Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk

Virginia health commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver told a local news station in August 2020 that he planned to mandate COVID-19 immunizations for Virginians once a vaccine becomes available to the public. The following day, the governor, Ralph Northam, pulled rank on the commissioner and announced there would be no vaccine mandate after all. The Health Department walked back the commissioner’s earlier comments while the governor’s office issued a statement focusing on vaccine accessibility and fair distribution, not a mandate.

To sanction or encourage certain wrongful actions, it is often necessary to manipulate language. The plain meaning of words can get in the way of convincing others they should tolerate or participate in wrongdoing, or otherwise embrace situations of evil or injustice. Verbal obfuscation becomes necessary to veil evident moral truths.