“I’d like my nothing-burger with extra media exaggeration and presented extremely raw with no regard to my delicate gastrointestinal proclivity to regurgitate upon hearing stupid fake
news. Serve it with a side of conjecture, and portend to hyperventilate and you’ll get an extra big tip.”
Odds are you won’t hear anyone using this type of language to order food in a restaurant, but with the utter absurdity of the establishment’s collective freak out over the ongoing saga of COVID 19, as caused by the Chinese Communist Party (or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus and its various mutations, we all could be subject to more folks employing a similar line of reasoning -- and speaking -- as the days go by.
Earlier this week it was revealed (as part of a preview of Mark Meadows’ new book) that former President Donald Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus a few days before he was set to debate Democrat Joe Biden in late September of last year. Trump subsequently took another test that was regarded as more accurate and the result was negative. The president went about his schedule as close to normal as possible, but instructed people to stay away from him as a precaution.
Everyone knows the rest of the story. Trump took part in the debate, acted irritable, short tempered and not like himself. A bad performance, where he made Biden look like a sympathetic character, which is hard to do. Trump was tested again and was deemed positive, got (somewhat) sick and recovered from the airborne ailment, just as over 99 percent of people do. This despite being in an age-threatened category, and, let’s face it, a bit overweight in addition.
As would be expected, the establishment media threw a tizzy-fit over the revelation of Trump possibly being afflicted prior to sparring with senile Joe. It’s all part of Republicans’ increasing frustration with the government’s ongoing fixation with COVID-19 and its public figurehead, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Joe Biden’s COVID advisor said some heartily infuriating things last weekend, and the blowback from conservatives was tangible.
“Anthony Fauci has taken GOP anger with him to a new level by stating that Republicans who criticize him are ‘really criticizing science because I represent science.’
“The right exploded at the weekend remarks from an interview with ‘Face the Nation’ host Margaret Brennan, arguing that the comments underscore a scolding presence from the government’s foremost expert on infectious diseases that belittles concerns from their voters about his coronavirus advice...
“Republicans have long seen Fauci as a useful punching bag given the public’s fatigue with the coronavirus, and his standing as a health care adviser to President Biden has made him more of a partisan figure this year.”
None of this is particularly surprising. In his piece, Bolton portrays GOP unease with Fauci as purely political rather than fact based and the doctor’s status as the highest paid bureaucrat in America today as well as his predictions and “advice” having often proved contradictory and his testimony incorrect. But not all Republicans feel this way -- Bolton’s piece included a couple quotes from Mitt Romney. Where do you think the RINO Utah senator came down on the subject?
By now, everyone with a memory realizes that Fauci is a squatty little blowhard, but his conduct of late has been especially over-the-top. As Republicans such as Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz continue to inch closer to the truth and real culpability of the fuzzball “science” defender in all of this, the more defensive the doctor becomes.
But the heart of the issue isn’t necessarily just with Biden and Fauci. It’s the damage the virus has caused at the cultural level that’s truly devastating. COVID-19 stigmatizes people. The dictionary defines “stigmatize” as, “1. to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon: The crime of the father stigmatized the whole family; 2. to mark with a stigma or brand; 3. to produce stigmata, marks, spots, or the like, on.”
Thanks to men like Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci, there’s a stigma following anyone who tests positive for the dreaded virus. In Trump’s case, the “crime”, a.k.a positive test, stigmatized his entire administration. When it happened last year -- meaning the reporting of the actual positive test a few days after the first debate -- the liberal talking heads went into overdrive speculating on when it happened, why it did so, and how it came to pass.
Was Trump sick during the debate? Had he contracted the virus because he hadn’t worn a mask during the nomination/introduction ceremony for would-be Justice Amy Coney Barrett? If he was positive, did he give the virus to Joe Biden? Who else did Trump spread the virus to? Cad! Loser! Uncaring lout of a human being! According to the opportunists, the man’s policies led directly to the deaths of thousands, now he himself has turned into a super spreader event all his own!
To paraphrase the great Hillary Clinton (when discussing her knowledge of the 9/11/12 attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya), “What difference, at this point, does it make?” Somehow, the virus entered Trump’s body. He got it from someone, somewhere. First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump also tested positive around the time Trump had it. Like the president, they got it from another human being, perhaps the chief executive himself (or he from them).
As I’ve argued all along, if roughly half of the folks who get the virus are asymptomatic, they have no inkling they’re spreading the malady at any given moment. Unless such individuals strictly observe a six-foot personal space around themselves at all times and refrain from breathing on others in their vicinity -- very hard to do 100 percent of the time -- they’re potentially passing the sickness without even realizing it.
It's simply not practical to test asymptomatic people, just as it’s impossible to ask them to cease contact with members of their own household or close family and friends because they might be carrying the virus. Everyone could be carrying it. We simply don’t know. There is no lockdown, vaccine policy or mask policy that will eradicate this problem.
What about testing? This won’t do it either. A few weeks ago, a member of my household came down with what common sense and experience suggested was a run-of-the-mill cold. There was no fever, and the person had been fully vaccinated, so there wasn’t immediate concern on anyone’s part that it was a spreader situation. A couple days later I got sick with the same symptoms. I was well enough to work and go about my daily duties, but it was the first “cold” type illness I’d had in years.
Should I have gotten tested? I’d been fully vaccinated, too. But I would be traveling in a week or so, and what if I tested positive? My school-aged child and everyone else would be required to “quarantine” for an appropriate time, even if they were asymptomatic. I would have to stay home from visiting family across the country. I would likely have to forfeit the money I’d put out to purchase tickets for the travel, as would everyone I’ve had immediate contact with. They couldn’t work or go to school or travel either.
Does anyone see the problem with this? Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers was depicted as a backwards societal cretin for testing positive after not having been vaccinated. Several members of the Dallas Cowboys, including star wide receiver Amari Cooper and half the team’s coaching staff similarly tested positive recently. Their season could be impacted because of it.
Where does this logically end? Should we all just cancel life because of this virus that statistics say isn’t dangerous much less life threatening to most people? This is a political issue because Democrats and the media made it one. Should anyone who gets the sniffles get tested? And again, what if they are given a positive result but the sickness isn’t any worse than a mild inconvenience to themselves?
COVID 19 has turned our culture into one that fears everything, not just getting sick. The unduly frightened suspect their neighbors or coworkers because of their vaccine “status”. We make decisions on whether to travel or go out to eat on the possibility of being a carrier or sitting close to one, and then risk being stigmatized and branded if we do eventually test positive.
Where did he get it from? Is she quarantining? Did he kiss his wife? Has she hugged her child since she found out about it? How can we tell if they’re taking it seriously? Can we compel them to produce negative test results before rejoining society? Don’t they care about people? I thought I knew them better? Should people be goaded to possess and display vaccine passports?
Fictional literary character Hester Prynne was stigmatized for all-time and branded with a scarlet letter “A” for committing adultery. Should those who get COVID similarly wear a letter “C” until they achieve a certain number of negative tests? Do you really think this type of brand or stigma is that far removed from what’s going on now?
It shouldn’t matter a lick that then President Trump had a positive COVID test a few days prior to debating senile Joe Biden. He’d also had a negative one after testing positive. When is the world going to admit that this virus can’t be controlled, and that for most people, it can be treated and dealt with? Don’t ask Biden and Fauci to be the truth tellers.
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