A week after thousands of Biden supporters took to the streets to celebrate a Biden ‘win,’ we’re seeing governors and other public officials starting to shut down states and reinstate draconian regulations to ‘stop the spread.’ Not seeing a whole lot from the media condemning those ‘super spreader’ events because you know, like the BLM riots over the summer, COVID doesn’t apparently infect people who voted for Biden.
It is all so damn frustrating and annoying.
Sounds like people aren’t going to be as open to ‘obeying’ COVID restrictions this time around. Wonder why?
If your messaging isn’t consistent, you’re going to lose credibility with the people who you need to reach. Won’t matter how much you lecture, people won’t just accept two different sets of rules. Once people recognize hypocrisy, that’s just not a bell you can unring.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) November 16, 2020
Peter Cook wrote a fairly exceptional thread about what happens when our public officials break and abuse the public trust … as they have over and over and over again these past few months.
Public trust is a precious currency that was spent far too blithely this summer by public officials who should have known better. https://t.co/n6c5vxXcjH
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Should have known better, did know better, and still didn’t care.
Americans did trust the science in March, when they collectively agreed to short-term shutdowns to bend the curve. They then watched the goal line keep moving, and the casual dismissal of large gatherings by the same public officials who urged the shutdowns.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Exactly. Two weeks turned into nine months.
WTF?
What public officials don't seem to realize is that the moment they dismissed large gatherings after endorsing shutdowns, they undermined their ability as experts in the eyes of a great many people.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Gosh, ‘letting’ thousands of people riot and or celebrate while condemning funerals, weddings, and other life events didn’t play out very well for these public officials. Wonder why?
Even if what they now recommend is true, it doesn't matter because they've already destroyed the one thing they needed to maintain in order to be effective: public trust.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
And nobody trusts them.
At all.
It's the holiday season and people want to share a meal with their extended family. They've watched media and public health officials shrug at large gatherings while also telling us to cancel Thanksgiving. Mixed messaging is the best way to drop a nuke on potential compliance.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
So. Much. This.
A post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 spike is likely. Maybe more than likely. Maybe it's inevitable. But it's extremely difficult to public policy a virus away, or change human nature. Public officials tried the first, but ignored their own rules, so the latter is now taking over.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Wait, the government can’t stop a virus?!
WE’RE SHOCKED! SHOCKED WE SAY!
The moment you excuse the rules for a group or ideology you favor, people will notice and ignore those rules. If you try to impose them for some after excusing them for others, people will not just ignore the rules, they will hold you in contempt for your hypocrisy.
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Ding ding ding.
There has been much bemoaning of the 'death' of expertise. I tend to agree with @davidharsanyi on this one. Expertise wasn't killed. It committed suicide: https://t.co/eHMKRrho21
— Peter Cook (@_Peter_Cook) November 16, 2020
Nailed it.
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