A TV meteorologist of 33 years declined the vaccine, citing personal freedoms. He was fired.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

This idiot got what he deserved

Link to tweet

When storms or snow blasted Michigan’s Upper Peninsula over the past three decades, viewers turned to Karl Bohnak as their trusted guide. Bohnak has been known not just for his steady approach to the forecast but also viral moments and bloopers that helped make the WLUC meteorologist an amiable community mainstay.

But when he refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as part of the media company’s mandate for all employees, Bohnak said this week that he was fired after 33 years as the station’s weatherman. The vaccination mandate at Gray Television, WLUC’s parent company, went into effect Wednesday, according to a copy of the policy obtained by The Washington Post — the same day Bohnak announced on Facebook that he had been dismissed.

“Since I chose not to take one of the shots, I was fired,” Bohnak wrote. “Many of you have taken one of these injections, and that is absolutely your right. It is also my right to choose the medical options I feel are right for me. I have authority over my body.”....

“We know that the approved coronavirus vaccines are extremely effective in preventing serious illness and reducing the spread of the coronavirus,” the company said. “After extensive discussion among the GMs and officers this week, these individuals UNANIMOUSLY concluded that the increasingly rapid spread of the coronavirus poses an unfair risk to fellow employees and their family members who are not eligible to get vaccinated.”

The mandate did not sit well with Bohnak, who had been covering the weather professionally since 1983. After working in Madison, Wis., and Milwaukee, he made the move to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where he’s worked in Marquette since 1988.

[rurallib]

1. Apparently he didn't know which way the wind was blowing

[Nevilledog]

4. *snicker*

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. He didn't see the storm brewing on the horizon.

[malaise]

16. You win the thread

DUzy

[Lithos]

27. Yes a hard rain was gonna fall

and did...

[Irish_Dem]

2. He and his freedom can go spend more time with his family.

[lagomorph777]

58. Bohnak's Bohner

[Irish_Dem]

59. Right, he can go mow his lawn and drink beer.

[WarGamer]

3. It's the same people like Jenny McCarthy for the last 2 decades...

A real genius.


"If you ask a parent of an autistic child if they want the measles or the autism, we will stand in line for the fucking measles."

"The reason why [parents] are not vaccinating is because the vaccines are not safe. Make a better product and then parents will vaccinate."

"I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe."

"Time magazine's article on the autism debate reports that the experts are certain 'vaccines don't cause autism; they don't injure children; they are the pillar of modern public health.' I say, 'that's a lie and we're sick of it.'"

"Yes, a wave of 12 children with measles in San Diego is a troubling thing. But, there are more than 20,000 children in San Diego with autism! 20,000 vs. 12?"

"Almost all kids get — injected toxins — very early in life, and our own government clearly acknowledges vaccines cause brain damage in certain vulnerable kids."

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/11-things-that-jenny-mccarthy-has-said-about-vaccines

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. I have a child, now grown, with autism, what used to be called Asperger's Syndrome.

I can tell you he was different from day one. Well before any vaccinations.

It took a very long time to figure out that his difference was diagnosable and nameable. Once I had the name and diagnosis things very much fell into place.

Several years ago a young relative tried to convince me that he was that way from vaccinations and I could tell her Nope. He was very different from other babies from the very beginning. Because he was my first of two children, I didn't get it for a long time. I thought the second was unusually sociable when he was, in fact, normal. Neurotypical, to use the common reference. Had my sons been born in the opposite order, I'd have figured out much sooner that the Asperger's child was truly different, although he still would have been born well ahead of Asperger's showing up in the DSM.

And these days he is doing just fine. He's in a PhD program in astronomy, and I often talk about him as My Son The Astronomer. He is very high functioning and will do well the rest of his life. Thank you for asking.

[localroger]

47. Glad to hear your autistic child is doing well

Astronomy sounds like a perfect career for someone with that particular "problem." Things are very regular and repeatable and their attentiveness is perfect to detect those deviations that teach us new things about the Universe.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

49. So true.

Last edited Sun Sep 19, 2021, 04:57 AM - Edit history (1)

I frequently send him a text asking if Ask The Astronomer is available. Somewhat understandably I'm fascinated by the topic, and I often have questions for him. He is very good at answering them, possibly because for a number of years now he's been dealing with his mother and her endless questions.

He is at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, these days. He runs tours for the telescope, which have only this past week gone back to live, not virtual tours. When he was in middle and upper school he attended the Astronomy Camp for teens at the University of Arizona. It really helped cement his interest in astronomy. I attended the adult version a few years ago and just loved it. As a child I had the good fortune to live in rural upstate New York, north of Utica, and had wonderful clear skies and did lots of looking at stars.

Almost every single time I talk to him I learn something new. Here's a factoid I hope you will appreciate. As you probably know, our galaxy, Milky Way, is on a collision course with the nearest large galaxy, Andromeda. Brace yourself. We'll collide in some 4 to 5 billion years. Here's a link to a computer simulation of what it will look like:

If you want to learn a bit more, here's a longer thing about Andromeda:

So I asked him, how many stars will actually crash into each other? And he responded, "Well, we're not sure but probably no more thn ten." Wow. That tells you more than anything how vast interstellar distances are. I've come to despise the various representations of stars that seem to show them very close together, because that is simply not true.

And yes, astronomy has been an excellent career for him. Because of his autism, he had a lot of challenges in college. He flunked out of two schools, but thanks to the kind help of his high school college counselor (he attended an independent secular school and that counselor went out of his way to help my son even after son had been away from that school. I periodically update that counselor on my son's progress.) And, in the interests of full disclosure, when my son finally got his bachelor's degree, he'd already been rejected by the four graduate programs he'd applied to. Fortunately, there was a professor at another school who'd met my son at conferences, and in the spring of that year asked him, "So what are your plans for grad school?" My son admitted he had none at that point. The professor said, "Apply to my school. I will make sure you get in." That school was Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. It only had a master's program in astronomy, but that was okay. At the end of my son's first year he called me up and told me his professor had taken a job at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, and he (my son) would be going there. At first I was in a bit of a panic, knowing my son's limitations. I have a friend who teaches college on the west coast, and he said, "Oh, Poindexter! Don't worry. Whenever a professor goes like this to a new school he's expected to bring along some grad students." Whew! What a relief. And there was another grad student who transferred to GMU along with my son.

Perhaps the very best part is that his field, exo-planet research, is a very hot field right now, and there are apparently LOTS of potential jobs out there for him whenever he finishes his degree.

[GPV]

52. Similar experience with my eldest, who has PPD-NOS. Has a degree in electrical engineering tech,

just waiting for him to find a position he thinks he’ll be comfortable in. It may take a while since his requirements have narrowed the options somewhat.

[Ocelot II]

5. "I have authority over my body," he said. I wonder how he feels about

women's authority over the reproductive parts of their bodies?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

9. It's surprising how many people have become pro-choice during the pademic.

I've seen quite a number of "My body, my choice" signs at anti-vaxxer protests. I wonder what their attitude toward abortion is.

[colorado_ufo]

24. Or the draft.

[Rebl2]

30. My thought exactly!

[SmittyWerben]

7. "I have authority over my body."

Uh huh, so, women who want an abortion are criminals worthy of a prison term because their body belongs to the state. But, if you are a male weatherman, you "have authority over [your] body.” Seems legit.

[AZLD4Candidate]

32. I've been saying that since these people started screaming "my body, my choice."

[Walleye]

46. They love to take our ideals, corrupt them, And shove them in our faces.

I think that is what they refer to as owning the Libs and they live for it

[Walleye]

8. Are these anti-VAXers ignorant of what an actual contagious disease is

It’s like they are in denial about how communicable it is. They explain it’s their personal choice how to protect themselves. Nobody cares how they protect themselves. We are trying to protect all of humanity. Our inexact hyperbolic language is partially to blame. For years public service ads have been talking about the opioid epidemic, the obesity epidemic etc. You can’t catch opioid addiction or obesity!Do they think this is the nanny state or something trying to protect them from themselves. Because we don’t really care if they get sick or not, as long as they don’t spread the disease

[Whatthe_Firetruck]

41. They don't know...

...how germ theory works.

[central scrutinizer]

53. Unfortunately, anti-mask and anti-vaxx seem to go together

And often in an aggressive, in your face, way. Don’t want the jab? Fine, wear your mask, avoid crowds, stay the fuck away from me and my family.

[Walleye]

55. We should do a billboard with the dictionary definition of contagious on it

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "I have authority over my body."....

And I wouldn't be surprised if he felt he also has "authority of every woman's body" too when it comes to her reproductive choices.

[brush]

11. He has the authority over his body and the company has authority...

over who works for it. He made the decision and now has to live, or die, with it.

Not smart.

[Maraya1969]

12. Maybe he can get a job at Newsmax. And I bet his salary was fairly nice after

all those years on TV.

Dumbass.

[Sneederbunk]

13. He could fake the weather there.

[Maraya1969]

20. Oh Yea! Well he could tell them how hot it was in his house where he was filming.

[bullwinkle428]

14. Time for all these ass-clowns to get together and set up their own personal

"Galt's Gulch".

[RockRaven]

15. Everyone else has the right to ostracize a willfully unvaxxed person.

We're living in a society here! If you won't hold up your end, everyone else is correct not to want to have anything to do with you.

[tanyev]

17. "I have authority over my body.". Covid: "Talk to the hand."

[ret5hd]

29. "Talk to the spike."

[ShazzieB]

37. Perfect!

[cojoel]

18. Taking a quote from Lou Gehrig is disingenuous

Lou Gehrig had no choice; he didn't ask to have ALS and he didn't refuse a vaccine for ALS (there was none).

This guy chose to not get a vaccine. Big difference.

[sheshe2]

19. Well, at least he still alive, for now. nt

[Initech]

21. If you choose to believe the bullshit, the door is that way!

[paleotn]

22. When your body becomes a crock pot for plague....no, you don't have that right.

Your rights end precisely where they adversely affect other people's rights to stuff like...you know...life perhaps.

[rickyhall]

23. I believe it's my personal freedom to smoke pot but that didn't keep out of jail in Texas, does it?

Or at least it didn't. These Freedumb clowns think they're so special. Fuck 'em all.

[AllaN01Bear]

25. stoopid is as stoopid does .

/revision/latest?cb=20090729102006

[Botany]

26. Forecast

A dry tight unproductive cough, low grade fever, general fatigue, a loss of smell, low blood O2 levels, going to the hospital, being inubated, last days texts about how you wish you had taken the vaccine, and then death.

So when do local TV weatherman get to decide on medical science?

Thanks to idiots like this ass clown there is not a single ICU bed available in my county in central Ohio, Franklin County.

I really wonder how much Russian disinformation is being fed to these idiots?

[Backseat Driver]

36. Which site do you follow for ICU beds here?

Covidactnow.org metrics for Franklin County, OH show 106 of 552 ICU beds filled by Covid patients; 388 filled by non-Covid patients; 89% filled together; but you are correct insofar as these numbers
do not support hospital staffs handling a greater surge of CoVid patients.

[ProfessorGAC]

54. Not Sure That's A Fair Assessment

First, your own numbers show around 19% of all beds are occupied by COVID patients.
Hospitals try to schedule ICU to always leave 10-12% of beds available in case of emergencies.
So, now the 106 COVID patients have absorbed the entire safety stock, and then some.
So, they are at the 11% free ICU beds.
That, in fact, does put them at critical, which requires deferral of many procedures.
Critical status for ICU spots doesn't mean zero available.
The metrics here in Illinois are considered critical when a region falls below 20% available beds. That's the official threshold from IDPH.
So, your own values suggest that they are above a critical occupation level.

[Roy Rolling]

28. Weatherman for 33 Years

Did he not say those four words every morning when he got out of bed and prayed to whatever diety or power he worships? He’s gotta be in the latter years of a good career, move the fuck over Methuselah and let some younger blood take over. 😂😂 (I’m an old guy myself)

Now, compare that to “washed-up weatherman fired for a temper tantrum” and see why his career to be watched on TV is over.

[Cryptoad]

31. His Body, His Job, His Choice

good ridden

[Kaleva]

33. With Greg Trick recently retired, Steve Asplund soon to retire and Karl Bohnak fired...

three of the four WLUC TV6 mainstays of the last 30+ years are or will soon be gone. Mike Ludlum, the sports anchor, is the last.

Time flies!

[Bleacher Creature]

34. Did he predict the weather based on rain dances and constellations?

Or did he use verifiable scientific tools?

Idiot.

[marybourg]

38. Meanwhile, multitudes of health care personal,

from dental hygienists to personal care attendants, who have closer contact with vulnerable people than meteorologists do, are still in ther jobs.

[eppur_se_muova]

39. Authority over his body is going to lie in a ventilator ...

.... *IF* the hospital elects to allow him one. If there are vacccinated people waiting for the same ventilator, he probably won't get it.

[treestar]

40. Why these idiots think they have a point

here just proves how stupid they are.

An abortion is not contagious. Others can't be forced to get one because one does. It's like they don't get the concept of contagious diseases. They look stupid trying to fallaciously align it with abortion.

[Goodheart]

42. Bohnak said that "the abrogation of our liberty and freedom under the guise of a pandemic is

very disturbing to me.”

The "guise" of a pandemic?

What qualifies as a pandemic to you, Bohnak?

Fuck off, jackass.

[AZLD4Candidate]

43. Umm. . .the video is my reaction

[aggiesal]

44. I really don't understand why they think they have their right, but ...

nobody else does?

"... It is also my right to choose the medical options I feel are right for me. I have authority over my body.”

Bohnak has his right not to take the vaccine.
Gray Television has the right to protect their employees.

Buh bye!

[secondwind]

45. It's always all about THEM......

[GoodRaisin]

50. What he fails to comprehend is this is about his company's "right"

to fire employees who refuse to abide by company rules and policies.

[Bucky]

51. That took balls. Since he's unvaccinated, however, they're small balls.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

[lame54]

57. He wasn't fired - he was set free