Doctor or Politician?

Contributing writer Jennifer Burrell-Rollins to Kelley Williams

A recent British poll ranked professions by trust. Nurses were first with 93 percent of British adults saying they trusted them.  Doctors were next at 91 percent. Politicians in general were next to last at 15 percent, just below government ministers (department head politicians) at 16 percent.  Journalist were at 23 percent.  Wonder if U.S. numbers are similar?  And if comparison with pre COVID-19 numbers shows a loss of trust in experts and authorities — as I predicted?  Of course, there wasn’t a whole lot of trust there to start with.

Speaking of trust in experts.  Do you think the Amish are immune to COVID-19?  There’s a story about an Amish carpenter who said the Amish can’t get the virus — because they don’t have TV’s.  Hence, no 24/7 expert advice.  And no non-stop alarm from talking heads.  So they may not know there’s a pandemic and they’re supposed to panic.  They appear to be living their normal lives and dying at their normal rates despite the virus.

Few others are living normal lives.  But they are dying at their normal rates despite the virus — according to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  It’s the score keeper for COVID-19 deaths and all other deaths too.

A recent analysis of CDC data by Johns Hopkins’ Dr. Genevieve Briand shows that increased deaths “involving” COVID-19 are offset by decreased deaths due to other causes.  She finds that total deaths from all causes have not increased due to the virus.  She says the reason more elderly die from COVID-19 is that more elderly die from all causes every year.

It seems the CDC overstates COVID-19 deaths.  And exaggerates the pandemic.  Both due to its score keeping.  There was uncertainty about dying from vs. dying with COVID-19.  So the CDC changed the definition of COVID-19 deaths to include all deaths “involving” COVID-19.  Since “involving” includes a laundry list of possible interpretations, associations, and connections to the virus and since hospitals get paid more for COVID-19 deaths, there’s no shortage of COVID-19 deaths.  But there is a shortage of deaths due to heart disease this year.  It’s historically the biggest killer.

Here’s a link to “Cause of Death: A Primer” by Kip Hanson posted on Watts Up With That?.  It offers a clear explanation of how the CDC defines a COVID-19 death.  It’s extremely well written.  But it’s complicated.  It will take years to sort out the political causes vs. the medical causes of the pandemic.  Impossible to do in this election year.

Dr. Briand’s analysis upsets the narrative that justifies masks, lockdowns, social distancing, closing and bankrupting “non-essential businesses,” bans on assemblies, and other arbitrary political edicts.  (Note bans on some assemblies are excepted or ignored, however, as are masks and other inconveniences for some political groups and some politicians.)  The edicts may be well-intentioned.  But the results are lonely deaths for the elderly, Zoom funerals, damaged and destroyed lives and relationships, loss of jobs (except for government employees), closed schools, more suicides and drug abuse and other pathologies.

Yet, Dr. Briand’s analysis shows total deaths (which include COVID-19 deaths) are the same.  This suggests there was no need for and no offsetting benefit to the harm from the well-intentioned edicts.  So it’s no wonder her analysis was removed from Johns Hopkins’ website which explained its censorship this way: Dr. Briand’s analysis is correct – but it is being misused to promote harmful actions.  Seems Johns Hopkins is like Colonel Jessup: You can’t stand the truth!

A Mississippi expat now in Colorado wrote me about an earlier article criticizing Presidential Adviser Dr. Fauci — who kicked off the pandemic with a prediction of over 2 million COVID-19 deaths.  The former Mississippian noted there are 234,000 COVID-19 deaths to date.  He politely observed that I am obviously educated and experienced.  He commended my “apparent efforts to rescue your state” from 50th place in poverty, illiteracy, corruption, and presumably QAnon type mind infection” (far right conspiracy theory).  He said he was incredulous after reading my scathing piece on Dr. Fauci.  But that it rang true to the Mississippi view of the outside world.

He went on to say: ‘It is incomprehensible how so many of our nations citizens can’t accept guidance from committed lifelong professionals who are doing their best to minimize the deaths from COVID-19 in a non-political way.”  He ended by asking, “Why not use your forum to bring out the best in your people?”

Dr. Fauci is a committed lifelong professional bureaucrat and politician.  He is not a practicing physician.  The British might call him a government minister (16 percent trust).  He used his white jacket and forum to denigrate practicing physicians who innovated new combinations and uses for old drugs to save lives.  They didn’t follow established protocols.  But their COVID-19 patients lived when patients treated with established protocols were dying.

It seems we’ve turned a corner.  From loss of trust to loss of freedom. From conventional wisdom to control tactics.  Adding insult to injury.  But Bigger Pie Forum will continue to expose guidance from quacks and experts with ulterior motives.  And narratives promoting actions that infringe on our constitutional rights and liberties.  We will continue trying to reveal those ulterior motives and fraud — to prevent manipulation and defend freedom of choice.  Informed choices.

Our goal is to simply inform Mississippians of what we uncover — we don’t presume to dictate what choices to make.  Or know or tell you what’s best for you.  There’s plenty of that already.