Don's Tuesday Column

           THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   8/25/2020

We could do it; Biden/Harris DNC

Imagine if we could cancel emergency proclamations, open all schools, allow unfettered business operations, guarantee health-supporting surgeries and outpatient care, resume all sports, remove outdoor recreation restrictions and proceed to have a normal election with unlimited in-person voting.

Both Drs. Fauci and Birx have given their ok to in-person voting; Dr. Birx said that if she can walk into Starbucks shops throughout America with her mask, order coffee and suffer no illness, we can vote. Or is their advice only relevant if it supports nearly-despotic, top-down restrictions and lockdowns?

The original predictions of millions of American deaths failed; we were scared into giving up all of the above. The actual, quantifiable experience of 50 states and over 100 nations could provide objective, rational guidance rather than mandates and punitive, obsessive rules.

With respect for our local Tehama County Health Services Agency (tehamacohealthservices.net), it appears that—per “worldometers.info/coronavirus/” tabulation of world, national and state infections and deaths—there is little reason to continue state and local restrictions. Consider the fact that, with 6,730,160 “Currently Infected Patients,” less than 1 percent, or 61,708 are “Serious or Critical.” Over 99 percent are “in Mild Condition.” The “Serious, Critical” rate has steadily declined over a month.

Do our local numbers support reverting to semi-lockdowns of business, personal and recreational activities? I think not. In the USA, out of over 2.5 million “Active Cases,” only 16,719, or 2/3 of 1 percent, are “Serious, Critical.” Multiply our local figures by 15 to get the “per million” figure comparable to national and other state data. Deaths per million in California are way below the national average (307/M vs. 544/M). Tehama County barely registers at 1 death; we’d need 20 deaths to even equal CA deaths/M numbers.

So, we have 135 cases per 100,000, averaged over 14 days; CA has 168 per 100,000 cases. How is that cause for local restrictions? Can’t we be told the age/housing status of the cases? If state/national figures apply, 80 to 90 percent are over 70 and mostly in nursing homes. How does that support restrictions on young to middle-age, otherwise healthy citizens? “The state says…” pretty much says it all.

If only widely-available information—much of which I have read without the need for formal medical training—could be read by those in charge of our health: “Learning Our Lessons From Asymptomatic Covid-19,” by Buzz Hollander, MD, is a longer read but contains many links to source data. “The Myth That Lockdowns Stop Pandemics,” by Stacey Rudin is persuasive, even irrefutable. “Maybe The Experts Should Listen To The Experts,” by Derek Hunter has sound advice.

More to the point, “Covid and the Death of Common Sense,” by J. Hinderaker, and “The Pandemic and the Levers of Power,” by John Schroeder, are illuminating about the abandonment of informed, self-governance. “What the Media Won’t Tell You About the United States’ Coronavirus Case Fatality Rate,” (Matt Margolis) is that America has half of Canada’s and the European Union’s rates. Moreover, the New York area’s deaths per million are the worst in the world; the rest of America (minus NY) would be #30.

“New Poll Reveals How Shockingly Ignorant People Are About COVID, How Damaging Media Lies Have Been,” at Redstate.com, details—from a Franklin-Templeton Gallup poll—how “the faux hysteria emanating from the media over the coronavirus” has made “most of the country completely ignorant of the scientific facts regarding the current pandemic. Not coincidentally, the false perceptions that now abound just so happen to play right into left-wing desires, like perpetual lockdowns and keeping schools closed.” True.

“Trump Was Right All Along! Blocking COVID Cure HCQ Killed 10s of 1000s Say Latest Docs Calling out Fauci’s Deadly Anti-Science Agenda,” (Michael Thau); it lays out why doctors are speaking out about the efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine. Uganda is an example where, because of the constant threat of malaria, HCQ is an over-the-counter anti-malarial drug. That nation of 44 million has had 15 COVID deaths.

In other (fake) news, we have the drummed up “crisis/scandal” over President Trump and his Postmaster General Louis DeJoy manipulating the Postal Service to sabotage untested, highly-susceptible-to-fraud “mail-in voting” schemes. I wrote that “anyone advancing the lie that Trump is manipulating the Postal Service to steal the election is either an ignoramus, a partisan hack, or both.”

Kurt Schlichter minced no words in “The Post Office Conspiracy Is First Class Stupidity” (a great read). While someone might be just ignorant, it now stands as another “Trump/Russia/collusion”-level fabrication: 1) no changes to operations have been implemented (me: sadly); 2) DeJoy has had no contact with Trump over such operations; 3) While it runs astronomical deficits, the USPS will not exhaust its cash until next year; 4) “The Mailbox Hoax That Won’t Go Away Just Got Even More Fake,” (M. Fox) says it all; 5) The fraud and problems aren’t with USPS, but with local precinct vote counters’ corruption;

6) Mail boxes are and have been removed (14,000 under Obama) as paper mail declined compared to e-mail, internet bill-pay, Instagram etc, prompting mail sorting machine removal and distribution center consolidation—over many years; and 7) Pictures shamelessly circulated by supposedly “news” media show, not the mass removal of mailboxes by Trump, but excess boxes sitting in refinishing plant lots, waiting for powder, or paint, coatings. Ignorant, partisan hacks, all.

VP-candidate, President-in-waiting Kamala Harris, supports: Bernie’s socialist healthcare scheme, banning private insurance, cash benefits for illegals, a ban on fracking, AOC’s socialist Green New Deal, no death penalty for cop killers, and gun confiscation (credit Trump War Room).

Likewise, the Biden DNC hued to the most radical, anti-American, anti-free enterprise, anti-law enforcement, anti-God agenda ever seen in national politics.