It does often feel like most of the public simply wants to be over the COVID pandemic and stop thinking about it, and I'm sympathetic to that desire. I was ready to be over it all the way back in the spring of 2021, after getting vaccinated. But a lot of people with a lot of power made sure that the country could not and would not get over it, as a matter of public policy. The damage they did, well past the 'fog of war' grace period, was lasting and disgraceful. Simply moving on skirts accountability, and without accountability, huge mistakes and malicious decisions will be repeated, if not rewarded.
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One of the areas of alleged "misinformation" that was aggressively censored and assailed for quite some time was the 'lab leak theory' -- which always made intuitive sense, but which elites loudly condemned as a dangerous conspiracy theory. Dr. Anthony Fauci was part of the dismissive chorus, perhaps because he may have had ulterior motives. Eventually, the lab leak theory was finally and belatedly released from the thought crime penalty box, but many Americans will never forget how it was suppressed, and how those who dared to openly discuss it were treated. This week, the Times of London published yet another investigation that points strongly in the direction of the lab leak theory. The bottom line:
Fresh evidence drawn from confidential files reveals Chinese scientists spliced together deadly pathogens shortly before the pandemic, the Sunday Times Insight team report. Scientists in Wuhan working alongside the Chinese military were combining the world’s most deadly coronaviruses to create a new mutant virus just as the pandemic began. Investigators who scrutinised top-secret intercepted communications and scientific research believe Chinese scientists were running a covert project of dangerous experiments, which caused a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and started the Covid-19 outbreak.
Richard Ebright, a Rutgers professor who's been widely quoted and cited on COVID, highlights more details from the story:
"The institute was engaged in increasingly risky experiments on coronaviruses it gathered from bat caves in southern China. Initially, it made its findings public and argued the associated risks were justified because the work might help science develop vaccines."
"The viruses found there are now recognised as the only members of Covid-19’s immediate family known to have been in existence pre-pandemic. They were transported to the Wuhan institute and the work of its scientists became classified. 'The trail of papers starts to go dark,'"
"'It has become increasingly clear that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was involved in the creation, promulgation and cover-up of the Covid-19 pandemic,' one of the investigators said."
"'It has become increasingly clear that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was involved in the creation, promulgation and cover-up of the Covid-19 pandemic,' one of the investigators said."
After reviewing the experiments, Ebright told the Times that they constituted, "by far the most reckless and dangerous research on coronaviruses — or indeed on any viruses — known to have been undertaken at any time in any location." In February, the Biden Energy Department published an updated conclusion that COVID "most likely arose from a laboratory leak," prompting yet more hedging from Fauci, who'd stated for years that the likeliest explanation was some sort of natural origin. With all of this in mind, this recent quote from Mark Zuckerberg, appearing on a podcast, feels even more like an object lesson:
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Mark Zuckerberg: “ Just take some of the stuff around COVID… A lot of the kind of establishment on that…asked for a bunch of things to be censored that, in retrospect, ended up being more debatable or true… It really undermines trust.”pic.twitter.com/O0eCKqVG3Z
It really does undermine trust, and maybe the people who have immense power to engage in censorship should be much more mindful of this phenomenon, and not rely on a small band of ideologically-similar people to make such decisions. Meanwhile, the legacy of COVID policies and restrictions aren't merely a thing of the past that should be debated and discussed in retrospect. Astonishingly, things like this are still happening, even if 'by accident:'
TheWhite Housesays it inadvertently sent out guidance requiring guests who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear face masks and practice social distancing, despite the federal government already terminating the national emergency declaration for the pandemic. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are inviting dozens of NCAA men's and women's national championship teams from Divisions I, II, and III to "College Athlete Day" to celebrate their victories at the White House on Monday. Earlier this week, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs sent out an email invitation to members of Congress obtained by Fox News Digital requesting their attendance at the event. The email included additional logistical details as well asCOVID protocols...According to the White House email, while lawmakers are not required to receive aCOVID test in advance of this event, they will need to wear a mask and socially distance if they're unvaccinated. After publication, the White House told Fox News Digital that the COVID-related guidance in the email was out of date and inadvertently included.
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And this all-time tennis legend -- a young, fit, healthy athlete -- still hasn't been permitted to compete in the United States, due to COVID rules (which, needless to say, have not applied to the millions of illegal immigrants who've entered the country during the ongoing border crisis):
Despite being long banned from the US and other countries over his refusal to submit to COVID vaccination, Novak Djokovic just won his 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open, earning him the greatest record in men’s tennis history.pic.twitter.com/8DiivIa2x3
Finally, while pandemic relief money was clearly essential for many Americans, given the extent to which governments weren't allowing people to engage in all sorts of work and commerce for months on end, it can always be counted on that when a huge amount of money is shoveled out the door quickly by the government, massive corruption, grift, and waste will inevitably follow:
“Combined, the loss [fraud + waste] represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.” https://t.co/5NwPD7HF8B
Much of the theft was brazen, even simple. Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana. All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollarsin federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemicin a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall. An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.
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Ten percent. Hundreds of billions of dollars -- stolen or misappropriated. What a failure.
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