The media and many in government often refer to the collateral damage from over-reaching Covid-19 mandates and shutdowns as “unintended consequences,” but there’s a word that better sums up what they did: Lunacy. That lunacy was either accidental or, in too many cases, intentional because it was for reasons that had nothing to do with keeping people “safe” and “healthy.”
The other day I pointed out one example, which came in the form of a Washington Post report on something that can suddenly be reported about what reduced the risk from Covid (they shut down gyms anyway):
A new study found that exercise, in almost any amount, reduced people’s risks of being hospitalized or dying of covid. https://t.co/tKpKyxLPiJ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 21, 2022
If you pointed that out a couple of years ago you’d have likely gotten kicked off social media. But it’s now a bit safer to spotlight such realities.
The Associated Press has had its own “eureka!” moment of journalism by noticing that, hey, maybe the government and other public officials were so fast to jump all over these Covid edicts (ostensibly in the name of keeping us “safe”) for reasons other than public health:
Recommended
An @AP investigation has found that COVID-19 accelerated and normalized state surveillance and tracking tools that are now being used to investigate crime and harass marginalized communities. https://t.co/HGFpaPXQKT pic.twitter.com/LHwucDLGvQ
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 23, 2022
Wait… seriously?
Never saw that one coming.
— GrandMomsterMel 🤶🎄 (@MomsterMel) December 23, 2022
We’ve seen media angles in the past that have Republicans “seizing” and “pouncing,” but now the police are doing it:
From the Associated Press:
In the pandemic’s bewildering early days, millions worldwide believed government officials who said they needed confidential data for new tech tools that could help stop coronavirus’ spread. In return, governments got a firehose of individuals’ private health details, photographs that captured their facial measurements and their home addresses.
Now, from Beijing to Jerusalem to Hyderabad, India, and Perth, Australia, The Associated Press has found that authorities used these technologies and data to halt travel for activists and ordinary people, harass marginalized communities and link people’s health information to other surveillance and law enforcement tools. In some cases, data was shared with spy agencies. The issue has taken on fresh urgency almost three years into the pandemic as China’s ultra-strict zero-COVID policies recently ignited the sharpest public rebuke of the country’s authoritarian leadership since the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The sudden media epiphanies on eventual outcomes that should have been perfectly predictable from the start are nothing short of amazing (and very telling).
Hey thanks for telling us something you would've "fact checked" us for saying back when something could've been done to stop it.
— Spike Cohen (@RealSpikeCohen) December 24, 2022
The activist media is the enemy of the people
— Jeff Charles, Chaser of Liberty 🇺🇸 🏴 (@JeffOnTheRight) December 24, 2022
can’t believe the government would abuse the power they gave themselves https://t.co/0LhrVBTEeo
— Emma Heussner (@emmaheussner) December 24, 2022
The fact that so many people couldn’t see that coming from ten miles away speaks horrific volumes and explains why history repeats itself.
When you give government a gun, they will inevitably point it at you. https://t.co/2myRxxBrDi
— Spike Cohen (@RealSpikeCohen) December 24, 2022
I think my irony meter just broke https://t.co/WjsIzn4lai
— The H2 (@TheH2) December 24, 2022
Perhaps the AP should do a report about how maybe they made a mistake in helping cheer on government mandates that are now proving to be the very definitions of “function creep.” But that would require some self-awareness so I won’t hold my breath.
***
Related:
Here’s why the Associated Press described President Biden as a ‘gearhead’
