This is a long thread, but as this past week marked the four-year anniversary of '15 days to slow the spread', it's worth looking back on the absolute insanity inflicted on us -- insanity that, in some circles, is still ongoing.
🧵THREAD🧵
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
“15 days to slow the spread” kicked off four years ago Saturday, sending the media into perhaps its most deranged cycle of my lifetime.
I dove back into some of the worst lockdown media coverage from those early days.
Buckle in, this one’s long. ⤵️
Get comfy and join us down memory lane.
The real worst of the coverage was when states started reopening. The media outrage was palpable. Republicans wanted people to die, we were told.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Remember @TheAtlantic’s “Georgia’s Experiment in Human Sacrifice”? You may’ve forgotten how wild the text of it was. I did. pic.twitter.com/vJSpfbSRo8
'Human sacrifice.'
Totally not hyperbolic or anything.
But that wasn’t a one off sentiment. The belief four years ago among the media was that allowing people to leave their homes was tantamount to killing people.@washingtonpost called it a “deadly error” — not in an opinion piece, mind you, but in a “health” news headline. pic.twitter.com/glcV9j2cKK
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Letting people leave their homes was basically genocide. Remember that? We do.
What we should’ve been doing instead, to hear the press tell it, was employing “harsh steps,” @nytimes said.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
“Americans must be persuaded to stay home” and “travel restrictions should be extended” they said. pic.twitter.com/7MM2v07hum
@politico thought the same thing. In their magazine, the outlet called for a “national quarantine” which they dubbed a “common-sense” approach. pic.twitter.com/LKnHLjUU0n
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
When is it 'common sense' to quarantine healthy people?
@CNN was among the most crazed. They went after the supposed morality behind the “Open it Up” movement, which they called “downright dangerous.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
The people who thought it was okay to go outside were “downright dangerous.” pic.twitter.com/631gWX81BQ
Going outside -- fresh air and sunshine -- were actually helpful in combating the virus. So naturally we couldn't do that.
I want to pause here to point out something important. Yes, Covid killed millions of people. But this wasn’t the bubonic plague we were talking about.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
And states like Florida were able to safely reopen, as I, @CurtisHouck and others pointed out back in the thick of it. pic.twitter.com/SgtxZOkAAA
It's almost like lockdowns were an overreaction.
Anyway, back to the coverage, because it was just so ridiculous.@USATODAY kept with the deadly theme, calling reopenings “Russian roulette.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Again. This to describe letting people go to stores. pic.twitter.com/y5DmCmIWez
'Russian roulette'. Just incredible stuff.
You can’t overstate the fear mongering from the press. Here’s @TIME giving tips and tricks to how you can stay hidden in your home if your state reopens.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
The picture selection to accompany these pieces is an editorial choice. pic.twitter.com/HuAvlJAiR0
Wow.
And, of course, reopening was racist. You may remember that, in those halcyon days, everything was — this was the summer of race after all — and reopenings and lockdowns were no exception for @voxdotcom, @AP, @NewsHour & @Salon. pic.twitter.com/AbnIKk8N1G
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Of course it was racist.
Except for the BLM protests. Which were safe from the virus.
But the craziest example is from @ABC.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Whenever I see “analysis” in a headline, particularly about news that intersects with liberal sacred cows, I expect what follows will be preposterous.
This was no exception. pic.twitter.com/pg0RLSEsva
'Analysis' is, like 'experts say', preposterous.
And that wound is self-inflicted.
You may think the 33 word headline from @BusinessInsider is bad, but the photo selection really elevates the embarrassment all involved should feel about the choices made for this piece, in retrospect. pic.twitter.com/kjCDVpvTr3
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
They don't feel embarrassment.
Like the Business Insider piece, lots of outlets really leaned into the panic porn when it came to reopening schools. @Reuters made sure to include the case counts as a counter to Trump in the headline. How they wanted their readers to feel about his comments is clear. pic.twitter.com/fMldWE2Ezq
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
And now we know closing schools harmed children.
Maybe they were channeling @rweingartin, the head of the teachers association and then-media darling.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Remember when kids were going to be fine even if they had to sacrifice because they were “resilient”? I do. pic.twitter.com/wUfvdAdbqz
Vile, vile people.
A quick aside: @rweingarten has taken to claiming that she and her org always wanted to keep schools open.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
It isn’t true. Weingarten long pushed for schools to be closed.
This is why I take screenshots. pic.twitter.com/hn60XklVAQ
Drew's got the receipts.
There were lots of other outlets who pushed to close schools. Here’s @CNN, advising their readers that schools weren’t safe for kids. pic.twitter.com/o974lksUEY
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Just awful.
@ABC fact checked the idea that kids got better faster, calling the claim “misleading.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
It wasn’t. Even the Times admitted - again, this isn’t hindsight - around the same time that kids recovered quicker.
But ABC wanted to stoke fear. I can’t see another explanation. pic.twitter.com/dpJm2Qawmq
You don't despise the media enough. You really don't.
@washingtonpost called school reopenings a “fantasy” pic.twitter.com/0svjEV3l7A
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
A 'fantasy'. Just incredible stuff.
I’ll let this @guardian headline speak for itself. pic.twitter.com/8czuBqznEN
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
You really don't despise the media enough.
It’s an understatement to say there were consequences to the lockdowns the press cheered for.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Learning loss devastated kids. For the rest of America, lockdowns had a huge toll on mental and physical health. pic.twitter.com/X3RZXafWK4
And the pajama class didn't care.
None of this should’ve been a surprise. We knew that lockdowns had serious consequences. I wrote about it for @nytopinion…in 2020. pic.twitter.com/s3DKWzKU2y
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
Saying this stuff in 2020 or 2021 was enough to get you suspended from social media.
You probably won’t be surprised that, even after the consequence became clear, the media haven’t learned any lessons.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 19, 2024
The outside still isn’t safe, so say @nytimes, @washingtonpost & @CNN.
These were just last summer. Will the press ever get over it?
I’ll bet the under. pic.twitter.com/5CwnwKRtR5
In 2023, they were saying it's still not safe to go outside.
Expect the same stories in the summer of 2024.
There are people out there who would love nothing more than perpetual lockdowns, permanent masking, and vaccine passports for all of us, forever.
It's now going into year five of this nonsense, and enough is enough.
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