The Morning Report - 4/1/20

Good morning, kids. Midweek, the start of a new month, and confusion continues to reign supreme about the nature of the Oriental Lung AIDS. The statistics are a complete hash partly because the Communist Chinese who unleashed this pestilence on the world are either lying or not forthcoming with the data we need, and the Democrat-Media Complex is using this as a last desperate wunderwaffe with which to be rid of President Trump, we the people and "We The People." I'll delve more into the alarming stirrings of totalitarianism in a moment. The fact that the DMC is also parroting virtually verbatim the line coming straight out of the Beijing offices of the Communist Party Central Committee is both revelatory and despicable.

Unfortunately, even some of our own outlets can't resist taking shots at the President whose actions early on definitely mitigated the actual spread of this disease, the morbidity and lethality of it in context to all other manner of disease and afflictions still a matter of debate, over his initial comparing it to common flu. Here's what the President Tweeted on March 9th:

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"

So, after yesterday's presser, The Daily Caller did a story on that quote with this headline:

"Trump Finally Abandons Saying Coronavirus Is Not As Deadly As Seasonal Flu"

Writing that is like hacking your arm off and then jumping into a school of tiger sharks for a relaxing dip. The headline would have been equally accurate without becoming political fodder for the Left by phrasing it thusly:

"Trump Reverses Position On Chinese Coronavirus; Not "Like the Flu. It's Vicious"

First of all, before the trolls earn their $1.50 in Soros-lucre, my intention is not to defend Trump but to rip the gotcha sensationalism of the media, sadly in this instance an outlet that should know better. Second, and more importantly, even as the numbers of infected and even deaths climb, given the nature of the Chinese government, the nature of the media and sadly the nature of the bureaucracy in DC, fully weaponized and politicized in service of the Democrats, Trump's initial assessment is a hell of a lot closer to reality. Matt Margolis at PJ Media writes:

... Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated that the mortality rate of the coronavirus was about 2 percent. "If you look at the cases that have come to the attention of the medical authorities in China, and you just do the math, the math is about 2%." The World Health Organization estimated a 3.4 percent mortality rate. President Trump endured a lot of criticism for saying that he had a "hunch" that the WHO's estimate was too high.

"Well, I think the 3.4 percent is really a false number. Now, and this is just my hunch, and - but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this. Because a lot people will have this and it's very mild. They'll get better very rapidly. They don't even see a doctor. They don't even call a doctor," Trump said. "I think that that number is very high. I think the number, personally, I would say the number is way under 1 percent."

That would make Trump's "hunch" correct. That's not to say the coronavirus shouldn't be treated seriously. Assuming that the .66 percent fatality rate is the most accurate estimate, that's still higher than the seasonal flu, which has a mortality rate of .1 percent, and H1N1 (swine flu), which had a mortality rate of .03 percent...

Yes, Peking Pulmonary Pox is not like common flu, yes there is no vaccine for it, and yes it is lethal. Yet even if "the experts" current predictions of 100,000 to 200,000 dead are even close to being accurate, is our reaction to it in terms of a medical prophylaxis that brings the world to a halt the right thing to do? Much like after he was elected when he was beholden to the very people in politics who did all they could to sabotage him for their assistance and advice, he is beholden on people like Fauci and Birx for advice in making the right decisions. And that's not a good place to be in. Adam Selene writing in American Greatness:

The Chinese virus is a clarifying agent. Among other things, one can see the choice between republican and progressive government - the rule of the people on the one hand and the rule of experts on the other. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden perfectly embody this choice in response to the crisis.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the way the two men approach the expert advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and member of Trump's COVID-19 Task Force.

Trump is adamant that he will listen to and consider what Fauci has to say, but in the end he, as the elected president, will determine the right course of action. For Trump, politics is the overarching art: immunology and epidemiology are subordinate sciences. Biden promises the opposite, saying "If I'm elected president, I will always lead the way with science. I will listen to the experts and heed their advice. I will do the opposite of what we're seeing Donald Trump do every day."

This is the choice before us. Are we to be ruled by experts as if they are our guardians simply because they might be smarter than us in specific fields, or are we to rule ourselves?

The supposed legitimacy of the former approach comes from fear. We are told the world is too complex. We need the experts to guide us, protect us, and save us. We need an elite guardian class to rule over us because we cannot make it on our own. But this cowardice makes us nothing more than slaves, not citizens...

Again, given all the facts as we know them and guided by our past experience in similar situations and common sense, I am still sticking to my belief that while this Chi-Com plague is certainly to be taken seriously, we are going to destroy a hell of a lot more lives than those who have and will tragically succumb to it. It's funny, as in hypocritical in the extreme, how Leftists who hold life so cheaply (think abortion, euthanasia) are now up in arms about saving just one even if it means wiping out our economy forever. I seem to recall a quote from Bernie Sanders' and Malig-Nancy Pelosi's hero Josef Stalin, "the death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic." Not in any way do I believe that, but they sure as hell do. To the tune of over 150 million and counting in just over a century, but I digress.

What we are sorely lacking, or I should say what the Democrat-Media Complex is ignoring and obfuscating, is CONTEXT.

... National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the death toll could reach 200,000. Another model says 82,000 will likely die, with daily deaths peaking in mid-April at more than 2,000. By comparison, the last pandemic - the so-called swine flu - claimed 18,000 lives.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said he's extending the federal government's "social distancing" guidelines through April. In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam announced a "stay at home" order through June 10. School systems are starting to consider whether they will even be able to open in the fall.

It's unprecedented, to be sure. But the problem with all the numbers being bandied about is that they lack any context.

On its own, 3,000 fatalities might seem like a tremendously large number. But that's before you learn that an average of 7,700 people die in the U.S. every single day. Which means that over the past week, when the coronavirus took 2,000 lives, nearly 54,000 people died from other causes...

The link to the editorial at Issues and Insights is very much worth your while. Tragic as the death toll may ultimately be, when you put things in context to all other causes of death, what we are doing with the quarantining, especially if it continues past the end of this month is insane - and dangerous. In keeping the economy in a coma and imposing restrictions on our movement, tempting even more draconian measures, we add fuel to the already raging fire of anti-American Leftism and risk snuffing out the republic itself. Maybe not now or next year but within a span of years that G-d forbid we may be around to witness.

CHINESE CORONAVIRUS, FICTIONS AND FACTS
Going over the links, there seem to be some inklings of hope coming from the task force as well as around the country. Washington state, the initial hotspot is reporting a considerable drop in hospitalizations, a NYC doctor predicts the end in sight, Fauci concurs on the drop, HCQ should be used and possibly a 100-year-old smallpox vaccine might also do the trick, an actual vaccine is still a way off but is coming, Julie Kelly wants an end to the quarantine ASAP, profs pushing back on lockdown data vis a vis a future outbreak, Trump rips Ned Lamont lying about our stockpile of supplies, GOP reminds everyone that Malig-Nancy Pelosi's impeachment obsession is the real killer, De Bolshevik is a friggin' grandstanding ingrate, and Oriental Lung Gleet gives us two choices: bad or worse. Meh, lift the quarantines and use common sense if you're sick, old or susceptible.

• Trump Was Right: Chinese Coronavirus Death Rate Much Lower Than Previous Estimates, Study Says
  
• Washington State Sees 20% Drop in Hospitalizations of Patients with Chinese Coronavirus-Like Symptoms (but let's keep destroying the economy just to be sure - jjs)
  
• New York Doctor: "I Do" Think an End to Chinese Coronavirus Crisis Is "In Sight"
  
• Fauci Cautiously Offers Hope: Rate of Increase Seems to be Dropping Off
  
• The $20 Solution to Chinese Coronavirus: "Anecdotal Evidence" Is a Life-Saver (no, not Pep-O-Mint - jjs)
  
• Vaccine From 1920s Being Tested to Fight Chinese Coronavirus
  
• Ending Chinese COVID
  
• Kelly: Hockey Sticks, Changing Goal Posts, and Hysteria
  
• Some Much-Needed Chinese Coronavirus Perspective
  
• How Can We Obtain Herd Immunity?
  
• Media and Government Officials Told Americans Not to Wear Masks; They Were Wrong
  
• Professors Push Back on Pandemic Models: Be Honest About What Happens After Lockdowns Are Lifted
  
• Trump Destroys CT Governor's Claim the Strategic National Stockpile of Medical Supplies Has Been Emptied
  
• Worst US President Barack Obama Suggests Donald Trump "Denied" Chinese Coronavirus Warnings
  
• GOP Reminds Malig-Nancy Pelosi Her Impeachment Obsession Distracted From Wuhan Coronavirus Efforts
  
• US Army Corps to Build Hundreds of Temporary Hospitals for Chinese Coronavirus Crisis
  
• De Bolshevik Says He's Going to Monitor Samaritan's Purse to Make Sure They Don't Discriminate Against Homosexuals
  
• The Virus Crisis: No Good Choices, Just Bad and Worse

  ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE LUNG MARCH
  GM retools for mask production, Mike Rowe boosts an economic re-boot, Trump wants infrastructure but Old Yeller is yelling (and he's not wrong), especially given what Malig-Nancy Pelosi wants, voters support the relief but hate the pork, time for all sectors to mobilize, Bezos' big bug bonanza, and Venezuela as a harbinger vis a vis Chinee Floo.

• Chinese Coronavirus: GM Reopens Idled Michigan Plant to Produce Face Masks
  
• Mike Rowe Says There's "No Such Thing Right Now as a Non-Essential Worker"
  
• Trump Calls for "Very Big and Bold" Phase 4 Infrastructure Bill (why not a plan to repatriate our industry? - jjs)
  
• Great One Levin: "Fiscal Conservatism is Dead"
  
• Report: Malig-Nancy Pelosi's Fourth Chinese Coronavirus Relief Bill To Include Tax Break For Blue State Wealthy, Massive Infrastructure Spending
  
• Poll: 83% of Likely Voters Support $2.2 Trillion Chinese Coronavirus Relief Bill, But 82% Fear It Contains Costly Pork
  
• HOA Threatens to Foreclose on Residents Conducting Business at Home During Lockdown
  
• "Oh, Let My People Go"... Back To Work!
  
• Here's How to Apply for a Chinese Coronavirus Loan for Your Small Business (does it involve Western Union and an office in Lagos? - jjs)
  
• All Hands on Deck
  
• Chinese Coronavirus is Only Making Bezos and Amazon More Powerful
  
• We Have Missed Key Lessons from the Downfall of Venezuela

  POLITICS, 2020 ELECTION
  Trump beats the Joey Penetrator, Rona McDaniel reads November tea leaves, GOP Rep wants to get the Kennedy Center money rescinded, Biden and Brock PACs join forces but cause potential Dem Party rift, and part 3 of David Horowitz's look at the Leftists' plot to take us down. Read the whole series at Frontpage Mag.

• Poll Shows Trump More Trusted than Joe Biden to Handle Economy, Chinese Coronavirus
  
• RNC Chairwoman Gives Honest Assessment of GOP's Chances of Taking Back the House After Chinese Coronavirus
  
• Republican Rep. Bryan Steil Introduces Bill to Rescind $25 Million for Kennedy Center in Chinese Coronavirus Package, as They Lay Off Musicians
  
• Biden Super PAC Joins Forces With David Brock Group to Form $175 Million Anti-Trump Coalition
  
• Wars Visible and Invisible, Part III

  CLINTON/OBAMA COUP, CONGRESSIONAL PERSECUTION, SPYGATE, DEEP STATE, MUELLER DECEPTION, SHAMPEACHMENT
  Judicial Watch uncovers damning Clinton revelations that more than likely will result in nothing (no slam against Tom Fitton), and AG Barr also reveals the obvious with the same likely outcome.

• Newly-Released Hillary Clinton Emails Show Classified Information, Redacted Obama Talking Points
  
• AG Barr Finds Errors in Every FISA Application Audited by IG Horowitz in Probe, Goes Public

  DEMOCRAT-LEFTIST SCANDALS, CRIMES, CHUTZ-POCRISY, MESHUGAS
  Tetra Min is a helluva drug...

• Couple That Drank Aquarium Cleaner Looks Like a Left Wing Stunt Gone Wrong
  
• Fish Tank Cleaner Couple's Story Gets Weirder and Weirder

  AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRISIS, BORDER SECURITY
  Now, if they dug a tunnel to smuggle toilet paper...

• ICE Reports Smuggling Tunnel Under US-Mexico Border Found, Feds Seize $29 Million in Drugs (Danny and Willie hardest hit... - jjs)

  FIRST AMENDMENT, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER BIG TECH
  Even Joe Scarborough is repulsed by Mike Lindell being blood-libeled in the media for being a great American, CNN's less-than-cunning stunt of cutting away from Trump backfires, Fauci slaps around Jm J Acosta, NBC should have its broadcast licenses revoked, Rabbi Fischer preaches on the word games, Rush Limbaugh returns to the airwaves after two week absence, they won't let you pray but you can kill a baby, Texas City, TX relents on that score, and the media coverage is virtually all centered on NYC. Gee, I wonder why.

• Joe Scarborough Applauds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell: "I Salute Him," "I'd Like to Make 50,000 Masks"
  
• #TheResistance Media Mocks "My Pillow Guy" Who's Trying To Save Lives By Producing Masks, CNN Cuts Away
  
• CNN Refuses to Air Start of WH Briefing in Shameless Stunt, Backfires as They Miss Trump's Important Message
  
• Dr. Fauci Cautions Jm J Acosta for Taking "Soundbite" Out of Context
  
• NBC News Is Actively Promoting Chinese Propaganda (same as it ever was... - jjs)
  
• Rabbi Fischer: When the News Uses Terms Like "Just Wounded, Just Infected, Nothing Serious"
  
• Rush Limbaugh Says "I'm Feeling Better Than I Have in a Long, Long Time"
  
• You Can't Go to Church But You Can Get an Abortion; Stop the Chinese Coronavirus Insanity
  
• Texas City, TX Backtracks, Changes Order Prohibiting In-Person Religious Services
  
• Wuhan Virus Media Coverage is Too Focused on New York City

  ABORTION
  Planned Pazuzu-hood must have its blood sacrifices, virus or not.

• Federal Judges: Elective Abortions a "Constitutional Right" During Chinese Coronavirus Pandemic
  
• Democrat AGs Want Abortion Pill Restrictions Lifted During Chinese Coronavirus

  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
  Chi-Coms finally come clean, Rick Scott rips WHO as Chi-Com puppets, Josh Hawley wants $6 trillion in small bills, cash, decontaminated, possible Brazil travel ban eyed, despite the death toll (and I want to see the breakdown of actual causes), Italians say "basta cosi!", dropping like flies in Iran but still attacking US troops in Iraq, Spanish reporter gives context on tragedy going on there, non-virus-related Joo-hate in France, and Israel tries helping cancer fight virus and gets slapped for its trouble.

• Chinese Government Finally Acknowledges Underreporting Chinese Coronavirus Cases
  
• As Long as Communist China Controls the World Health Organization, It's Completely Unreliable
  
• World Health Organization Spends Twice as Much on Travel as on Medical Supplies
  
• Sen. Rick Scott: World Health Organization Helped China "Cover Up" Chinese Coronavirus
  
• Senator Hawley Believes China Should Be Held to Account for Allowing the Coronavirus Pandemic ($6 Trillion, small bills, cash, disinfected - jjs)
  
• Trump Floats Brazil Travel Ban
  
• State Department Has Rescued More Than 27,000 Americans Abroad Amid Chinese Coronavirus Outbreak
  
• Reports: Iran Has Lost 17 Officials, Nearly 15,000 People to Chinese Coronavirus
  
• Chinese Coronavirus: Italy's Death Toll Exceeds 12,000, but Italian Officials Believe They Have Reached the "Peak"
  
• Italy Threatening to Erupt Into Riots as Nationwide Lockdown Takes Economic Toll
  
• Spain is One of the Countries Hit Hardest By Chinese Coronavirus; Spanish Reporter Explains What's Different About US Response
  
• US Prepared to Retaliate Against Iranian Terror Attacks in Iraq
  
• Iran and the Consequences of Chinese Coronavirus
  
• Jew-Hate in France
  
• Israel Gives "Palestinians" Desperately Needed Chinese COVID-19 Aid... Gets Bizarre Blood Libels in Return

  DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
  Whoa. So this is kind of alarming, no?

• FBI Tactical Report Describes Chinese Biologist Carrying Viable SARS, MERS Viruses at Detroit Airport in 2018

  DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE BUREAUCRACY, WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE
  Just what we need, an earthquake in Idaho, the question answers itself, and state sovereignty is suddenly a thing again.

• 6.5 earthquake Hits Idaho, Social Media Users Share Videos of Massive Shaking
  
• Did CDC's Focus on Social Justice Reduce Its Readiness?
  
• The Chinese Coronavirus is Making (State) Borders Great Again

  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  No bottoming out in sight, "as Chinese COVID-19 accelerates remote working, are cities prepared?" And Ken Blackwell rips Dem energy policy as lethal to Black prosperity.

• Stocks Sink to End Worst Quarter Since 2008
  
• Home-Based Businesses Are Coming
  
• Blackwell: Democrats' Energy Policies Hurt Black Americans

  CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY
  NY DAs not thrilled with Warren Wilhelm Klink freeing cons from the klink, Houston's mayor a complete dolt, and connecting the dots between Nazi collaborator Soros' pot advocacy and plague panic.

• New York City Prosecutors Are Not Happy With Bill De Bolshevik's Plan to Free High Risk Inmates
  
• Houston's Democrat Mayor Tells Criminals to "Chill" and Stop Committing Crimes Until After Chinese Coronavirus
  
• How Nazi Collaborator and Convicted Felon George Soros' Marijuana Advocacy Makes the Chinese COVID-19 Panic Worse

  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM
  Time to undo the plastic bag bans.

• Plastic Bags and the Recycling and Reuse Scam

  ACTUAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY
  Our intrepid science reporter with a nice diversion.

• It ain't simple keeping a camera functioning properly in orbit around Mars

  CULTURE WARS, HITHER & YON
  Three essays echoing my warnings about the current crisis used as cover to shred the Constitution, Christian Toto on, er, "viral" video, and here comes the hype for season two of The Mandalorian.
  

• How a Police State is Born
  
• For Dictators and Tyrants, the Chinese Coronavirus Pandemic Is a Dream Come True
  
• Is This Quarantine Or Tyranny?
  
• We're All Preppers Now
  
• Toto: YouTube Star's "Epic Hand Washing Parody" Goes Viral
  
• The Mandalorian's Season 2 Hype Train is Now Boarding

NOTE: The opinions expressed in some links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.

ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.

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posted by at 07:30 AM

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