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Corona Causes Stupidity To Go Viral
Townhall.com ^ | March 1, 2020 | Derek Hunter

Posted on 03/01/2020 3:17:00 AM PST by Kaslin

Politicians are known for exploiting tragedy, and no party has perfected this art more than Democrats. From shootings (name one and there’s always a Democrat there seeking to exploit it) to plane crashes (Paul Wellstone) and memorials (Elijah Cummings), Democrats are the ambulance chasing lawyers of the political world. If something bad happens, there will be a Democrat there trying to use it to their advantage. 

With the outbreak of COVID-19, AKA “coronavirus,” Democrats have crossed the line from opportunists to provocateurs - actively trying to manufacture panic to aid their 2020 prospects.

There is no doubt coronavirus is a serious matter. It’s currently ravaging areas of China, Italy, Iran, and more. But we have something those countries don’t: the greatest health care system and professionals in the world.

When you think of Iran you don’t think of world class medical care, but you might when you think of China or Italy. You’d be wrong. In Italy, some areas like Rome do have excellent hospitals, but the country as a whole is not on the leading edge of care. China is touted for the size of its economy but, as is the case in all communist regimes, the extent to which they have the best medical care available, it is reserved for those in power. Beijing could probably handle an outbreak much better than Wuhan because that’s where the people who matter live. Outside the seat of power, individuals are disposable in progressive countries like communist China. 

But the United States has excellent care everywhere. While there is no “cure” for a virus, we have the ability to treat the symptoms more readily available than any other country in the world. And we also care to administer that care. Most of the rest of the world: not so much.

That’s why we have yet to have any deaths from coronavirus and the spread has been largely contained here. 

Dying from coronavirus is rare, the mortality rate is roughly 1-2 percent. Otherwise healthy people get sick with flu-like symptoms, then recover. The threat is to the elderly, particularly those with respiratory issues or other health problems. 

You wouldn’t know any of this if you just listened to Democrats and their public relations arm in the media. To hear them tell it, we’re on the verge of a pandemic that will make the Walking Dead look like a Sunday picnic. 

Why lie? First of all, fear equals ratings and clicks. The more hyperbolic the claim in a story, the more people will tune in or share on social media. Never underestimate the power of the profit motive, especially from people to decry it. 

Second, and most importantly, they want to damage President Donald Trump’s reelection prospects. Nothing they’ve tried has worked so far. The Russian collusion hoax fell flat, impeachment fizzled, as has all the other false starts they’ve manufactured. But an abstract - the prospect of mass death at some nebulous point in the future - might just do the trick.

For this gambit to work, they have to find a way to blame the president for a problem that doesn’t really exist, but might. All that has to be sacrificed is the truth.

With this in mind, the dangers of coronavirus have been exaggerated and no context of the difference between our medical care and the areas where it is ravaging have been blurred. Stories about surgical mask shortages are common, but rarely, if ever, mention that wearing one won’t protect the healthy from any type infection, that they’re only effective when worn by sick people. They are good at stopping sick people from getting others sick because they breathe, cough, and sneeze right into them. They aren’t effective in preventing the well from ingesting the virus because they don’t create a seal around every orifice through which the virus can enter. 

This is useful information to disseminate, if your objective is to disseminate useful information. The left does not have that objective. 

Instead, we get politicians hyperventilating, claiming the president hasn’t requested enough money to fight the disease. Not said is what the “extra” money Democrats insist is necessary is actually necessary for. Are there experts and labs out there that could find a treatment but they’re sitting idle because they don’t have any money? Are there more masks and antiseptics cluttering warehouses because the government doesn’t have the money to buy them? No. 

They just complain that more money is needed because they want to make the president look as though he’s not taking this seriously, like they are. Only they aren’t. 

Congress controls the money, if they think there’s a need for more money, all they have to do is authorize it. Rather than acting, they held press conferences. That should be a tell.

Other tells are pieces like, “Coronavirus makes the case for Medicare-for-all,” in the Washington Post, which manages to argue that massive government controlled health care is necessary here because a virus was unable to be contained by a massive government controlled health care system in China. 

The Post also ran a story on how “critics,” which is always code for their liberal friends, don’t believe Vice President Mike Pence is qualified to run point on the administration’s efforts because in 2011, as a member of Congress, he voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

Additionally, leftists complain that Pence isn’t a doctor or medical expert. Curiously, none of these people had anything to say when, in 2014, President Obama appointed Ron Klain to be his “Ebola Czar.” Klain is a long-time Democratic Party operative, a lawyer and not a doctor, and Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses, if not the deadliest, on the planet. Coronavirus has a mortality rate comparable to the flu, Ebola has a mortality rate of roughly 50 percent. Yes, it’s more difficult to become infected with Ebola, but there was no concern over a political hack being put in charge of the nation’s response to that possible pandemic. 

Of course, no propaganda effort would be complete without a useful idiot working to defend the propaganda effort itself. That’s where human potato Brian Stelter comes in. CNN’s spud nails the idiot part, if not the useful end. His effort, “Trump's war on truth takes a dangerous turn as he attacks the media's coronavirus coverage,” is about how the media is so important in times like this, and the President’s criticisms harm their truth-telling efforts. No, it’s not a parody. 

To make his case, Mr. Potato Head cites “experts” like “Michiko Kakutani, the famous literary critic and author.” Because no one knows more about public health than a literary critic. Kakutani’s quote, “Trump's disdain for science and his cuts to science and public health programs have subverted preparedness for emergencies like the coronavirus,” is hilariously false. Stelter ran with it anyway because it fit the liberal narrative (I did mention the idiot part, right?) even though the Associated Press fact checked these “cut” claims and found them to be completely false

Pro-tip, Brian, when trying to claim the mantle of truth-teller, don’t lie in the piece. 

Ever vigilant in their pursuit of the liberal agenda, CNN tapped noted infectious disease expert…Chelsea Clinton to attack the president. Her effort, “Under Trump, America is less prepared for a coronavirus outbreak,” also cites these mythical budget cuts, but she at least acknowledges they didn’t happen. Still, they’re part of what she claims makes the country less safe. Writing the President “has repeatedly proposed cuts important to global health funding -- thankfully that have failed to pass in Congress.” Somehow something that did not happen is responsible for something that hasn’t happened. 

Chelsea’s lack of qualifications as an expert on the subject doesn't matter, she’s saying the right things so they let her say them. She’s billed by CNN as teaching “at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia.” Having been a health policy analyst in another life, I can assure you that there is a world of difference between studying how government mandates impact insurance prices and anything remotely related to actual medical care. But she’s willing to say what they want said, so a “news” website happily runs it. 

Now Democrat “journalists” are lying yet again, claiming the president called the virus a “hoax.” He didn’t; he called the left’s spin of it into an attack on him their latest hoax. Dana Milbank of the Post and Ken Dilanian of NBC have both helped spread this lie. Were lying about Trump not a virtue on the left, these untalented oafs would be otherwise unemployable, their only talent being a wiliness to lie or a mind so feeble they don’t realize they’re doing it. They’re lucky breathing is a reflex, as remembering to do it with regularity would prove to be too great a task for people with shoe sizes greater than their IQ. 

The only reason this isn’t more disgusting is because none of it is a surprise.

There is nothing, literally nothing, the left won’t do, try, or lie about in order to win in November. If they have to scare the hell out of the public, if they have to lie to do it, so be it. To do it they will use every useful idiot on their team, and they have many. Thankfully, while the coronavirus has spread stupidity on the left, the American public are as unlikely to fall for this latest attempt to scare them into voting for Democrats as they were with all the others.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chinavirusinfo; cnn; coronavirus; covid19; enemedia; fnn; health
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1 posted on 03/01/2020 3:17:00 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

THE FACTS: Compare & Contrast ~

Thus far during the 2019-2020 flu season (October 1st to February 22nd) according to CDC preliminary surveillance data, between 125 and 319 people have died EVERY DAY in the U.S. from seasonal Influenza A & B.

[Source] https://www.cdc.gov/…/b…/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm


2 posted on 03/01/2020 3:25:04 AM PST by Ancient Man
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To: Kaslin
".... Democrat “journalists” are lying yet again, claiming the president called the virus a “hoax.” He didn’t; he called the left’s spin of it into an attack on him their latest hoax."

"Dana Milbank of the Post and Ken Dilanian of NBC have both helped spread this lie. Were lying about Trump not a virtue on the left, these untalented oafs would be otherwise unemployable, their only talent being a wiliness to lie or a mind so feeble they don’t realize they’re doing it."

____________________

Needs to be said. They nearly always lie!

3 posted on 03/01/2020 3:26:14 AM PST by a little elbow grease (... to err is human, to admit it unusual...)
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To: Kaslin

The outbreak of stupidity the past week here at FRee Republic is the greatest I’ve ever seen in the twenty years I’ve been here. That includes hurricanes, wars, elections, floods, and plagues.

My beeber is stuned...


4 posted on 03/01/2020 3:31:47 AM PST by abb
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To: Kaslin

An excellent article...thanks for posting.


5 posted on 03/01/2020 3:33:04 AM PST by FtrPilot
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To: a little elbow grease

Talk about lies, why didn’t this thing get named correctly as the “China Flu” instead of that ungainly coronavirus name - I know, political correctness crap ..


6 posted on 03/01/2020 3:33:06 AM PST by Ken522
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To: a little elbow grease
Democrat “journalists” are lying yet again,

That doesn't surprise you, does it?

7 posted on 03/01/2020 3:34:39 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

L8r


8 posted on 03/01/2020 3:35:19 AM PST by preacher ( Journalism no longer reports news, they use news to shape our society.)
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To: abb

Not quite. We did “Trust Sessions” for years.


9 posted on 03/01/2020 3:56:06 AM PST by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: wastoute

I think with Sessions, there was more ignorance. In this case, it’s pure unadulterated stupidity by people who I used to think had common sense.


10 posted on 03/01/2020 3:58:10 AM PST by abb
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To: Kaslin

Actually, I am not so sure this “panic” is about getting it or dying from it.

It is about the disruption. The disruption of supply chains. Even if we get production up and running here in the United States, we are already at the lowest levels of unemployment in history...where do we get the workers from?

We are going to see shortages of items for months to years as the world transitions away from China.


11 posted on 03/01/2020 4:00:30 AM PST by EBH (DNC=Party NON GRATA)
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To: EBH

The bright side of this was MAYBE we will smarten up and stop being so dependent on China...especially for our Pharmaceuticals and MILITARY PARTS!!!! STUPIDITY may DIE!


12 posted on 03/01/2020 4:19:39 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: abb

Stupidity. Ignorance. A lack of common sense.

A citizenry exhibiting all of the above has far bigger problems than COVID 19.


13 posted on 03/01/2020 4:22:47 AM PST by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: Kaslin

And in keeping with the theme, many are boycotting Corona beer ...


14 posted on 03/01/2020 4:28:35 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: abb

There is a legit reason to be concerned. Several really. I don’t think anyone has a handle on just how much the mass of “asymptomatic yet contagious” is. Also the problem of what the mechanism of recovery is if it is true as stated “there is no immune response” to the virus which put it in a pretty unique class, if true. Now we are learning this virus has been around since 2014 (at least) but for some reason didn’t spread back then but was contained in a lab in Canada. That we learn today has had 4 PhDs there arrested yesterday by the FBI.

So there are a couple of things here that are fairly disconcerting. Now there is a USA death in Seattle. It’s fine to say “only 1-2% die” but if that 1% is your wife or your child (or you) that’s a pretty important 1%. We realize that it is unwise to “spook the herd” but we do have to do certain things to keep the herd safe.

People arguing over which mask is best. None of them are going to work for lay people who have never tried to maintain sterile technique. So masks are useless. Same for sanitizer. You can use it 99% of the time perfectly. Same for hand washing. A “surgical scrub” last TEN MINUTES. Sure, nobody does that because “microbial soaps” reduce that to TWO MINUTES. Well, the public no longer has access to antimicrobial soaps and i doubt anyone not in healthcare has EVER done a two minute hand wash.

IOW, IMHO, all of our best efforts will fail. All we can hope for is they don’t fail spectacularly. The question is travel. The virus doesn’t have legs, people spread it. Also, as Spring comes people spend less time densely packed. There will be more sunlight on contaminated surfaces. This virus could possibly just fade away like the flu does every spring. Just delay the spread with locked down travel and hope nature does the rest.


15 posted on 03/01/2020 4:28:42 AM PST by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: EBH
Even if we get production up and running here in the United States, we are already at the lowest levels of unemployment in history...where do we get the workers from?

More globalist GOP hype. Wages are up true, a little, but still coming off of historic lows. There are 60 MILLION working aged people NOT in the workforce. THERE IS NO LABOR SHORTAGE.

16 posted on 03/01/2020 4:34:34 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn....)
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To: Kaslin

.


17 posted on 03/01/2020 4:48:07 AM PST by sauropod (David Horowitz: “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.”)
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To: Kaslin

At the news conference yesterday, President Trump referred to a hoax. He was jumped on by a reporter for calling the virus flap a hoax.

Having set it up and getting a reporter to respond, he then said the vruw was real. It is the democrat response that is the hoax. The democrat attack on him is the hoax, the same as Russia,
Russia, Russia.


18 posted on 03/01/2020 4:55:04 AM PST by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: abb
Nothing, even this, tops the hysteria of Chinese sub-launched missiles off the California coast because somebody took a photo of aircraft contrails lit by the setting sun.


November 8, 2010

19 posted on 03/01/2020 5:05:13 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
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To: abb

Amazing isn’t it? Frightened Freepers panicking and exhibiting herd mentality hysteria.

They have practically been begging the federal government to centralize further and limit our freedoms even more. Sad to see all the “government should do more” BS.

Rugged individualism is completely dead if it can’t even be found here anymore. I agree, never has it been this bad here in 20 years. Seems like a lot of the free thinkers left FR in the last few years.


20 posted on 03/01/2020 5:08:06 AM PST by Codeflier (All my messages are intended to be friendly interaction, not a personal attack or insulting.)
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