Larry C. Johnson: Mad Mask Hysteria and Other Pandemic Hyper-Hypocrisy

Guest post by Larry C. Johnson

After watching New York Governor Mario Cuomo insist he’s done a magnificent job despite facilitating the death of more people than any other Governor in the nation, and listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci insist he was against wearing masks to ward off Covid before he was for them (true dat), and having my ears bleed from repeated dire media warnings that COVID is raging out of control (especially in Republican run states), I am starting to wonder if we are living in a Monty Python skit fueled by methamphetamines.

It is “BRING OUT YOUR DEAD” time:

Looks like the guys in this movie are now working on counting the number of COVID cases in the United States. (I am referring sarcastically to the discovery that labs around were declaring everyone tested as positive.) If COVID existed when the Python gang made this timeless flick, I suspect the last body we see tossed on the death wagon in the clip above probably died of COVID.

Let’s start with the Mask insanity. Despite the incessant religious mantra of the media (including Sean Hannity) on the need to wear masks, regardless of fiber or quality in order to ward off the COVID, the science says otherwise.

Kudos to Laura Ingraham who tackled this thorny topic Wednesday night succinctly and without hysterics. Crazy girl, she just used science and peer reported medical studies.

There is no conclusive evidence that wearing a face covering, especially one made of cloth, is going to keep you or those around you virus free. In fact, it may harm you.

BMJ, for example, (not exactly a righting conspiracy group) reported the following:

Very little good quality research exists on the use of cloth masks, especially in non-medical settings. One randomized controlled clinical trial of cloth masks, published in BMJ Open in 2015, compared their effectiveness with that of medical masks worn by hospital healthcare workers.2 The study, involving the industry partner 3M (which makes medical masks), reported that healthcare workers “should not use cloth masks as protection against respiratory infection. Cloth masks resulted in significantly higher rates of infection than medical masks, and also performed worse than the control arm.”

In an updated comment on the study (30 March),3 the authors said, “There have been a number of laboratory studies looking at the effectiveness of different types of cloth materials, single versus multiple layers and about the role that filters can play. However, none have been tested in a clinical trial for efficacy.”

Then we have the reporting on almost all of the media outlets warning that a tsunami of COVID is sweeping over Republican run states. Bring out your dead and run, no hide, for your lives. (Also, lock up your kids and keep them out of school).

Do not misinterpret my meaning–COVID is a real disease and some people are getting sick and some are dying. It is contagious. All true. Same can be said for influenza. COVID and Influenza kill people, but not most people.

But you would not know that if you are watching any cable news. The media, with few exceptions, is making no effort to provide context or understanding. Fueling panic appears to be their top priority.  People without a background in health care are likely to believe what they hear on TV without asking questions and demanding answers of experts, like Dr. Fauci, who has taken opposite sides on the same issue, such as wearing masks.

Since I live in Florida I’ve been getting calls and emails from concerned friends who are scattered around the country wondering if my family and I are barricaded in isolation to ward off the pandemic holocaust.

At least here, in Sarasota/Bradenton, our life goes on as normal notwithstanding stupid decisions from local officials who are caught up in the fear mongering. I continue to query friends/acquaintances about COVID—i.e., have they tested positive or do they know someone who tested positive. The answer is still no on both counts.

The AP 11am newscast broadcast on WMAL today (Thursday)would leave the gullible listener convinced that Florida is in the midst of something like the bubonic plague, complete with Monty Python morgue carts being pushed through the sunny neighborhoods accompanied by the cry, “BRING OUT YOUR DEAD.” But that’s not the case.

I checked the latest stats for the local hospital. The numbers for Sarasota Memorial tell a less alarming story. Total beds=839. Total number of Covid patients=98. That means only 12% of those hospitalized are there because of COVID. Similar story with respect to the ICU–Total ICU beds=72 (can be expanded to 100). Total Covid patients in ICU=19. I will do the math for you—COVID accounts for 26% of the critically ill patients.

No breakdown on the ages of those who are sick, but other nationwide stats show that if you are under 70 your risk of dying from COVID is 0.04%. I’d play those odds in Vegas.

Florida has some hot spots, such as Dade and Broward counties in the Southeast corner of the state. That outbreak comes courtesy of folks from Mario Cuomo land (known derisively as snowbirds) who have fled the bleak north for the sunny beaches and swaying Palm trees. But at least in Florida our Governor, Ron DeSantis, is not an idiot like Cuomo. Instead of ordering retirement centers that are filled with octogenarians to accept COVID patients, those with COVID are being kept away from the most vulnerable.

When I am out of the house driving to one of the local commercial establishments to spend money, I entertain myself by counting the number of lone drivers tooling around wearing a mask. They are in a car by themselves but somehow believe that they are so toxic they must mask themselves to protect themselves from their own self. Where is Darwin when we need him?

I am fed up with being lectured to by media and government morons who happily endorse mobs of Antifa and Black Lives Matter running around without social distancing and masks, but melt on the fainting couch at the prospect of peaceful, law abiding folks gathering together to worship or try to run a business that serves the needs of average folks.

One last piece of anecdotal “evidence.” A kid who graduated high school in the Washington, DC Metro area this spring is now practicing on a football team with one of the powerhouses in the SEC. He came down with COVID last week. What happened? He had a headache and felt tired for one day. Two days later he was back on the field working out and mixing it up with his new team mates.

If wearing a mask makes you feel safe, do what you feel you need to do. But leave the rest of us alone and stay six feet away. Oh yeah, wash your hands and don’t pick your nose. By the way, did you remember to change your underwear?

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