by Robert M. Traxler
It is time for leadership on the public health front; it is always better to lead people than to dictate to or order folks.
An old saying in our military is, “I would follow them to the gates of hell.” Most veterans have served with a leader who made you want to suck it up, go the extra mile — death itself would be preferable to letting your fellow warriors down or to disappoint a true leader. Our health officials and our governor have replaced leadership with authoritarian dictatorship.
During the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee, at a critical point of the battle of Antietam, when total defeat was imminent, stood in his stirrups atop his horse Traveler while addressing a division of Texans. He declared, “Texans always move them.” One young lieutenant with tears in his eyes declared, “I would charge hell itself for that old man.”
The South did not win the battle; but for that charge, they may have lost the war then and there, but they were able to withdraw in good order. The division was starved, they had not eaten in days, exhausted and foot sore from an all-night march of nearly 30 miles, but four words from a respected leader caused them to charge furiously and stop the Union advance.
Let me break with some of my conservative friends and say that masks work. If you exhale, sneeze, cough or speak, you exhale moisture; just step outside and breathe and you will see frost, frozen droplets of water coming from your lungs. If you have a respiratory disease, the virus is in those droplets; if someone breaths in those droplets, droplets stopped to some extent by a cloth mask, they will get the virus in their lungs and sinuses.
The problem is that we were told initially masks do not work and are more dangerous than not masking up. Even using a mask is unpatriotic; who said it? Some blogger, some movie star, some sports figure? No, it was the sainted Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the Surgeon General of the United States, among hundreds of others.
Common sense be damned, history be damned; believe the science or you are a dreaded science denier. This truly dumb practice caused the deaths of thousands, yet we blindly follow Saint Dr. Fauci. To this day, he is a hero of the left and is the star of the media, go figure. And yes, you can’t make this stuff up.
It is gutless and easy to order to demand compliance, but it is difficult to inspire to lead. Americans are a contrary bunch, we are stubborn and headstrong; however, we will go to hell and back if properly led and motivated, we will suffer for the common good if we believe in our mission. Issuing an order is easy, motivating people to do the right thing for the right reasons is difficult. In a Constitutional Republic the government rules only with the will of the people; the people have the final say, and it is always best to lead and motivate us, not to herd us.
“The vaccines are 100% safe and effective.” We were told this by two administrations, Republican and Democrat; folks, no vaccine is 100% safe and effective in 100% of the people. The flu vaccine I took a month ago is at best 50% effective; we were told that out of the box.
Dr. Forstner, my oncologist, told me up front there is a 30% failure rate in treatment for cancers like mine; it worked in my case, but in both cases, I was told the truth, not a dumb made-up number to get me to take the vaccine and cancer treatment.
We have all seen the ads telling pregnant women the COVID-19 vaccines are 100% safe. They do not know that; there is no way to know that in 100% of women. It is not the dreaded pharmaceutical companies saying it, it is the government.
In the bowels of the Pentagon is the Office of Lessons Learned; the goal of this office is to learn from history, to avoid making the same mistakes in future operations. The CDC and Surgeon General’s office should have a similar office, so they handle the next pandemic differently; to lead, to motivate to tell the truth from the start, not the “politically correct truth.”
My opinion.
A simple google search shows Fauci never said wearing masks is unpatriotic. He said at one point that there was no reason right now that people should be wearing masks. It’s Trump who is saying that wearing masks is patriotic. Trump’s tweets seem to show up in your article as facts though. If you follow him like so many others, the gates of hell is likely where you will find yourself. Revelations says that a charismatic leader will emerge that many will follow blindly. Many, but not all. Fauci isn’t a saint nor a hero to the left. It is just that when he speaks, what he is saying seems to make sense. This is how science works. Perform experiments and test things out and then realize that you had it wrong before, and that the data says something else. During which you gain a greater insight to how it works and why. Without this scientific methodology, they may have used leeches to cure that cancer. As far as 100% safe and effective, I agree it’s likely not but I look at it like this. If I’m circling the drain (high risk category), and someone tries to help me out but comes up short despite their best efforts? I would say thanks for trying. But that’s just me.
Mr Calkins,
Sir, dig a bit deeper and you will find Dr. Fauci and the Surgeon General did indeed say masking up was unpatriotic as did President Trump. Dr. Fauci did say people do not question him but they question science itself when we disagree with him.
Dr. Fauci has been on news programs over 600 times most on left leaning media, that makes him a darling of the left. Dr. Fauci is praised as a savior or saint by the Democrats in congress during every hearing he testified in.
leaches are indeed used to slow the effects of some cancers, the platelet inhibitors and enzymes help some people, a symbol google search shows it.
Thank you for the comment, stay warm.
Robert,
Thanks again for presenting those “pesky facts” and setting the lad straight! It’s hard to understand how any one would challenge you as you continue to be right 99.8% of the time on this forum. Carry on………..
Cheers!!
Mr. Wilkens,
John, thank you kindly.
Thing is, we had the playbook. Revised recently under the direction of Obama (feels like decades ago) when the Ebola situation played out. Trump rejected the lessons learned, disregarded the knowledge. It is my opinion that a significant portion of the dead souls are on his and in turn the blind followers hands.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm
https://www.vox.com/22403980/the-pandemic-playbook-csk
Mr. Baloney,
Sir, I hope all that hate keeps you warm at night. Calling 70 million Americans akin to murders is over the top for a normal person. President Trump lives rent free in your head, time to get over it, it is not healthy for you.
If I am not mistaken we had one case of Ebola in the US flown here under medical Quarantine. More Americans have died from COVID-19 under President Biden than President Trump over the same number of months, perhaps President Biden needs to read his own lessons learned?
Wow that’s the pot calling the kettle black.
Skoal!!
I suppose an attempt to elaborate is warranted. The virus is obviously the actual killer. Although I do believe many losses could have been prevented, had the lessons learned been implemented by the administration and supporters at the time of discovery and acknowledgement (which in itself was obviously problematic). The series of events and disunity against the actual enemy that evolved, laid a groundwork of overall national incompetence that continues into the current administration. Your oversimplification and sports like scorekeeping of the losses indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of this diseases progression and evolution. It dismisses the evolution of misinformation, continues building disunity, and frankly feels disrespectful to those lost. I find the speculation of what resides in my mind ironic. If I held hatred, likely would not bother with these attempts to share a broader understanding. Respefully, I am unable to heed any health advice from your team at this time.
As far as Ebola, I understand that we(USA) sent all types of materials and individuals to Africa where that virus raged. We worked in cooperation with the WHO to rapidly evaluate the situation, instill a force of containment and develop methods to stop the spread. I would say that only one public case on our shores speaks to the effectiveness of said methods. These newly developed methods were integrated into the playbook that had been extensively developed from previous knowledge over many administrations. This playbook could have saved untold numbers of souls, obviously not all. If the methods were relatively effective in areas without running water, much advanced hygiene to speak of, or even medical facilities. Imagine how effective these practices could have been had illness not been politicized. The way I understand it, our precious economy was going to take significant hits regardless of what was done. Essentially we got a bunch of practice in, had a fair chance on game day, then dropped the ball, and argued.