The lab-leak theory for the origins of the 2020 pandemic was racist disinformation; now, commentators and experts acknowledge it’s a genuine possibility.
just gonna open with that with zero supportive evidence huh? Jesus Christ.
As an expert in another field, I’ll gladly go on the record refusing to rule out almost anything that is not actually impossible. That doesn’t mean I think it happened, or even that it’s even slightly likely.
If you ask your experts “is this possible” you are not getting your money’s worth.
Was there evidence supporting the lab-leak “theory” at the time? I think there was not. And yet, Fox News was harping on this hypothesis, Trump was calling Covid the “Kung Flu”, and racists were hate-criming Asian Americans in the streets. There is a reason we were saying just shut up about the lab leak at the time. (Admittedly, it might be true, but that doesn’t mean its proponents in 2020 were right.)
Fauci backtracked all his previous lies about the lab leak being a conspiracy theory https://youtu.be/AqYZw1TNFZ4?t=1m38s
UsRighttoknow found evidence that a US company outsourced virus research that described covid19 to the Wuhan Lab.
Of course it’s no surprise that the Wuhan Lab of Virology is responsible for the outbreak of a virus right next to it. But hey that Pangolin wet market story sounds so funny let’s keep repeating it.
The doctor who led America through Covid as official presidential advisor. And the one responsible for lab leak being called a conspiracy theory.
Him backtracking on lab leak says everything.
For the leak documents see https://usrtk.org/covid-19-origins/scientists-proposed-making-viruses-with-unique-features-of-sars-cov-2-in-wuhan/
I’m still saddened by thinking of what could have been. I don’t think we’d be as worried this election if it was Sanders running for a second term.
With the powers that be, I wonder how much he could have gotten done with actually fixing America. He’d be blocked everywhere by everyone with power, hell he might even have had an “accident”, or caught a bullet outright.
There is something to be said for setting a precedent. I believe Bernie would have recognized that he would struggle with the major powers and so strategized to make friends and move around them, towards a larger end goal. Would there have been sweeping changes? Probably not the first four years. A second term with the groundwork? I think we may have seen things change.
You have to understand that a lot of us trust that Bernie wants what’s best. If it took time and he asked us to trust him, we would. Yeah, there are arguments against this and what I spoke of further above, yet it is my belief that there would have been positive change.
I think that both what you and the other commenter have said is probably pretty accurate, but I also wanted to note that the office of the president is immensely powerful on its own.
Executive actions can have immediate changes without support from others. And having someone like Bernie in a position to set the national tone by being ‘the face’ of our politics for 4 years could certainly shift the Overton window. Bernie speaks his mind, and as the leader of the U.S., folks listen, even if he can’t pass policy. So if he spends 6 months leading up to an election talking about preference voting, ethics reform, or campaign finance - candidates and primary challengers are going to discuss those positions rather than leave them off their platform.
Those issues could shift the baseline of political power in the U.S. - if we had an election cycle or two where the president was driving national dialogue about it, voters would also choose candidates who made those things a priority - empowering - perhaps not Bernie, but maybe the next round of candidates, and possibly leading to permanent changes to our democracy.
Which is, well, very hopeful. But it illustrates what he could have done. Could have changed trajectories, rather than circling the same old drain that leads to a two party system where both parties are on the take from someone.
Wait, why is this a big surprise? Or even something that’s wrong? Bernie never had majority support. That the moderates dropped out rather than taking their delegates to the convention and Voltroning then doesn’t change the result. His plan of winning with a plurality was dumb from the start.
Seriously, explain to me what it is you think was done to him and why it was wrong. Pushing Biden because they wanted someone other than Bernie to win and thought he had the best chance isn’t dirty politics. That’s just regular politics.
Oh, no, I was commenting on how every other time this was brought up, the stock answer was “nothing happened, that’s a conspiracy theory, stop making stuff up”, then when there’s evidence, it flips to “of course, everyone knew that, that’s normal, why would this surprise anyone?”
Biden got my last ever vote for a corporate candidate. I vowed I’m never doing the pied piper bullshit again after 2020. If Dems want my vote they can try to earn it with real candidates. They could help prop up Satan himself on the GOP side to make their corpo dem look pallatable, I’m wholly done with the lesser evil shit. It needs to end, it’s costing us our democracy and will never, ever produce an opportunity for real change.
See, in America we have a two party system. It isn’t great but it’s what we have. As the oldest constitutional democracy, they made a ton of progress but didn’t quite understand parties and how the systems set up would play out. Under this system, you don’t get a great candidate to vote for. You get a middle of the road lukewarm candidate. And now we get that and a complete crazypants candidate. Choosing to not vote against the complete crazypants candidate because the lukewarm one isn’t your ideal candidate is such an obvious trap that a lot of people think only Russian bots can fall for it. I’m not quite that optimistic. I know people are susceptible to propaganda, and if you throw on a heaping pile of repeated disappointment it’s an excellent environment for it to work.
So, it was a fairly coherent response. But not for people who are Russian bots, or in the throws of apathy from a huge disinformation campaign and just generally awful human existence. Honestly? I hope everything gets better for you too. Cause it doesn’t look like life is great for Russian bots or republicans or disillusioned people who don’t know where to turn. Best of luck my dude (or bot)
That is not a reasonable response to someone having a cooler opinion than you.
So you’re going to vote republican then?
Not vote at all?
If you’re not voting get off your soapbox and fucking vote!
I’m voting Uncommitted for presidential if Biden doesn’t step down. If he does step down that’s enough of a referendum on his Israel policy that I’m willing to vote for his replacement in this context, but Biden needs to go. He’s not only a deeply immoral person, he’s now literally unelectable.
Democrats need to show actual signs of being able to listen. Not rhetoric or empty promises, but actual meaningful action. If they are unable to listen and submit to their constituency then they have no useful potential.
If they want to continue playing chicken then that’s on them and we’ll deal with the consequences of that when they come.
You don’t understand the American political system. The President isn’t King.
Bernie couldn’t have done more. It’s a Republican Supreme Court and Congress. Biden has done a great job with the limited power he has.
We have a first past the post-voting system and two major parties. You never vote FOR anyone. You only vote AGAINST who you hate more.
Voting third party or not voting is exactly equivalent to voting for whoever you hate most of the top two candidates.
The things I just said are facts. Logically proven. Look up CPG Grey’s FPTP video if you want an easy primer.
So then the question just remains, do you think both candidates are equally horrible? If the answer is yes, then your strategy is correct. But if you think one of the two is slightly more horrible, that’s the one you should be voting against.
Remember that “journalist” who admitted, in an interview on iirc “Joe Rogan” or something, that CNN+NYT++ systemically “shut down” progressive issues, & progressive voices, in that election…
I’d been wondering what the hell was wrong, but … propaganda “journalism” won a “battle” I hadn’t even known was being waged…
Now, of course, the deck is getting stacked,.
the economic house-of-cards still is being propped-up by China & the US ( different parts of it: the fake-economy of China, & the issue 7x as much currency, but pretend that that doesn’t cause 700% inflation idiocy in the US )… but it must come down.
IF that economic house-of-cards comes down before the election, then the incumbent is hosed.
Period.
It’s a slam dunk election for the outsider, then.
You’d better pray, successfully, for that economic-collapse not happening, until after the election, then, eh?
Being the old cynic that I am, I’m expecting the republicans to win, to revert the US to Jim Crow’s “reality”, & to finish the Civil War that they pretended to surrender in, so long ago.
Gutting NATO, backing Russia, the whole everything that Trump promised…
I’d be preparing, not praying.
( & am, tbh: health’s improving… )
_ /\ _