With the retirement of Anthony Fauci, I am still asking myself a key question. Why was there so much pressure to get the Covid vaccine? Some people had seemingly rational reasons for foregoing the vaccination which included currently pregnant, planning a near term pregnancy, prior allergic reactions, and religious reasons. And let’s include hesitancy to receive a vaccine which had been rushed to market. People were forced to resign, suspended or fired…not to mention shamed for questioning the groupthink.

I have come up with several theories to answer this question and try to understand the pressure applied by government and the mass media. Big Techs role is also receiving further scrutiny with the release of the “Twitter Files.” These theories are offered from most benevolent intention to most sinister.

1. Prevention of massive pandemic death
   Original estimates from the Imperial College of London (UK) exceeded two million deaths. This estimate may have justified the “15 days to flatten the curve,” but it doesn’t prove out for the vaccine mandate. It was largely known that the virus was heavily impacting older adults (over 70) and those with certain comorbidities. This was know by late summer 2020 and the vaccine wasn’t widely available until early 2021.
   
   In fact from data provided by the NIH website, in 2020 when the virus was at its most virulent and deadly phase, 20 million people in the US tested positive for Covid. It was estimated the the number of asymptomatic cases was 4-5 times higher. So of the approximately 100 million people who had Covid, 380,000 deaths were declared Covid related. That is a death rate of 0.38 percent. Further analysis showed that when you looked at age demographics, 80% of the deaths were in the elderly populations. These numbers indicate that a healthy person under age 70 had a 0.076 percent chance of dying (0.38% total deaths x 0.20% under 70/health). So while the elderly and immuno-compromised needed protection, the mask mandate would have protected the vulnerable population until the vaccine was delivered. But the vast majority of the population including school chldren could have gone on with their lives….work, school, medical checkups, hair appointments, dinner at The French Laundry. You know? All of the things that our government leaders continued to do.
2. Opportunity to prove out the mRNA technology
   The potential for a more lethal SARS/Covid-like virus will always be with us. Covid-19 provided an opportunity for a real world test of the power of the mRNA technology as well as our scientific ability to decode the virus and develop a vaccine. This concern about a deadly virus seems highly possible due to a natural mutation or to protect against a biological warfare event. This seems like a very positive answer and I would hope that we have our healthcare and scientific communities evaluating these therapeutic solutions. But our government hasn’t really come out to explain either of these two alternatives. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to directly indict China, but one also has to wonder if our investments in ‘gain of function’ research is not to be acknowledged. Otherwise, the US has culpability for the 5-6 million deaths globally.
3. Advancement of understanding viral outbreaks in a “real world” experience
   Given that we have people devoting their life’s work to epidemiology and immunology, it is very plausible that there was a degree of excitement in experiencing this epidemic in real life and seeing how well their scientific models held up. From a purely scientific perspective, this is reasonable. They wouldn’t have wished the virus on the world, but now that is was spreading globally, let’s watch and learn.
4. Demonstrate man’s ability to beat nature
   This is a far more sinister view and does bring Fauci’s role into focus. After 50 years leading the charge at NIH, here was Fauci’s opportunity to provide a capstone to his career by demonstrating how he could lead America and the world to defeat this virus. While this explanation is outlandish, his role in squashing debate about the true origins of the virus coupled with his ever changing guidance on masks, social distancing and herd immunity seem suspect. Additionally, his direct efforts along with Director Collins to dismiss out of hand the Great Barrington Declaration raises valid questions on his true objectives. The Great Barrington Declaration was cosigned by over 10,000 medical professionals and basically argued for protecting the vulnerable while letting the rest of the population go on with their lives.
   

Several other questions remain unanswered. Did China purposely let people travel out of China to spread the virus around the world? Did Pfizer and Moderna know that their ‘vaccines’ were really more like a flu shot vs. a more effective preventative therapeutic? Why wasn’t the social impact on school children learning and small business closures included in the impact analysis of a shutdown? Why, in spite of historical experience, did our leaders think we could hide long enough for the virus to go away? China was the king of the Covid shutdown and now that the citizens have opposed future shutdowns, the virus is spreading with speed. And why did Pfizer who has generated $100 billion in revenue from its vaccine wait until the day after the 2020 election to announce that their vaccine had been successfully tested?

So many questions… But with all of Fauci’s media appearances, I still don’t feel we have been given answers to justify what we were asked to endure.

George C. Parker (1860-1936), a native New Yorker, was notorious for selling NYC landmarks to unwitting immigrants.

His greatest con was selling the Brooklyn Bridge. Legend claims that he sold it at least twice a week. He did sell it several times including at least once for $50,000! The new owner would be discovered he was the victim of a con when the New York police officers would stop the “new owners” from setting up toll booths in the middle of the bridge. (nycwalks.com)

Stacey Abrams serves as the modern day George C. Parker. She deserves accolades for successfully championing the ‘get out the vote’ operation in Georgia to elect two Democrat Senators. She registered many new voters with the promise that a vote for the Democrats would result in a Senate majority that would care about them and look out for their best interests.

But just like the unwitting immigrants who bought the Brooklyn Bridge from the smooth talking George Parker, Georgians will pay a lot and get nothing in return. Georgians are effectively buying the massive debt of NYC’s mismanaged government and union pension bailouts. And ala the great Billy Mays, “that’s not all!” They will also get to the pay for the same largess from California, Illinois’ (Chicago) and other Democrat cities.

The only silver lining for Georgia is that they have subjected the rest of taxpaying America to join them in this incestuous bailout.

The Trump Russia collusion narrative hovers like a huge storm cloud over the administration.  Noted and respected journalists on both sides of the argument provide in-depth and compelling coverage.  And then there is Robert Mueller… the career public servant whose credibility is heralded or derided depending on the position of the narrator.

One could reasonably assume that after two plus years of investigation there is insufficient evidence to support bringing a compelling case of collusion that should lead to impeachment of a president.  And yet the investigation and its resulting furor go on and on.  So in trying to makes sense of this, let us resort to the dreaded two by two matrix popular among consultants and thought leaders worldwide.  There are two dimensions:  the first dimension is collusion…it either happened or it didn’t;  the second dimension is proof..there either is or isn’t proof

Scenario 1 is that there was collusion and Mueller has proof.  In this scenario, failure to bring forward the information may well have led to the successful appointment of Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court…and perhaps many more conservative justices based on holding/growing the Republican majority in the Senate.  (Of course, with Chief Justice Roberts comments that there are no Obama or Trump judges, one has to wonder why there is such partisan contention on these appointments!)  So failure to bring forward timely charges of malfeasance has allowed the administration to continue to implement its agenda which a sizable portion of the country does not support.  I would also hope that given tangible proof, that many more Americans believe in fairness and would support impeachment… even if begrudgingly.

Scenario 2 is that there was no collusion.  If there was no collusion, then clearly there would be no proof.  In that scenario, one has to wonder why the Mueller investigation has gone on for so long allowing the cloud to linger over the administration and IMHO poison the atmosphere pulling the two political parties and Americans further apart.

Scenario 3 is that there was collusion, but Mueller and team just can’t find the proof.  This is the likely scenario that drives considerable Democratic angst…”We know he did it, but we just can’t prove it….dammit!”  In this scenario, I would hope that we would have seen indictments that clearly link the accused to the Russia collusion narrative.  So far, it seems that Mueller has found wrongdoing with no direct linkage.

Scenario 4 is that there was NO collusion, but there IS proof.  In this case, while beyond the pale, but not beyond imagination, someone is lying and/or fabricating evidence to implicate the administration.  This is the “witch hunt” scenario.  “I said you are guilty, therefore you are.”  Sadly, the recent Kavanaugh hearing debacle smacked of this tawdry model of jurisprudence.   In the Kavanaugh case, it appears that ‘innocent until proven guilty’ won out, but at what cost to Kavanaugh, his family, the Supreme Court and most importantly to real victims of sexual assault.  In the Russia collusion storyline, this is the stuff of conspiracy theorists that most Americans find hard to fathom.  This scenario is well chronicled by the ‘no collusion’ journalists, so it has been received much coverage, at least in conservative media.  One question that I struggle with is why the investigation is so one sided, when the actions of the Hillary Clinton campaign would seem to warrant some in-depth inspection of its own.  From the secret server to how the FBI handled its investigation.

There is general agreement on both sides that determining what role foreign governments had in trying to impact our election process should be investigated, be it Russia, China, etc.  Although it shouldn’t really surprise or shock anyone since President Obama openly worked to prevent the reelection of Israeli President Netanyahu.  Global politics is just as devious and nasty as our national politics.

But it is becoming clearer that Mueller is, in fact, controlling this weather pattern.  The ever present cloudiness is impacting the mood of the country in a dark way (sorry if this sounds familiar Seattle).  Every one of us can wake up, look out the window and see today’s weather.  Mueller owes the American people more.  He needs to give strong confidence as to whether we see a sunshine or storm pattern on the horizon.  Sadly, either forecast will bring joy to some and woe to others, but such is life.  Anything less from the Special Prosecutor tarnishes his image, his credibility and gives credence to a political agenda narrative that serves as a huge, metaphorical meteor hurtling straight towards America.

The Trump Russia collusion narrative hovers like a huge storm cloud over the administration.  Noted and respected journalists on both sides of the argument provide in-depth and compelling coverage.  And then there is Robert Mueller… the career public servant whose credibility is heralded or derided depending on the position of the narrator.

One could reasonably assume that after two plus years of investigation there is insufficient proof to support bringing a compelling case of collusion that should lead to impeachment of a president.  And yet the investigation and its resulting furor go on and on.

But it is becoming clearer that Mueller is, in fact, controlling this weather pattern.  The ever present cloudiness is impacting the mood of the country in a dark way (sorry if this sounds familiar Seattle).  Every one of us can wake up, look out the window and see today’s weather.  Mueller owes the American people more.  He needs to give strong confidence as to whether we see a sunshine or storm pattern on the horizon.  Sadly, either forecast will bring joy to some and woe to others, but such is life.  Anything less from the Special Prosecutor tarnishes his image, his credibility and gives credence to a political agenda narrative that serves as a huge, metaphorical meteor hurtling straight towards America.

This blog will be a series of discussions of relevant political topics. Many of these discussions may not prove to be popular, but I believe they represent the beliefs of many others.