[kcplate]

> We had a big issue way before the vaccine mandates thanks to the absurdity of right-wing media and right-wing politicians' conspiracy theories

Honestly, I feel like the pandemic politics predated all the right wing conspiracy theories emergence. The democrats/progressive left/resisters decision to make Covid the central issue to oust Trump is the more likely genesis. Very early on (Jan/Feb 2020) everything the Trump administration was doing was met with immediate 180 degree resistance from the progressive left and the left-leaning media. Including things they later supported—Travel bans, social distancing suggestions and yes, even the vaccine too.

Before I get accused of being a conservative or a Trumpie…I’m not and far far from it. But…I am not willing to excuse problematic approaches that have negative downstream unintended consequences even if the initial intention may have been positive.

Blaming the right is akin to being mad when the person you punched in the nose decides to fight back. How dare they!

[JohnTHaller]

> Before I get accused of being a conservative or a Trumpie…I’m not and far far from it.

Your comment history betrays you.

[kcplate]

No it doesn’t. I am a classic liberal and an independent and my comment history reflects that.

Just because I don’t hold the established dogmatic progressive opinions on every topic doesn’t mean I am conservative or supported Trump. Don’t make politics a religion.

[JohnTHaller]

In a quick browse last night there was anti-Fauci rhetoric, comments about Marxism cities in California, incorrect information about mask effectiveness and anti-mask sentiments, climate change denial-ism, Covid misinformation, etc. In relation to what we're talking about here:

> I suspect that if this omicron had emerged in 2018 at least with the symptoms and lack of severe disease that we have seen so far…it would likely have been described as a virulent common cold and may have gotten an occasional news mention, but zero public and government panic.

This is so wholly inaccurate, it's beyond the pale. Our average daily death rate from Omicron has already exceeded Delta. Omicron 'seems' milder overall due to the high level of vaccinations which prevent hospitalization and death and decrease transmission. If Omicron came out first, our overall death rate would be far beyond the 870,000 US deaths we've seen so far. And there would have been far more refrigerated morgue trucks at the hospital down the street from me in the initial wave.

[kcplate]

Ahh yes, because I am critical of Fauci, masking, and the politicization of the vaccines…all sacred dogma to the left, I am a conservative trumpie.

This smacks of a “believe exactly what my church believes or you are going to hell you evil sinner” Zealotry at its finest.

As for your comments about the deaths attributed to omicron… post some statistics. Because what you are saying here doesn’t jive with what I am reading AND more importantly doesn’t jive with what a lot of countries are doing in regards to Omicron. Most notably and recently being Denmark.

[JohnTHaller]

It's not dogma. You post factually incorrect 'opinions' pushed by the right. You think 'cloth masks are useless', while science disagrees. A decently fitted cloth mask is far more effective then nothing, but not as effective as a surgical mask, which is not as effective as as N95. As for the death rates 'doesn’t jive with what I am reading', what the heck are you reading? Even the Fox News owned Wall Street Journal reported on Omicron deaths exceeding Delta [1]. This isn't some surprise or hidden statistic where reputable sources disagree.

The overall lower deaths and hospitalizations due to Omicron are due to the vaccines. Generally, if you're vaccinated and boostered, your case of Omicron is relatively mild. Though not always, as my sister's Father-in-law found out winding up with afib in the hospital. If you're unvaccinated, you're not so lucky. Currently 2,000-3,000 daily deaths in the last 7 days in the US as per the CDC [2]. And that's with ~64% of the US population fully vaccinated. If this happened in 2018 with none of the population vaccinated, no knowledge of the spread or how to prevent it, etc... it would have been very bad.

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/omicron-deaths-in-u-s-exceed-de...

[2] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_totaldeaths

[kcplate]

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that someone who seems to think of politics in black and white terms would glob on to a single quote of mine from a couple of weeks ago, quote only half of it completely out of context to the discussion it was in and then use it to make assumptions about the rest of my political leanings.

For what it’s worth here is the quote in its entirety. If you read the parent thread it was speaking to cloth vs N95 efficacy:

“Personally I think cloth masks are worthless for anything but the most casual exposure to the virus, and then for it to maintain any reasonable protective effect, you would need to remove and dispose of the mask as those luckily trapped virus particles can dislodge and infect. Continuing to wear a cloth mask that has accumulated virus particles in it just turns a chance casual exposure into a long term one.”

Now, explain how that opinion is in conflict with this CDC mask guidance which is less than one week old:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-si...

Here’s the NYT reporting on the change in CDC masking guidance:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/health/cloth-masks-covid-...

Here is WebMD making the argument against against cloth masks due to their lack of efficacy:

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20211229/cloth-masks-vs-surg...

Or this lovely gem from the CDC which basically tells me that, because of my choice of facial hair, pretty much all masks short of a space suit are worthless:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/facialhairwmask11282017...

If you are going to assume my quote about the worthlessness of cloth masks makes me a conservative trumpie, then you better stop listening to the CDC, stop reading the NYT, maybe boycott WebMD for good measure too. Damn right wing organizations, them.

Also not that it matters, but in terms of public figures, my politics are probably closest to Bill Maher. If you think he is conservative or a Trumpie, well…I suspect anyone short of Bernie Sanders or AOC fails your acid test.