People think I criticize the left too much and the right not enough. This story at the Hill kind of sums up my philosophy in a nutshell....
You know what? Let's have some fun with this. Let's play Card Sharks.
Bob Eubanks leans over and says "Fred Hunt, we took a survey of 100 Republicans in the year 2020 and we asked them this simple question, 'is the coronavirus death toll acceptable?' How many people answered Yes? Yes the death toll is acceptable."
"Wow Bob, that's a really dark question for Card Sharks, but I would bet my house that a majority of Republicans would say that the death toll is acceptable in order to keep the economy open."
"C'mon Fred, you know the rules of Card Sharks, I need a number. A majority is quite a range of numbers."
"Hmmmm. I know it's, probably, around three-quarters. Okay, okay, I'm going to say 74."
Bob Eubanks then turns to the opponent Conservative Connie and says "alright Connie, 74 is a very high number, what do you think? Higher or lower."
Connie: "74? That's way too high. I don't think very many people in America are okay with their neighbors dying. I'm going with 12."
Bob pulls out his card and looks at the number. "First of all, good news Fred, you get to keep your house, but pertinent to the task at hand, good news for Connie, the number is 57."
Connie: "That still seems high...."
Well guess what? It's not. The right only cares about money. Period. It's really a short story. If I wrote that sentence over and over, in every single article, I would be a one trick pony like Dean Obeidallah. In a polite American society, it's not cool to admit out loud that you only care about money. But in the shadows and in anonymous polls, you find out facts that don't surprise you in the least. Not surprising at all, if you actually listen to Conservatives.
Let me tell you a personal story. About a month ago, I felt a burning in my lungs like I was a smoker (Which I am not.) I had overwhelming fatigue and, most concerning, I had an aching in my calves that was persistent. I used to play soccer and my calves NEVER ached so much. Called the doctor and he said "all those symptoms combined aren't any disease" and the doctor ordered my first official Covid-19 Test.
I was negative, but, again, I had no fever and no cough. But in March, I am convinced that I had Covid-19, at least a mild case. And since then my body has been doing some wonky things....
People in America don't care if YOU get coronavirus. They only care if you get coronavirus and get THEM sick. But now there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. In the Flu outbreak of 1918, it wasn't so much the flu that killed you, but the Cytokine Storm that accompanied it.
One of the mysteries of Covid 19 is how some people get sick and some people get nothing. One theory is that it's not so much the flu that kills you, but the Bradykinin Strom that accompanies it. If that theory holds up, you can treat the Storm instead of the emerging pathogen.
Which gives the country hope. If you get a workable treatment or a vaccine up and running, you can push the death tolls down to Flu-like levels.
You can discontinue the masks and the social distancing that people seem to abhor depending on their political position. Remember "civil liberties" violate health orders.
Editor's Note: Those are "air quotes." The Libertarian Party is on the wrong side of the mask issue. Even the former head of my county's Libertarian Party agrees:
For much of my political life I have felt lost. Not in the sense of lack of direction, but rather that my principles and beliefs did not fit within main stream politics....(Then in 2016) Finally, a politician I felt I agreed with on almost everything. Limited military intervention, check. Criminal justice reform, check. Limited government, check. Pro choice, check. Drug policy reform, check. Outspoken on racial inequalities, check. This was the first politician I was passionate about, and as anyone close to me knows, it showed. I joined the campaign and became a Gary Johnson fanatic. By almost all third party comparisons, Gov. Johnson’s campaign was a success. However, when the dust settled it was still a failure. For me though, I felt it was a rousing success. I finally found a home with the Libertarian Party.
After the general election in 2016, I began to invest all of my free time in establishing the Lorain County Libertarian Party. Subsequently, I learned how to recruit candidates, run meetings, campaign, and eventually became the Chair of the local party. As some may know, I also ran for Elyria City Council in 2019. However, I slowly began to feel myself drift away from the main focus of the party. We preached a message of rugged individualism, but to my surprise were absent when it came time to support individuals that needed help.
My first indication came when at the end of 2018, when we had a government shutdown. I found myself torn as I voiced concern that a party that screams for less government financial redistribution and more charity, largely disappeared at the thought of community service. Maybe I just didn’t understand where a political party’s focus should be. So I pressed on, but began to take a step back and evaluate what was important to me. After all, I still shared several of the parties principles. There were also many within the party that fought to lift people up, and not just talk about it.
2020 has hit us all like a ton of bricks and has brought a very unique set of challenges to our communities, and reignited some flames that have never been fully extinguished. Fortunately, it has also brought continued blessings into my family as our son moves into his preteen years, and we are blessed to be expecting a daughter this fall. More than ever, I have found myself at conflict with my personal values and the values of the political party I have associated myself with for the majority of my adult life. Being against violence is one of the main tenants of Libertarian principles, dishearteningly many have continued to shrink as violence and inequality seem to be increasing. Protection of another’s right to life is another main tenant of the party, but again I found many allies shrinking and being more concerned with politics rather than public health.
The concerns I have had are continually becoming reality within the party I once called home. One day my children will ask me what I have done, and how I fought to protect their future. I can no longer with a clear conscience claim, “this is what I have done and whom I stood with,” when the ranks of Libertarian Party continually exhibit values they lament others for holding. In March, I formally resigned my position as Central Committee Chair with the Lorain County Libertarian Party, followed by resignation from Central Committee altogether in June.
Party aside, the individuals that fight for and exhibit the values that do no harm, I will always support. However, I will no longer associate myself with those that I do not believe value life, freedom, equality, and justice.
Maybe I will never have a home under any particular political banner, and that’s okay, because my permanent home will be with those that fight for what is right.
Brandon X - Formally of the Lorain County Libertarian Party
The writer of the above post is a nurse. I speculate that he feels the same as I do. The least you can do is wear a mask. It's not too much to ask for during a once in a century event. Am I sloppy in my mask use? Oh yeah, but everywhere I go where I'm with a group of people I try to use it. And I am careful to have on a mask every time I enter a public establishment.
Libertarians don't want to wear a mask because it's another way the government controls you. Just like the government "controls" you when they force you to wear a helmet on your motorcycle. You know what?
Being a Libertarian doesn't mean being a dick.
...but technically, I don't really know if I had Covid-19 or not back in March. I have been following stories on the Covid 19 Survivor Corps website, and they have real stories of death and heartbreak.
In America, the Bradykinin Storm story should have been front-page news, but half the country is convinced that Covid 19 is a fake virus and the other half admits it's real, but burning down American cities is more important.
Every single person I have spoken to about the virus who is on the Right Side of the political spectrum has mentioned money.
EVERY.
SINGLE.
ONE.
"Because, Fred Hunt, money is real." - My Neighbor
You mean in a country where we are literally printing money? What is real and what is fake are almost irrelevant constructs in today's society.
Until something happens specifically to YOU.
The Blaze is the most hypocritical news site out there today. (Which is impressive, seeing that CNN exists.) Chad Prather: Leader in unsound arguments.
The Blaze's Chad Prather argues that it is unfathomable, as Americans, to wear masks. His point is that the government doesn't control his body.
So let me get this straight, Chad Prather is saying that he doesn't have to wear a mask because it's his body? But a woman doesn't have control of her own body in the abortion argument?
We're done here.