Just to preface this post, no, I'm still not 'over' the pandemic, and various government responses to it. It seems as though a lot of people just want to put all that unpleasantness behind us as a society, and move on, but we cannot do that. 'Authoritarianism' is a word that gets tossed about with reckless abandon, typically to describe virtually anything the Left opposes, but COVID triggered an extraordinary avalanche of authoritarian edicts -- many rooted in extremely dubious science, or none at all. Bureaucrats and politicians declared that we must "follow the science," even when they had little-to-no basis for the supposed "Science" in question. Those who objected, or even asked questions, were pilloried as dangerous and selfish knuckle-draggers who were literally killing people. Some were forcibly stripped of their livelihoods. For a time (and a longer time in some places than others), we could not attend religious services. Elderly people died alone, and their families were barred from even giving them proper funerals. Wide swaths of public places were just off limits.
Mental illnesses deepened as a result of these restrictions. Substance abuse problems proliferated, as did other forms of abuse. Non-COVID-related afflictions went undetected, costing lives.The damage inflicted on children who were locked out of schools is still being quantified. I understand and acknowledge that in the early days, and even months, "fog of war" fears were rampant, and a lot of people were truly just trying to do their best to keep themselves, their loved ones, and their communities safe. But after awhile, sound science was ignored and suppressed, obedience was illegitimately demanded, control was unduly exerted, and widespread civil liberties violations ran rampant. So no, I'm not 'over it,' and I'm not sure I ever fully will be. Which is why I think you need to see this, which makes the impositions of "Science"-based power even less defensible:
New Peer-reviewed—181 countries' 100,000 models
— Kulvinder Kaur MD (@dockaurG) July 6, 2024
"We find no patterns in models that suggests clear relationship btwn Covid govt responses & outcome
"We are left to conclude—strong claims re impact of govt responses on Covid burden lack empirical support"https://t.co/1kubReIMyH
Government responses to COVID-19 are among the most globally impactful events of the 21st century. The extent to which responses—such as school closures—were associated with changes in COVID-19 outcomes remains unsettled. Multiverse analyses offer a systematic approach to testing a large range of models. We used daily data on 16 government responses in 181 countries in 2020–2021, and 4 outcomes—cases, infections, COVID-19 deaths, and all-cause excess deaths—to construct 99,736 analytic models...In summary, we find no patterns in the overall set of models that suggests a clear relationship between COVID-19 government responses and outcomes. Strong claims about government responses’ impacts on COVID-19 may lack empirical support.
That's a massive, global, peer-reviewed study, using reams of data from many governments, that finds "no patterns" demonstrating a "clear relationship" between how governments responded to the pandemic and the resulting health outcomes. The authors soften the conclusion a bit by suggesting that "strong claims" about the relationship between restrictions and health outcomes "may lack empirical support." This seems like a very big deal, even if some people want to dispute the finding. It has generated very little coverage, perhaps because it rips apart narratives in which many people (very much including journalists) were invested for quite some time. Or perhaps it's because people just don't want to think or hear about this subject anymore. Maybe it's a bit of both.
I'm sure many of those suffering from pandemic fatigue are also uninterested in developments regarding COVID's origins, a topic that triggered scandalous lying and obfuscation from a cascade of "experts," including Dr. Anthony Fauci. Again, dissenters and questioners were lectured and shamed. But those who thought that the novel Coronavirus discovered around Wuhan, China may have...leaked from the dodgy novel Coronavirus lab in Wuhan, China were right. And there's even more evidence proving as much, even as the Faucis of the world continue to dissemble and mislead:
COVID-19 likely was caused by a research incident involving three culpable actors:
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) July 8, 2024
1) China (which performed high-risk research with inadequate safeguards)
2) US (which funded the recklessness)
3) US officials and contractors (who violated US policies to fund the recklessness) https://t.co/6iNkUFl7Ax
When Fauci is caught in a deception, he deflects, denies, and dives into the weeds of technicalities, designed to seem too complex for non-'experts' to understand. But here is something that we can all understand. If he's willing to say this, as the self-described embodiment of Science Itself, what isn't he willing to say, in support of an ideological cause he supports?
Recommended
Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci says he has "no doubt" Biden is capable of continuing as president https://t.co/EMcHEwJFXK
— The Hill (@thehill) July 3, 2024
Yes, this was after the debate:
Former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a new interview he has “no doubt” President Biden is mentally capable of serving as president, amid growing concern among Democrats about the president’s standing as the party’s presumptive nominee. “In my interactions with him, I have no doubt,” Fauci said about Biden, when asked on the CBS News podcast “The Takeout” with Major Garrett if he has any concerns about the president’s “vigor and mental capability” to continue in office...“I don’t want to comment about what happened that [debate] night, but you know, to me, it just looked like a bad night,” Fauci said.
He may say he has "no doubt" about Biden's capacity, which is why we should all have serious doubts about Fauci's veracity. Finally, on White House opacity and hypocrisy (on a matter apparently later resolved by this letter), I'll leave you with this:
Pretty incredible how a White House that demanded Americans show a medical record to keep their job now demand medical privacy when questions are asked about the neurological health of the President of the United States https://t.co/pEK7tx5664
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 9, 2024
