[lex24]

I know burger won't bother to read this because, for him, the NYT is ABSOLUTE TRUTH [more so, probably, since they ran out that heretic, Bari Weiss] and the National Review isn't fit to line a birdcage.  Nevertheless, it seems to me that the column raises some legitimate questions about that still-evolving Texas COVID Party story:

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/di...an-legend/

Maybe it happened; maybe it didn't, but, in the end, does that really matter?  It helped further the preferred media narrative so, by definition, it was a legitimate story for the NYT to print.

I would say it is irrelevant.  We know that the spread is mostly due to lack of masks and social distancing.  A COVID party here and there might add a few cases but when a state is logging tens of thousands of new cases each day, it up is mostly the sloppiness of the general population.  The large minority (or in some stare, majority) of the population have not grasped that concept and internalized in their behavior.

Do you think the explosion in LA County is due to the “sloppiness of the populations behavior?”  Or is it perhaps due to the very high density of the population, coupled with the high number of people living in poor socioeconomic conditions?  What about Imperial County?  Again, bad behaviors?  Or perhaps bad conditions. 

As for the Covid Party Story it’s relevant because if untrue it creates a false narrative.  And the incredibly poor sourcing should have been enough for the Times not to run with the story. It’s journalistic standards should be a tad higher given its stature and influence. 

Finally let me ask you this - from a purely.common sense viewpoint, what is more likely to lead to a widespread increase: a few Covid parties thrown in a few red states.  Or people gathering in what some in the media have said is the largest number of people protesting in American history?  But there will never be an honest look about the impact of the protests on Covid.  Because the possibility that they may have been a contributor does not fit the narrative.  

Nothing was going to stop the protests.  They were a legitimate reaction to the Floyd murder and all the history that it represents.  But the notion that massive gatherings of people shouting slogans in close quarters during a pandemic is not a factor in a big uptick that,happened shortly thereafter is counter-intuitive.  Particularly when all other large outdoor gatherings are frowned upon. If not downright illegal.  You can’t have it both ways. 

Put simply - it is not inconsistent to say the protests were righteous; but unfortunately they happened during a pandemic.  And thus an unintended consequence is that they contributed to the explosion of cases. (And just so it’s crystal clear, I’m not “blaming” the protesters. As I said, the protests were a natural and righteous response to the Floyd killing and the history behind it Hopefully eventually some good will come from them.)

Put another way, suppose everything about the gatherings is exactly the same - including percentage of mask usage (which no one knows but for the sake of argument let’s say it’s high - maybe 70%) but instead of protests they were Trump rallies. Do you think we would see the same conclusion?

[lex24]

I know burger won't bother to read this because, for him, the NYT is ABSOLUTE TRUTH [more so, probably, since they ran out that heretic, Bari Weiss] and the National Review isn't fit to line a birdcage.  Nevertheless, it seems to me that the column raises some legitimate questions about that still-evolving Texas COVID Party story:

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/di...an-legend/

Maybe it happened; maybe it didn't, but, in the end, does that really matter?  It helped further the preferred media narrative so, by definition, it was a legitimate story for the NYT to print.

I would say it is irrelevant.  We know that the spread is mostly due to lack of masks and social distancing.  A COVID party here and there might add a few cases but when a state is logging tens of thousands of new cases each day, it up is mostly the sloppiness of the general population.  The large minority (or in some stare, majority) of the population have not grasped that concept and internalized in their behavior.

Do you think the explosion in LA County is due to the “sloppiness of the populations behavior?”  Or is it perhaps due to the very high density of the population, coupled with the high number of people living in poor socioeconomic conditions?  What about Imperial County?  Again, bad behaviors?  Or perhaps bad conditions. 

As for the Covid Party Story it’s relevant because if untrue it creates a false narrative.  And the incredibly poor sourcing should have been enough for the Times not to run with the story. It’s journalistic standards should be a tad higher given its stature and influence. 

Finally let me ask you this - from a purely.common sense viewpoint, what is more likely to lead to a widespread increase: a few Covid parties thrown in a few red states.  Or people gathering in what some in the media have said is the largest number of people protesting in American history?  But there will never be an honest look about the impact of the protests on Covid.  Because the possibility that they may have been a contributor does not fit the narrative.  

Nothing was going to stop the protests.  They were a legitimate reaction to the Floyd murder and all the history that it represents.  But the notion that massive gatherings of people shouting slogans in close quarters during a pandemic is not a factor in a big uptick that,happened shortly thereafter is counter-intuitive.  Particularly when all other large outdoor gatherings are frowned upon. If not downright illegal.  You can’t have it both ways. 

Put simply - it is not inconsistent to say the protests were righteous; but unfortunately they happened during a pandemic.  And thus an unintended consequence is that they contributed to the explosion of cases. (And just so it’s crystal clear, I’m not “blaming” the protesters. As I said, the protests were a natural and righteous response to the Floyd killing and the history behind it Hopefully eventually some good will come from them.)

Put another way, suppose everything about the gatherings is exactly the same - including percentage of mask usage (which no one knows but for the sake of argument let’s say it’s high - maybe 70%) but instead of protests they were Trump rallies. Do you think we would see the same conclusion?