Counsel of the Woke: Public-health experts have subordinated science to progressive politics.

City Journal ^ | June 19, 2020 | Christopher F. Rufo

[CheshireTheCat]

Early in the pandemic, University of Washington professor Carl Bergstrom established himself as a coronavirus hawk, defending Britain’s Imperial College model that predicted up to 2.2 million American deaths and arguing that the health-care system would be “overrun.” During the initial lockdowns, Bergstrom warned against “kids hanging out by the lake,” criticized Florida for “leaving beaches open,” and mocked leaders who “want us all back in church on Easter Sunday.”

Bergstrom’s subsequent conversion to “woke science,” however, was swift and absolute. On May 27, before the death of George Floyd dominated the news, the professor insisted he would wear a mask while walking alone in a public park, even if there is “only a 1-in-100,000 chance [to] save a life.” Three days later, after the outbreak of protests in Minneapolis and other cities, he tweeted that he was “heartbroken by the endemic state violence against people of color in America” and was reading Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist. A few days later, Bergstrom conceded that “science is an inherently political activity” and endorsed the protests, making the dubious claim that millions of protesters rallying, chanting, and gathering in close quarters wouldn’t necessarily spread Covid-19—and even if they did, he “wholeheartedly support[ed] the protests nonetheless.”

Here’s the problem: Bergstrom and other public-health experts persuaded Americans that their advice on the pandemic response was driven exclusively by science and underwritten by cold fact. They argued that politics should be subordinated to scientific knowledge—but when the political grounds shifted, they immediately reversed that formulation. Bergson’s case is especially damning. In less than a week, he made the moral leap from recommending behavioral modification for a “1-in-100,000 chance” of death to supporting protests that, according to his colleague Trevor Bedford, could cause up to 4,000 Covid-19 deaths.

[CheshireTheCat]

On June 7, Beford tweeted: "I'd give a highly speculative "more than 50 and less 500" estimate for the number of eventual deaths for each day of protests," among other tweets.

https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1269786156616433664

[SunkenCiv]

Public-health experts have subordinated science to progressive absolutist politics.

[fireman15]

The clown should be tried for treason and hung in a public square.

The number of additional deaths from people who were denied life saving elective surgeries and treatments over the past several months far exceeds the number of deaths that the “stay at home” orders may have saved. And the policies of Governors who forced facilities to accept Covid cases where there were vulnerable people is akin to cold blooded murder, and made much worse that these poor old people died without their family and friends by their side. Just awful.

[Ceebass]

“woke science”.....

It went far beyond the exaggerated models. The attack on hydroxychloroquine was a disgrace and further destroyed whatever credibility the fda had.

Beyond the pandemic there is the farce of climate change and other frauds.

[spintreebob]

The truth, the fact, is that none of us know if, and how many, will catch coronavirus due to either the protests or the Tulsa rally.

In the following month,
what if 50% test negative and 50% test positive for CORONAVIRUS.
What if 0% of those who test positive develop anti-bodies?
What if 0% of those who test positive have no significant illness?
What if it is 90% or 10%?
Suppose we are talking about 30,000 people. How many would get sick during the normal course of events?

Who will be collecting the data? Who will have control of the data the results in the next month and will choose to publish it only if it confirms their bias?

[FormerFRLurker]

Sorry, but “life saving elective surgeries” does not compute. If a surgery is necessary for saving a life it is not elective. Elective surgery refers to cosmetic surgery and things like knee replacement that improve quality of life but are not necessary for life.

[fireman15]

Elective surgery refers to cosmetic surgery and things like knee replacement that improve quality of life but are not necessary for life.

Wouldn't that be nice! Tell that to our friend's family who needed a heart valve repair that was considered “elective”... he died while waiting for it. It was not his choice to wait, the hospitals would not schedule that type of surgery during covid in most cases. I am sure that our friend's family would be comforted by your assurance that “elective surgery” only refers to surgeries you don't really need. My brother-in-law died from a brain tumor during this time period as well. The surgery that might have extended his life was considered “elective” as well.

I am sorry but you just do not know what the hell you are talking about! And I cannot emphasize that enough!!! You have been drinking the Kool-Aid provided to you by the MSM. Elective surgery during Covid has been referring to any surgery that is scheduled including cardiovascular, organ transplant and cancer related surgeries. Of course there are also many people who put off going to the hospital because they were afraid. Delayed life saving elective surgeries have resulted in thousands of needless deaths.

Here are a couple links that refer to the problems that were created. Even they kind of soft pedaled what happened, but the hospitals around here were not scheduling any surgeries even ones that would inevitably result in your death if they kept being delayed.

https://baptisthealth.net/baptist-health-news/dont-delay-your-heart-surgery-in-covid-19-era/

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/85623

[FormerFRLurker]

Thanks for the links. I was going by the common layman’s understanding of the term “elective surgery” and did not realize the medical community had changed the definition on us during the CV crisis.

I am sorry for your losses. For what it’s worth I’m sure your brother-in-law and friend’s family member are in a better place now than the hellhole this country has become.

[fireman15]

Thanks for being so gracious. I am very sorry that I went off on you. I should have just explained what I knew.