against an employer in a court of competent jurisdiction for actual and punitive damages for injuries or illness caused by a vaccination or medicinal treatment program if the employer require the employee to receive the vaccine or vaccines an employee may bring a claim against an employer in a court of competent jurisdiction for actual and punitive damages | |
| And what's really interesting to note here is that this new bill, if it actually goes into effect, it would apply to both government entities as well as private businesses, meaning that if the bill passes, both federal employees as well as federal contractors would be able to sue the federal government. | |
| And in terms of the fines that the federal government or any private businesses that this falls into the purview of would be forced to pay, well, here's what Senator Stanrich had to say. | |
| Upon a finding of liability after a claim, the employer will automatically be subject to $1 million in punitive damages. | |
| Now, this particular bill comes at a relatively interesting moment in this country. | |
| That's because, as you likely already know, there are currently vaccine mandates being pushed by the Biden administration on all federal employees, on all federal contractors, on all businesses that have federal contracts, all health care workers whose employers accept either Medicare or Medicaid funding. | |
| And, of course, at this very moment, the Biden administration is trying to push all medium and large-sized companies in the entire country to mandate vaccination as a prerequisite for employment. | |
| And even though, by the way, as you likely already know, that last point, the vaccine mandate for private businesses, it's caught up in a legal battle in the 6th District Court, it's still the case that many businesses across the entire country, they are still moving ahead by themselves and requiring their workers to basically get the shot or hit the road. | |
| And so now, if this bill actually passes, Oklahomans who are forced to take the vaccine and then suffer either a side effect or some kind of other adverse reaction, these workers will have a method to obtain compensation. | |
| Although, again, this will depend on whether this bill actually becomes law. | |
| And for your reference, the debate over this bill, over this piece of legislation, it will start during the 2022 legislative session, so in about a month and a half from now. | |
| If you'd like to read more about this particular bill, I will throw the link to the PDF version of it into the description box below this video for you to check out. | |
| And all I ask in return is that if you haven't already, take a quick moment to smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. | |
| And now, since you've completed this episode of Facts Matter, I would highly recommend that you go on over to Epic TV and check out a phenomenal episode of American Thought Leaders where Jan sat down with Dr. | |
| Paul Alexander and they discussed natural immunity, a possible fourth booster shot that might be on the way, as well as the failures of the lockdowns. | |
| Here's a trailer for that great episode. | |
| We've never vaccinated people and boosted them multiple times a year. | |
| We do not know how the immune system is going to react to so much boosting because the vaccine developers did not study it. | |
| Today I sit down with Brownstone Institute's Dr. | |
| Paul Alexander, an expert in evidence-based medicine, research methodology, and clinical epidemiology. | |
| He served in the Trump administration as a COVID policy advisor. | |
| In this two-part episode, he breaks down the extensive data on natural immunity, the failures of lockdown policies, and the risks associated with vaccinating children with the COVID vaccines. | |
| If you say these vaccines are safe for my children, remove the liability protection. | |
| And the enormous cost doctors and scientists may face for going against the grain. | |
| We really go through hell. | |
| We suffer our names and our careers. | |
| This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Jan Jekielek. | |
| If you want to check out that phenomenal episode as well as all the other great content over on Epic TV, I'll throw a link to it. | |
| It'll be right there at the very top of the description box. | |
| I hope you click on it. | |
| I hope you check it out. | |
| I hope you subscribe. | |
| And I hope that you join us on this journey of exploring this beautiful, beautiful world through honors journalism that is based in truth and tradition. | |
| Lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. | |
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| And then, until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epic Times. |
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