Monday Maunderings

“The news is all bad,
But it’s good for a laugh.”
[Tom Paxton, “Jimmy Newman”]

     Decide for yourselves.

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1. “Authorities.”

     How many times can you be wrong – serially, at that – and still command attention as an authority?

     Rethink big family gatherings for Thanksgiving, continue wearing your mask and keep your distance as cold weather likely ushers in more coronavirus cases. But don’t give up hope that more normal life will ever return.

     That’s the message delivered Friday by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top pandemic scientist, during a virtual “fireside chat” with the staff and students at Johns Hopkins University as part of a new series of discussions with Washington leaders.

     Fauci, director of the National Academy of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a top adviser to the Trump administration on the coronavirus, didn’t offer much new during the health policy forum. But as Ellen MacKenzie, dean of the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said during the discussion, the pandemic has thrust Fauci, who has deep experience in dangerous outbreaks, into a new role as the nation’s and world’s “trusted source.”

     For his part, Fauci said his driving force is “the realization not only of the enormity of the problem, but the fact that we can do something about it. It is not an unsolvable series of problems.”

     At this point, if Fauci were to announce that the Sun had risen in the East this morning, I’d call the Naval Observatory for confirmation.

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2. The Politics of the Wallet.

     It’s important that open minded persons, who are willing to listen to orations about “the greater good,” have a clear understanding of what the Biden / Harris economic agenda will mean for all Americans:

     Joe Biden has shrewdly kept the campaign focus on Covid-19 and President Trump, which has helped him avoid having to talk much about his own policies. That’s especially true of his economic proposals, which a new study out Sunday from the Hoover Institution shows will have a damaging impact on growth, job creation and household income.

     So far, nothing newsworthy. As Ann Coulter has written, if leading Democrats were ever truly candid about their intentions for America, the public would boil them in oil. But wait: there’s more!

     Overall, the authors estimate that the Biden agenda, if fully implemented, would reduce full-time equivalent employment per person by about 3%, the capital stock per person by some 15%, and real GDP per capita by more than 8%. Compared to Congressional Budget Office estimates for these variables in 2030, this means there would be 4.9 million fewer working Americans, $2.6 trillion less in GDP, and $6,500 less in median household income.

     That’s quite dramatic, especially as we’re still coming out of the WuFlu Recession. But surely the Democrats have a “greater good” rationale for imposing such severe economic and financial setbacks on America and Americans! What’s that you say? They haven’t? But they must! Something about “climate change,” or fighting “structural racism,” or some such. I’m sure we’ll be hearing it any...day...now...

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3. The Laptop and the Media.

     FLASH! Journalist commits blatant act of journalism! Film at 11:

     I asked Joe Biden: What is your response to the NYPost story about your son, sir?
     He called it a “smear campaign” and then went after me. “I know you’d ask it. I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask.” pic.twitter.com/Eo6VD4TqxD
     — Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) October 17, 2020

     I was startled that a mainstream media reporter would “break ranks” from the lockstep march to elect a Democrat. However, the allegations are juicy enough to tempt even a hardened partisan, as reportage from several other mainstream types suggests. But the real story here is the reaction of a couple of other media figures:

     Biden adopts Trump playbook – attacking pool reporter @BoKnowsNews for asking about Hunter Biden story which has been a focus of President Trump’s campaign over past few days. Fine to attack the story, but why personally insult Bo? https://t.co/PgOsLgu2DT      — Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) October 17, 2020

     How are you all circling the wagons instead of being embarrassed for peddling Russian ops 18 days before the election. It's not enough that you all haven't learned from your atrocious handling of 2016 — you are doubling down. Truly incredible. https://t.co/0zvW5sZIpM
     — Neera -Vote Early- Tanden (@neeratanden) October 17, 2020

     Because it’s “irresponsible” to report on a stunning disclosure about criminal behavior by a member of the Ruling Elite, don’t y’know:

     The media in most of Europe is so much more responsible than American media. After 2016, I thought they would behave more responsibly. It's incredibly depressing that they are doing Russia's bidding. Again.
     — Neera -Vote Early- Tanden (@neeratanden) October 17, 2020

     Miss Tanden is determined to squelch the story before it can gain any traction. Can’t have the Bidens’ blatant corruption in the news when there’s an election to be won for the Democrats! But it appears that she’s up against a force too large for her: the lure of a Pulitzer.

     Howie Carr of the Boston Herald has a few observations, as well:

     Biden — or more precisely, his keepers — haven’t disputed the veracity of the Biden Crime Family documents, or that they are from Hunter’s laptop. They were obtained legally, after an “inebriated” Hunter abandoned the computer at a repair shop, according to the New York Post.

     The usual alt-left suspects — the AP, NBC “News,” Rep. Adam Schiff — went through the tired motions of trying to blame it all on, who else, the Russians. But seriously, how many times can these hacks cry wolf, even to Wolf Blitzer?

     And Darleen Click opines thus:

     Let me digress a bit about one very risible thing I keep seeing from the it’s a hoax! crowd. Too many seem to think no one of Hunter’s background and intelligence [… sorry, a moment here as I guffaw …] would ever leave such important data behind. After working in a District Attorney office for 18 years (now retired), don’t underestimate criminally stupid people who leave enough loose ends lying about it looks like wool tapestry after being locked up with cloud of horny clothes moths. Hunter McCrackpipe losing his info to the computer shop owner because he failed to pick up and pay for repair is second only to this gal whose prize for skipping three months rent was 25 to life.

     Someone tell Adam we’ve moved on, eh?

It’s Not Real
It’s Russian Disinfo
It’s Real But Doesn’t Matter <– YOU ARE HERE
It Matters But Not Very Much
This is Old News
Shut Up Racist

—The Plague Duck (@quackocracy) October 17, 2020

     Yet there are still millions of people who will uncritically swallow the “Russia, Russia, Russia!” nonsense, and will vote for Joe Biden on November 3.

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4. Science Has No Clergy...Or Does It?

     At InstaPundit, Sarah Hoyt links to a scathing Robert Zimmerman piece about the politicization of the WHO:

     The corruption of modern science and our intellectual class was well illustrated today by the following headline and article in the peer review journal Science: Act now, wait for perfect evidence later, says ‘high priestess’ of U.K. COVID-19 masking campaign

     Please read it all. Also reflect on Sarah’s brief remarks:

     I knew we were in trouble deep when I started seeing the signs on front yards “In this house we believe in science” followed by a list of dubious statements most of which are semantically deranged, let alone not scientifically proven.

     Science is not a system of belief; it is a strict method for improving our confidence in our knowledge about that the world. To say “we believe in science” is to paint oneself as an ignoramus. Demagogues have made much of such ignorance:

     The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs' mash. The early apples were now ripening, and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon. Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others.

     "Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades," cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, "surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?"

     Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone.

     [George Orwell, Animal Farm]

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Forgive Me For This...

     ...but you do need to be aware of it:

     Does your neighborhood have a functioning Neighborhood Watch in operation? If you don’t...well, suffice it to say that the vandals will have the initiative.

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     That’s all for today, I think. I have to get started on my other chores – yes, including fiction – so in closing I’ll wish you a happy (?) mask-free (!) and generally untroubled Monday.