Yesterday, June 30th 2015 my children were sold. Ella and Maxine were bought by the highest bidder, Merck! Yesterday, June 30th 2015 Jerry Brown sold out all of our children in California....
I happened to be at the Capitol holding vigil for the Warriors in White when the news broke that Brown had signed the bill. I was holding the sign and standing silent when a stranger on the North Steps announced to us that he had signed SB277. I thought it was a sick joke, I really did. SB277 had hit the Governor's desk less than 16 hours earlier (8 of those hours he was probably sleeping). My oldest and dearest friend asked me today if I was really that shocked? I guess my answer is yes, I was really that shocked. I guess because I know (we all know) how horrid of a bill this truly is, how horribly this bill will effect California, how flawed the logic is behind this bill in my naïve heart I believed he would see through the bullshit and veto it. I guess I truly wanted to believe that Brown was for the people, that he was not bought, I guess I truly believed he would not want this to be his legacy. I think two of the most shocking things for me was that there was no religious exemption added, I always believed even if he did sign it that he would hold true to his values. I was wrong. I was naïve to think that he wasn't a sell out. I guess the hardest thing for me to swallow was the amount of time (or lack of amount of time) it took him to sign it. We all know what that means; Brown had his mind made up long ago.
It is hard for me to sympathize with Brown to be understanding of his plight. You see, I was also at the Capitol they day prior when my daughter Ella and Otto Coleman went to Browns office to deliver a petition with TWICE as many signature as the support had. I watched our children get escorted out of the office and told to drop their documents on the dirty mail room floor. I watched our children get treated like second class citizens. Did Brown ever even see that petition, did he even care? Probably not.... because he already had his mind made up. Did a single media outlet report that we had TWICE as many signatures? Or the way our children were treated? Not a single one, they told the story they wanted to tell because they are bought too.
Now, there has been a bit of controversy following the petition delivery about how we were treated versus that of Rhett Krawitt (grandson of Glaxo consultant.) No, we do not know if Rhett was allowed to drop his petition off with Brown but we can safely say he probably wasn't directed by CHP to the mail room. We can safely say that Brown at some point new about what happened at his office that day, maybe not while it was happening but certainly after the fact. What we also know is that Brown had the power to right that wrong if he wanted but he choose not too; he is just as guilty and complicate as his staff for the treatment of our children. But, why would he right that wrong, he already had his mind made up. I mean, I guess I get it.... People don't want to have to look at our vaccine injured children, its not some pretty little image they can put in a box to justify their bullshit stance on vaccines.
I think that maybe this would have been easier to swallow if I felt like Brown actually grappled with the decision. Maybe if Brown had ever at any point chose to actually meet with someone from our side, to hear our concerns..... Brown said in his signing statement that "both sides delivered their position with eloquence." Oh, BULLSHIT. I call Bullshit. How could he know our stance if he never met with our side. Brown is a coward, a bought coward that didn't have the decency to listen to the voices of a little boy in a wheelchair, a little girl with broken lungs and a brain damaged adolescent because he is to big of a chicken shit to look truth in the face. Brown could have at least pretended to care, he could have held on to the bill for at least a few more days but instead he decided to give us all a big middle finger! When Brown signed that bill in less than 16 hours he proved to all of us that not only is he bought but that he could care less about our fight, about us or about our children.
There are rumors that it was signed so quickly because his wife wants a political career and he must stay on the popular side..... Good luck with that because you just turned your back on a lot of California parents.
In the first moments after the bill was signed I was still in shock and still desperately hoped it would somehow still be vetoed. However, now that my emotions have calmed I know that while this is devastating for most and while this law will no doubt cripple California, that is what needs to happen. I can not wait to see the ramifications this law will have.... Lawsuits that will burden our justice system (and the discovery that comes with them), financial losses that will devastate an already struggling school system, the closures of schools with are inevitable, the weight on our public assistance system that it coming when parents are forced to quit their jobs, the taxes that are lost when families run from this state in alarming numbers and the real estate market that will definitely suffer when we start dumping our houses. Let the games begin. Because at the end of this when it is all said and done THAT is what Jerry Brown will have on his hands and THAT is the legacy that he will have left.
And I pray to God that not one SINGLE family is forced to vaccinate their child under duress because they have no other options.... and if they do that blood will be on Browns hands also.
Bravo Sir.... You did California proud.
I don't know what this bill means for my family at this point. I don't know if we will move or we will stay and fight. I know that over my dead body will I allow my little girl to be denied the right to go to school when she so desperately wants to go already. What I do know is that on June 30th 2015 my world came crumbling down around me.
What I DO know is that Brown can take this bill and shove it where the sun don't shine because we are just getting started.
