Thursday, February 10, 2022

Politics or Science? The Great Pivot

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This week Dr. Fauci is announcing that the COVID 19 situation is about to change dramatically. He said this to the press:

“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of COVID-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated. There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.[I] hope all COVID-19 restrictions will be halted in the coming months as well", citing mandatory mask-wearing as one of the restrictions he expects to end. He agreed that restrictions might end in 2022."

Is this politics? Or science?

Be informed, not misled.

Townhall published the cartoon above yesterday:

Fauci said that he hopes all COVID-19 restrictions will be halted in the coming months as well, citing mandatory mask-wearing as one of the restrictions he expects to end. He agreed that restrictions should end in 2022.


Why the sudden change?

It was almost as if a memorandum went out. In rapid succession on Monday, Democratic leaders from a group of blue states on both coasts -- New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, California, Oregon -- announced end dates for statewide mask mandates. Each new policy was slightly different, with varying expiration dates and minor details (California, for example, is wavering on what to do about school masks) -- but the upshot was the same: It's time for a restoration of normalcy, and "the science" now permits it. 

Katie Pavlich wrote:

Suddenly and almost all at once, a number of Democratic governors in blue states announced this week they are ending a number of Wuhan coronavirus pandemic restrictions. 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy kicked things off Monday, with California's Gavin Newsom and New York's Kathy Hochul quickly falling in line behind him. 

Why the sudden change? Now we know the answer. 

Focus groups and polling convened by Democrats have them changing their policies. Given Murphy nearly lost his gubernatorial race in the fall to a Republican, he's taking advantage of the turning tide and attempting to save his political future. 

"Arranging a series of focus groups across the state to see what they had missed, Mr. Murphy’s advisers were struck by the findings: Across the board, voters shared frustrations over public health measures, a sense of pessimism about the future, and a deep desire to return to some sense of normalcy," the New York Times reports. 

"Even Democratic voters, they agreed, were wearying of the toughest restrictions, growing increasingly impatient with mandates and feeling ready to live with the risk that remained...While the specific steps vary by state, the message was the same: It’s time to move on."

Politics vs Science.

Was it ever completely about science?

The data has shown for well over a year that mask mandates in schools have no scientifically established upside on stopping transmission among students (who are already at exceptionally low risk), but many have found does present a veritable risk to kid's development, learning process, and mental health.

My point is that "science" has not changed over the past year or more.

However, public sentiment has changed dramatically. 

This big flip flop by Fauci and friends is politically motivated, in my opinion, not motivated by science.

To pretend otherwise is to invent a new standard to align with an emerging political reality.

Fox News reported yesterday afternoon that outgoing Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee told a local newspaper that his Democrat Party is facing extinction, saying Democrats have no strategy to appeal to rural voters.

The transition from "science" to politics is so abrupt that even the far-left news media is noticing it. And in some cases quietly questioning it. But there has been no hysteria from the media---or the pack of medical experts who have been lecturing America to shut up and do as I say, not as I do.

Science has not changed. The politics have changed. Science is good. Science is bad. It all depends.

Re-calculating the COVID numbers.

The Biden administration is working on recalculating the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., according to two senior officials familiar with the matter.

A task force comprised of scientists and data specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with hospitals nationwide to improve Covid-19 reporting. The group is asking hospitals to report numbers of patients who go to the facility because they have Covid-19 and separate those from individuals who go in for other reasons and test positive after being admitted, the two officials said.

As these new, revised numbers roll out, it will reflect more "progress" in Biden's fight against the virus.

A fight he promised voters he would win if they would elect him.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a press briefing on Feb. 3, that "both hospitalization and death rates---as well as vaccination rates--are key to determining whether to lift public health measures."

She will soon have the numbers to "lift public health measures."

This should have been done all along, but it wasn't---simply because of politics. Mostly because of hatred toward Trump.

Can you imagine the reaction if Flordia Governor DeSantis or Texas Governor Abbott had done precisely this last year? They would have been tarred and feathered for manipulating the numbers.

The timing is terrific.

California has lifted their mandates just after Gov. Newsom was caught---again---maskless at the NFC Championship game standing with basketball legend Magic Johnson who up until recently was living with HIV. 

LA Mayor Garcetti explained his maskless escapades by declaring that he was holding his breath while he had his mask off.

This stuff is indefensible. They say one thing, then pivot and say the opposite with no explanation or excuse. It's as though everything they've said and demanded about COVID never happened. It's shameless, but that is relativism in its lowest form.

Takeaway

Moral relativism is the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles. It’s a version of morality that advocates “to each his own,” and those who follow it say, “Who am I to judge?”

Moral relativism is on the opposite end of the continuum from moral absolutism, which says that there is always one right answer to any ethical question. It is the biblically correct answer.

Dr. Leana Wen, one of the left's favorite spokespeople, was just three weeks ago telling America we "need to tighten our mask policy."

Now, 21 days later, she is saying the exact opposite.

Scripture teaches that double-minded men [and women] are unstable in all their ways.

Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Stable. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.