“Experts” were confident that they knew what America should do about Covid. They were wrong about so much.
Officials pushed masks, including useless cloth ones. Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “Don’t wear masks” — then, “Do wear them.”
Some states closed playgrounds and banned motorboats and Jet Skis. Towns in New York banned using leaf-blowers. California pointlessly closed beaches and gave people citations for “watching the sunset.” The list goes on.
Sen. Rand Paul’s new book, “Deception,” argues that government experts didn’t just make mistakes; they were purposely deceitful. A few weeks ago, this column reported how Paul was correct in accusing Fauci of funding virus research in Wuhan and lying about it.
In my new video, we cover other government deceit.
Paul says, “There’s been one set of truths in private and another set of truths for the people who aren’t smart enough to make their decisions.”
He points out that Fauci, in private, told fellow bureaucrats that masking is pointless. Fauci wrote in one 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 the material.”
But in public, complains Paul, Fauci would sometimes wear multiple masks.
“Things that have no scientific basis in fact. … There’s two sets of information going out, one privately and one publicly.”
“Why?” I ask.
“They think that there could be hysteria. They’re in government. They need to dosomething. … So let’s get everybody occupied with wearing masks. … But in the end, the Cochrane analysis looked at 78 randomized studies and found that masks didn’t work at all.”
“N95 masks may work,” I say.
“The Cochrane analysis looked at the N95 and found they didn’t work very well,” Paul replies.
Another mistake: the virus is 500 times more likely to kill people ages 65 and up than kill kids. But our government told parents: mask your children. Some states kept kids out of schools for two years.
Also, “When they approved the third vaccine for children,” says Paul, “The first committee was the FDA committee. … They came out with the advice: 65 and older. Nobody else. The CDC had another vaccine committee. … They said the same thing … (but) Rochelle Walensky, a political appointee of Biden, overrode both scientific committees and said the vaccine booster should be given to six months and up.”
“Why? What’s the motivation?” I ask. “Get more people frightened, and then they’ll take the vaccine and that will save America?”
Paul says, “I think most of them are not very smart and they just blindly think, ‘Take the damn vaccine, shut up and take it. It’s good for you.'”
Has he been vaccinated?
“God gave me my vaccine.” He tells me. “I was naturally inoculated. But members of my family, my wife, got vaccinated. We’re not against the advice.”
I clarify, “‘Naturally inoculated,’ meaning you got Covid?”
“I had Covid, so I have immunity,” he replies.
At the start of the pandemic, Sweden’s health officials did not shut down restaurants or other businesses. They also announced that they would not close schools for younger children.
For doing that, Sweden was repeatedly trashed by American government officials and the media. Time Magazine called Sweden’s plan “a disaster.”
But the Swedish approach was right. Not only did Sweden escape the economic and social harm of lockdowns, but its Covid-related death rate was lower than that of most other countries.
“It turns out they did as well, or better, than most parts of Europe,” says Paul.
“Better,” I point out.
“They also didn’t mandate masks in schools (or) close the schools. Everything we did in this country was wrong.”
I push back. “On balance, vaccines were a good thing. They work for older people, people my age.” In fact, Republican anti-vax “messaging may have killed people!” Before the vaccine came out, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats died. But once the anti-vax messages spread, Republicans had a higher death rate.
Paul replies, “Vaccine hesitancy comes from people’s disbelief in government.”
He adds, “I think people learned from this … (learned) what to trust and what not to trust. People will be smarter the next time around.”
Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom.
People are slow on the uptick, but it’s because we want to believe our government has our best interests at heart. I think if COVID taught us anything, it’s that they and Big Pharma do not. Protocols manufactured out of thin air (“Yeah…I think 6 feet of separation should be enough, right?”) and bad medical advice in the beginning was bad enough, but when they added a vaccine that wasn’t a vaccine via the all-encompassing emergency medical authorization, with no legal recourse for recipients and no legal indemnity for the manufacturer, they made it very clear who it was that was being taken care of here.
I migrated to the home of my ancestors in the south after the military and I’ll freely admit that it took me a minute to acclimate. Folks here might take “recommendations” initially, but if they deem them unnecessary, they’ll do away with them quickly. Other than the elderly, we were only in masks for a few weeks. In the land of ‘mountain medicine’ and granny’s homemade poultices and remedies (which all work, btw), people were well aware of natural immunity. Combined with an innate distrust of all things government, it’s the reason the jab rate was low here and why we all haven’t “died suddenly”, because they’d long since learned the lessons the rest of the country was being taught.
In my lifetime, Ronald Reagan is the only individual in DC who truly had empathy for We The People.
Doesn’t mean I like Trump any less. Wonderful president. But he’s a different breed. In fact, we need more like Trump for these awful times: cold, calculating, determined to rid us of the enemy within.
As for the rest of the criminal enterprise known as D.C., I cannot express my feelings in public, lest I find myself in the gulag.
Yes, seriously. We absolutely need a “bull in the china shop” to break some fragile lefties and their bullying tactics.
It was all a lie and now billions of people are lab rats for 5 to 10 years with the experimental shots.
John , you are inexcusably ignorant of the carnage wrought by these vile vials … EVERY SHOT PRODUCES HARM. NONE ARE EFFECTIVE. Doing your due diligence before opining is the basis for being a good journalist. FYI while never curing 1 case of polio , 98 million people worldwide developed cancers from getting shot with syringes CHOCK FULL O’ INDUSTRIAL WASTE. In the form of SV-40 . That’s Simian Virus #40 . Injecting monkey viruses into our species is anything but science !!!
Sweden got the Covid issue right but they didn’t get the immigration issue correct
Since the government is mainly responsible for many of our problems, trusting them to solve problems is not a good idea.
Then there’s the question of knowing how many Democrats or Republicans died from COVID. Was the last question they answered, “What party do you belong to?”
To be honest, I took the first two jabs. Then, I did the homework on immunity, masking, etc. You could not get me to take another jab, and I’m over 70.
There are too many sheeple and not enough thinkers.
The Wonderful Magical Clot Shot. lol
“In fact, Republican anti-vax “messaging may have killed people!”
John Stossel, if you really believe that, then you are no Libertarian. Because what you are saying is people should have trusted the government instead of making their OWN informed decisions. Wow. You, sir, are a fraud.
trust government or study history, the two are mutually exclusive.
the vaccine is dangerous. It is not safe for over 65’s, my friend has eyesight problems, my father-in-law cannot see properly in bright sunlight and a female neighbour is losing her sight too, all after the clot shot, all over 75 years.
I read too many articles about this vaccine and decided to not get vaccinated. I made the right decision. Also, I do not have much faith in the FDA or CDC for accurate information. Even now, I read more articles how the vaccine is stilling killing or causing disability to individuals who got vaccinated. Even articles involving doctors and airline pilots.
Many died from clots or thrombosis, myocarditis, cancer, or now have some form of neuromuscular disease such as Parkinsons or Bell’s Palsy.
John is your typical talking head. A few questions for you John. Have you spent any time actually researching your claims about the Vaxxes? Some of us have. Since January 2020 I have never missed a day reading and listening to anti Covid Vaxxers who are well published Phd’s and Md’s. More than a few books I have read that documents not only the failures of most vaxxes but the corrupt cabal profiting from America’s health care system. A system that continues to profit from Americans illnesses. This corrupted medical cabal takes in 4.7 trillion a year and growing. John’s profession of whores and pimps got paid 1 billion by the O’Biden administration to put out lies.
Did John address the “died suddenly issue”? Did John address the insurance death claims? How about the Vaers information? Government disability claims? John is just another big mouth who has gotten rich play acting. Just another elitist!
You said it. I expected more from both of them.