Author: jbrish2

Covid’s Shot(gun) Wedding

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.

Stacey Abrams sold Georgians the Brooklyn Bridge

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.

Who killed Ashli Babbitt? We all did!

Yesterday’s events at the Capitol Rotunda are deeply disturbing. Ashli Babbitt, a 14 year veteran of the U.S. Armed Services was shot and killed. The President, Donald Trump, will receive his well deserved share of criticism and disdain for his role in inciting the mob. And while deserved, it will provide cover for the many others who share in this disgraceful moment.

President Trump shares blame for Ashli’s death. His determination to show his supporters that “no one will fight harder for you” drove him to dispute the election results with numerous law suits and public statements that he had won BIG and the election was stolen. While he may be wrong in that ballot box stuffing occurred, there is a valid point to be made of Democratic governors and election officials bypassing state constitutions and state congressional bodies to change voting rules. This affected mail-in balloting, unprecedented drop box numbers and locations, lack of signature verification, etc. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg, funneled $400 Million dollars to drive voter turnout. While laudable, it seemed to be only used to impact turnout in Democratic districts. Additionally, the media’s decision to bury any discussion of Hunter Biden’s business dealings (and Joe Biden’s feigned ignorance of same) with Ukraine, Russia and China were equally dismaying as 17% of Biden voters in one study said it would have impacted their voting decision. So it isn’t beyond the pale to understand how Trump voters can feel a bit peeved at the election outcome.

But there are many other fingerprints on the gun that killed Ashli. The list is long, but let’s start with recent history.

The #Resist movement shares blame for Ashli’s death. Championed by Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and many others, the #resist movement gave rise to the concept of an illegitimate President who should be fought at every moment and by any means necessary.

Robert Mueller’s team shares blame for Ashli’s death. Propelled by unsavory leaders in our own Intelligence Community, they let a Russia Hoax narrative fester for over two years in an effort to slow the administration’s agenda and impact the 2018 midterm elections. It also served to further deep distrust of our institutions when the final report concluded that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Trump or his campaign to “collude” with Russia.

Rachel Maddow and many others in the media share blame for Ashli’s death. They fanned the flames of Russia collusion for personal prestige and profit….all ably supported by media titans such as Jeffrey Zucker who were giddy as they were ringing the cash resgister.

U.S. House Representative Maxine Waters shares blame for Ashli’s death. She spurred on the #resist crowd to harass cabinet officials with “you get out and you create a crowd.” Tell them they are not welcome. Confrontation was good as Ted Cruz was harassed in a restaurant and Rand Paul and his wife were hassled leaving the swearing in ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett.

The Seattle Mayor shares blame for Ashli’s death. Her depiction of the CHOP takeover in downtown Seattle as a “season of love” when a police station was overrun received less than condemning coverage from the media. Destruction of property and overtaking law and order was in vogue.

The media’s disorienting coverage of riots in cities with burning buildings in the background as “peaceful protests” shares blame in Ashli’s death.

Those who wouldn’t shame White Supremacist groups and Antifa share blame in Ashli’s death. Symbols of mayhem relating to racism and anti-democratic messaging (ACB–All Cops are Bastards) need to be shut down and not allowed to attract disaffected people in this country.

The list could go on. The thread that weaves itself throughout these abettors in the death of Ashli Babbitt is the media. As FOX NEWS and MSNBC/CNN/NYT serve as anchors in an endless tug-of-war trying desperately to pull the “other” side into the mud, they leave a trail of fear, anger and distrust among their viewers. The media is never held accountable. Their offenders like Brian Williams, Dan Rather, soon Jeffrey Toobin are somehow rehabilitated and reenter the public square as trusted voices. How can two news channels represent the factual news in two totally different ways? Try watching the news from the other side and you will quickly see the stark difference. In this regard, the media has become “the enemy of the people” and this needs to change before we tear ourselves apart.

The Curious Case of Bernie Sanders (and his ‘Bros’)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button depicts the life of Benjamin who lives out his life in reverse from old age to infancy. Bernie Sanders is acting out a “real-life” parallel as he began his firebrand political journey brimming with socialistic ideals and Soviet style aspirations in an effort to make life more fair; only to see his political life ending as one far more in lock step with the Democrat establishment and its own version of crony capitalism.

During his 2016 Presidential Campaign, Bernie built an enormous following. One of his key themes was that ‘the system is rigged’ which led to his winning 46% of the pledged delegates. At the DNC convention, Bernie chose to be a team player and support Hillary Clinton’s nomination. Bernie’s stalwart supporters, while disappointed and disgruntled, accepted Bernie’s decision. As we learned in the aftermath, ‘the system is rigged’ message proved to be especially true as the DNC had colluded with Hillary Clinton to undercut Bernie’s campaign at every turn. Establishment 1, Bernie 0.

Under the adage of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” the ‘rigging’ continued again in 2020. Senator Elizabeth Warren stayed around just long enough to split the far progressive vote serving as a boat anchor to Sanders’ momentum. Then Representative James Clyburn and the Obamas leveraged the race angle for a Primary shifting win in South Carolina. Next, came the exit of Klobuchar and Buttigieg (again attributed to Barack Obama’s deft political hand) and Biden was off to the nomination. Establishment 2, Bernie 0.

But where was Bernie with his ‘fight for the little guy’ personality railing against the machine? His supporters were again being asked to hold their noses and vote for the ultimate establishment candidate. While Bernie has tried to achieve his goals within the DNC platform via the Bernie/Biden Manifesto, it appears from early cabinet nominations that Sanders’ socialistic priorities are taking a backseat. Establishment 3. Bernie 0.

But look who actually bankrolled the Biden campaign–Wall Street, FAANG billionaires and legions of Silicon Valley employees who make enough to actually live respectably in San Francisco. China will be ecstatic with a Biden administration that views Russia as the end all to global malfeasance while China sits quietly in its Buddhist position of peace and tranquility.

And what say you Bernie Bros? Your candidate has quietly succumbed to a Biden presidency, largely run by Obama holdovers. Isn’t this the same bureaucratic morass than Bernie was railing against in 2016? If you truly cared about fighting against a bloated and entrenched administrative state, there was a candidate who had been waging war against the machine every day…not to mention the obedient news outlets who distorted facts and narratives to support the Democrat party.

But alas Bernie Bros, you missed your chance! You can feel good that the D’s are now back in control…the same D’s that provoked your outrage and served as the impetus for your movement in the first place. It will be interesting to see how many of those less fortunate in the unprotected class will actually benefit. Will they benefit from open immigration policies that will create increased job competition and suppress wages? Will the less fortunate benefit from a softer stance with China who has been waging an economic war against the west for years in terms of slave labor and IP theft? Will the less fortunate benefit from increased energy prices as we prematurely squelch the flow of fossil fuel produced energy? History and current events suggest that the less fortunate will not benefit from these lofty objectives, but the protected class will sleep well and feel righteous and good about themselves.

But you know who will benefit? Yep! Wall Street will benefit as it already has. FAANG billionaires will benefit as they already have. Scores of Silicon Valley minions will benefit as their buying power is protected. And throw in the notorious Koch Brothers and others who desperately want cheap immigrant labor.

Bernie continues to genuflect to the same establishment and administrative state that he has railed against his entire career. And in the process, mimicking Benjamin Buttons, Bernie entered into politics as a rabble-rouser socialist, but he will depart under the acquiescing, youthful glow of capitalism. Bernie Bros! You missed your chance.

What Billionaires know….

Billionaires are good at managing money, they don’t waste it, and they find areas to invest where they will get the best return. Now I don’t begrudge billionaires their fortunes. In most cases, these individuals have offered a product or service desired by millions of people…if not hundreds of millions (Amazon) or even billions (Facebook). Billionaires do not offer to ‘give’ their money to government. Why? They know that government is inherently wasteful. Government has no competition. Government agencies have zero incentive to underspend their annual budget. If they do, next year’s budget gets cut. So they spend every available dollar, often buying unneeded things at the end of the fiscal year…and then these agencies clamor that they need a 7% increase in next year’s budget allocation. Billionaires understand this. Just look at SpaceX which is providing a much needed boost to our space exploration efforts faster and more cost effectively than NASA could ever hope to achieve. That’s why billionaires funnel their wealth into their own businesses or charitable foundations where they see a better return on their investment. You may not be a billionaire, but know what they know:

Inefficiency and waste make government a poor investment. Why would any voter want to make it bigger?

Mueller-ing it over

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.

Is Robert Mueller controlling the weather?

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.