Posted on 03/13/2020 5:30:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
It gets very hard to ask questions when nearly all of the media and government and many of those you live near and work with are all wringing their hands in unison. COVID-19 or coronavirus has many scared and scrambling. But who’s asking questions beyond, “What do we do now!?”
The psychology around this virus and the way it's being covered is very strange. We know President Trump began taking action in January to mitigate travel between China and the United States. Media and health officials knew about coronavirus then. Maybe you heard a passing blip about a cruise ship, but certainly nothing like this.
Stores weren’t having runs on hand sanitizer and toilet paper in January. Or February. Or even the first week of March. Why? Because the media was talking about the Democrat’s horse race. Biden was nearly done politically. Super Tuesday was just around the corner. But coronavirus was already here and spreading fast. Likely as early as the second half of last year.
I’m prepared to suggest thousands of Americans have already contracted coronavirus, blew it off as the flu or a cold, and moved on. As they should.
Then, wham! Biden has a huge night and picks up “Joe-mentum.” Every Democrat who’d been ferociously competing for a year or more suddenly drops out at the same time and endorses Biden. Bernie gets crushed in two primary elections back to back. Then….CORONAVIRUS!
All public events cease. A near octogenarian who can’t string a cogent paragraph together is abruptly crowned the party victor well before the necessary delegates are earned to secure the Democrats’ nomination. Well before more scheduled debates. It’s just…over.
Key Democrats are suggesting the remaining schedule of the contest should simply be terminated while Biden gets to hide from public view and coast to the fall, I guess? Then there’s President Trump and his wildly popular and well-attended rallies. Gone. Over. As are all public events. Just done. In a snap.
No, I’m not making connections or crafting conspiracies. I’m simply asking you to consider where we’ve been – just days ago - versus where we are now. It’s freakishly different. When that kind of pivot-on-a-dime news happens, I like to back away and assess.
Sharyl Attkisson, host of Full Measure on the Sinclair television network spoke with me this week about the media coverage surrounding COVID-19, and, like me, she drew on history and had many more questions than answers about the level of intensity this particular event is receiving now.
When I pointed to an Associated Press story – one of the few – to report the positive news 63,000 people have contracted coronavirus, recuperated and moved on with their lives, Attkisson suggested it’s likely a far bigger number.
Think of it a different way. What if I told you a million Americans contracted coronavirus, but fewer than forty people have died from it to date. Half of those are in one community of nursing homes. Would that change your attitude about this at all? Maybe not.
But is that possible? It’s highly possible, if not probable. The more people we verify contract this virus and live to tell the tale, the mortality rate drops to ridiculously low levels. More in line with a virulent flu season.
But we’re not allowed to talk about that. You can’t even say flu and coronavirus in the same sentence lest you be accused of comparing the two or making it sound as though you’re downplaying an emergency. It’s called perspective. That’s all. And we need more of it.
Attkisson went on to talk about some very alarming viruses and illnesses she’s covered in past years that struck her as far more concerning than coronavirus. “The CDC seems to pick and choose their diseases and how much attention they give them based on what, I don’t know, but it’s not consistent.”
Attkisson lamented today’s journalists - especially medical reporters - often see themselves as cheerleaders of the medical establishment even when they’re often wrong. “Reporters act as though it’s their patriotic duty to take at face value whatever corporate medical experts say.”
When I asked her about the number of flu deaths in comparison to coronavirus in the United States, Attkisson pointed out even those numbers are inflated. As she’s reported in the past, many elderly patients who die of anything from congestive heart failure or pneumonia may still be listed as a flu death even if there’s a trace or even a hunch a flu virus is in their bloodstream.
“They overcount, some people say, flu deaths to pump up the numbers to make it look worse than it is. The reason is, if you look at CDC documents, they have an internal powerpoint that talks about how to increase demand for vaccines. Of course, our health officials and government are inextricably linked to the pharmaceutical industry…”
You can take it from there.
I know, I know. It’s heresy to ask questions of the white lab coats, but they’re just as human as our corrupt-to-the-core intelligence officials of the last few years. We’re also told not to question the “consensus of scientists” that we control the intensity of weather or that Benghazi was because of a YouTube video, or…. fill in your favorite now debunked, once inarguable “fact.” There are plenty.
“I just think you have to not take everything at face value,” Attkisson told me in conclusion. “Ask questions, be prudent, and unfortunately - get your own information and try to make up your own mind on this stuff.”
Given the empty toilet paper shelves, I’d say we have a long way to go as a nation on that.
Ever notice how all the talking heads on TV cast themselves as ‘experts’ on every type of event imaginable? Be it disease outbreaks, natural disasters, extreme weather, military issues, the economy, etc. they suddenly become “fountains of knowledge” that qualify them to wax on with their commentaries, insights, pronouncements and advice.
Most of these people are “readers” and have no idea what they are talking about.
Bring Out Your Dead
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
The false positive rate was 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.
Gah! Sorry about the double post, too many screens open.
I gotta cut back...
Exactly right.
I've seen a rise in the "it's just the flu, bro" comments, a-la "ok, Boomer" that the kidz nowadays use to chastise older people. Indeed, I've seen incredibly statist tendencies coming out from previously-considered libertarians or at least conservative folks on FR. They seem perfectly happy with welding Americans into their homes, and who gives a rip about the economy we were all gonna die without some Soviet-style leadership to get.things.done. They are sounding like MSNBCers who want to put Deplorables into internment camps, just for mentioning Case Fatality Rates of flu vs Coronavirus.
Am I being overboard? Maybe a little. But, in turn, I honestly don't believe many of the 'flu' folks are arguing that this is all a big conspiracy - I think they're really arguing for balance. However, many in the anti-flu/pro-lockdown camp are strident in their syntax and many times dismissive of hard facts or analysis. If you hint or suggest that hand washing etc is good practice but vaporizing the food, beverage, hospitality and entertainment industry in America also has costs and may not be a prudent move, they become borderline hysterical.
Please understand, I'm not suggesting we should be insouciant and keep wiping our noses with our hands before shaking. The Coronavirus IS more than the flu, it has gripped the world, and being stupid is never a good business plan.
We will see where this all leads. In the meantime, I shall keep in mind that the enemy is the virus and not my fellow FReeper.
Last month I visited with our neighbors and the wife had no symptoms of any sickness and said she felt very good. That night she started having severe breathing problems and they rushed her to the hospital. They diagnosed her with Flu and pneumonia. She was put in isolation and was in there for 6 days. Now she is feeling fine.
Well said!
You have to wonder how the hysteria came about:
1. Did the natural hate-Trump / destroy-Trump inclinations of all journalists just somehow emerge in uncoordinated fashion to flame COVID hysteria?
2. Did the owners of all the large media companies all decide to instruct their people to scream “Fire”?
3. Did Soros somehow engineer this cavalcade of get-Trump hysteria with his huge money flow to subversive, communist organizations?
I am asking questions. Why is the entire world going nuts?
Bingo! You are exactly right.
*blush*
Good comment. Balanced and probably the best post I have read on the Wu Flu here. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.