A former history teacher, Tom is a columnist who lives in Lovell, Maine. His column is published in Maine and New Hampshire newspapers and on numerous web sites.
Email: tomthemick@gmail.com
Newspaper publisher Mark Guerringue sits in the left chair for this show. First question from the producer asks our opinion of the CDC renewing a ban on evictions by landlords of tenants who don't pay rent. Mark defers to me and I claim it's unconstitutional for the federal gfuovernment to exercise this power, and Biden admits it. Nonetheless, he did it. Governors may have such power depending on what state constitutions might have granted.I bring back a question Mark asked on a previous show about why Republicans were going after Anthony Fauci. I said it was because he lied under oath at a Senate hearing when he denied using US tax dollars to fund "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Lab. Mark said it was only a small amount and no big deal. He didn't address lying under oath. From there was discuss where the virus might have originated. Mark insisted there was no evidence it was anywhere but from animals. I said evidence was emerging that it possibly started in a laboratory in Wuhan. After first insisting strenuously there was no evidence, Mark acknowledged it was possible.
Mark asked me about Governor Cuomo, who at that point had not yet resigned. I cited enormous discrepancies in mainstream media coverage of similar accusations against conservatives Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump. Media was extremely aggressive against Trump and Kavanaugh but played down accusations against liberal Democrat Andrew Cuomo until they simply couldn't anymore.
I pivoted to teachers's union support of teaching Critical Race Theory in our public schools. Teachers' unions being the biggest contributors to the Democrat Party after the Trial Lawyers Association. I quoted from a National Association statement at their convention the month before in which they criticize capitalism, claims "White Supremacy" as being inherent in white people, that they're anti-black, and against indigenous peoples as well -- and more.
I reiterated Mark's claims that my columns were "anti-black," but he again insisted that didn't mean I was anti-black. I said I stand by what I wrote and would write them again, that they reflect what I believe, that they were not "anti-black" but anti-Black Lives Matter, and other such radical leftist groups.
Republicans go after Fauci because he speaks truth to Trump's mad ramblings.
You say the media treated Cuomo differently than Trump and Kavenaugh, yet it was Cuomo forced to resign while they got off scot-free. I heard the Cuomo story very frequently on real news outlets.
And I don't believe that the NEA said that White Supremacy is inherent in white people, and that they're anti-black. I believe they said that White supremacy, anti-Blackness, and various kinds of racialized inequality—is embedded into LAW AND LEGAL PRACTICE. A big difference.
I’ve read your column for years, and it seems like your chief complaint with the mainstream media is your belief the MSM prioritizes certain stories over others, thus giving them disproportionate coverage. Can’t you make the same claim about Gateway Pundit, Fox, many on AM radio, Newsmax, OAN, etc, or do you believe you get true, objective, balanced reporting from them? Keep in mind they are the ones who told their audiences stories like Obama was born in Kenya even though he released his U.S. Certificate of Live Birth in 2008, that the Sandyhook massacre was staged to justify Obama’s nationwide gun confiscation, death panels, the military exercise dubbed Jade Helm, was practice for Obama’s certain martial law, that Obama instructed the courts to seal his college transcripts, that the IRS was going to hire 16,000+ armed agents to enforce the ACA, Obama’s czars, and the grandest lie of them all, that the 2020 election was stolen. The media that told you those lies are telling you, “Don’t read the Post or the Times. Let us read them for you, and we’ll tell you what they’re reporting.” Are you sure they’re not still just lying to you? This article is priceless: Sidney Powell Lawyers Say Dominion Claims Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously (businessinsider.com) Dominion Voting Systems named Trump’s lawyer, Sydney Powell in a $1.3b defamation lawsuit along with Fox, OAN, Newsmax, Gateway Pundit, Mike Lindell and Rudy Guliani for their unsubstantiate claims the 2020 election was rigged by their voting machines and software. Her defense is, “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” No reasonable person would have taken her claims of voter fraud – and those repeated by Trump, many elected Republicans and many in the Conservative media – seriously, but millions of Republicans sure took them seriously.
But for the sake of this response, I’ll give it to you. The MSM covered sexual assault claims against Trump (keeping in mind, one of those sexual-assault claims actually came from Trump himself in the Access Hollywood tape) but ignored the claims against Cuomo, while Sean Hannity, Gateway Pundit, Greg Kelley, et al feverishly reported about Trump’s victims and Cuomo’s victims with equal vigor. The mainstream media my not be reporting on certain stories to a degree that would satisfy you, but at least they’re not reporting outright lies like I listed above. Many in the Conservative media successfully convinced millions of Americans our democracy is a failed enterprise, and they’re the ones you go to for truth in reporting?
So, again, I’ll give it to you. The mainstream media didn’t cover Cuomo’s assault allegations as thoroughly as the Conservative media covered Trump’s allegations, but consider how Democrat voters/politicians and Republican voters/politicians responded. When allegations against Cuomo became too big to dismiss, Democrats called for, and got, his resignation. When allegations against Trump became too big to dismiss, Republicans called for, and got, his nomination and election. That’s a telling difference to me.
THE CDC website has some interesting information that should be part of the national discussion.
WHO IS DYING? Take a look at the actuals. Look at Deaths by Age Group, 2nd down on the right. Very clear that it is mainly the elderly, not the entire population. I have downloaded this into Excel before and done the math. But please double-check for yourself. A full 30% of deaths are in those 85+. 80% are over age 65. 95% are over age 50. Close to zero under 18. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics
COMORBIDITIES Not a lot of actual data here but a clear admission: "Adults of any age with the following conditions can be more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. Severe illness means that a person with COVID-19 may need: Hospitalization; Intensive care; A ventilator to help them breathe; Or they may even die" See link for a list of the diseases. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html
ESTIMATES One of the big problems in trying to put the risk in perspective is not knowing how many people are infected. Confirmed Cases doesn't capture it. It's bigger than that. But people with mild or asymptomatic cases don't get tested. Sick people get tested. You need this as a denominator though. The CDC takes a stab at it on this page. 1)If you do the math for hospitalizations over total infections, you get something like 5% 2) If you do the math for fatalities over total infections, you get something like 0.6% 3) Look at the total infections: 120 million. The entire US population is 330 million. So that's over 1/3 of the population has already been infected. That could be a good thing, meaning we have burned through 1/3, add in all the vaccinated folks, and maybe we'll come out the other side sooner than we think. Or if you're a pessimist, that means we have a way to go and a lot more people are still going to die. Note: There is evidence that naturally acquired immunity is more robust than vaccine immunity (because vaccine immunity only trains the body on the spike protein). Lots of other useful information on this page. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html#anchor_1607017301754
ADVERSE EFFECTS There are some. Almost 7,000 deaths associated with the vaccines. Three points here: 1) Is this number under-reported? Some folks think so. 2) Does it prove causation? No, it doesn't. But is there something going on. Maybe. 3) Admittedly given the large number of doses given, the side effects % is pretty small. This is why the CDC feels safe to still recommend. The big question is about long-term side effects. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
CAVEAT: It is possible the new variants will behave differently and affect people differently. The past data doesn't necessarily apply to the future. But I think it is something solid to go on until new data comes in.
Posts
5 comments:
Keep hammerin' Mr. M.
Concerning "lying under oath", I have seen no definitive proof of this.
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/05/the-wuhan-lab-and-the-gain-of-function-disagreement/
Republicans go after Fauci because he speaks truth to Trump's mad ramblings.
You say the media treated Cuomo differently than Trump and Kavenaugh, yet it was Cuomo forced to resign while they got off scot-free. I heard the Cuomo story very frequently on real news outlets.
And I don't believe that the NEA said that White Supremacy is inherent in white people, and that they're anti-black. I believe they said that White supremacy, anti-Blackness, and various kinds of racialized inequality—is embedded into LAW AND LEGAL PRACTICE. A big difference.
I’ve read your column for years, and it seems like your chief complaint with the mainstream media is your belief the MSM prioritizes certain stories over others, thus giving them disproportionate coverage. Can’t you make the same claim about Gateway Pundit, Fox, many on AM radio, Newsmax, OAN, etc, or do you believe you get true, objective, balanced reporting from them? Keep in mind they are the ones who told their audiences stories like Obama was born in Kenya even though he released his U.S. Certificate of Live Birth in 2008, that the Sandyhook massacre was staged to justify Obama’s nationwide gun confiscation, death panels, the military exercise dubbed Jade Helm, was practice for Obama’s certain martial law, that Obama instructed the courts to seal his college transcripts, that the IRS was going to hire 16,000+ armed agents to enforce the ACA, Obama’s czars, and the grandest lie of them all, that the 2020 election was stolen. The media that told you those lies are telling you, “Don’t read the Post or the Times. Let us read them for you, and we’ll tell you what they’re reporting.” Are you sure they’re not still just lying to you? This article is priceless: Sidney Powell Lawyers Say Dominion Claims Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously (businessinsider.com) Dominion Voting Systems named Trump’s lawyer, Sydney Powell in a $1.3b defamation lawsuit along with Fox, OAN, Newsmax, Gateway Pundit, Mike Lindell and Rudy Guliani for their unsubstantiate claims the 2020 election was rigged by their voting machines and software. Her defense is, “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” No reasonable person would have taken her claims of voter fraud – and those repeated by Trump, many elected Republicans and many in the Conservative media – seriously, but millions of Republicans sure took them seriously.
But for the sake of this response, I’ll give it to you. The MSM covered sexual assault claims against Trump (keeping in mind, one of those sexual-assault claims actually came from Trump himself in the Access Hollywood tape) but ignored the claims against Cuomo, while Sean Hannity, Gateway Pundit, Greg Kelley, et al feverishly reported about Trump’s victims and Cuomo’s victims with equal vigor. The mainstream media my not be reporting on certain stories to a degree that would satisfy you, but at least they’re not reporting outright lies like I listed above. Many in the Conservative media successfully convinced millions of Americans our democracy is a failed enterprise, and they’re the ones you go to for truth in reporting?
So, again, I’ll give it to you. The mainstream media didn’t cover Cuomo’s assault allegations as thoroughly as the Conservative media covered Trump’s allegations, but consider how Democrat voters/politicians and Republican voters/politicians responded. When allegations against Cuomo became too big to dismiss, Democrats called for, and got, his resignation. When allegations against Trump became too big to dismiss, Republicans called for, and got, his nomination and election. That’s a telling difference to me.
THE CDC website has some interesting information that should be part of the national discussion.
WHO IS DYING?
Take a look at the actuals. Look at Deaths by Age Group, 2nd down on the right. Very clear that it is mainly the elderly, not the entire population. I have downloaded this into Excel before and done the math. But please double-check for yourself.
A full 30% of deaths are in those 85+.
80% are over age 65.
95% are over age 50.
Close to zero under 18.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics
COMORBIDITIES
Not a lot of actual data here but a clear admission:
"Adults of any age with the following conditions can be more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. Severe illness means that a person with COVID-19 may need: Hospitalization; Intensive care; A ventilator to help them breathe; Or they may even die"
See link for a list of the diseases.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html
ESTIMATES
One of the big problems in trying to put the risk in perspective is not knowing how many people are infected. Confirmed Cases doesn't capture it. It's bigger than that. But people with mild or asymptomatic cases don't get tested. Sick people get tested. You need this as a denominator though. The CDC takes a stab at it on this page.
1)If you do the math for hospitalizations over total infections, you get something like 5%
2) If you do the math for fatalities over total infections, you get something like 0.6%
3) Look at the total infections: 120 million. The entire US population is 330 million. So that's over 1/3 of the population has already been infected. That could be a good thing, meaning we have burned through 1/3, add in all the vaccinated folks, and maybe we'll come out the other side sooner than we think. Or if you're a pessimist, that means we have a way to go and a lot more people are still going to die. Note: There is evidence that naturally acquired immunity is more robust than vaccine immunity (because vaccine immunity only trains the body on the spike protein).
Lots of other useful information on this page.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html#anchor_1607017301754
ADVERSE EFFECTS
There are some. Almost 7,000 deaths associated with the vaccines. Three points here:
1) Is this number under-reported? Some folks think so.
2) Does it prove causation? No, it doesn't. But is there something going on. Maybe.
3) Admittedly given the large number of doses given, the side effects % is pretty small. This is why the CDC feels safe to still recommend. The big question is about long-term side effects.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
CAVEAT: It is possible the new variants will behave differently and affect people differently. The past data doesn't necessarily apply to the future. But I think it is something solid to go on until new data comes in.
"It was only a small amount and no big deal. "
Yeah, OK, got it.
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