COVID as Katrina: fear and blame is useful to the left
I went to the hospital today for an upper abdominal sonogram. They’re trying to decide whether my weary old gallbladder will be allowed to stay with me for the duration of the journey, or if it needs to disembark at a station soon.
Sonograms are easy tests. The most that was required of me for this one was to fast, and then to lie down, hold my breath now and then, and turn this way and that.
My task was made even easier by the fact that the hospital parking lot, ordinarily so full at that time of day, was largely empty. The hospital waiting room likewise, and they took me right away. I was in and out, start to finish including check-in, obligatory hand-sanitizing and answering COVID symptom questions, in twenty-five minutes flat.
That got me to thinking once again of the missed screening tests, diagnostic tests, and treatment that enhanced COVID-fear hath wrought. And, strangely enough, as deaths have dropped, the fear doesn’t seem to be abating.
Among other things, the Democrats have labeled it politically useful. And it is. Biden has fastened on it as the hallmark of his campaign. Trump has now come to symbolize the opposite approach, which the opposition calls reckless and foolhardy, tantamount to murder, and which we on the right call reasonable caution combined with courage and guarded optimism.
You pays your money and you takes your choice. The parties have decided on their respective approaches, and those approaches also happen to play to psychological characteristics of their respective bases. The MSM does the rest – which from the start has been to place a heavy heavy thumb on the scale of “This is Trump’s fault,” in hopes that Biden and company win as a result.
I read today that polls show that most people think Trump is to blame and that Biden would do better:
Democrats have planned to leverage the twin crises of COVID-19 and the economic shutdowns to win in November. Biden’s message, not surprisingly, is all over the place, at once condemning the president for not doing enough to stop the spread then condemning the president for the economic and societal consequences of the lockdown that was intended to stop the spread.
Polls consistently show low approval ratings for the president on his handling of the disease; most respondents believe Biden would do a better job even though his plans do not differ from the president’s. Biden continues to flip-flop on a national mask mandate but has publicly said he would authorize another economic lockdown.
It’s increasingly likely the election will be a referendum on Coronavirus and its after-effects, which means Trump’s new tack [of “Fear not!”] is a risky, but necessary, one.
It’s only risky because the public has been told over and over that COVID is a killer far out of proportion to its actual menace (which is bad enough, but not catastrophic) and that Trump’s approach has led to further death and destruction. I’ve noticed that, as the danger slowly recedes, the fear has not – at least, among most people I know. Their anger at Trump and contempt for him has only increased.
Propaganda works. It really really really does.
And this was the plan from the very start. It was back in March that the drumbeat began: this would be Trump’s Katrina. You can do a search yourself and find all the articles, but for now I’ll give a link to just one of them from mid-March.
The media and the left care nothing about what this tactic of theirs has done to people’s health, both physcial (in the sense of missed medical interventions for other problems) and mental (for example depression and anxiety). Doesn’t matter. It’s like the riots in blue cities – the damage is extraordinary, even to the left’s own constituents, but that doesn’t matter either because it’s all part of the drive to defeat Trump, sow chaos, and turn this country into a permanent leftist fiefdom and its people into docile and obedient citizens who do what they’re told.
[NOTE: And of course Biden is now saying no more debates if Trump has COVID.]
An ignorant electorate, an electorate that refuses to learn, an electorate that thinks with its feelings. What could go wrong?
Covid has been a godsend to Democrats. Sad.
Katrina (2005) was the first real chink in GWB’s armor. Democrats slid the knife in. The off-year election in 2006 was a disaster.
Indeed! The fear has not receded, because propaganda does, in fact, often work, even at its most idiotic. In California, the governor (who may perhaps be even stupider and more incompetent than the governor of New York) is recommending (insanely, needless to say) that diners wear a mask between bites as they eat. Any person who does not understand that this is an attempt at totalitarian control and a manifestation of the most unethical hunger for power is unworthy of inhabiting a republic and intellectually incapable of voting sensibly.
Democrats want power. They worship the “God of forces” that was described to Daniel in that vision. They don’t care about the God of their fathers, or the love of human beings. They praise themselves above anyone else. As they worship Power, they also worship Death.
They will obtain Power by any means necessary. And once they have it, they will keep that power for as long as possible. They will stay in power under any pretense or lie they can muster until Kingdom come.
It doesn’t look good for us.
It took 40 years for the Iron Curtain countries and the Baltic states to break free from the Soviets. One generation had to pass before they could, with the right leaders.
It took 72 years for the Russians themselves and other peoples to bring down the Soviet Union. Two generations passed before they could do so.
Let me remind you as well that Democrats controlled Congress for forty years before Newt Gingrich and the “Contract with America” brought them down.
The Millennial generation, already fully indoctrinated into Marxism, is truly lost. There is no way around it. With them in power, we don’t stand a chance. We might need to learn hard lessons for forty more years before we can be truly free. My children and grandchildren will have to fight for their freedom. They will earn that right.
Propaganda, brain-washing. The last few weeks have been very enlightening. Indeed the media outlets of every stripe have been very effective regarding this virus. Early on, we noted that the degree of fear could be tied to how much “news” one watches. And the irony….if our President didn’t shut down travel (with the howl of his adversaries accusing him of every offense) we likely would have had a much worse outcome on our hands. So once again, the Leftists have things turned around 180 degrees from reality. Very consistent for facts to be damned.
theduchessofkitty:
Those are my fears as well.
Sharon W:
For years, quite a few people have been saying that the low approval and trust ratings for the MSM mean that they don’t have much influence anymore. I have said time and again that they do. People are influenced whether they consciously trust them or not. It takes a lot to resist the propaganda, and I really think that if this country sinks to the left – which I fear it is in the process of doing – it will be in large measure because of the MSM.
There are other reasons, too, education being very important as well. But the MSM is huge.
Here’s a golden eighties oldie that fits the mood. Not all rock was left-wing. Some good music back there.
____________________________________________
Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For some day sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stand still
–Mike & the Mechanics, “Silent Running” (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep7W89I_V_g
I had a PT appointment today which is a few blocks from the local town hall. In front of the PT office there was a line of cars stretching for a half mile iwth police directing traffic….why? Well, of course free, no prescription covid testing.
Why would anyone want to be tested if feeling fine?? The only answer is the “fear” that Neo writes about. I now think Trump is toast; the virus was a supreme gift for the Dems. It destroyed the economy, and with the propaganda has destroyed the only person who could have saved us from the People’s Utopia. I fully expect to wake up post election to President Harris nee Biden.
Also note how no MSM has said anything about Brennan/Obama/Clinton treason that was just revealed.
physicsguy: My sister and niece intend to visit me soon. They are in Massachusetts and I’m in New Mexico.
They must fill out a Covid form in order to return to Mass. And then they must quarantine for 14 days OR take a Covid test.
“Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order
https://www.mass.gov/forms/massachusetts-travel-form
Neo: You’re correct.
See: “Jane Fonda Say’s Coronavirus “God’s gift to the Left””, at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBRhZ2mwL7Q
theduchessofkitty, and, physicsguy: Alas, I think you’re both correct.
But, the future may more likely resemble: “President (who? – whom?), nee Harris, nee Biden”.
If that is to be our future, then given the “Brave New World” nature of contemporary technology, it may well endure far, far, longer than the seven decades of the former Soviet Union.
And – akin to Dostoyevsky’s “Grand Inquisitor” – be welcomed by many.
Huxley, my brother and his wife are scheduled to visit us next week from Colorado which was just put on the shit list by Connecticut. Makes no sense as CO is ranked 31st on worldometers. They are considering cancelling, but my wife who returned from a quick trip to Seattle told them to just walk on by the person with the forms when they arrive at the airport just as everyone else did. This is all such BS.
Testing in CT has increased by about 50% in the last two weeks and of course the “cases” has also gone up with Lamont now “warning about a new surge!”. Of course CT uses only PCR testing so many of those “cases” are probably asymptomatic cases from months ago. Meanwhile Florida and Georgia are doing just fine being completely open. sigh…..
I will never ever forgive the Dems and Fake News for this entire disaster. Luckily, I got the medical treatment I needed. And I really needed it. Others, as I understand, weren’t so lucky.
And the whole point of this was to beat Trump and, more particularly, create this mail-in voting so that they can steal votes.
The Dems are just plain evil and heartless.
The revolution that will not be televised will not broadcast the slaughter of leftists, simply because the denizens of the msm will also be victims. Fools wishing for what they don’t understand. I got 2 MOA at 400 yards. Say hello to 192 grains.
Trump is going to be re-elected. Easily.
That is all.
They have ramped up the “free testing!” in the past few weeks in order to create “third wave” hysteria before the election and shut down in-person voting.
Free testing of ordinary asymptomatic people results in tons of false positives (at least as many as true positives, since the viral incidence is about the same or lower than the false positive rate of the test, 3-5%). The false positives won’t be challenged as such by ordinary people, and will get logged into the “third wave” statistics.
All they have to do to create a “wave” of disease is push/scare people into getting tested with super-sensitive assays and watch the (false) positives roll in.
They did it when states started opening up successfully and Trump started holding rallies this summer (the “second wave”) and they are doing it in the month before the election.
And sorry, Ackler, between the disastrous debate, the “third wave”, Trump having a positive test foisted upon him, the post office “losing” ballots being sent from ZIP codes that went for Trump in 2016, and the massive ballot harvesting to be performed in all the swing states in the weeks after election day, Trump has ZERO chance. This is going to be a landslide for Biden.
Booster,
I respectfully disagree. Trump is going to win comfortably. Not a landslide, but not close either. He will take the popular vote by 2-3% and win in the EC by between 315-350.
My suggestion to you, and many others, is to take a cleanse from ALL media (mainstream, alternative, left and right, including blogs like this one) for about 48 hours; no exceptions. During that time, do your best not to think about anything political, including all current events, such as (and especially) Covid-19. After that cleanse, take another day to think about this election, specifically the candidates and their personalities, relying on nothing but your own common sense. Then, come back and share your thoughts. If you still are of the same conclusion, fair enough; we agree to disagree. But I think such a cleanse will affect your perspective considerably. It certainly has for me.
I will call attention to two articles I’m pretty sure I mentioned before, by Warren Meyer over at Coyoteblog…. I think his description of “Sweden Tribe” and “Whitmer Tribe” are pretty apt. I suppose “Helicopter Tribe” (as in “Helicopter parents”) might also fit the latter.
The COVID Rorschach Test and the Split in Thinking That Divides America (the Sweden tribe vs. the Whitmer tribe)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2020/09/the-covid-rorschach-test-and-the-split-in-thinking-that-divides-america-the-sweden-tribe-vs-the-whitmer-tribe.html
This piece is also pretty spot-on, IMNSHO:
Why The Incentives Are Stacked to Overreact to COVID
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2020/09/why-the-incentives-are-stacked-to-overreact-to-covid.html
BTW, as to the dangers — I have been in South Carolina for five of the last six weeks for work. There are a large smattering of people who pay no attention to the mask requirements any more than pro-forma (i.e., actually wearing them anywhere people don’t insist on it) in the general public (not talking about people around the elderly or anything). I would estimate that more than 75% of the people don’t wear them for the most part. You look around and see a few people wearing them “properly”, but not many, and, most of those wearing them have them around their chin, not their face.
If there hasn’t been an absolute explosion of hospitalizations and fatalities in the course of another week or two in SC, it’s clear that the masks are mostly unnecessary and useless at this point… if it wasn’t already.
Neo, I read your piece after a bad day and it made it worse. In my mind I know that the polls are baloney, heavily over weighted with Dems, and Trump’s rallys draw huge crowds, but the propaganda still gets to me. Then I saw this video and it really brightened up my day. You know what else it did, it made me a Trump fan, not just a supporter. I’m very cynical about politics and politicians, always out for themselves with no regard for the public good. But here’s the President praising anyone and everyone who helped him, and lots of other people besides, telling us that he’s doing everything he can to make sure that the same medicine will available to everyone as soon as possible if not sooner, and no bureaucrat is going to get in the way. How can you not like the man after this?
https://youtu.be/lw78cZIAROU
Things are pretty much open here in Florida. Our governor has been following the advice of three “dissenting” infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists who just published The Great Barrington Declaration: https://gbdeclaration.org/ Here is more from the scientists, and an interview: https://unherd.com/2020/10/covid-experts-there-is-another-way/
As a resident of the gulf coast I have to point out that “Bush’s Katrina” was also a media/Democrat creation. There were certainly valid criticisms of Bush to be made, but hanging the disaster around his neck as they did was an act of deception.
This is going to be a case of people getting what they deserve. Biden wasn’t a leading political figure in his prime and now he’s sliding downhill toward dementia. Harris was a spectacular disaster in the primaries. The Democratic Party is split between corporatists who want to pretend its 1997 forever and Leftists who have no idea how truly unpopular most of their ideas are with the general public.
I suck as Nostradamus but I cannot conceive of any situation where a Biden Administration isn’t a dumpster fire, even with all the media gaslighting the public otherwise. And it’s going to be a disaster at a time of genuine crisis and enormous challenges. Neither Biden nor his handlers have a clue what to do about any of the problems facing the U.S. because they don’t even want to admit they exist.
Mike
Mac:
Not only that, but it had the same m. o. – which was to claim that the federal executive should have taken complete control over local authorities (Democrats) in order to prevent their failures and errors.
Of course, if Trump had actually done that (or Bush for that matter) they would have called him a tyrant.
The local TV channel that we watch for weather and sports runs an ad every twenty minutes or so. It depicts a young man talking to his mother on a tablet. She is in a hospital bed and he is tearfully saying his last goodbyes. The scene fades and the message comes on. “COVID-19 is real. It’s dangerous. It can kill your mother, father, aunt, uncle, or someone else you love. Take precautions. Wear a mask, wash your hands, and maintain a social distance of at least six feet. Together, we can get through this.” Pure fear. But guess what? POTUS DJT has demonstrated that it need not kill at risk people. If they get treated aggressively. And now he announces that he wants every COVID-19 patient to get the same treatment that he got…….free. I can’t find the link, but saw the video this afternoon on Fox. I imagine it will be talked about by VP Pence tonight.
This could be a game changer. The Democrats will attack him vigorously for giving “false hope,” but I sense that things are going to start moving back toward normal. It’ll take some time, but as people get sick and get treated successfully, the word will come out.
Many of my friends here in Tucson are batshit crazy afraid of Covid. Even some voting for Trump. Totally saturated by MSM and dem propaganda. Focused totally on cases driven by massive and often false positive testing, but ignoring diving hospitalizations and deaths.
So, yes, it works. They are truly the enemy of the people, both the MSM and the corrupt, evil democrat pols.
The Great Barrington Declaration posits a sane common sense approach that many of us were saying 6 weeks into this fiasco.
Who knows, maybe Trump loses. Obama was elected twice after all, which required massive ignoring of why he should not have been.
On the other hand, Trump inspires people. Hopefully enough. It’s a race on the one hand of people who love his policies and patriotism regardless of what they think of his personality, vs the trump haters and the Covid cowards. Fear and hatred are powerful motivators, but so are love and respect.
By the way, Ackers advice is good. Taking a timeout from the media deluge clears the head.
J.J.
King Jay of Inslee wisdom of the day:
“What aircraft carriers were in World War II, masks are today. #MaskUpWA”
We are governed by a total maroon and doofus. His statement makes absolutely no sense, but that’s our Jay. Bless his heart?
ace.mu.nu “The Morning Rant by OregonMuse” from 10/07/20
om; J.J.:
Maybe he meant that masks are landing pads for lethal weapons (the viruses)?
Somehow I doubt it. But that’s the only analogy that works.
Dr. Fauci “warned” of a pandemic back in 2017. He has connections to the Wuhan lab. Conspiracy theory, anyone?
Thanks, Bill. I very much appreciate it.
We all need a break…from the MSM (as well as the conservative and alternative media) to regain our bearings. I’ve taken a few since the Covid-19 madness started and I’m likely to take another one or two before the election.
I will just add this: I’m 42; not too old, but long lived enough have a bit of experiences, memories and knowledge which all inform my judgment. I get the sense many people here are my senior, which I entirely respect. All I ask is: draw on your own experiences and memories.
Put aside everything the MSM throws at you relentlessly. Try to be as objective as possible (which, I admit, is difficult), when considering the state of the election, and the two candidates. Yes, yes, Covid; yes, yes… immigration and demographic change…and all the other buzz words (and buzz topics) our ‘betters’ keep insisting makes a massive Democrat victory ‘inevitable’. Suffice to say…after 30 years of “Democrat dominance is just around the corner” bromides from all ‘right thinking’ (I definitely don’t mean ideologically ‘right’) people, maybe it’s time to pull back, take a deep breath and not submit to their smug self-certain declarations?
Maybe, just maybe, we plebians, kulaks, ‘deplorables’ (call us what you will!) know and understand ourselves much better than they do. And…guess what? There are still many, many more of us, than them (much as that infuriates them)
Om, neo, no one ever accused King Jay of being a genius. The aircraft carriers carried the weapons (airplanes) that put the Japanese Navy out of business. Somewhat like a therapeutic agent putting the virus out of business. If you believe the mask is effective, it is more akin to armor plate, of which the aircraft carriers didn’t have much.
But King Jay follows the science;
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/cdc-director-robert-redfield-suggests-face-masks-may-be-more-effective-than-a-vaccine-in-preventing-individual-coronavirus-infections/ar-BB196I1M At least THAT science, which he likes.
I found a link about POTUS’s promise to get the therapeutics he got to everyone……..free.
https://wtaq.com/2020/10/07/trump-credits-coronavirus-therapeutics-wants-to-make-them-more-widely-available/
Neo;
Yes aircraft carriers were often on the receiving end of bombs, torpedoes, and kamikaze aircraft but to the carrier’s crew and officers such events were not a good thing. King Jay is something.
Neo, I don’t remember that specific line of attack. I remember mainly the sort of crazy implication that the president has godlike knowledge and power, and I guess that’s connected to what you describe: that he should have used those godlike powers. If they would treat Democrats the same, they might begin to see that their basic presumption is wrong: that the president’s job is to understand and solve every problem everywhere. One might even see some dispelling of illusions. But as you say they just do a 180 when their party is in charge. And blame the Republicans.
I had a direct experience of that, um, flexibility when the BP oil spill happened. I criticized the Obama administration’s handling of it and was told by his supporters that he was only the president, couldn’t be expected to fix everything, etc
“They must fill out a Covid form in order to return to Mass. And then they must quarantine for 14 days OR take a Covid test.” – huxley
Will your Mass. visitors also be stuck in the house/hotel in NM for their entire visit?
Family members had an accident in NM last month; wife in the hospital a couple of weeks for fractures, husband required to quarantine in a motel for 2 weeks without being able to see her.
He went back home and prepped the house for her return instead.
OBloodyHell – that second link should be required reading. Puts all the relevant controversies into perspective.
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2020/09/why-the-incentives-are-stacked-to-overreact-to-covid.html
Don Surber has a great post about Trump vs Covidemocrats.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2020/10/trump-makes-covid-19-irrelevant.html#more
When I flew up to Alaska from Washington two weeks ago, I had to take a test first and have it registered before I could get on the plane, and then socially distance until I took another test in Alaska seven days later.
Screw that. That first week I went about my business as normal, and the second test just confirmed that, no s***, I’m not sick.
Will your Mass. visitors also be stuck in the house/hotel in NM for their entire visit?
AesopFan: In theory. Practice, however, may be a trifle different.
I’m beginning to think that in Texas, things are starting to return to normal: just yesterday, we got word that a very good and profitable yearly craft fair will happen as usual. We signed up for a table at it, quite happily, as we were afraid that it would be cancelled this year. Christmas on the Square in Goliad will happen as usual – an outdoor event, around the Courthouse Square in that little town. There will be a “Quilts for Heroes” presentation later in November that was put off from March.
I think that Trump bouncing back from “OMGOD! The Corona Crud is a death sentence!” maybe demonstrated that no … it’s just the flu. YMMV
I was reflecting this morning on how the press treated RBG’s various serious illnesses. Even when she was clearly dying of pancreatic cancer, they treated the disease as a challenge that spunky people could clearly overcome with a never-say-die spirit. She was a hero for continuing to work, and then for refusing to resign even on her deathbed. President Trump contracts a disease with a 95+% survival rate even among people of his age, and it’s a sure killer that only a fool would fail to treat as an unsurvivable disaster. Yet he went right back to work, the terrible man! Scoffing at the science!
Sgt Mom – I was all set to come to the Houston International Quilt show with some buddies, but it isn’t happening. Have fun in Goliad!
Texan99 – too true. “If the left didn’t have double standards….”
I wonder if we could get Governor Abbott to declare Trump an honorary Texan for attitude?
“In theory. Practice, however, may be a trifle different.” – huxley
Supposedly, Yogi Berra once said, “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.”
In theory, Yogi said it; in practice, he gets the credit for some other folks.
Who cares: it’s a true statement.
https://checkyourfact.com/2019/08/28/yogi-berra-theory-difference-practice/
Einstein should know from theory.
(I deliberately did NOT link the Snopes post (it also rated the attribution false). I’m boycotting them, in theory and practice.)
Good to boycott lyin’ fact checkers like Snopes. Who’s the worse, more harmful liar: a) who lies frequently (>20%), or b) who lies seldom (<5%)?
Somewhere over 90% true people start trusting – and then lies are "worse". Snopes is like that, it seems – I stopped checking so I'm not sure not. Perhaps those who check mostly conservative issues think they lie more often…
Neo, hope you're doing fine. My wife was at the doctor's today, thinking she'd get an appointment (in a few months) and come back for one test, then again for a second — but she knows the doctor. And she's a doctor herself, tho works as a professor. Instead of 30 min, she was there for 3 hours – but got 6 visits worth of med exams. She's better than 2 years ago.
Hope you're fine, too.
Tom Grey:
Thanks.
I’m basically okay – just feeling down about the political situation and stressed from that. My gallbladder results were exactly as I thought they’d be – I some stones but I don’t have to rush out and have surgery at the moment. Watchful waiting.
Neo – if the gallbladder starts hurting, yank it.
I ignored warning signs for months, thinking it was just indigestion.
Then the real pain started.
The only thing that ever hurt more was being in labor without anesthetics.
Very nice little laparoscopy procedure was quick and neat.
Recovered quickly enough to drive to Texas a couple of weeks later for a son’s wedding.
Although I did pull over and take naps a bit more often than usual.
AesopFan:
My doctor’s recommendation was not to have surgery at this point. I suppose I could go to another doctor and push it, but at the moment I’m going to wait and see.
However, I had several attacks (very painful) in the last year. But nothing for about 6 months. I think that’s why they’re waiting and seeing.