The Final Word on COVID Misinformation
Almost every aspect of the COVID response was as best questionable, at worst deadly
Recently, there’s been a new Covid pandemic mea culpa sweeping the land, attempting to obfuscate for all time the terrible policies and totalitarian lockdowns that swept the nation in 2020 and 2021. Scott Galloway (who to me seems to be absolutely wrong about just about absolutely everything) asked for “a little grace” for his and others’ erroneous support of lockdowns. Emily Oster of the Atlantic wanted to declare a “COVID amnesty” last year; Christianity Today writes “It’s Time to Forgive Each Other Our Pandemic Sins.”
It is truly a very Christian thing to do - to forgive. And while part of us may say, “yes, let us shake hands and go on in peace,” if we do, we will have missed some important lessons. The questions that must be addressed first are: what are we forgiving? Whom are we to forgive? And have those who we would forgive apologized and demonstrated that they’ve learned the lessons to ensure this debacle never happens again? To be sure, we must have a fair airing of the mistakes made; and those who made these mistakes should be held to account. Let facts be submitted to a candid world.
Part I - Where Did COVID Originate and How?
Origin of the SARS-COV-II Virus
Scientists looking at the virus in early 2020 believed the virus emerged from the Wuhan lab and misled Congress and the American people. Even the researchers who wrote the “Proximal Origin” paper, which was used for years to mislead the public, admitted in private messages at the time that they were skeptical. Nate Silver of 538 claimed on Twitter/X recently that the paper should be retracted and that before we wipe the slate clean, we should make it clear that “one side (natural origin) has engaged in gross misconduct to manipulate public opinion.” Roger Pielke has written extensively on the flaws and misleading nature of the Proximal Origins paper, calling for its retraction. The Energy Department and the FBI have both admitted in 2023 that the lab-leak theory is the most likely scenario. And the MIT Technology Review admits no one can find the animal that gave people COVID-19 in the natural origin fantasy (a penguilin? Seriously?). The Public Substack reports that the “first people sickened by COVID-19 were Chinese scientists at the Wuhan Institute for Virology, say US government sources.” Even Jon Stewart knows the truth (starts at 2:50 in the video):
Gain of Function Research Funded by the United States
Despite Dr. Anthony Fauci's infamous claims that his agency never funded gain of research in Wuhan, the Intercept has obtained direct evidence he was lying - the US funded “gain of function research of concern” through the EcoHealth Alliance. The Obama administration suspended gain of function research in 2014 due to the dangers associated and recent lab leaks at the time. It was quietly restarted in 2017 and just 2 years later, the first cases of COVID-19 showed up in Wuhan. Researchers at Georgetown University recently found 7,000 studies since 2000 that experimented with gain or loss of function, with the United States funding more than half of the studies globally.
The Cover Up - Part 1
Worse still, the “Proximal Origins” paper and the ensuing cover up of the lab leak theory were both orchestrated by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Emails uncovered by House Republicans show that Dr. Fauci not only “commissioned” the paper to be written but had final approval over its conclusions. Eight weeks later, Dr. Fauci stood next to President Trump in the White House Press Room and referenced the same paper he prompted and approved as proof there was no lab leak. Fauci also admitted in emails that there was gain of function research in Wuhan, despite public claims to the contrary. He wrote on February 1, 2020 that, “the suspicion was heightened by the fact that scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments…” See here:
As we’ve shown above, the NIH and NIAID funded this research through the EcoHealth Alliance. EcoHealth’s President, Dr. Peter Daszak in addition to being a vehicle for the NIH/NIAID to fund this research, co-authored nearly a dozen papers with the head of the Wuhan Virology Lab, Shi Zhengli, and orchestrated the Lancet statement signed by scientists disputing the lab leak origin. One of Daszak’s proposals was rejected by the Pentagon, specifically DARPA, in 2018 because the gain-of-function research he proposed, “could have put local communities at risk,” and that the proposal, “hardly addresses or discusses ethical, legal, and social issues.” As an aside, why are DARPA and the Pentagon interested in this sort of research? As a weapon?
The Cover Up, Part 2
Recently, Elon Musk - the billionaire owner of X/Twitter - appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast and stated unequivocally:
“The degree to which Twitter was simply an arm of the government is not well understood by the public. It was like Pravda, basically, a state-run publication.”
Truly, Twitter and every other social media and corporate media organizations covered up the lab leak theory for years, in many cases at the behest of federal government agencies including the FBI and DHS. Twitter suspended a Chinese doctor who discussed the lab leak theory, Facebook censored information about the lab leak theory and every major corporate media outlet treated the lab leak as “misinformation.” The Washington Post had to issue a correction - 16 months after claiming the theory was debunked - writing, “Earlier versions of this story and its headline inaccurately characterized comments by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) regarding the origins of the coronavirus. The term ‘debunked’ and The Post’s use of ‘conspiracy theory’ have been removed because, then as now, there was no determination about the origins of the virus.” Even Jonathan Chait, who I’d nominate to compete with Scott Galloway for “most wrong person of the decade” nonetheless had to write about the “Media’s Lab Leak Fiasco,” and “How the Liberal Media Dismissed the Lab Leak Theory and Smeared Its Supporters.”
In terms of the funding of gain-of-function research, the fact checkers were also happily “debunking’” this conspiracy theory that we now know is true. Politifact issued a ruling, “No, Dr. Anthony Fauci did not fund research tied to COVID-19 creation.” But just 3 months later in an Editor’s Note, “When this fact-check was first published in February 2021, PolitiFact’s sources included researchers who asserted the SARS-CoV-2 virus could not have been manipulated. That assertion is now more widely disputed.”
Here’s a further survey of the cover up by mainstream media, wonderfully documented by Isaac Shorr of the National Review:
CNN’s Brianna Keilar, May 2021: “Nothing brings out Senator Paul’s propensity to act like an ass like a congressional appearance by Fauci, and that is really saying something. . . . Like Elvis’s Kentucky rain, Rand Paul’s COVID BS keeps pouring down, and it’s enough to fill the swimming pool in the Senate gym.”
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, May 2021: “We wavered between Two and Three Pinocchios, but decided on Two, because there still are enough questions about the work at the Wuhan lab to warrant further scrutiny, even if the NIH connection to possible gain-of-function research appears so far to be elusive.” Kessler went on to allege that Paul, not Fauci, had created a “false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language that means little to ordinary people.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper, July 2021: “I want to start with another kind of misinformation, the constant MAGA media and Republican lawmakers’ attacks on health experts, especially Dr. Anthony Fauci. Today on Capitol Hill, Fauci was confronted with an accusation basically from Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul. . . . I don’t want to get into the details of what Senator Paul was attacking there and all that, but just the bigger picture here as a health professional we keep seeing this. Trump allies in Congress and governors’ offices and the media trying to make Fauci a COVID boogeyman. This is a 40-year public servant, he received the presidential medal of freedom . . .”
MSNBC’s Ari Melber, July 2021, concurring with Fauci’s characterization of Paul’s comments: “Slanderous. Interesting, yeah and I can understand it. These are very serious issues that people are working on.”
MSNBC’s Steve Benen, July 2021: “Rand Paul keeps doing this, apparently under the impression that there’s some value to the pointless exercises. . . . The overarching problem appears to be relatively straightforward: the former ophthalmologist genuinely seems to believe that he has unique and valuable insights, which frees him to reject the assessments of actual experts. . . . Is it any wonder that Anthony Fauci seems exasperated with Rand Paul?”
CNN’s Brian Stelter, July 2021, while flashing tweets from Paul on screen: “These GOP lawmakers’ minds are made up, as they call for Fauci’s resignation, thereby creating more content for GOP TV.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, September 2021: “NIH has never approved any research that would make a coronavirus more dangerous to humans.”
Part II - Disastrous COVID Policies
Mask Mandates
Cloth and surgical masks do not stop the spread of any viruses, including COVID. This was known at the time of the outbreak; even Dr. Fauci knew at the time, stating in a private email, “The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through material.” That linked article goes on to say:
On March 8, 2020, Fauci said "there's no reason to be walking around with a mask," according to Reuters—but this was before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on masks on April 3.
Even the CDC, on their own website, admits that it conducted a study in 2015 that showed:
“Rates of infection were consistently higher among those in the cloth mask group than in the medical mask and control groups.” [Emphasis added]
That’s right - the CDC had information in 2020 that those wearing cloth masks were infected at a much higher rate than the control group (meaning the group not wearing masks). This is not conclusive but lends serious doubt about the decision to mandate cloth masks.
Lockdowns
Before March 2020, the scientific community, and the WHO, were strongly against general lockdowns in a pandemic. There was little evidence they were effective and the downside effects were pretty well-known. A 2006 study in National Library of Medicine stated, in regards to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic”
“Community Level Reports from many countries indicate that mandatory case reporting and isolating patients during the influenza pandemic of 1918 did not stop virus transmission and were impractical.”
Medical historian John Barry wrote of the same pandemic:
“Historical data clearly demonstrate that quarantine does not work unless it is absolutely rigid and complete,” and
“If a military camp cannot be successfully quarantined in wartime…it is highly unlikely a civilian community can be quarantined during peacetime.”
Indeed, the entire lockdown strategy was based on computer models and spreadsheets. Doomsday scenarios conflagrated like wildfires to scare the public and its leaders into following the Chinese lockdown example. The main researcher credited with these models that drove the catastrophic policies was Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London. His previous claim to fame was predicting in 2001 that Mad Cow Disease would kill 136,000 people in the UK. As of 2018, the death toll was 178.
Lockdowns were a huge mistake, the cost of which children of a certain age may pay for decades.
Counting Deaths
An unsolved controversy continues concerning the counting of COVID deaths in America. Despite many claims to the contrary, COVID deaths have been quietly adjusted downward by some public health officials. In July of 2021, the Western Journal reported that Santa Clara Country had adjusted down their death count by 22 percent. In that same article, it is reported Alameda County reduced their death count by 25%, stating that, ““Alameda County previously included any person who died while infected with the virus in the total COVID-19 deaths for the County.” So if you had a heart attack and tested positive for COVID, that had previously been counted as a COVID death. The Freedom Foundation reported that Washington state did the same thing, even counting gun shot deaths as COVID deaths, quoting the Health Statistics Manager for the State, ““Our (DOH COVID-19) dashboard numbers do include any deaths to a person that has tested positive to COVID-19.” Indeed, even the CDC admits that they do not actually track COVID deaths to any specificity but instead use models and algorithms to approximate the count based upon excess death mortality. See Neil Ferguson’s models above.
In addition, the risks for COVID hospitalization and deaths have been highly misunderstood. A CDC study in 2021 found that 78% of hospitalized COVID patients were overweight or obese, and 92% of COVID deaths were among the elderly 65 or older. And despite low vaccination rates, the African continent has shown much lower death rates from COVID, perhaps because the population is generally younger and less obese than their counterparts around the world, especially in the US and Europe.
Perverse Incentives for Hospitals
USA Today reports that Medicare pays hospitals and doctors more money for COVID patients as part of the CARES Act:
Hospitals and doctors do get paid more for Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or if it's considered presumed they have COVID-19 absent a laboratory-confirmed test, and three times more if the patients are placed on a ventilator to cover the cost of care and loss of business resulting from a shift in focus to treat COVID-19 cases.
Those payments include a $13,000 payment if a patient is admitted with COVID, and a staggering $39,000 payment if that patient is put on a ventilator. We now know that putting patients on ventilators was a death knell - in a broad study in the New York State Health System, almost 90% of patients put on ventilators died, and may have killed more patients than it helped. NBC News reported in 2020 that, “generally speaking, 40 percent to 50 percent of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say. But 80 percent or more of coronavirus patients placed on the machines in New York City have died, state and city officials say.” So in many cases, we were incentivizing hospitals to ventilate patients with COVID, despite a much larger risk that that treatment would kill them.
Ivermectin and Other Therapies
Networks pretending to review the news spent a lot of time spreading misinformation about potential COVID remedies, including sunshine and vitamin D, monoclonal antibodies, and yes, Ivermectin. Ivermectin may or may not be effective (there are studies that show differing results), but it is certainly not “horse de-wormer.” The inventor of Ivermectin won the Nobel Prize and it has been prescribed to humans billions of times. Joe Rogan and Sanjay Gupta settle the debate (thanks to Breaking Points!):
Vaccine Costs
You need to know: the NIAID, the NIH and some employees all profit from the COVID mRNA vaccines. Indeed US taxpayers heavily funded the discovery of the COVID-19 vaccines. In total, over $18 billion was spent by taxpayers to fund all of the research into these vaccines. Meanwhile, it is estimated that Pfizer and Moderna sold a total of $51B in COVID vaccines in 2022 alone. In 2021, according to a news analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, Pfizer and Moderna were making $1,000 in profit on the vaccines every second in 2021. This is another story of public risk in investment with private profits reaped by well-connected corporations.
Vaccine Mandates & Effectiveness
Here is the lie that started it all, thanks to Matt Orfalea:
Later, in September 2021, President Biden announced a unilateral vaccine mandate (some would say to change the news cycle from his debacle in Afghanistan but we obviously have no proof of that) that was eventually found to be unconstitutional. He nonetheless required all Federal workers and military personnel to be vaccinated, and many private employers followed the mandate lead. I was unable to find any studies that show how effective or ineffective the mandates were.
I’d like to now turn to the falsehoods that were repeated incessantly by government officials and media types as to the vaccine’s ability to stop transmission and end the COVID pandemic.
As we know, the outbreak continued and eventually the percentage of vaccinated who nonetheless contracted the disease and died grew significantly over time. In terms of the vaccine effectiveness and risks themselves, there’s a lot to unpack. I can’t provide a comprehensive list (this would be longer than the entirety of this article) but here’s a start: the long term effectiveness of these therapies have been relatively short and well known for at least 2 years. It has long been known that a mass vaccination regiment during an outbreak usually helps to create variants like the Delta variant and is a medical blunder according to Nobel Laureate and Virologist Luc Montagnier. And according to the Children’s Health Defense, Pfizer hid nearly 80% of the COVID Vaccine Trial Deaths from the FDA until after it issued the Emergency Use Authorization.
The risks for mRNA therapies like the COVID vaccine were not tested properly and are emerging, including major heart risks issues for young men and others. No long term studies have been completed on these therapies, and vaccine companies are completely immune from lawsuits arising from the adverse effects of COVID or any other vaccine.
Natural Immunity
Dr. Fauci and other health officials did not accept that natural immunity was sufficient in sworn testimony in 2022, despite his own previous testimony about the flu and studies that have since been released that confirms what any person should know - natural immunity is at least as effective as a vaccine. Health officials nonetheless created policies that recommended vaccination even if a person had previously had COVID.
The Greatest Purveyor of Misinformation
I’ve done my best to represent every aspect of COVID misinformation, bad policy, conflicts of interest and perverse incentives, and lies and misstatements made by politicians, bureaucrats and corporate media hosts and pundits. I am sure there are others - I invite you to add ideas in the comments.
It is clear that, based upon all of this data, the greatest purveyors of misinformation were in fact the federal and state government leaders and health officials, and their allies in BigTech and Corporate Media. Never again should we trust any of them in a crisis until major reforms are implemented to prevent these tragic mistakes from taking more lives.