CLAY: Portland and Seattle have both seen surging crime rates as a result as a result of the defund the police movement. So of all the places that could least afford to be losing experienced and talented members of their police force, I would put those two cities at the very top alongside of Chicago, where there’s a battle brewing with Mayor Lori Lightfoot as well. But listen to this Seattle police officer who went viral, refusing the covid vaccine. Here it is.

LAMAY: This is my final sign-off. After 22 years of serving the citizens of the State of Washington, I am being asked to leave because I am dirty. Numerous fatalities, injuries. I’ve worked sick. I’ve played sick. We buried lots of friends over these years. I’d like to thank you guys; I’d like to thank the citizens of Yakima County as well as my fellow officers within the valley. Without you guys I wouldn’t have been very successful; you kept me safe and got me home to my family every night. Thank you for that. Wish I could say more but this is it, so, State 1034, this is the last time you’ll hear me in a state patrol car — and Jay Inslee can just kiss my (bleep).

BUCK: You know, Clay, Robert LaMay — who just quit his job after 22 years as a police officer. This is who you want keeping your neighborhood safe, this is who understands how to keep people out of harm’s way and career law enforcement officers are such an essentially part of any community across the country right now.

“This is the last time you’ll hear me in a patrol car and Jay Inslee can kiss my ass.”

Washington State Trooper in Yakima, Wash. signs off after 22 years — fired by @GovInslee for being unvaccinated. pic.twitter.com/RGLDs5BZxg

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) October 17, 2021

You’ve got cops who feel supported, and you’ve got people who bring real experience, veterans of the law enforcement world. They bring that to bear every day, and we’re all better off as a result. When you’re losing people like this and the response from so many leftists out there is, honestly, glee. I know people listening to this it might be a little bit of a shock, although if you think about it, it makes sense.

They’re not seeing this stuff, Clay, and saying, “We’re losing a 22-year veteran of a police force,” as you point out, “in a city that needs all the top cops they can get right now at a point where the murder rate is way up”? No, they view it as, “Good! Another anti-vaxxer gone.” They’ve actually taken it into this place of they are happy with the purge.

That it’s not the purge is an unfortunate consequence of the realities. They think that bad people are being pushed out of their job; so they want more of this and they want more of this — and there are so many reasons why I think that’s deeply unsettling as an American, deeply unsettling as a human being, but beyond that, okay!

So are people gonna have to lose their jobs, Clay? Are we gonna kick nurses and doctors and cops out of their profession after decades if they don’t want to get a booster in six months? If not, why not? I just want to know. Where’s the standard? What’s the red line is there? So then are you gonna get kicked out of your job if the fourth booster or the one after that or the one after that? Why not?

CLAY: It’s well said, I think, by you, and the other thing I would add to that is that police officers… First of all, I give credit to anyone with the courage of their convictions like Robert LaMay, this Washington State patrol officer, who made the decision to leave. Because the courage of your convictions are so strong. But I would also add this, Buck.

The people who are likely to have the courage of their convictions and walk out on their jobs, are probably people who have the ability and are confident they can find another job elsewhere. And so not only are you losing them, they’re probably some of the most qualified and talented at their jobs, right, because think about it.

The people who are most likely to refuse to get the vaccine are people… It’s not like they’re gonna go on welfare rolls and no longer work for a living. They’re confident they’re going to find another job. They may have been thinking about switching jobs already and this was the tipping point. A lot of the people who end up meekly submitting are, I would bet, the least desirable of the employees because they are not as confident that they’re gonna be out and go get another job. So, in other words, the people we’re forcing out —

BUCK: I don’t like the… I understand what you’re saying, “the least desirable.” I mean, I think people, you know, how many kids, how many mouths they have to feed.

CLAY: I think that factors in but if you know, “Hey, I can go find another job,” you are confident in your employability in a way. I don’t think there are that many people who are saying, “Hey, I’m not gonna get in vaccine and I’m immediately gonna go on welfare rolls or unemployment.”

BUCK: You may not go on welfare rolls but if you look at… I think that some people… What you’re saying is true in a lot of cases, no question, and I think a lot of people listening probably fall into that category, say, “Fine, I’m gonna get a job somewhere else.”

CLAY: I’m gonna move I’m gonna find people who value me more.

BUCK: I’m sure you’ve had people reaching out to you directly — I certainly have via email and Facebook direct message who listen to the show or know our other work — who say they’re leaving their pension behind, Clay. They’re leaving behind —

CLAY: That’s a big time courage of their convictions.

BUCK: After 22 years, I don’t know if he qualified for his pensions already. I’m guessing probably. But there are some people for whom if they don’t finish out, they’re not gonna get it, or now they’re in real financial and professional duress. So, yeah, what you’re saying is true in a lot of cases, but I also think there are people who have been willing to make enormous sacrifice in order to stand up against this. And they’re worried, because they’re not necessarily in a position to just sort of go forward with it. So I think there’s both sides of this.

CLAY: There are people who don’t have the ability to leave, and I’ll also say this. I think people like that officer — and thanks for his service. I also think there’s a lot of people, Buck, to your point on pensions, who are, like, “Screw it! This isn’t the tipping point,” right? They may have stayed and continued to work for five or 10 more years, and they’ve got that 20-year or they hit that 25-year mark or whatsoever.

And they’ve been considering other options and they’re probably really talented at what they’ve done. And certainly when you lose somebody that’s a 20-year veteran, you have a lot of institutional knowledge not only for what you’ve built up, but for your ability to help the younger guys and girls on the crew who may not know as much.

That institutional knowledge, the culture that they’ve helped to create is a massive loss, and I think we’re gonna lose a lot of those people 20-, 25-, 30-year veterans who may have been stuck around for another five years to help mentor but just say, “I’m so frustrated over this, I’m out,” and I give credit to anybody.

Allison Williams at ESPN, on-air television sideline reporter, tried to get an exemption. ESPN says there are no exceptions; she walked out. I give credit to anybody — Kyrie Irving — who has the courage of their convictions regardless of profession and is willing to walk over this because that’s really the ultimate courage of your question convictions.

BUCK: Some of them are willing to do it also just as a sign to others and in solidarity with others. One thing that you’re seeing happening out in Seattle, where they’re right now — today is the day — that they have a vaccine mandate deadline. There are Gadsden flags flying.

CLAY: I love it.

BUCK: “Don’t tread on me,” flying from some of these patrol cars, some of these police officers showing that for them this is really about freedom. It’s interesting. There are a bunch of different reasons. There’s the natural immunity coalitions, if you will. There’s the “I don’t think that this is medically necessary for me” group or have concerns about the implications of the vaccine for them long time. There’s also people for whom this is just a straight-up, “The government cannot be in a position to — top down, at the federal level — coerce people into getting this shot or else.”

CLAY: Even some people who’ve been vaccinated that are saying, like, “Screw it,” like, even vaccinated people are standing up in big numbers, it seems to me, and saying, “The mandate is wrong,” even though people who’ve made that personal choice themselves.

BUCK: This is the essential separation. There’s a difference between what you think as an individual of the shot for you or for your family, and what you think of the government trying to force the needle into everyone’s arms, including small children and everyone else we’ve talked about.