Is Testing a Good Strategy

                                                               The View from the Middle 

If your goal is to keep America in panic mode, then a massive testing effort is a great idea.  If you increase testing by 1,000%, do you know what you are going to get?  You are going to get more positive test results, and according to the CDC about 20% of those results are going to be false positives.  This increase in cases will be captured by the news media and dominate front pages and lead stories on TV because fear sells papers, ratings and clicks around the world.  

What you won’t hear much about on the news is that there has only been one death in the US due to the Omicron variant, and that person died “with” Covid, not “from” Covid.  You will also not hear that hospitalizations are not increasing nearly as much as infections and the main reason for increased hospitalizations is that people are finally getting some of those elective surgeries that they have been postponing for over a year.  This variant is less lethal than the original virus or the Delta variant and, if it follows the same steep increase and almost immediate steep decline seen in other countries, it may be ushering in the end of this pandemic.

It also makes me laugh to watch the coverage of incredibly long lines of people waiting to get a test standing outdoors in the freezing cold and sometimes in the pouring rain, reading books or their phones.  Obviously, these people aren’t experiencing any symptoms, or they would (and should) be at home in bed.  Given these “lack of symptoms” testers, we are getting many asymptomatic infected or false positives.  Now, is it important to find these asymptomatic carriers?  Yes and no.  First, these people are not showing symptoms, so they aren’t out there sneezing and coughing on people.  Can they spread this much milder version of Covid to others.  It is possible, but not likely.  In fact, I can find no data on what percent of transmissions are caused by the asymptomatic.

And how often should we test when a person can be exposed to Covid within minutes of testing negative?  Should we test multiple times a day?  Three times?  Four times?  To test three times a day we would need a BILLION tests per day just here in the US, yet we have only ordered half a billion to be delivered in mid-January.  Can you understand how ludicrous a massive testing effort like this will be?  Finally, if we get the same quick peak and decline experienced by other countries, the tests that Biden is planning to deliver in mid-January will most likely be too late anyway.  

Imagine if we had mandatory tests for the common cold, which is also a coronavirus, every year and then mandated five-day quarantines for everyone who tested positive and everyone who was exposed to them.  And the same for next year’s seasonal flu.  Our economy would never recover.  Our children would be taught remotely every day of every year and they would suffer academically, emotionally and socially for the rest of their lives.  At some point the regression students experience would become irreversible.

When are we going to accept the fact that this virus is in control and we must learn to live with it?  If you look at the pattern of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the US the virus has exploded during times of economic shutdowns and mask mandates just shrugging off these feeble attempts to kill it.  And Joe Biden’s message of doom and gloom has done nothing to kill the virus or motivate our citizens.

If we want to defeat this virus we must stop the counting, which is a big lie in and of itself.  The infection numbers are full of false positives and double counts.  The deaths are exaggerated by at least 25%, and that is according to Dr. Deborah Birx from the original Covid-19 task force.  The death toll continues to include people who die “with” Covid, but not “from” Covid.  If we had used the same methodology for the great Influenza of 1918, the US would have reported the equivalent of eight million deaths back then. 

There are a few of things, however, that we can do, as citizens, to mitigate the spread of this virus.  First, we need to wash our hands multiple times a day.  In my article “Do Masks Even Work” I point out that some of the Randomized Controlled Trials do show a positive correlation between hand washing and mitigation of virus’.  So, wash your hands.  Second, if you are sick, if you are actually experiencing symptoms, stay home.   Third, consult your doctor and ask if the vaccine is appropriate for you.  Despite the fact that there have been many examples of cross-over infections (people who have been vaccinated but still were infected with Covid), the vaccine has shown evidence of protecting people from infection and of becoming seriously ill if they are.

And there are also a few things that the government should be doing to guide the country out of this pandemic.  First, we need a positive message from the top instead of this “winter of severe illness and death”, which is not only depressing the country, but is also inaccurate.  The Omicron variant actually delivers mild cases and virtually no deaths.  Stop the fearmongering.  Stop the lockdowns.  Stop the mandates, and stop ignoring natural immunity.  Follow the science.  Lockdowns don’t work, but natural immunity does.  Second, the federal government should be executing a “warp speed” version of therapeutics to help people get through the disease quickly and safely once they are infected.  Finally, get our kids back in school (without masks) before it is too late.  They are the least vulnerable and the least likely to spread the virus, but the most likely to suffer the long-term consequences of the current emotional deprivation effort currently in place.

Biden Takes a Tiny Step Toward Unity

 

During his Covid-19 plan update, President Biden took a baby step towards uniting country he has tried to divide for the last ten months.  He finally gave the Trump administration some credit for developing the Coronavirus vaccine and even (hold your breath here) mentioned Trump’s name as he did so.  To be absolutely honest, this is the second time I have heard the President recognize the Trump administration for its “Warp Speed” effort in developing the vaccine.  The last time, however, Mr. Biden couldn’t bring himself to actually mention Trump’s name. 

Then, as if to prove that miracles actually do happen in today’s world, Donald Trump responded in a positive way.  Between Joe’s recognition and Donald’s response, the administration might convince a few more people to get the vaccine.  

But Joe couldn’t help himself, and later in the speech he had to attack the unvaccinated and suggest that they are unpatriotic.  He has also implied that the unvaccinated are stupid, uninformed rubes who just don’t understand all the benefits of taking the vaccine.  I must add at this point, that the opposite is actually true.  I have found that people who are not taking the vaccine are actually very curious, thoughtful and well-informed people.  They have studied the benefits and risks involved with the vaccine and the benefits of natural immunity and just made a different decision.  In fact, I have found that it is the vaccinated (which includes me) who have not studied the situation and have taken the shot without understanding the risks or the benefits especially for the least vulnerable (anyone under age 65 and especially children).  This is just my observation.

One thing that disappointed me about President Biden’s new Covid-19 plan is his lack of emphasis for therapeutics.  I support the vaccine (I have been vaccinated) and testing, but what happens when someone tests positive?  The current plan seems to be go home and cross your fingers that you have a mild case.  Where is Joe Biden’s “Warp Speed” effort to develop and distribution of the medicines that can treat the disease and minimize its effects?  There are shortages of monoclonal antibodies, which has driven Florida’s low hospitalization and mortality numbers.  Pfizer’s new pill (Paxlovid), which has been shown to cut hospitalization or death by 89% still needs to get approved by the FDA and then a plan for mass distribution is needed.  There are other therapeutics that need approval and distribution, and I’m looking or Biden’s plan to accelerate that process?  If Covid is going to become a part of our lives, like the seasonal flu current is, it is therapeutics that will allow us to cope.

Finally, I have a cure for the current “smash and grab” robberies that have been plaguing our cities.  The answer to this problem is “Mask Prohibitions”.  I have heard all kinds of excuses for this phenomenon including the pandemic, which may indirectly be correct.  What we have now an atmosphere that allows people to walk around with masks on their faces, hiding their identities and enabling casual shoplifting and coordinated smash and grab, felony robberies.  When we accept the fact that masks don’t work (read my August article), and we are allowing professional thieves to walk around obscuring their identities, we may have some high-end stores and even some entire cites PROHIBIT masks.  At least our many, many cameras will capture the identities of these thieves and allow authorities to arrest them – so that they can be released before the end of the day

Psaki v Graham - Who Has the Fake BBB Bill?

The purpose of this article is to clear up any confusion you might have about Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (or Broke) bill.  The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) finally scored the original $1.7 Trillion bill that has already passed The House and is being considered by the Senate right now.  President Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have all said that this bill would cost ZERO, which is actually a ridiculous statement.  The fact is, that version of the bill would cost $1.7 trillion over 10 years.  The “zero cost” statement, that the President, et al, were making was suggesting that all of those costs would be covered by increased revenue (taxes) and none of that spending would add to our country’s debt.

Unfortunately, the CBO scored that bill as it was written and found that it would actually add $367 billion dollars to our debt over that 10-year period.  While some might not find that amount of debt concerning, it still reveals that the “zero cost (debt)” promise was a lie.  Personally, I’m a debt-hater, so I would at least find a way to reduce that bill’s cost to $1.2 Trillion and make good on the zero-debt promise.

Regrettably for the President and Nancy Pelosi and all of the Democrats who voted for this bill before it was scored by the CBO, and without even reading it, Lindsey Graham asked the CBO to score that same bill with all of its provisions extended for the full 10 years of the bill’s life.  You see, what Democrats have been hiding is that while this bill brings in revenue for 10 years, it only applies the costs of many programs for one or two or three years, and so on.  If that was the actual intent of the Democrats for these provisions (to only last one year, etc.) that would be one thing.  However, all of the Democrats have already announced their intention to extend all of those provisions for the full 10-year period.

When the Graham score came in, it shocked the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and should at least startle the rest of us.  The CBO found that the total cost of this bill would be $5.0 Trillion and it would add $3.0 Trillion to our debt.  That is almost three times the total cost originally advertised by the President and over eight times the debt of the bill that passed in the House.  This is a far cry from “zero”.

Just yesterday, Jen Psaki suggested that the Graham score was a “fake” score on a “fake” bill.  Is she right?  That depends on how you define the word “fake”.  It is true that what Lindsey Graham asked the CBO to score is NOT the bill that was passed by the House and is being considered by the Senate now.  In that sense, Jen Psaki is telling the truth.

However, if the bill that Lindsey Graham had scored better reflects the intent of Democrats in Congress, then Jen Psaki is being duplicitous in her claims and the bill that has already passed the House is the fake bill.  I will let my readers decide for themselves, however, you need to be aware of both scenarios being offered by the two sides.

There is one more aspect of the BBB bill that is inconsistent with the President’s promise not to increase taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.  There is a provision in this $5.0 Trillion monstrosity to spend $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, which would more than double the ranks of this most hated government agency.    These 87,000 new agents will be performing 600,000 more audits (doubling the number they do today) and half of those new audits will be performed on people making less than $75,000 per year.   I would expect that virtually all of these new audits would be done on people making less than $400,000 per year.  The Treasury Department estimated that these audits will generate $40 billion in new taxes (revenues) every year.  That means that LOTS of people making less than $400,000 per year will be put through the horrifying experience of an audit, and will also be paying higher taxes as a result.

So, you can decide which bill is fake.  The one that is actually being debated right now but hides critical facts, like how long these programs will last, and where the revenues will come from.  Or, the one that Lindsey Graham had the CBO score which is not in front of Congress, but offers a much more realistic understanding of the true costs and debt burden we will all experience.

Bob Dole and Fam - A Blessing to the End

 

 

In my opinion, most of the funerals for political leaders end up being a pathetic series of speeches by living, narcissistic, delusional politicians re-writing history.  They always say how much they loved the deceased and were best of buds behind the political scenes, while in real life they were too busy assassinating their character and stabbing them in the back.

And there was some of that at Dole’s funeral, but the last two speakers not only saved the day, but sent a message that I think everyone in America should hear.  Dole’s daughter, Robin, gave a wonderful tribute to her father that I can only hope that someone could eventually say about me.  Her love for her father was so genuine, I could literally feel her sadness and sense of loss.  She talked about his desire to help others, his lover for animals, especially his two dogs (Blazer and Leader) and finally his faith in God.  It was this faith that allowed him not to fear for he knew, “God will be walking with (him).”  She finished by saying how much she would miss him and that she would talk to him every night.  The final notes of this sweet daughter’s song were, “I love you, Dad.  You will never walk alone.” 

At this point I could feel my heart swelling and tears forming in my eyes.  She had done a tremendous job honoring her father and the absolute silence was actually awkward.  Someone in that Cathedral should have had the guts to begin the applause that would have inspired the standing ovation her speech deserved.  She was great and I hope you all take the time to listen to it.

And then Mr. Dole’s chief of staff, Sheila Burke, read “The Dash Poem” written by Linda Ellis, which Bob had recited often throughout his career.  This poem talks about trying to understand how other people feel.  Ms. Ellis suggests that we should all be slow to anger, appreciate each other more and treat each other with respect.  This is a message that we should all hear and embrace today in this country.  Here is that poem in its entirety.  

 

The Dash Poem (By Linda Ellis)

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
From the beginning...to the end

He noted that first came the date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears, 
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
Know what that little line is worth

For it matters not, how much we own, 
The cars...the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what's true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life's actions to rehash...
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent YOUR dash?

 

May God bless you all and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Is it Woe for Roe?

 

The View from the Middle

 

Let me admit right up front that it is very difficult to predict what the Supreme Court will do, especially on politically polarized issues.  My first attempt to follow the arguments was back in 2015 when the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act was being challenged and the proceedings were being broadcast.  It was a fascinating experience, but in the end, I got it wrong.  I was sure that the court would throw out the individual mandate thus gutting the entire law, and I did predict a 5-4 vote, which turned out to be correct.  However, I had Chief Justice Roberts on the wrong side of the ledger and the Supreme Court supported the ACA.

So, even though I have an 0-1 record, I made the investment to listen to the entirety of the oral arguments on the Mississippi abortion law and I’m going to make a prediction.  First, however, let me give you some insight into what I think were the key questions asked on both sides by the Justices which should give us all an idea of how they might vote.

Maybe the easiest Justice to figure out was Justice Clarence Thomas.  He asked the first question and went right to the heart of the issue.  He wanted to know what right was being protected by the Roe v Wade decision.  It was a simple question that goes to the heart of the issue of the constitutionality of the Roe decision.  His point was that Roe was wrongly decided in 1973 and so it is still misguided today.  

This immediately attacked the government’s main argument that the court should consider stare decisis (precedence) when deciding this case.  Justice Kavanaugh made the best assault on this strategy by pointing out the many times the court has correctly overrode precedent.  His most powerful example was when the court nullified Plessy v Ferguson through its decision in Brown v the Board of Education.  Plessy established a concept known as “separate but equal” which Brown found to be unconstitutional.  Brown argued that “separate”, especially in education, was inherently unequal.  Plessy had been the law of the land for almost 60 years when it was overruled by Brown in 1954.  This example also attacked the idea that Roe should be considered a “super” precedence because it has been the law since 1973.  Kavanaugh was insinuating that Roe was wrong when it was originally decided as was Plessy and should be corrected, no matter how long ago the error occurred.

Kavanaugh also suggested that there are two conflicting interests involved in any abortion, the interest of the woman or mother and the interest of the fetus or unborn child.  He argued that the government should not be involved in choosing one interest over the other.  He actually said that the government should be “scrupulously neutral” in this area.  His questioning brought the interests of the unborn, which was ignored in Roe, into the discussion, and rightfully so.  The states would then decide where to draw that line.

On the other side of the argument, both Justice Sotomayor and Breyer argued that overturning Roe would politicize the court.  Sotomayor actually asked if the court could withstand the “stench” of a reversal.  To me this sounded like a political argument to keep Roe, not a judicial one.  In effect she was suggesting that the court needed to act politically now to avoid appearing political in supporting Mississippi’s position.  Wow.  I wonder if anyone is falling for that?

Justice Sotomayor also made a couple of totally insensitive suggestions.  For example, the Mississippi Attorney General argued that science has now proven that a fetus can feel pain as early as 15 weeks into a pregnancy, because it has been shown that an unborn child reacts to stimulus in the womb at that age.  Sotomayor then suggested that dead people and people who are brain dead, also respond to stimulus.  My question is, how long after death does a body continue to react to stimulus.  One hour?  One day?  15 weeks?  I doubt it.  This the first time, to my knowledge, that a Supreme Court Justice has compared a thriving unborn child to a dead person.  I found this comparison a sad attempt to dehumanize the unborn.

All this considered, I predict that the liberal Justices (Sotomayor, Breyer and Kagan) will stick together and vote against the Mississippi position.  I also predict that the Mississippi law will be upheld with a 5-4 or 6-3 vote.  I’m still not sure of Chief Justice Roberts.   

And finally, do not fall for the lie that if the Court finds in favor of the state of Mississippi that abortion will become illegal in this country and women will be dying in back alleys as a result.  It just means that laws protecting abortion will be decided in the states as is dictated by the 10^th amendment to the Constitution.  That amendment states clearly that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution… are reserved to the states respectively.  This was Justice Thomas’ point from the very beginning.  California could pass a law that allows partial birth abortion and Mississippi can limit abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.  Even in Mississippi, however, this should not create a hardship.  Today, for example, 90% of abortions already occur within the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.  With a little extra thought and planning on the mother’s part and with some exceptions built in for women who don’t recognize their condition in time, the Mississippi law can accommodate virtually everyone.

Roe will be overturned or, at a minimum, be severely altered.  The left will claim a mass slaughter of women, which will never happen, and they will make it a huge issue in the mid-term elections.  After that, the states will do their jobs at creating laws that walk that fine line between protecting women’s rights and the rights of the unborn (Kavanaugh’s point).  And if adoptions increased in America as result, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

The Verdict And The Lessons

 

The verdict is in for Kyle Rittenhouse – not guilty on all counts.  Some are celebrating, and some are disappointed.  Some are even angry.  I personally am none of those things.  I guess you could say that I am reflective.  I am hoping that everyone in this great country can learn a lesson from this entire experience.

For Kyle Rittenhouse, I am hoping that he and those like him have learned that showing up at violent riots with a gun strapped to your back is not a good idea.  This time, he was lucky.  He wasn’t killed back in August of last year, and he is not going to spend the rest of his life in jail.  If there was ever to be a “next time”, he might not be so lucky.  Trying to replace authorized and trained law enforcement officers is, at best, unwise and at worst criminal.

If you are an angry, violent person who wants to take advantage of a chaotic situation to let off steam and destroy property, don’t do it.  I doubt that Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz even knew who Jacob Blake was.  They weren’t “protestors”, they were rioters.  The lesson people like them should learn is that violent situations, even those of your making, can turn on you in an instant with tragic results.  Take your meds and stay at home and watch it on TV.

For the mainstream media who has forgotten their role in our society, don’t convict before the actual trial takes place.  Afterwards, you are all trapped into defending your pre-trial condemnations.  This will placate some, anger others and continue to slowly evaporate your viewership as your constituencies get tired of the anger and divisiveness you promote.

Politicians should learn a similar lesson in terms of prejudging any trial and then being trapped into justifying their premature missteps.  They have an additional responsibility to protect The Constitution of The United States, which they vowed to defend.   Inaccurate public statements absolutely defile the concept of due process, and the fact that it comes from people elected to protect it is extremely disappointing.  Politicians!  Hold your tongues and do your job to advocate for due process and promote the concept that Americans on trial are “innocence until proven guilty”.

And finally, and most importantly, I hope our federal, state and local governments learn that they cannot relinquish their responsibility to protect the lives and property of their constituencies.  As I stated in my last article, when they do, they create a void that will be filled by an unsanctioned and unqualified crowd on one side and an out of control, violent and angry mob on the other side.  The damage, injury and death that results is on their heads.  Some of those things will happen no matter how effective law enforcement is, but an absolute abdication of that responsibility will only serve to maximize it.

The final lesson is for all of us.  12 people (seven women, five men and one person of color) listened to all of the evidence, deliberated for four days and unanimously delivered this verdict.  We can agree or disagree.  We can debate and discuss, but we must do so respectfully and then honor this jury’s decision.

The Verdict & The Lessons

                                                            The View from the Middle 

The verdict is in for Kyle Rittenhouse – not guilty on all counts.  Some are celebrating, and some are disappointed.  Some are even angry.  I personally am none of those things.  I guess you could say that I am reflective.  I am hoping that everyone in this great country can learn a lesson from this entire experience.

For Kyle Rittenhouse, I am hoping that he and those like him have learned that showing up at violent riots with a gun strapped to your back is not a good idea.  This time, he was lucky.  He wasn’t killed back in August of last year, and he is not going to spend the rest of his life in jail.  If there was ever to be a “next time”, he might not be so lucky.  Trying to replace authorized and trained law enforcement officers is, at best, unwise and at worst criminal.

If you are an angry, violent person who wants to take advantage of a chaotic situation to let off steam and destroy property, don’t do it.  I doubt that Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz even knew who Jacob Blake was.  They weren’t “protestors”, they were rioters.  The lesson people like them should learn is that violent situations, even those of your making, can turn on you in an instant with tragic results.  Take your meds and stay at home and watch it on TV.

For the mainstream media who has forgotten their role in our society, don’t convict before the actual trial takes place.  Afterwards, you are all trapped into defending your pre-trial condemnations.  This will placate some, anger others and continue to slowly evaporate your viewership as your constituencies get tired of the anger and divisiveness you promote.

Politicians should learn a similar lesson in terms of prejudging any trial and then being trapped into justifying their premature missteps.  They have an additional responsibility to protect The Constitution of The United States, which they vowed to defend.   Inaccurate public statements absolutely defile the concept of due process, and the fact that it comes from people elected to protect it is extremely disappointing.  Politicians!  Hold your tongues and do your job to advocate for due process and promote the concept that Americans on trial are “innocence until proven guilty”.

And finally, and most importantly, I hope our federal, state and local governments learn that they cannot relinquish their responsibility to protect the lives and property of their constituencies.  As I stated in my last article, when they do, they create a void that will be filled by an unsanctioned and unqualified crowd on one side and an out of control, violent and angry mob on the other side.  The damage, injury and death that results is on their heads.  Some of those things will happen no matter how effective law enforcement is, but an absolute abdication of that responsibility will only serve to maximize it.

The final lesson is for all of us.  12 people (seven women, five men and one person of color) listened to all of the evidence, deliberated for four days and unanimously delivered this verdict.  We can agree or disagree.  We can debate and discuss, but we must do so respectfully and then honor this jury’s decision.

Kyle Rittenhouse - Rush to Judgement

                                                        The View from the Middle 

After watching most of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and all of the closing arguments, I have come to the conclusion that this entire situation has been a year-long perfect storm of incompetence, barbaric behavior, bias and delusion, ending in a tragedy for at least four people.  Let’s start with the absolute abdication by the state of Wisconsin and the city of Kenosha of their duty to govern and provide protection for their citizens.  

When you decline to govern and maintain order, that creates a void that is going to get filled by something, and in this case it was filled with lawless rioters on one side and untrained and unauthorized protectors of life and property on the other.  This is a recipe for chaos, destruction, injury and even death, and that is exactly what was delivered.  Even the prosecutor described the atmosphere on the night of August 25^th, 2020 as dangerous and hostile.  Do you know who I did not see in the chase and attack scenes?  The police or the national guard.  It appears that Wisconsin and Kenosha adopted the Baltimore Maryland strategy to give the rioters “space to destroy”.  That strategy didn’t work well in Maryland and it led to disaster in Kenosha.

And then, rather than let the dust settle from this chaotic situation, politicians and the lamestream media decided to jump in and make presumptions about the defendant.  Then candidate and now President of the United States, Joe Biden, described Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist, militia member in one of his debates over a year before any evidence was delivered in the trial.  Squad member Ayanna Presley called Kyle a white supremacist and a domestic terrorist one day after the riots.  Those accusations have all since been disproved.  Then, during the trial Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York said that the court should. “lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key”.  These are all politicians who have sworn to uphold our Constitution which includes the presumption of innocence which is a fundamental element of “due process” which is specifically mentioned in that document.

And if the political rush to judgement wasn’t enough, the lamestream media were quick to jump on and supply their bias.  For over a year, Joy Reid of MSNBC has been maligning Rittenhouse, calling him a vigilante.  ABC news has repeatedly referred to Kyle as an “alleged white supremacist” even though that has been disproven.  And CNN’s Jim Acosta didn’t limit himself to smearing Rittenhouse.  He accused the judge of being prejudice against the prosecution despite the fact that I have heard a multitude of actual lawyers indicate that Judge Schroeder has been reasonable and balanced.  Finally, Jeffrey Toobin of CNN called Kyle Rittenhouse “an idiot”.  Demonstrating his expertise in firearms, Toobin said that Rittenhouse took a “giant” gun to the riots.  Giant Gun?  What does that mean?  He also suggested that Kyle was planning to “scrub off graffiti with his AR-15”, struggling to turn a very positive story about this young man into a negative.  Nice try!  Also, Jeffrey Toobin has surrendered his right to call anyone an idiot after his zoom call fiasco that got him temporarily suspended from CNN.  He should have been fired.  All of these comments, from politicians and professional journalists (I’m being generous there) has tainted the jury, a tragedy in and of itself.

Then we have the boy scout rioters, all of whom were chasing and assaulting Kyle Rittenhouse.  Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man who was shot, was an angry, out of control serial child rapist who actually asked another person to shoot him early that night.  Anthony Huber, the man who attacked Rittenhouse with his skate board and tried to take his gun, was a violent man who struggled with mental health issues his entire life.  At one point, Huber threatened to burn down his house and kill his mother and siblings.  Gaige Grosskreutz, the man who pulled a gun and pointed it at Kyle Rittenhouse, has a long list of misdemeanor and felony charges against him for domestic abuse, disorderly conduct and burglary.  He was carrying his gun illegally, because his conceal carry license had expired.  There is more disparaging data on these three men, but the point is made.  All three of these men were angry, disturbed and violent.  They were not saints or heroes.  They were members of a violent mob intent on destruction and mayhem.

And finally, we have Kyle Rittenhouse.  Should he have even been in Kenosha?  I don’t know.  Should he have been carrying an AR-15 or wearing body armor?  That should have probably been a clue that he should have stayed home in Antioch, Illinois (which is only 24 miles from Kenosha, not on the other side of the country) and watched the riots on TV.  He was 17 and had a relatively normal mix of teen angst, savior illusions and super hero delusions.  Is that a good ingredient to sprinkle into a chaotic, angry, violent mob?  Probably not!

But this is what you get when the government, be it local, state or federal, refuses to govern.  When any government refuses to support and utilize the police and declines other available resources, like the national guard, the vacuum will be filled with volatile and even explosive ingredients, as was the case in Kenosha.  I predict that Kyle Rittenhouse will be found not guilty because he was being pursued and attacked when he fired his gun during a chaotic situation.  Did he fear for his life?  I would have, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.  If he is found guilty, it will be because the jurors feared for their lives.  Another perversion of justice.  The losers here, however, are many, including Kyle Rittenhouse, whose life will never be the same.  Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz are also victims - of an impotent government.

How Much is a Trillion?

 The View from the Middle 

I’m not an Einstein, but I was always pretty good at math in school.  Maybe that’s why I am shocked at how often TV commentators and even politicians confuse millions with billions and billions with trillions.  Given that, I thought I would give my readers a quick illustration of just how much a TRILLION is.

Not long ago we used to think that a million dollars was a lot of money, but to make my point, let’s talk about Millions, Billions and Trillions as time instead of money. For example:

 

A Million seconds ago was just 12 days ago.  That’s not even two weeks.

 

A Billion seconds was 32 YEARS ago.  That was 1989, and Ronald Reagan 

was still President (in January). That’s because a Billion is a thousand Million.

 

A Trillion seconds was 32,000 years ago, and Cro-Magnon man was still 

walking the earth and that’s because a Trillion is a thousand Billion.

 

Hopefully, this will help you understand how much money our Congress is spending with these massive bills.  

Just one bill, the Biden Build Back Better bill, will actually spend over three Trillion dollars.  If those dollars were seconds, that would be almost 100,000 years ago.  That’s a lot of seconds, and should remind us that if we keep spending money like this, we’ll run out of time to save our country for our children.

And right after I wrote this article my grandson asked me, “what comes after a Trillion?”  I hope he never has to find out.

Who's Afraid of Virginia...

 The View from the Middle 

I don’t want to be hyperbolic, but last night there were at least three shots fired that were head around the world, or at least around the United States.  Republican Glenn Youngkin actually won the Virginia race for governor despite being down by eight points in the polls back in August.  He defeated Terry McAuliffe, who is the closest thing to an incumbent you can have in term limited Virginia.  If that wasn’t enough, Virginia elected the first black woman to win a state-wide office in that state when they also voted in Republican Winsome Sears as Lieutenant Governor.  And then, just to pile on, they elected Virginia’s first Latino Attorney General, Republican Jason Miyares.

The Second shot was fired in New Jersey where Republican Jack Ciattarelli is currently in a dead heat with Phil Murphy, the incumbent Democrat Governor.  This is noteworthy because Ciattarelli was down by 26 points in the polls back in June and eight points down on the day before the election.  That’s an amazing surge and comment on recent Democrat governance.  The third shot was fired in Minneapolis where a proposal to eliminate the police department and replace it with a “Department of Public Safety” (whatever that is) was soundly defeated with strong support in the black community.  A September survey in Minneapolis found that 75% of blacks did NOT want to reduce the amount of police in their neighborhoods.

Certainly, there are lessons to be learned from these shocking events, but my fear is that Democrats and the mainstream media are learning all the wrong lessons.  I believe that the message being sent in Virginia, New Jersey and Minneapolis is that Americans are tired of the divisive, hateful rhetoric of personal destruction and its cancel culture cousin.  Whether the racist, bigoted CRT (Critical Race Theory) is technically taught in Virginia is irrelevant as long as its tenants of “all whites are oppressors and all blacks are victims” are being rejected.  

Another point being made is that people want Democrats and Republicans to work together to create compromise solutions that will not only maintain the Republic but enable our citizens to thrive and succeed.  Joe Biden ran on the idea that he would unite the country, but since his inauguration he has completely ignored his “friends” on the other side of the aisle with countless executive orders, 51 vote bills in The Senate and totally partisan 51% votes in The House.

If you really think about it, there was a mandate delivered in 2020 and on November 2^nd, 2021, and that was a mandate for compromise and cooperation.  In 2020 there were 75 million votes placed for Donald Trump and his policies, and all of those 75 million votes were cast by American citizens who just think differently than Democrats.  They aren’t stupid.  They aren’t racists.  They aren’t terrorists, and the sooner Democrats realize that, the sooner this country can come together and become the best it can be.

But on Wednesday morning, Joy Reid of MSNBC suggested that anyone concerned about “education” were just white racists who don’t want to teach history.  Of course, she offered no numbers to prove or any evidence to support that statement.  She’s going to have to add Latino’s to her list of racists, however, since Glenn Youngkin captured 54% of the Hispanic vote in Virginia.  And since about 15% of blacks also voted for Youngkin she needs to add them to her personal basket of deplorables.  Finally, Van Jones of CNN, compared Youngkin to a disease (the delta variant of Covid-19), and there certainly are no facts or evidence to support that.  

So, while the lesson leaned should have been that we need to come together and respect each other and actually listen to each other, the mainstream media seems to have heard that they need to continue to ignore and insult anyone who disagrees with them and continue their practice of division, character assassination and intense hatred of half of their fellow American citizens.

I can only hope that the Democrat Party actually learns a different lesson.  Maybe they should listen to the new Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Winsome Sears.  In her victory speech she said, “I have won my race as Lieutenant Governor and I’m not going to be representing only Republicans.  No.  I’m representing Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party, Reform Party, Democrats, everybody.  We’ve got to learn to live together and get along so that we can have peace.”  Wise words from a wise woman.

Condoleezza Rice Nails It

 The View from the Middle 

Who would have thought that real truth, wisdom and conservative brilliance would be delivered from Whoopi Goldberg and “The View”, the blatantly liberal talk show that drove Megan McCain to tears before she decided she had to leave to save her sanity and any semblance of self-esteem.  But Condoleezza Rice, the first black, woman Secretary of State under George W. Bush and brilliant author and professor at Stanford University, wasn’t afraid to speak truth and common sense on that show as she condemned Critical Race Theory to the totally biased hosts of that show.

Condi Rice made the case that CRT should never be taught in Public or any schools because their teachings are bigoted and racist.  But don’t take my word for it.  Here are the exact words that she boldly delivered to Whoopi and her ultra-liberal audience.

 

“One of the worries that I have about the way that we’re talking about race is that it either seems so big that somehow White people now have to feel guilty for everything that happened in the past – I don’t think that’s very productive - or Black people have to feel disempowered by race.”  Then, she added, “I would like Black kids to be completely empowered, to know that they are beautiful in their Blackness, but in order to do that I don’t have to make White kids feel bad for being White.”

 

Often, brilliance is wrapped in simplicity, and Condi demonstrated that dramatically on The View.  Her simplicity, her intelligence and her personal experience as she grew up with real discrimination, make it difficult to argue against her analysis and conclusion.

As if to supply an exquisite example of what Condi Rice was denouncing, a Virginia gubernatorial debate delivered it.  Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat candidate for governor in Virginia, said during that debate that, “(he was) not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.”  Just a few seconds later he added, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”  As you might imagine, parents in Virginia exploded with their disagreement, which has put that governor’s race up for grabs.  

Finally, in an attempt to silence parents from voicing their displeasure with their curriculum, the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter to Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, comparing involved parents to “domestic terrorists”.   While they (the NSBA) have since apologized to their members for that characterization, they have not apologized to the parents nor has Merrick Garland rescinded his order to use the FBI and other Justice Department assets to investigate school board meetings.  Let’s be frank, even the mere presence of FBI agents would discourage parents from attending those meetings.

And now that CRT has been exposed as a racist curriculum and ideology, some have just attempted to change the name to something they hope parents won’t recognize.  As with most of these racist, bigoted groups, they try to use positive words and descriptions in their names to fool the public.  Remember that the NAZI party was actually named the National Socialist Workers Party.  Sounds like its biggest goal was to stand up for workers’ rights.  I guess “Gassing the Jews” didn’t market test as well.  And I’ve written about Black Lives Matter.  Those words are great, but I certainly wouldn’t support an organization that advocates the destruction of the nuclear family and America’s capitalist economic system or the belief that all white people are irredeemably racist just because of their skin color.  

So, when CRT was exposed, their followers just changed the name to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), which is now being pushed in Fayetteville, Arkansas and across the US.  Again, those words sound so great, don’t they!?  But DEI is just as awful as CRT.  DEI includes training for white people to embrace their “Implicit Bias”.  This implies that all white people are racists and bigots and they can’t help themselves for being so.  If also suggests that there are no prejudice or biased Black people.  Oh really?  How about Louis Farrakhan?  This is exactly what Condoleezza is warning against. As William Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  Or in this case, stink as badly.

It doesn’t matter what party you support, what gender you claim or what color your skin is, we should all should declare our disdain for any ideology that suggests that you should be judged by the color of your skin.  We should reject any group that tells us that we are all designated as oppressors or victims at birth and we can’t avoid the emasculation that comes with that.  To paraphrase Condi Rice, Black kids should feel proud and empowered in their Blackness and the same should go for White kids.

I encourage everyone to defy the Terry McAuliffe’s and the NSBA’s of the world and get involved in your children’s educations to eliminate social engineering and increase their academic readiness for life in the future of our world.  There is a nation-wide organization called “Mom’s for Liberty” that is dedicated to that goal.  I encourage you to check them out, but more importantly, I encourage you to get involved.

Did Nancy Pelosi Really Just Say That?

The View from the Middle

 

I feel it is my responsibility to point out when our politicians actually slip and tell the truth, so that you can see how much the relationship between them and the media has disintegrated.  Yesterday, a friendly reporter asked why Nancy and her minions were having a hard time peddling their $3.5 Trillion Break the Country’s Back bill.  Nancy’s response revealed the inappropriate relationship that has developed over the last 50 years in this country between the mainstream media and the Democrat Party.

Again, when asked why she was having such trouble, Nancy actually shot back this comment, “Well, I think you (the media) all could do a better job of selling it, to be very frank with you.”  It’s amazing to me that the reporter didn’t fire back that “selling her legislation” was not the job of the media.  In fact, it should be argued that the media’s job is to be a cynical skeptic of our government, no matter which party holds office, and to hold them accountable.

Other definitions of the responsibility of The Fourth Estate (the media) would include “the guardian of veritas (truth)”.  Another widely accepted function of the print and electronic media is to, “act as a counterbalance, a systemically opposite force that is to report, verify and question matters of governance.”  The media has an obligation to be neutral, objective and critical as it performs its job of gathering and disseminating the news to us, the public.

One of the best explanations of the 4^th Estate’s responsibility said this, “We rely on the press to record, investigate, interpret and publish facts truthfully and without bias.  We have to be able to trust our journalists.  If they fail, we fail.”  And they are failing.  A recent Gallup poll shows that the overall trust of our media has fallen from 72% in 1972 to only 36% today, and only 7% of Americans have a “great deal” of trust in the mass media.

But no matter how hard I searched, I could not find a definition of the media that even hinted that the they should be involved in “SELLING” any legislation or even any particular political ideology.  Nancy Pelosi’s statement just demonstrates either her total lack of understanding of the role of our 4^th Estate or her utter disdain for the fundamental principles of that institution.  And the lack of a follow up question or statement by that reporter suggests the same lack of awareness from her.  Nancy’s suggestion should shock and even frighten all of us, no matter what your party affiliation is.  Nancy, you’re in your 80’s.  You are obviously losing your mental faculties as well as your moral compass.  It’s time for you to go.  Do the right thing for the country and term limit yourself.

The Cost is Zero for This $3.5 Trillion Bill

The View from the Middle

 

How stupid do they think we are?  Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden have all had the audacity to tell us that, “this $3.5 Trillion bill will have a cost of zero”, even though the cost is embedded in their statement.  If there really is no cost, why are they saying that they have to raise taxes to “pay” for it?

Then, they suggest that this bill is popular with the people, but in reality “the people” don’t have any idea what is actually in this bill.  In fact, even Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden haven’t read this bill and clearly don’t know what’s in it.  But they want to “pass it so they can find out what’s in it”.  Ever heard that before?  The facts are clear. What “people” like is getting money sent to them.  If “the people” knew about all of the things that are hidden in this bill and the consequences of those things, they would detest it.  This bill, for example, will undoubtedly create more debt for our children and produce inflation, the hidden tax, that will crush our buying power.  Nancy, Chuck and Joe are also simply lying about how they will pay it.

Just to add a little more absurdity to the sales pitch for this bill, Jen Psaki is telling the country that it would be “absurd and unfair” for companies in America to pass the tax increases planned to pay for this bill on to consumers.  What world is Jen Psaki living in?  Does she really expect big companies, like Procter & Gamble where I spent my career, to eat a 5.5% increase in costs?  Jen, please be truthful with the American people.  Big companies have a responsibility to their shareholders to find ways to maintain their profitability and they will do so in this case by increasing prices or reducing costs, like labor.  Both of these adjustments will be bad for the American people.  And that is “if” these companies actually end up paying these increased taxes.  I think they will figure out how to avoid these taxes which is even worse for the rest of us.

“Tax the rich” and big companies!  It’s a great slogan, but it’s a lie.  We all keep hearing that 55 of the country’s largest companies paid no taxes last year, and I don’t doubt that fact at all.  But, do you know why those 55 companies didn’t pay any taxes?  Because it is legal for them not to.  These companies are simply taking advantage of loopholes that Congress has built into the tax code at the request of these same companies.  Big corporations and rich individuals give money to Congress men and women to influence them.  Do you know why Warren Buffet pays a lower tax “rate” than his secretary?  Because it’s legal!  Buffet is not breaking any laws.  He is just taking advantage of all of the loopholes that he and the ultra-rich have had built into our tax code by the Congress people they influenced with their generous campaign contributions and personal payoffs.  The rich and big companies have the money to bribe our politicians and to pay for lobbyists and lawyers to avoid any new taxes in this bill.  This is not a projection of what is to come.  It is a fact that has been proven over and over again throughout our history.  

So, if the rich won’t pay these taxes, how about the poor.  The poor literally have no money to tax, or at least very little, so they will not pay for this massive expansion of government intrusion into our lives.  They will, of course, pay increased taxes on gasoline and cigarettes and will pay a huge price as inflation strips away their buying power. However, they will not pay any of the federal income taxes designed to pay for this bill – which, of course, has no cost.  So, if the rich have money and influence to avoid the tax increases in this bill (that has no cost), and the poor have no money to pay for this bill, that has no cost, who is going to pay the cost of this bill, that has no cost.

It is the middle class who will pay the bulk of any tax increases the government will pass as a part of this $3.5 Trillion bill.  The middle class does have some money, but not enough to hire lobbyists and lawyers to create loopholes for them in the tax laws.  However, the government, or in this case the Dems, cannot get all of the $3.5 Trillion from the middle class.  That would be too devastating and too noticeable.  Our government will be lucky to get a third of that amount from the middle class in taxes and will have to borrow the rest and pass that debt on to our kids and grandkids.

Thomas Jefferson, a stone-cold genius and possibly our smartest President (it’s between him and John Quincy Adams) warned of the dangers of Congressional bills that were too long.  And that was when their bills were typically three or four pages in length.  President Lincoln’s entire platform, for example, was only two pages long.  Jefferson suggested that bills that were too long would be confusing, over-reaching, deceptive, unmanageable and would deliver too many unintended consequences.  This bill is almost 2,500 pages long and contains close to a half million words.  I’m going to take a wild guess that this brilliant Founding Father would object to this bill.  I’ve attached a link to the text of this bill for two reasons.  First, you will undoubtedly get a good laugh as you try to read and understand it.  Second, it will help you appreciate the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson and the depths to which our modern-day politicians have devolved and the chaos, duplicity, ineptitude and division they have created.

 

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BU/BU00/20210925/114090/BILLS-117pih-BuildBackBetterAct.pdf

 

And before any of you try to excuse any of the Democrats’ excessive spending on the grounds that the Republicans have done it also.  Save your breath.  I condemn all of this “drunken sailor” spending and would even support a balance budget amendment with provisions built in to handle emergencies like wars, economic collapses and maybe even pandemics.  However, our deficit in 2021 is projected to reach $3.7 trillion just for this year alone.  This will exceed last year’s deficit, when we were actually in the middle of the pandemic, by almost 20% and will be the largest in American history.  And this, of course, does not include any of this $3.5 trillion in spending.  With that spending included, by 2026 our total national debt will be fast approaching $40 trillion.  Heaven help us all if interest rates normalize to anywhere near 5%.  Both parties have sinned, but in the contest of “drunken sailor” spending, the Dems and Joe Biden are winning.

On Biden, McAuliffe and Covid

 Biden – No Room Under the Bus

The View from the Middle

 

It didn’t take long for our top military leaders to start throwing people under the Afghan withdrawal bus, including our President Joe Biden.  Remember, back on August 18^th, George Stephanopoulos asked President Biden a very straight forward question.  George asked, “So no one told – your military advisors did not tell you, ‘No, we should keep 2,500 troops.  It’s been a stable situation for the last several years.  We can do that.  We can continue to do that?”  And the President answered, “No!  No one said that to me that I can recall.”

But in front of both the Senate and House Arm Services Committees all three of Joe Biden’s top military advisors testified that they had not only given the President that advice, but that he had heard it.  Generals Milley and McKenzie swore they had given that advice, and Secretary of Defense Austin confirmed that the President had heard it.  I’m sure Joe will stay in the Whitehouse basement until his staff comes up with a plausible, market tested line of BS to explain his answer, but it will not be easy given the nature of the question and answer.

Then, all three leaders basically admitted that all of the really tragic, poor decisions in Afghanistan were driven by troop level limitations that had been forced upon them by Joe Biden.  They said that Biden had limited them to 650 troops which wouldn’t allow them to keep control of the Bagram air base.  That was a huge strategic and tactical mistake.  General McKenzie also confirmed that the Taliban offered to give us complete control of the entire city of Kabul during the evacuation.  This would have made it American checkpoints that evacuees had to pass through and would have eliminated the chaos that resulted under Taliban control.  He, however, didn’t even consider it because it couldn’t be accomplished with the troop limitations given to him by the President.

Finally, when asked why they didn’t consider starting the civilian evacuation sooner, Secretary Austin threw the State Department under the bus to keep Joe company.  Austin simply said that the timing of the civilian withdrawal was a State Department decision.  Maybe this was all a way to avoid any accountability for the colossal failure that the withdrawal for Afghanistan was, but it certain is getting crowded under that bus!

 

McAuliffe – Parents, Shut Up and Get in Line!

The View from the Middle

 

The new definition for a “Freudian Slip” is when a politician accidently tells the truth to the public.  Well, Terry McAuliffe made a huge “foot-in-mouth” – “Freudian Slip” during Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate in Virginia.  He actually said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”  There are several problems with that statement.  First, almost all parents in this country and particularly in Virginia, disagree with that idea.  The second problem is that McAuliffe sent his four kids to a $40,000 a year private school, where his wife chaired the trustee board AND he vetoed three bills that would have expanded school choice in the state of Virginia when he was last governor.

So, let me get this right.  McAuliffe has a “choice” as to where his kids go to school, and he and his wife have a huge impact on what is taught there, but he doesn’t want those same rights to apply to you and me or any other parent in Virginia.  That sounds a lot like “Rules for Thee, But Not for Me”.  My fear is that this is what the entire Democrat Party believes.  So, if you vote for these guys, get ready to “shut up and get in line!”

 

Politicians Will Take Credit for Covid Trends

The View from the Middle

 

Here’s some good news on the Covid-19 front.  According to the Washington Post daily Covid tracker, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all going down across the country.  Through yesterday’s results, cases are down 12.7%, hospitalizations are down 9.4% and deaths are down 4.7%.  Cases have been going down steadily for almost a month now. 

I tell you this for three reasons.  First, all the college football games have not turned out to be the “super-spreader” events that fearmongers have promised, so be responsible, but go out and enjoy life.  Second, these results could not have been caused by the vaccine mandates that are being forced on the public by our politicians.  This positive direction began before any vaccine mandate was issued.

Finally, I want to warn you that politicians will try to take credit for this recent (and I hope final) decline by claiming that the vaccine mandates caused it.  You need to remember that is NOT true.  This decline predates any mandate.  However, here is the politicians’ plan.  If they are always doing something – anything, then when this virus finally goes away (nothing lasts forever) then they can claim credit for something that was going to happen anyway.  That’s a very sophisticated form of lying, but then again, that’s what they are really good at!

Covid-19 vs The Spanish Flu - No Contest

 The View from the Middle 

Recently, I have seen some talking heads, including Geraldo Rivera on Fox, compare Covid-19 to the Spanish Flu in 1918 and suggest that Covid-19 is now worse than that historic pandemic.  Anyone who makes this comparison is either uninformed, lying or deliberately misleading their audience. They also care more about ratings and clicks than telling the truth.  Let me share some actual truth with you so that you can refute any charlatan that tries to suggest that Covid-19 is worse than the Spanish Flu.

If you want a big dose of the truth about the Spanish Flu, I recommend that you read the book The Great Influenza, written by John Barry in 2005, well before Covid-19.  It will help you understand the massive differences between the 1918 pandemic and Covid-19.  To do a fair comparison, we must consider two adjustments to the death tolls of both pandemics.  First, we must adjust for population differences between 1918 and today.  Second, we must adjust for how the government and media handled the two pandemics.  In 1918, our government and media tried to minimize (Barry suggests they lied about) The Spanish Flu.  Today, our politicians and media are actually exaggerating the death toll of Covid-19. 

In 1918 the total population in the US was only 105 million, and The Spanish Flu supposedly killed 675,000 of our citizens.  I think that number is very conservative, and I will explain why later.  Today, the population of the US is 333 million.  Adjusting for the population difference, that 675,000 deaths in 1918 would translate to over 2.1 million deaths today.  This comparison alone demonstrates the duplicity in trying to suggest that Covid-19 is worse than the 1918 Spanish Flu, but there is more.

The treatment of these two pandemics by the government, the media and the medical community has been absolutely diametrical.  In 1918, the US government and the press intentionally tried to minimize the threat of the Spanish Flu to the public.  We were in the midst of WWI and President Wilson wanted to send troops over to Europe.  Today, the government is actually incenting hospitals to classify virtually any death as a Covid death by offering significant monetary bonuses.  Even Dr. Deborah Birx, from Trump’s original Coronavirus advisory team, suggested that the CDC death count was overstated by at least 25%.

Let me try to demonstrate the pathetic but opposite methodologies used to inform the US public of the severity of these two pandemics.  According to The Great Influenza, The Spanish Flu killed between 50 and 100 million people worldwide, and that is when the world population was only 1.8 billion.  Even using the lowest number in that range, the 675,000 reported deaths in the US would have only accounted for 1.4% of global deaths while the US represented almost 6.0% of the world’s population.  And that is for a virus the John Barry suggests may have even begun in the US, but at a minimum ravaged us as terribly as it did the rest of the world.

Today, according to CNN’s Health Webpage, Covid-19 has killed 4.7 million people around the globe.  While all these deaths are tragic, that 4.7 million is a tiny fraction of the worldwide death toll from the Spanish Flu. And that is despite the fact that the world’s population today is over four times larger than it was in 1918 (7.9 billion to be exact).  So, the 678,000 deaths in America from Covid not only places us #1 in the world, but suggests that we represent 14.4% of total global deaths, despite the fact that we now represent only 4.2% of the world’s population.

So, our government wants us to believe that in 1918, we accounted for only 1.4% of the world’s deaths from the Spanish Flu, which ravaged our country and may have even emanated from here – AND – that today we represent 14.4% of global Covid deaths, which probably originated in China.

Let me propose another theory.  We were lied to in 1918 and we are being lied to today.  Our government and media lied in 1918 to minimize the real threat that the Spanish Flu posed to our country and the world to allow us to send our troops to Europe for WWI (read the book).  And today, our government and media are lying to us in order to distract us with fear as they advance a far-left political agenda. 

For the hundredth time, however, let me reiterate that I am not suggesting that Covid-19 is not a serious disease.  And I am not saying that we should not do what we can to mitigate its spread.  However, most of what we have done (masks, social distancing, shutdowns, etc.) have not worked and are only creating more problems that we will have to confront in the years to come.  Wash your hands frequently.  Don’t go to work when you are sick, and get vaccinated if your doctor gives you the OK.  If you have already had Covid and survived, get the antibody test and then all of us need to get on with our lives.

And Finally, if you only remember one thing from this article, let it be this – 99.8% of US citizens did not die from Covid-19.  That is a fact that no one else is telling you!