Nobody Could Have Known…

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Liberals call for Covid Amnesty.   They say Conservatives should forgive
Liberals for all the bad things resulting from government’s response to
Covid.  They say none of those bad things are Liberals’ fault because
They Didn’t Know.

Nonsense.  We knew when the Diamond Princess docked in February 2020
that Covid afflicted mostly old people with existing co-morbidities.  We
knew the death rate was 2% of those affected while the death rate of the
entire cruise ship population was 14 out of 3711 or .3%.   And that’s
using the phony numbers from counting all respiratory illness deaths as
Covid deaths.  Covid was never a threat to the population at large – it
was never more than a bad flu – and we knew it early on, which is why we
learned to elbow bump and wash our hands while singing the alphabet song.

Yes, but Liberals were forced to impose lockdowns, mask mandates and
school closings because all the best scientists said so.  If there were
alternatives, They Didn’t Know.

Nonsense.  The Great Barrington Declaration was signed in October 2020
by some of the worlds leading experts in epidemiology to codify in a
simple statement what medical and statistical experts had been saying
since the panic began.  Lockdowns, mask mandates, and school closings
were never the correct way to respond to the outbreak – traditional
responses were the correct way – and we knew it within a few months.

Yes, but those people were outliers, malcontents, reactionaries and
nay-sayers.  Liberals were forced to rely on government bureaucrats and
computer models because Liberals had no other source of information. 
Liberals were left with no choice but to implement lockdowns, mask
mandates and school closings to avoid the looming surge of infections
and resulting hospital overloads.

Nonsense.  Governor Walz announced his lockdown based on computer
modeling that was proven wrong within two months.  There was no surge
and hospitals were not overloaded but instead laid off staff for lack of
business, keeping beds open for Covid patients who never arrived.  The
models were worthless and we knew it long before school resumed.  Nurses
knew it too but danced in the hospital to prove how much smarter they
were than those of us watching.  They had time to dance.  They had no
patients.

Yes, but lockdowns, mask mandates and school closings were necessary to
prevent the virus from spreading until we had a safe and effective
vaccine, which was not generally available to the public until after
President Biden took office.  Liberals had no choice but to enact
temporary stopgap measures to keep the public safe.

Nonsense.  There was never any compelling evidence that lockdowns, mask
mandates or school closings prevented the virus from afflicting those it
targeted most – the elderly frail population – and considerable evidence
that warehousing sick elderly with healthy resulted in killing far more
of them. Controlling for age, existing illness, and quality of medical
care, there is very little difference in Covid mortality between states
like Minnesota (strict restrictions) and Florida (few restrictions). 
There is substantial difference in economic difference and, I suspect,
in education outcomes.

The blogger Sundance writing at Conservative Treehouse coined the phrase
“pretending not to know” to explain why Liberals keep doing things which
Conservatives can plainly see are wrong, but never expect to be held
accountable for the consequences.  That’s what’s happening with Covid
Amnesty.  Liberals are pretending they didn’t know so they shouldn’t be
held to account.

They knew.

And did it anyway.

And we’re never going to forgive the damage they’ve done.

Now, let’s talk about the election.

Joe Doakes

Forgiveness without atonement is meaningless.

And that’s what those asking for the “amnesty” are trying to sideslip.

No amnesty. As noted elsewhere, I’ll settle for a Truth and Reconciliation commission.

25 thoughts on “Nobody Could Have Known…

  1. Hows about this……the massive rise in flu and/or RSV cases among children under 12 has gotten WAY beyond the worst case scenarios for covid…..ERs turning away ambulances, parents waiting for 12+ hours to be told you will not get in and sent home. Fevers so severe that the triage nurse has to keep checking these dozens of kids to make sure one who’s been waiting for hours doesn’t burn out.

    Now, what could possibly be the reason that these kids, especially aged 8 and lower, are having such widespread and severe reactions to viruses that have been around for decades? Hmmmmm, that’s a tough one, seeing as I’m not as smart as Fauxci, but could it possibly be because these kids haven’t been exposed to ANYTHING for 2+ years, and their immune systems are as weak as a newborn kitten?

    Now don’t forget that the Vid was never a threat to kids…but guv StayPuft made it a threat. And here’s the direct result.

  2. It’s interesting to observe the media freak out reporting on the number of respiratory infections in kids. Nobody is suggesting more lockdowns or masking ….yet. Has nothing to do with defeating Trump…yet. I thought everything was about the kids.

  3. The truth is, they didn’t know….

    wait for it….

    wait for it….

    wait for it….…how their voters would react.

    And by the way their voters still walk around muzzled by face diapers, they got it right.

  4. In Britain they are further along the accountability curve than we are (tho not nearly far enough).
    The narrative seems to be that politicians, public health officials, and the media so terrified the population that politicians were forced to issue visible signs that they were “doing something,” even if that something did no appreciable good or did positive harm to the covid CFR.
    So in Britain politicians & public health officials found themselves in a coward’s box where they had to exert greater social control in ways that had to be seen as harsh and unpleasant or they risked ending their careers.

    I believe something very much like that happened in some states in the US. In California, masks wearing is STILL required in most indoor public venues.

  5. Before covid there was no existing coalition that was opposed to declaring public health emergencies.
    Now there is.
    Great job, Doctor Fauci!

  6. Man, that was a well-written post. Thanks for the visit, JD. My Thanksgiving is made.

    Good comment, UMMP. Your description matches what I thought at the time but was unable to formulate.

  7. Main difference is that we have a vaccine and it’s less virulent. I don’t think anyone advocates lockdowns once we had vaccines.

  8. If only someone high up had known! How high? Rishi Sunak wrote last August in the Spectator that even though he was Chancellor – and a numbers guy – he and other cabinet members were excluded from the policy discussions and decisions made by Boris and Ferguson and their COVID star chamber, and weren’t allowed to question it. It was likely the greatest “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” edict in history (submit your nominations).
    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-lockdown-files-rishi-sunak-on-what-we-werent-told/

  9. “I don’t think anyone advocates lockdowns once we had vaccines.”

    Bullshit. China still doing it. Leftists here keep hinting at it as well.

  10. Unless I’ll settle for a Truth and Reconciliation commission is a MNice way of saying tar, feather and quarter, I suggest not to waste taxpayer money.

  11. TKS—Good thing you’re not in China 🇨🇳

    Tut-tut. The plan was never to have lock-down in place “forever”. Keep your arguments clean.

  12. Nightwriter wrote:

    . . .
    Rishi Sunak wrote last August in the Spectator that even though he was Chancellor – and a numbers guy – he and other cabinet members were excluded from the policy discussions and decisions made by Boris and Ferguson and their COVID star chamber, and weren’t allowed to question it.
    . . .

    Sunak has also said that he was assured that the cost/benefit equation of the lockdowns had been worked out when, in fact, there had been no attempt to even quantify the problem.

  13. The plan was never to have lock-down in place “forever”.
    Bullshit. Emery is retconning, again.
    No end date was given, no conditions for ending the lockdowns were given.
    That is because ending the lockdowns would be a political decision, not a scientific decision, and the lockdown govs would never admit this.

  14. Emery, I do think it’s worth saying that the pattern we’ve seen with these restrictions–obey and parrot the official line or go to jail–we do need to introduce the hypothesis that a lot of this is more about control than it is about the disease.

    This is especially the case when one key question is whether a 128nm particle will tend to form aerosols, and I’m guessing–given that oxygen, nitrogen, and argon all have different s& p orbitals and hence very different potentials/work functions–that the answer to this is an emphatic yes. Anyone who works in epidemiology should have seen the hypothesis “COVID-19 is not spread via aerosols” and answered “We are arguing that a <200nm particle that leads to coughing does not form aerosols? Horsefeathers!" This is the same principle that makes clouds and rain work; it is not some obscure issue.

    Really, almost all of the mistakes that were made dealing with the epidemic–masks, arrows on the floors, etc..–are rooted in the notion that this tiny particle will not form an aerosol, and it's one where we need to ask why all these "experts" got this basic point so wrong, and so obviously.

    Now perhaps most of these people truly don't understand the physics of this, but again, this is a question of why didn't they select the correct null hypothesis. This is a big deal.

  15. UMMP – Sunak has also said that he was assured that the cost/benefit equation of the lockdowns had been worked out when, in fact, there had been no attempt to even quantify the problem.

    The science wasn’t quantified, only the political science.

  16. In Canada Trudeau’s people announced their covid mandates, then went to the public health people for their endorsement — and didn’t get it.
    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-court-records-show-trudeau-brought-in-vaccine-mandates-for-travel-purely-based-on-politics

    A few excerpts:
    That lawsuit has made public documents, first reported by Rupa Subramanya, which show health officials were scrambling to find any justification for vaccine mandates for travel before they came into effect. The documents also show that the lead doctor who approved the use of COVID-19 vaccines was not consulted on whether such mandates would be effective.

    Aaron McCrorie, the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security at Transport Canada, was emailing people at Health Canada in October 2021, just weeks before the travel mandate took effect, looking for anything to support the policy.
    “To the extent that updated data exist or that there is clearer evidence of the safety benefit of vaccination on the users or other stakeholders of the transportation system, it would be helpful to assist Transport Canada supporting its measures,” McCrorie wrote.
    He followed up again days later saying, “need something fairly soon.” The only response he received, according to the court record, a set of talking points on the general benefits of vaccination.

  17. I find it rather hilarious that Scott Jensen used the same Covid-19 lockdowns/restrictions arguments in his campaign as SiTD commenters. The Jensen campaign was in a bubble. And Jensen dragged down the rest of the GOP operation in this state with his nonsense.

  18. I find it rather hilarious that one of the Emerys and his ilk were so happy and satisfied with their lockdowns and restrictions that they voted for more of the same.

  19. WP won’t let me post! WTF!

    NW, MP, are you following what is happening in BC? First, they came for MDs and now for DDS. They have taken away MD’s (and now DDS’) livelihood, levied a fine and imprisonment for voicing descent, and if criminal charges are filed, they will carry across jurisdictions (ie they cannot move), all the while, they are MANDATED to see patients. Not kidding.

  20. No links or quotes so assume that this is a lie.
    Emery on November 22, 2022 at 3:49 pm said:
    I find it rather hilarious that Scott Jensen used the same Covid-19 lockdowns/restrictions arguments in his campaign as SiTD commenters.

  21. Notice that those of us who criticized the lockdowns, social distancing regs, and masking and vaccine mandates aren’t the people asking for an amnesty.

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