ROGER SIMON: Tennessee Legislature Must Pass Big COVID Test in ‘Special Session.’

Instead of pontificating at this week’s “session” as politicians, and, alas, pundits, are wont to do, here’s a short list of possible genuine accomplishments.

1. Decree no vaccine mandates in Tennessee by any governmental authority—state, county, or federal.
2. Private companies that wish to mandate the vaccine must exempt from vaccination all those with religious and medical reasons, but also ALL THOSE WHO HAVE PREVIOUSLY HAD COVID-19. They are automatically exempt.
3. No mask mandates until Gov. Gavin Newsom, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden, and Speaker Pelosi start wearing them at their private gatherings. End the nauseating hypocrisy.
4. Outlaw vaccine passports in the state.
5. Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine should be made legal as treatments for COVID as was just done in Nebraska.
6. No restrictions for political or other reasons by the federal government on state use of or access to monoclonal antibodies.
7. Children always in school and maskless, except on Halloween, no exceptions.
8. Assert healthcare belongs to the individual, not to the government. “Our bodies, ourselves.”
9. Freedom, not totalitarianism. Capitalism, not communism.

That last might be slightly “beyond the scope,” but at heart it’s what it’s all about. If the “special session” does most, or even the majority of this, accompanied by the wholehearted support of Tennessee’s governor, it will be an example to the nation. The citizens of the state will rejoice and no longer suffer from “DeSantis envy.”

If they renege and this “session” is merely for show, we will know most of the reason why. It has been widely-reported now that Pfizer has 700 (!) lobbyists in Washington. I don’t have the figures, but if there’s one thing that’s sure, the donations to politicians by Big Pharma are somewhere up there with Big Tech.

This time, legislators, try to ignore that incredible potential largesse. Everyone always mouths the platitude “it’s for the children.” This time, it is.

Stay tuned.