Disinformation Becomes Official in Florida and Elsewhere

Top photo by Tim Forkes

The Green Bay Packers were knocked out of the NFL Playoffs and that’s all that mattered to me. Sure, I would love to see the Los Angeles Rams win it all, but primarily, I wanted Aaron Rodgers to pay a price for his anti-vax views and I wanted him to take his team down with him in the process.

Here’s why Rodgers is sort of a stand-up guy: He went on the Pat McAfee Show after the loss to the 49ers and took responsibility for his comments and becoming an off-field distraction.

After listening to his appearance on the Pat McAfee a couple other things to point out: He claims to have done his “research.” Did he get in a lab and do some virology and immunology studies and experiments? Or, did he just read what others have said that support his views on COVID-19 and the vaccines? Considering Joe Rogen is one of his sources of information, take that “research” with more than a grain or two of salt.

Second, he accuses the mainstream media of stoking up fear about the coronavirus, for nefarious reasons. Really? What should the mainstream media be saying about the pandemic and the vaccines? We already know Rodgers doesn’t believe the Centers for Disease Control, this collection of people who have dedicated their adult lives to the study of diseases, cures and immunology. So, should the mainstream media treat the fringe, conspiracy theory quackery Rodgers has promoted, like using a horse dewormer medication, Ivermectin, to treat COVID-19. It sounds funny, until we learn pet stores are running out of the medication. Well, I guess that makes the story even funnier.

So does Rodgers want the mainstream media to treat that quackery with the same deference they do news coming out of the CDC and the actual medical community that is fighting the coronavirus?

Would Rodgers prefer the media not report on the 871-plus thousand people that have died from COVID-19? Should the media not talk about the nearly 75 million infections in the United States? Should the media not report the facts about who is getting severe and fatal infections from COVID-19? Just for the Aaron Rodgers-believes of the world, well over 90% of those with severe and fatal infections are unvaccinated people, including young people and children.

I did get a short email from a Rodgers-believer. It said, “Aaron Rodgers is not wrong, Tim Forkes”

Let me just reply to the one who shall remain anonymous (because you probably aren’t using your real name): Aaron Rodgers is most definitely wrong. on so many things related to COVID-19 and the various vaccinations.

Getting back to the original train of thought: Should the media not report on the shortages of personnel to staff hospitals that have been overwhelmed by the coronavirus for the past two years? Recently I went to the V.A. Emergency Department here for an issue not related to COVID-19. They had me examined and antibiotics issued so fast I was in and out in about two hours. That is fast for any VAMC ED — except now during the pandemic when the hospitals are at full capacity and the doctors and nurses in the ED want to prevent anyone from picking up the RONA.

Also of note: one of the nurses in the ED was from a department completely unrelated to the emergency department. That is how overwhelmed the VAMC in my area is. That’s just one hospital. They are all operating under that kind of strain and have been for most of the past 24 months.

What else do Aaron Rodgers and his ilk think the media should ignore about the pandemic so as not to cause fear? Should the media report, with the same deference they do Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC, the quacks that can be found on YouTube and other social media? Those quacks who were part of that anti-vax crowd in Washington, D.C., that featured Robert Kennedy, Jr. comparing vaccination and mask mandates to the Holocaust. Here’s a hint anti-vaxxers: The only thing you can compare a genocide to … is another genocide. Anne Frank, who had to hide in an attic, in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Mr. Kennedy, not Germany. She did have to hide from the Nazis, but let’s be clear: Anne Frank and her family did not have more freedom than people in the U.S. that have to wear masks into grocery stores. The Franks could not come out of hiding because doing so would have resulted in their deaths. Eventually all but her father, Otto Frank, died in concentration camps.

The insult to Holocaust survivors and the memories of the millions of victims who died at the hands of Hitler’s Nazis — these horrible people walking around with Stars of David on their clothing or signs, with images of masks or syringes on them; anyone who does that is a disgusting anti-Semite.

Here is something that would be funny, if it wasn’t so dangerous. The new surgeon general of Florida, a state being dangerously mishandled by Governor Ron DeSantis, that new S.G. is Joseph Lapado, who claims to be a scientist but couldn’t answer the question: “Do vaccines work?” during his confirmation. Earlier this month the quack said now it was “really time for people to be living, to make the decisions they want regarding vaccination, to enjoy the fact that many people have natural immunity,” Despite the fact that the Omicron variant was (is) surging through Florida.

You may remember the group of white-coated quacks that stood in front of the Supreme Court in the summer of 2020, America’s Frontline Doctors. There was that one woman who said that if a woman had ovarian cysts it was because she was having sex with demons in her sleep. That the government is run by reptilian people — Mitch McConnell does look like a turtle — and the vaccines were made from alien DNA.

That is the group that produced Joseph Lapado, COVID-19 misinformation expert and Ron DeSantis’ pick for Florida’s surgeon general. This is who is in charge of Florida’s health and well-being. A guy who promoted an anti-malaria drug and then horse dewormer medication as cures for COVID-19. One of the doctors that believes the vaccines are either made from alien DNA, or are demonic. It has Luciferase, don’tcha know.

Ron DeSantis wants to be president. How badly his state does with COVID-19 could have an impact on his campaign. He is trying to hide and misrepresent the pandemic data, but groups like the CDC and Mayo Clinic are doing their best to provide accurate information.

Over 64 thousand Floridians have died from the coronavirus and 5.45 million have been infected. A third of Floridians have not been vaccinated and the governor and his surgeon general don’t think people should be socially distancing and wearing masks. Good luck Florida.

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A salute to Neil Young who forced Spotify to take his music off their streaming site because they would not remove one of the most prolific dispensers of COVID-19 disinformation, Joe Rogen, from their site. Cheers Neil. You Da Man!