I began this column several weeks ago, and have decided to break it into several chapters so I can get the beginning out, set it in concrete, before things change again. It seemed that every day some new detail would emerge that changed something about the earlier parts of the narrative. It’s now stable, and I can publish the first part.
As I was beginning to write it occurred to me that we’ll likely never know the details of what actually happened, because there was a confluence of interests at work to ensure no one paid attention to that man behind the curtain. It was a modern retelling of the Wizard of Oz. Let’s just follow the yellow brick road.
It didn’t start in Kansas, but in China. It didn’t play out in Oz, but it might as well have. Things couldn’t have been any stranger. Toto missed the trip, and it appears Dorothy was canceled. The house missed the Wicked Witch of the East when it landed, and she escaped to Lansing. The Wicked Witch of the West has proven invulnerable, with a large cohort of Flying Monkeys, all with press credentials, defending her right to rule with an iron fist.
China claimed that the virus couldn’t have originated in a virology lab researching how to make viruses better at infecting humans and killing them. The virology lab in Wuhan worked primarily on coronaviruses, and had what is believed the be the world’s largestChina’s explanation is a virus’ escape from a bat that is nowhere near the Wuhan Wet Market to a pangolin and then to a human. Viruses can be transmitted human-to-human, and less often animal-to-human; this latter is called zoonotic. It is possible that a bat virus could mutate to jump to a pangolin and then in short order mutate again to jump to humans, just as Flying Monkeys are possible. Anyone mentioning the virus escaping from a lab was labeled a liar and not allowed to speak or write. Those who did so were penalized financially and called purveyors of misinformation designed to spread racism.
The evil Wizard cut air travel with China, and was immediately labeled a racist. While there might still have been time to prepare, China insisted that the virus could not be transmitted from person to person. A group named after a rock band, the Who, verified China’s claims. It also said that no masks were necessary. This didn’t seem logical to this peasant. Coronaviruses are members of a family of viruses that cause respiratory diseases. Most recently, SARS and MERS were serious types of Coronaviruses, and could both be spread person-to-person. This peasant wasn’t aware of any coronavirus family member that didn’t spread person-to-person, through droplets or aerosols expelled during coughing, sneezing or just breathing. The Who had issued its Papal Bull. Some of us suspected another kind of Bull. Anyone who disagreed with any statement from The Who was labeled a purveyor of disinformation; many, including me, were exiled from social media sites.
When Western journalists asked questions, China threw them out of the country, including one from the New York Times. That famous newspaper continued to defend China and attack anyone agreeing with the evil Wizard that China had carelessly let the virus escape. There was no evidence, the Times proclaimed, that the lab was involved at all. This peasant and others could not understand, since a prima facie circumstantial case had been made. But, the Ancient One agreed, and no one could disagree with the Ancient One. That would be heresy. Only later did we discover that the Ancient One had multiple conflicts of interest on the topic. That will be covered later.
The State Department attempted to conduct an investigation of the virus’s origin, and found no evidence of any infected bat or pangolin in the area. It likewise found no evidence of anything occurring at the Virology Lab. Literally anything, because China refused to cooperate with the investigation. The Who later claimed it was conducting a thorough investigation and found nothing. The Ancient One expressed full approval, and was supported widely. A piece from Vanity Fair in May 2020, summarizes the campaign to discredit those who disagreed:
“Tom Cotton (note: Republican Senator from Arkansas) keeps repeating a coronavirus conspiracy theory that was already debunked,” said a Washington Post headline, while the New York Times similarly declared, “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins.” Experts came forth with buckets of cold water for Cotton’s remarks. “It’s a skip in logic to say it’s a bioweapon that the Chinese developed and intentionally deployed, or even unintentionally deployed,” one told the Post, adding that exposure by way of a lab accident was also “highly unlikely.” A health expert with outbreak experience acknowledged to Jake Tapper that “the rumor is circulating but there is no evidence to date that this is true. Hopefully the [World Health Organization] team will get the samples from the original cases and we will be able to figure this out. Until then, I put it in the conspiracy theory bucket… I wouldn’t mention it without any more data to rely on.” Tapper’s expert did, however, add a caveat: “It is quite possible. Just don’t know how probable. And if wrong, what does the accusation do to collaboration“ with China?
. . . As the Daily Beast snarled, “Sen. Tom Cotton Flogs Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory Dismissed by Actual Scientists.”
. . . Ignatius also cited a “curiously withdrawn” Chinese research study which asserted that “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high-risk biohazardous laboratories.”
I have personal knowledge of widespread intelligence reports that the Chinese military’s center for biowarfare research was located in Wuhan, and China openly advertises its military presence at Wuhan. It is incomprehensible to me that none of those reports was ever cited. Also, the U.S. Government had a warning of unsafe practices in the Wuhan lab:
Amid questions about the origin of the novel coronavirus outbreak, diplomatic cables obtained by The Washington Post showed that US officials had sounded the alarm about possible safety breaches at a lab in Wuhan, China.
The diplomats and scientists were worried about the safety of the lab's research on coronaviruses in animals such as bats as early as January 2018.
The Post said they warned that sloppy safety protocols for handling contagious viruses in the lab "represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic."
While there is no evidence to suggest that the virus was created in a lab as a bioweapon, the diplomatic cables shine more light on a hypothesis that the virus leaked out of the lab by accident.
In an email dated Jan 31, 2020, from Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California Andersen states to The Ancient One: “The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all of the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered.”
Many munchkins in the U.S. blindly followed the Witch of the West, and only got information from Flying Monkeys. The munchkins had a lot of power, particularly the Lion, who ruled in Portland, the Tin Woodsman, who ruled New York, and the Scarecrow, who ruled the vast province of California. It was well-known that the Lion lacked courage, the Woodman a heart, and the Scarecrow a brain, but the Flying Monkeys still lavished praise on them. As did the Ancient One, the famous Healer who had evidently not treated a patient in nearly 40 years.
The Ancient One gave his blessing to the “Cannot be spread human-to-human” narrative as well as the advice not to wear masks. The Wicked Witch of the West invited everyone to visit her city’s Chinatown to demonstrate solidarity and prove that they were not racist, like the Evil Wizard, and that masks were not needed. The Ancient One’s grandfather, from Vermont, insisted in April that there was no need to close our borders or to restrict entry. But something happened in early March that caused the fecal matter to impact the rotating blades. A pandemic was declared because the virus did spread between people - remarkably quickly - masks were necessary for everyone under all circumstances, and we should all rely on proclamations by the Who and the Ancient One, who had just turned 180 degrees in an instant.
Which proclamations? Quickly experts around the world input large amounts of data to software that calculated how many people would die, how many would require ventilators and how many would require hospitalizations. The models all showed that everyone was in mortal danger and that about 3.5% of all people who caught the virus would die. Anyone who had said anything about the disease spreading person-to-person had been labeled n anti-science liar by the Flying Monkeys, until it was proved that they were correct. The Flying Monkeys continued as though they had said nothing.
I created a much less sophisticated model from previous studies of large coronavirus outbreaks, seeking to see the shape of the data. The model also produces predictions, although that was never its initial purpose. I had the model, methodology and results reviewed by non-eminent scientists, unrenowned mathematicians and obscure peasant epidemiologists, who agreed it was approximately right, even if precisely wrong. My model showed an order-of-magnitude difference with the commonly-used one blessed by the Who. My conclusion: This is serious, it’s not the Andromeda strain and there is no need for panic. I published the results and my conclusion on a personal blog and shared it with others through additional channels, all of which suspended me for disagreeing with the rock band.
The Flying Monkeys assured us all that obedience to emergency measures were required or we would face mass death. A number of powerful munchkins jumped at the chance to enact measures that would otherwise be an unconstitutional arrogation of power reserved to the people or the legislature. The Tin Woodsman ordered sick peasants be admitted to institutions housing old people, with predictable results. We already knew, not later than the first of March, that this virus was not equally dangerous to everyone. In fact, old people were at significant peril, almost-old people were at measurable danger, nearly everyone else could be ignored. We knew that the worst place for respiratory patients was indoors, they were safest outdoors where sunlight could damage viruses and even the slightest breezes could dispel droplet or aerosol clouds. Instead, the power-hungry took control of their fiefdoms.
Everyone was to be treated as having an equal risk profile. Everyone must remain indoors. Large businesses, which gave money to munchkins, could operate because they were “essential.” Small businesses, which gave money to peasants, were “not essential” and had to close. People were instructed to work from home. Those who could not do so were deemed worthless. Ever tried to grow corn or milk cows from your living room? No matter. Schools had to close, but all of this would go away in about two weeks. We just had to “bend the curve,” until health care resources were not overwhelmed.
People who left their dangerous indoor environments for the healthier outdoors were arrested. There was a lot of room for them in jails, since the munchkins, urged on by the Flying Monkeys, had let most of the criminals out of jail to protect them from the virus. For example, in the Tin Woodsman’s state, 2,500 prisoners were released immediately in New York City. Within two months 250 of them had been re-arrested at least 450 times. It appears that the only people being jailed are those who break nonsense regulations prohibiting exercise of constitutional rights. For example, Connecticut, Colorado, California, New York, Maine, Montana, Virginia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington imposed strict limits on worship services. Others made what turned out to be minor or even token limitations, such as Alaska’s limit of 500 at a church service (the other thirteen state residents were fishing), Louisiana’s mild suggestions, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.
Most states limited the right peaceably to assemble freely, and some politicians used a combination of the rights violations to generate a third, de facto limiting Freedom of the Press by choosing which reporters will have access to information. The First Amendment is clear that government has no authority to limit any of these rights, and the Fourteenth and other Amendments ensure that everyone be treated identically under the law.
At a time when we needed to focus all efforts on avoiding a national catastrophe, the Wicked Witch of the West concluded that her tribe could seize power if things got worse. Problems could all be blamed on the Wizard, so he and his tribe were pinned down to defend against a coup attempt instead of focusing on what was needed to help the country. The worse things got, the better they were for the Wicked Witch’s tribe. Rulers from her tribe shut down businesses in their states and cities, allowing businesses that contributed to their campaigns to open. Smaller businesses went bankrupt by the thousands. Millions of people lost their jobs. A class of people including academicians, government bureaucrats and technology workers, could work from home and did so. Peasants who could not work from home were to be ignored.
One month into the two-week lock down, we were told it had to be extended because in spite of ordering people to stay indoors, wear masks, and stay six feet away from one another, infections kept rising. We were told we had to skip all elective surgeries to free up resources to treat COVID patients; with no elective surgeries most hospitals had no money to pay staff, laid off thousands of nurses and doctors and closed their doors. The only exception was abortions, which are essential to a woman’s right to choose. If “choose” isn’t the essence of “elective” in the phrase “elective surgery,” I must have lost my fluency in English.
The zeal to show up the evil Wizard became so intense that when he mentioned using a safe anti-malaria drug with decades of success and a minimal record of adverse side effects, he was mocked by the Flying Monkeys and blamed for deaths of two people in Nigeria for ingesting fish tank cleaner. The reports claimed there was no evidence of the drug’s effectiveness with COVID19, which is untrue. Practicing physicians knew the complex situation in which the drug is used, and individual immune responses are so unpredictable that it might work in cases where a cytokine storm chokes the lungs, but not in many others. And determining which is which is a casino game. Several state governors, including the WWOE, began practicing medicine without a license in order to preclude use of a drug mentioned by the Evil Wizard. And the Evil Wizard walked right into the trap.
The Wizard was a man of bluster and bombast, and barely tolerated anyone else speaking when he might. He bristled at the least criticism, was rude and crude, and unwittingly collaborated with the Flying Monkeys to turn himself into a circus clown. His effectiveness decreased daily by trying to respond to everything thrown at him by people he would never convince to support him.
Only particular, favored elements of the economy were allowed to function. Except that the national economy, and global trade, are both complex systems. No one is quite certain which pieces can be disabled without harming the entire system. Thus, food rotted in the fields, and herds of animals were slaughtered and buried, while people in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa starved.
The Tin Woodsman held daily briefings, Flying Monkeys wouldn’t ask him any hard questions, and forcing sick people into homes for the elderly was just a cost of doing business. He got a regular gig on television with his younger brother, Plastic Man, who broke lockdown rules, helped hide scandals and blamed the Evil Wizard for all ills. The Tin Woodsman was lauded for great leadership, and used his possession of a microphone to complain non-stop about what the Evil Wizard was doing. The Evil Wizard wasn’t giving him enough ventilators, based on the Holy Sanctified Model blessed by the Who. My amateurish, no-value model said he had more than enough, and I guess I just got lucky when I was proved correct. The Flying Monkeys agreed that the Tin Woodsman was a great leader and gave awards to themselves and Plastic and Tin Man.
The Wicked Witch of the East (WWOE) told everybody in her realm what to do, down to which seeds they could buy. She told people they couldn’t go visit relatives, get their hair cut, go on vacation, and the list goes on. None of those rules applied to her, of course. Her sister, WWOW, agreed, got her hair done after showing off her ice cream to millions of hungry unemployed people, and blamed the hair-dresser. It was not allowed to criticize WWOW. Meanwhile, people were getting fed up with the lockdowns and restrictions. They just didn’t know what was good for them, and allow their betters to make the rules for them.
By my calculations at least six million people were forced to make existential choices daily between breaking lock down to get work, or watching their children starve. These are the untraceable illegal aliens, who flock to one tribe’s lands and become protected. Those calling for blanket amnesty and abolition of border controls counted on the increased population to give them more political power, and it worked.
One region of the Land, Penn’s Woods, decided their governor didn’t have the authority to keep extending the lockdown, knowing that the curve had been bent long ago. Both chambers of the Royal Court decided the Governor could not exercise the emergency powers and passed laws to that effect. The royal ruler tore up the law. So, the Royal Court asked the people to vote on whether the royal Ruler could use those powers. The people voted “No.” We’re still waiting to find out what will happen.
The yellow brick road doesn’t end here. We’re less than halfway through the journey now, and still have to deal with the Evil Wizard and his arch-nemesis, Mr. Magoo. For now, though, we are seeing signs of a problem bigger than a single pandemic. Our leaders are giving us commands and claiming they are all based on science. Our scientists are assuring us that they know best, and may not be questioned, even if they change their empirical pronouncements every forty-seven minutes and never explain the details behind their decisions. They don’t have to, because they rely on science.
The problem bigger than a single pandemic? Our scientists are lying to us and we don’t know why. But, we’re beginning to speculate about causes, and it’s not pretty.
"Everyone was to be treated as having an equal risk profile." Why was this? Why did it become improper to even mention that most of the deaths were of obese people? Why wasn't it well publicized that less than 300 of the total U.S. COVID have been of children (from 0 - 18). The fact that American media refuses to open up the fact-finding throttle scares me, because far too man of the people I know take their favorite news source as gospel at a time when I know for certain that most news sources try to adhere to a pre-determined narrative.
There should be an option to weep instead of click a heart, but thank you.