Fred Weinberg: Media Still Spinning Coronavirus To Hurt Trump
Forgive me for sounding like a broken record, but we live in the world’s greatest nation and I’m getting more than a little tired of the legacy media spinning the coronavirus like it’s a NASCAR race or a baseball game.
Yes, we know that people are dying.
Yes, we know that the virus can be easily spread.
We also know that the legacy media is trying to spin this in such a manner so as to try and make it seem that the president is not competent. The Washington Post and The New York Times, for example, will no longer cover the daily briefings.
Certain soldiers from the left, Don Lemon and Rachel Maddow, are urging their so-called news outlets not to run the briefings live.
“I’m not actually sure, if you want to be honest, that we should carry that live,” Lemon said.
“I think we should run snippets. I think we should do it afterwards and get the pertinent points to the American people because he’s never, ever going to tell you the truth.”
AT&T — which owns CNN — should be ashamed of itself.
What we do not know is how long the coronavirus will take to eradicate.
This nation has all but wiped out within its borders the bubonic plague, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, smallpox, malaria and diphtheria.
Coronavirus is undoubtedly next.
Facing a challenge, that’s what we — the real people of the United States — do. We have the best scientists, medical professionals and business executives on the planet. We are far more prepared for this scientific challenge today than, say, back in the day when polio was the challenge.
Growing up, I remember the March of Dimes. They raised the money for research. Here’s how the organization’s website describes some of their efforts:
“A March of Dimes grantee, Jonas Salk, MD, pressed forward from a routine virus typing project to the creation of a vaccine that spelled the end of polio in a matter of years. Tested in a massive field trial in 1954 that involved 1.8 million schoolchildren known as ‘polio pioneers,’ the Salk vaccine was licensed for use on April 12, 1955, the very day it was announced to the news media as ‘safe, effective, and potent.'”
Interestingly enough, that’s exactly the kind of research project going on right now. Only we have an additional 65 years of experience to lean on.
Whom do you trust?
The people intent on developing both a cure and a vaccine — for a virus that has a fatality rate in the United States of something like 3 percent? Or The Washington Post and The New York Times, who only care about getting rid of the man in the White House?
As far as a few more weeks until we see some statistical evidence that we are containing the current pandemic, I’m a Pascal’s wager kind of guy.
For those who have not read this space before, Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician in the 1600s who posited that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in hell).
Or, put into the parlance of a Las Vegas sports book, if you believe that there is a God and find out that there is not, no harm no foul. But if you do not believe in God and find out you were wrong, you’re screwed.
That looks like, to most people, a lousy bet against God. Especially the older you get.
Want to bet against our scientists? Long odds given the track record. Want to join the media and bet that Joe Biden is a real leader? Even longer odds given the track record.
I’m betting on the American people. The majority usually do what’s right. We’re not nearly as petrified as the media seems to think and not nearly as stupid as Nancy Pelosi seems to think.
We’ll get through this just fine. Another few weeks of being careful isn’t a bad idea.
If President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom can agree on anything, they’re probably right.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
