A Glimmer of Hope

I’m a bit of a news junkie. As if that were not apparent to anyone following my posts. But my news gathering regimen has taken quite a few turns over the last few decades.

Back in the day – before cable TV – the news was mainly what I read in the Sunday paper and saw on the nightly TV broadcasts (ABC, NBC, CBS,.. that was about it).  As new media was added in the age of the internet and satellites - along came cable channels like CNN.  A news junkies panacea of “Nothing but news 7x24”… I loved it.  Never had to wait for a news broadcast to catch up on the latest events.  CNN was followed by other similar formats, but CNN pretty much set the standard in the early days of cable. They were followed in short order by other topic driven channels like ESPN: Sports 7x24; Bloomberg: Business 7x24; etc.

The age of genre specialization was off and running and internet content was not far behind.  From YouTube to FaceBook the new social media platforms offered content so granular that individual genre in the form of ‘influencers’ has made what was once a source of information, now a source of uneducated opinion, speculation, conspiracy, and largely unrestrained hyperbole.

Faced with sensory overload and few bona fide fact-based sources I went into a sort of sensory shutdown. I deleted my Facebook account altogether; removed CNN and like networks (all were slowly becoming pits of opinion rather than news) from my favorites on my ‘Smart TV’; and basically, returned to where I started. I bought digital subscriptions to the Washington Post; LA Times, yada,… Started recording the news broadcasts of CNBC’s Shepard Smith and the weekly CBS 60 minutes series. Still needed a good conservative source though. CNBC was just not enough. FOX & Newsmax were jokes. Then, last weekend, CBS 60 Minutes had an interview with someone I had never heard of:  Andrew Sullivan (sincere apologies sir).  Apparently, I had been living under a conservative rock for decades.

As I listened to Mr. Sullivan’s story and philosophy, I could feel the cool breeze of fresh conservative air being brought back into my lungs. I subscribed immediately to ‘The Weekly Dish’: Mr. Sullivan’s blog. Then I read his latest (November 19, 2021) blog post and realized I had found my source of conservative integrity.  

He is the first bona fide conservative I have read that understands that the American form of Democracy is liberal by design. That true conservatism is a rudder not a sail. That the Constitution of the United States was – and should continue to be - one of the most progressive experiments in governance ever developed.

I never expected to be caught up in a modern day social influencer’s take on current events and political discourse.  But this man’s thought leadership is exactly what the American Right needs right now. I hope that, in some small way, I can help him be heard. 

JWB

 

 

The Next Crusade

I’m an atheist. Let’s get that out of the way up front. Those that are offended by others’ religious views can stop reading right now. Saves us both time and frustration.

For those still with me, I want to offer a serious challenge to each of you and our country as a whole.  I have no skin in the Religion game. I find all religions lacking truth, facts, and relevance. But I do have a home, family, and a country I love. And that's where our paths cross.

After the January 6^th uprising in Washington DC, there was talk from the far right of a civil war brewing. A Zogby poll taken shortly after, found that 46% of likely voters believed the country could experience civil war.  And not just republicans; both parties and independents held the same view.

On November 13^th, 2021 while on a ‘ReAwaken America’ tour with other like minded haters, Michael Flynn, a former Trump administration official, said, and I quote: “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God,…”. Of course, he was talking about the One true God. You know, the one attributed to Judaism.

While I’m sure Christian revisionist history is well preserved in this ‘tour’ of the self-righteous; the one religion all in attendance assumed he meant was, of course, Christianity.

Much of the recent talk of civil war in America centers, as it did 150 years ago, on bigotry. And it’s nothing really all that new. During Barack Obama’s presidency, racist GOP leaders in eight southern states wanted to secede from the union rather than live in a country with a black president.  

Not to be outdone by the racists, after the 2016 election of Trump, there was a secessionist movement by liberal elites in California.

Racism in and of itself is not going to spark a war. Civil unrest, maybe, but no one thinks basing a war solely on political divide or racial bigotry will ever succeed. However, religious bigotry has a long history of success in starting and fueling conflicts. Big ones.

Add to all this a recent ‘woke’ movement to remove or destroy all civil war relics and memorials; defund police departments; etc… and you have a heat building in the conservative heartland.

So, there’s a lot of civil tinder and accelerant lying around right now. All it needs is a spark.

Giving a platform and pulpit to the likes of ReAwaken America is as dangerous as it is traitorous. Our Constitution recognizes that only religious freedom will ensure civil freedom. It espouses the rule of law and equality for all. With CNN, Qanon, Facebook, Fox News, Newsmax,… yada, yada at their disposal, the perpetrators of civil conflict – on both sides - can get the upper hand in spite of the Constitution. We must stop giving these haters a voice.

All the media that these haters need to be heard and become powerful rely on advertising to keep them solvent. If enough people say ‘enough’ - and we stop buying from their advertisers (and we let the advertisers know Why we stopped) - the platform on which these traitors stand will soon collapse.

The religious Crusades of the eleventh and twelfth centuries were brutal conflicts that killed and maimed millions of men, women, and children. Fueled by the church, religious brainwashing, lies, bigotry and power mongering; this formula will still work today.

I challenge America to stop it while it can.

JB

 

 

 

 

Anti-Vaxx II

In my last post, Death to the Heroes, I opined that first responders were the most important group to take advantage of the FDA emergency use approval of Covid19 vaccinations. And I truly believe that.  When those in the public trust cannot be trusted to put the well being of others ahead of their political bias, they should not be serving the public. It's sad that some of these 'heroes' will undoubtedly die for their political beliefs.

But the issues for the rest of the public is not as cut and dried.  

Take for instance the real fact that none of the Covid19 vaccines were out of the FDA ‘emergency use authorization’ (EUA) phase, until November 2021, and you have a problem. At this writing (Nov 13, 2021) only one Covid19 vaccine is Fully FDA Approved: The Pfizer mRNA vaccine. However, it is only fully approved for adults.  It’s still in EUA status for children of all ages and booster applications.

Government regulation is almost always a double edged sword. And key governing agencies are always in a damned if you do; damned if you don’t paradox. The FDA, NIH, and independent organizations such as the CDC, are always walking a tightrope when it comes to medical evolution, drugs, treatments, approvals, and recommendations.

As I mention in my post Death to the Heroes – vaccines, inoculations, and treatments for various diseases in early years was anything but ‘scientific’ or safe.

In 1901, diphtheria patients were routinely treated with antitoxin derived from the blood serum of infected horses. After 13 children died of tetanus because of contaminated antitoxin, Congress passed the 1902 Biologics Control Act, giving the government its first regulation of vaccine and antitoxin production. That power moved to the FDA when it was formed in 1906.

The caution with which the FDA moves to fully approve a vaccine or treatment outside of EUA has been, historically, set in stone. It takes years. Many people think the FDA is moving too slowly to fully approve all available vaccines. But in reality – the recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine is one of the fastest since the FDA was formed.

FDA policy requires the long term effects of a drug, vaccine, or treatment to be reasonably understood before being fully approved. Included in ‘long term’ effects are the effects on children born to the patients, complications, or interactions with other drugs, or treatments later in life.

The mRNA vaccines offer a couple mitigating factors. 1) mRNA vaccines are not developed using a weakened strain of the virus or a serum derived from an infected person/animal; 2) mRNA vaccines use your own body’s immune process to create antibodies to Covid; 3) Numbers mean a lot. The total number of people vaccinated using mRNA under the EUA exceeds 150 million in the U.S. alone. Millions more worldwide. This includes all adult age groups, male & female, pregnant women, every race & culture, and those with major heath conditions. This enormous sample size is rare – and it clears a lot of doubt.

Being anti-vaccination is like being anti-health. It makes no sense. But being vaccine-cautious is another thing altogether.  I especially relate to those with young children. Even at reduced dosage, taking a wait and see approach is not, in my view, being anti-vaxx.

I wish the left wing media and the self-righteous influencers in this country would stop judging, name calling and cancelling others for using caution.  

I do not think, however, those that use political ‘personal liberty’ concerns as rationale for refusing a vaccine are not being honest. They are just being self-important, entitled, ignorant attention getters. They deserve whatever they get. Hopefully not a fatal case of Covid.

JB