77 Comments - Joe Bidenopolous - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:24 am: She almost became Senate President. Unreal is right. What if she had? - DownStater - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:24 am: Just following the example set by the President. Sometimes you just have “a feeling” about things. - Dan Johnson - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:26 am: There’s a fine line between legislators who are human beings allowed to pontificate — there was a lot of active questions about whether the genetic labs in Wuhan may have accidentally had a virus get released (maybe one of the bats they use to try to find vaccines somehow wasn’t disposed of properly) — and public officials making official pronouncements. I think we should be more tolerant of citizen-legislators sharing their opinions and then being open to learning more as more data and information spreads. Otherwise there is a risk every citizen who is in public life will get to be kind of like a robot and afraid to speak off the cuff. So…give Leader Lightford a break! - NIU Grad - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:26 am: I think the Illinois Senate Dems are realizing that they just dodged a major bullet…if they haven’t already. - Perrid - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:26 am: Oy. - Da Big Bad Wolf - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:28 am: “Maybe” or “I don’t know” are ok phrases to use. What is up with people “believing” things with certainty that may not be true? - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:28 am: So dumb. Basic logic would dictate that if this was “man-made” (spoiler, it’s not), with its relatively low and slow death rate and lack of symptoms for many it’s the worst bioweapon ever. - don the legend - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:29 am: What about this mole on my arm that has grown and changed color. My opinion is that it’s probably nothing. Am I right, senator? - A Guy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:30 am: She is on the board of a busy hospital with more than it’s share of trauma and infectious disease. Her thinking could be somewhat informed by colleagues there. I don’t think she’s right, but I also don’t think she’s completely uninformed. Not here to defend her, but perhaps add a little clarity for why she might have this kind of thought. - Joe Bidenopolous - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:32 am: ==I think we should be more tolerant of citizen-legislators sharing their opinions== With all due respect, the science has been pretty clear on this for a couple of months. That’s head in the sand thinking and dangerous and she needs to be held accountable for her dangerous words. - Interim Retiree - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:33 am: So the Senate Dems had the choice between one who believes in a man-made virus & one who sent a letter begging for a bailout. Mr. Cullerton, you are missed. - Just Me 2 - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:36 am: Great leadership. - 47th Ward - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:37 am: === I don’t think she’s right, but I also don’t think she’s completely uninformed. Not here to defend her, but perhaps add a little clarity for why she might have this kind of thought.=== Word salad. You want to try again to see if you can make your point a bit more clear? Can’t tell if you’re mocking her, damning her with faint praise, or if you are a secret admirer of hers, or if you’re a QAnon fan. - Smalls - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:38 am: I’m not sure which is worse, this comment or asking the Feds for $10 billion for pension payments. Both on about the same level. Does not speak well for the Senate democrats that these are their two leaders. - Don Gerard - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:38 am: == I think we should be more tolerant of citizen-legislators sharing their opinions and then being open to learning more as more data and information spreads == I have a gut feeling Dan Johnson has mafia connections and is a criminal. Just my opinion - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:39 am: Science. Science over everything… including cockamamie hedged “theories of emptiness”… For the love of Peter, John, and Matthew… stop texting, tweeting, talking… everything. - Demoralized - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:40 am: ==but perhaps add a little clarity for why she might have this kind of thought== Maybe because it’s nosed its way into the conversation by leaders - including the President - at the federal level. - Ed Equity - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:40 am: It is a reasonable assumption to think that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the only government run laboratory in China equipped to study dangerous pathogens including coronaviruses could be complicit. It is not crazy. Crazy is believing one group of scientists without a more formal, thorough, bipartisan, multi-disciplinary committee to determine how this occurred. I live in a family that dealt with cancer. One diagnosis was not enough. We asked for a second opinion. Given this is the world’s health, it stands to reason, we might not just take Nature Science as gospel. But to be clear, Lightford is not crazy, this is reasonable logic working. - Name Withheld - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:40 am: Kimberly Lightford is is reasonably intelligent person, so her comment is pretty baffling at face value. Makes me wonder if she had some bad prep or advice before the Fox interview. - @misterjayem - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:41 am: Inexcusably reckless and idiotic. I am generally speaking. Only my opinion. – MrJM - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:41 am: Also… The Senate Democratic Caucus has extremely poor choices … had both candidates to lead had to show knowledge and thoughtfulness… to leading. Now we know. - Bruce (no not him) - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:42 am: “My understanding is it gets worse when you wear a mask.” Rep. Bailey /s - Scott Cross for President - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:43 am: Wow. Just wow. Senator Lightford stated plainly: “I have nothing to back it up.” JB, Manar, Steans - this is who you thought was ready to lead. This is the Lightford those of us in Springfield know. Not ready - Joe Bidenopolous - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:44 am: ===could be complicit=== Could it have accidentally (or much, much less likely intentionally) released by the lab because they’d harvested it at some point from a bat? Sure, that’s possible. Probably didn’t happen but it could have. Was it man made, which formerly-respected Senator Lightford claimed? Absolutely not. The science is clear. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:45 am: === But to be clear, Lightford is not crazy, this is reasonable logic working.== Let’s go to what she “said”, exactly as *she* said it; ===“I believe someone was in cahoots for some reason and I think it just got a little bit out of control and spread a whole lot further than they anticipated.”=== I’ll admit, I’m not a scientist, but I’ve looked around, used the google button… “cahoots” is not a word of science. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:47 am: === “I have nothing to back it up,”=== Welp, that is honest. Points for that… if I wholly ignore everything, but points all the same. - Amalia - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:50 am: a strong strain of conspiracy theories is unhelpful to the health of the public. - Ed Equity - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:52 am: ===“cahoots” is not a word of science.=== If there was an experiment gone wrong and was covered up by the Chinese government, it is reasonable to assume collusion or conspiracy took place (IE “cahoots”). Very reasonable people project dramatically more deaths and infection in China went under reported. Reasonable to think their departments of science and government were in “cahoots” in their cover up. Reasonable (not saying it is “truth”) to think it took place with the origin of the virus and that being in “cahoots” is a reason for the lack of information. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 10:53 am: ===If=== - Ed Equity - With respect, I stopped reading at “if” - Glengarry - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:03 am: I’m flabbergasted. - Grandson of Man - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:03 am: Take off the tinfoil hats, people. - Pundent - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:04 am: The reason that Lightfoot believes this is because she’s either made the conscious choice to accept conspiracy theories over science, or she’s completely uniformed on the science and only chooses to consider conspiracy theories. Either way its a bad look for an elected official. - Former ILSIP - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:05 am: At this point, the science is advancing from day to day. Less than a week ago, some researchers down in Australia put out a study suggesting that it’s a “remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention” that COVID-19 has evolved so quickly and has a pronounced ability to infect humans. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/21/australian-researchers-see-virus-design-manipulati/ It’s not yet peer reviewed, but as much more is known about this virus now than when the citations used by Politifact were made (a few months ago) what folks think they “know” may change in the not too distant future. I wouldn’t say that the Senator is correct, but there is scientific evidence to back up a claim of this being more than bat soup or pangolins. - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:06 am: ===Reasonable (not saying it is “truth”) to think it took place with the origin of the virus and that being in “cahoots” is a reason for the lack of information. This is gibberish. Reasonable to think means you have a a reason to think it, not that you have a guess that maybe, there are people in ‘cahoots.’ - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:06 am: Evidence is one thing. Innuendo is another. There is no excuse for this “I have no idea but trust me, I know” type of thought. It borders on presidential. - Jocko - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:08 am: Rather than be thankful we dodged a bullet with SARS (and wet markets), people rush to the Crichton novels for covid-19 rather than acknowledge what the scientists have to say. - Soccermom - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:13 am: Dan — I respectfully disagree. With God on our side (and I mean that), we will have a vaccine in the next 18 months or so. It will be critically important to vaccinate, especially in communities where the virus is most widespread (i.e., communities of color.) If leaders sow distrust now, it will be incredibly hard to instill confidence in people who need protection. And more lives will be needlessly lost. - Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:15 am: If rhetoric is a disease, then many in the legislature are afflicted. Let us lean towards science-based evidence. Cahoots, really. - The Way I See It - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:16 am: She is very clearly not a Republican because if any Republican politician said that (and many have) they would never admit that they had nothing to back it up. - RIJ - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:16 am: I am extremely annoyed at this ongoing substitution of opinion for fact. The virus is indifferent to opinion. - Bruce (no not him) - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:16 am: I get my medical advice from Stephen King. - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:16 am: ====It’s not yet peer reviewed, but as much more is known about this virus now than when the citations used by Politifact were made (a few months ago) what folks think they “know” may change in the not too distant future. Or you are citing a misrepresentation of an pre-reviewed article: “This could either happen by chance or by design. Either it was a lucky fluke for the virus to have such high human binding though it had never encountered a human previously or the virus was adapted to bind human cells, e.g. by human cell culture se… Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/covid-19-controversy-on-origin-of-virus-resurfaces-thanks-to-a-new-study-839964.html When you read the article here, the full context is there that the researchers say that their data does not really address it and that their claim is based on the unlikely nature of the binding. What this really means is they don’t address the question at all. Other’s have and have demonstrated that there is no evidence of splicing in the RNA of the virus. There is a mechanism for such a binding to occur–natural selection with mutation. Occam’s razor applies. - Siualum - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:17 am: Why does baseless opinion gain so much traction versus fact? - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:21 am: Stop. Just stop. The science on this is clear. This is not man-made no matter how many conspiracy theorists and QAnon followers say otherwise. And please don’t try to defend her. She said she just spouted this with no evidence and nothing to back it up. That’s a Trumpian leap. I like to think that Democratic standards for leadership are a little higher than that. - Way down yonder - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:21 am: To those that spread these silly ideas on both the left and right, your Russian comrades thank you. - Scott Cross for President - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:24 am: Folks want to help Majority Leader Lightford out of the hole she dug and threw herself into here, I get it. But she was offered the opportunity to correct or clarify her words. And she jumped back in the hole: “I have nothing to back it up,” she wrote in a text in response to our call. “I was generally speaking. Only my opinion.” This is her problem alone bc she speaks only for herself, and not the Senate Democratic Caucus, and it’s certainly not fatal. But the majority of Democratic State Senators knew what the Gov, Manar and Steans failed to acknowledge - this is classic Lightford. - Responsa - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:27 am: The virus may well have escaped through negligence from the Wuhan Lab where viruses are studied without it being bioengineered as a bioweapon as some others such as Lightford may believe or suspect. This origin argument will be going on for years and researched by scientists who don’t always agree. Searching for answers is what science is all about. Science is not static. What we know now is that the virus came out of China, it is killing people around the world. Period. - Temp Expat - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:29 am: Ugh, where to begin? First, science demonstrates that this virus is not man-maade. Second, COVID originated in Wuhan, where China’s main viral lab exists is a fact. Third, China claimed that it originated in a local “wet market,” but it has not closed down this or other wet markets. In fact, China expelled western media and destroyed early research into coronavirus origins. It appears, then, more likely than not that it was a virus under study in the national laboratory that was able to get out due to lax safety protocols. But that isn’t what Lightfoot said. She said it was man-made. And what she is implying has been in the AA conspiracy mill since infection and death rates in the AA community started to vastly outstrip that of whites. There is a strain of belief in the African American community that this virus was purposefully engineered to kill people of African descent. It came after the original rumor in the AA community that blacks were immune from the virus. This is a fact, but one that has been downplayed by most media sources. Sen. Lightfoot is merely publicly stating what many in the AA community privately believe. And the consequences for continued misinformation, whether it is from Rep. Bailey or from Sen. Lightfoot, are dire for public health and future social relations. - Former ILSIP - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:30 am: @ArchPundit 11:16 An interesting article, but you left out the next line: “Our data does not distinguish between any of these possibilities, and nor does any other data that exists. So both possibilities remain open – this is why an enquiry is critical to try and identify the most likely explanation for the origins of the virus.” As I said before, the science is advancing from day to day. The scientists do not yet know for certain. Hopefully this is a case of natural mutation, but that is not yet proven. - A Guy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:31 am: 47- == Can’t tell if you’re mocking her, damning her with faint praise, or if you are a secret admirer of hers, or if you’re a QAnon fan.== None of those things am I. I see her at events for the hospital she is very devoted to helping (I admire that, it’s in a tough place) She’s very well liked and friendly with the Docs there, who do admire her. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s some conjecture there that she might have felt compelled to share. As more and more, people here seem to exist to pounce and beat the he** out of anyone who doesn’t share their sentiments, I stood in her shoes for the moment to make an observation. We’re far different in the angles we view things. but I think of you as sincere and reasonable. You’re worth the effort. I’d love to agree more, but despite that, it was intended to see something from her point of view and not slander the sh** out of her. That’s all. - Nagidam - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:32 am: The real tragedy in her comments is she is a leader in the Black Community. The black community is being devastated by this virus as it has preyed on underlining health disparities. Her comments pile on the mistrust of authority and could lead to a mistrust of potential solutions, therapies or vaccines. - SouthSide Markie - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:33 am: === “I have nothing to back it up,”=== The real man made killer at work here is ignorance. And apparently, it’s becoming contagious in Springfield. She essentially said that she knows that she’s just making it up and more importantly, doesn’t care. - A Guy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:34 am: Demo- ==Maybe because it’s nosed its way into the conversation by leaders - including the President - at the federal level.== You’re another dude I like, but frequently disagree with. Answer: There are far more people that think this than Fed, Pres, and Sen. Lightford. I open to listening to anyone with a sincere thought, regardless of disagreement. - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:34 am: I didn’t leave it out–the copy and paste function does that. But it doesn’t help your case. Their research doesn’t address the question–other research has specifically looked for splicing. ===Second, COVID originated in Wuhan, where China’s main viral lab exists is a fact. Third, China claimed that it originated in a local “wet market,” but it has not closed down this or other wet markets. In fact, China expelled western media and destroyed early research into coronavirus origins. It appears, then, more likely than not that it was a virus under study in the national laboratory that was able to get out due to lax safety protocols. No, nothing makes it more likely than not. We don’t even know with any certainty the virus originated in Wuhan since other versions of the virus appear to have been active in other provinces first. - Arock - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:48 am: Latest data pretty much totally contradicts the wet market theory as states that a human brought the virus into the market. The fact that they have not found the intermediate animal that passed it on to humans as they do not think it jumped straight from bats to human is a concern. So those facts still do not rule out that a lab could have altered the natural virus to make it transferable to humans which is improbable but has not been totally ruled out. As the Chinese government has not been very truthful or forth coming with accurate information and has done more cover up than actually providing truthful information it still has to be a concern. Digging into information of different studies in labs in the US provides insight into some of the extreme measures that research goes in looking for answers and treatments for virus possibilities that may occur in the future. Some work in the past decade in labs at the University of Wisconsin has not been without controversy. - JS Mill - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:54 am: Yes, we dodged a bullet with Harmon becoming Senate president- silly letter included. =The real tragedy in her comments is she is a leader in the Black Community. The black community is being devastated by this virus as it has preyed on underlining health disparities. Her comments pile on the mistrust of authority and could lead to a mistrust of potential solutions, therapies or vaccines.= This is spot on. - Arock - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 11:58 am: With the latest information from the CDC that touching an item is minimal in transferring the virus I would hope that the Governor would raise the bar for people wanting gyms open. Most people were wiping down touched surfaces before and after use in the gym before the shutdown. Limitations in the number of people in a gym at one time based on square footage and use of mask and social distancing and restricting some use of locker rooms. - 17% Solution - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:03 pm: ===It appears, then, more likely than not that it was a virus under study in the national laboratory that was able to get out due to lax safety protocols.=== Before the virus can get to a lab in Wuhan it has to exist in nature first. Also bats are wild animals and they go where they want. And exhale, drool, defecate and sneeze. - Common sense - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:19 pm: The majority leader should have a senior advisor to prevent these kind of embarrassing mishaps - Contrarian - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:37 pm: The Republicans favorite Democrat, perhaps? - Contrarian - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:47 pm: To all you “science” people on this chain, ever stop to think that the history of the world shows us that science is always right … until it isn’t. E=Mc2 for the better part of half a century until somebody poked a hole in it. Quarks didn’t exist, until they did. At one point, “science” told us the earth was flat. Thanks goodness somebody rejected that one and thought outside the box. Science is an incredibly important tool that we can’t live without, but don’t put blind faith in it. Why, look at how much science has changed on Covid in just 2 months. Take yesterday, before JCAR’s hearing, “science” told us that restaurants could not reopen at all.” After JCAR, the same “science” told us rather abruptly that it is now ok to sit outside and eat your food (even thought that was in Phase 4). Ah, yes, the magic of science. Figure’s Lie, and Lier’s Figure. Nothing is infallible - people will always build a better mouse trap. Blind faith used to be reserved for zealots… - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:52 pm: - Contrarian - Explain the following … “cahoots” in scientific jargon. How ===“I have nothing to back it up,”=== refutes any science. Thanks. - Say What? - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:52 pm: There is a dramatic difference between Harmon’s letter and this ridiculous statement. While Harmon’s letter may have been poor form, most of his Caucus would openly cheer the Federal help, and are praying for unrestricted Federal dollars for the State to use at their discretion. Lightford’s comments are simply absurd. Most who have engaged with her over time understand that it is most fortuitous that she did not become Senate President. - @misterjayem - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:55 pm: “At one point, ’science’ told us the earth was flat.” 100% false. – MrJM - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:56 pm: ===are praying for unrestricted Federal dollars for the State to use at their discretion.=== *eye roll emoji* Blue and red states, even those without a ridiculously worded letter from an unhelpful legislative leader, will need monies to help in budgets, and help where the feds inserting how it should be spent isn’t needed. Alabama has talked about spending monies on a statehouse. … as they currently run out of ICU beds in Montgomery… … “But Alabama - LSU with 110,000 fans” - Lazy Eye - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 12:59 pm: Can we not attack the staff that advise these members? They work hard. Sometimes given short windows of time to prepare materials. Sometimes not given time to go over the materials fully. There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that people should keep in mind before saying things about staff. - Contrarian - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:04 pm: Oswego - great points, we are both in agreement that she is the Republican’s favorite Democrat! But I salute her use of “cahoots” in a sentence. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:09 pm: === Republican’s favorite Democrat=== Meh. Polling to the science and the tin foil hat wearing, Lightford isn’t going to help any Trumpkin move more people towards conspiracies. Bailey, however, will move more suburban women, moderates, and diverse voters towards Dems. The minority status, abd the regionalism of Trumpkins say that’s so. Stay safe. Stay well. This virus itself is no joke. - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:11 pm: ===Take yesterday, before JCAR’s hearing, “science” told us that restaurants could not reopen at all.” After JCAR, the same “science” told us rather abruptly that it is now ok to sit outside and eat your food (even thought that was in Phase 4). Ah, yes, the magic of science. Figure’s Lie, and Lier’s Figure. Nothing is infallible - people will always build a better mouse trap. Public policy choices aren’t the same as science. Postmodernism is a dead end. You can either point to the best science of the day or you can just guess. Which is better? - Huh? - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:25 pm: This conspiracy theory has been around for a couple of months and has been repeatedly shot down. From the very beginning, DNA studies were conducted and it was determined that it is a natural virus. If it were produced in a lab, there would be evidence of another virus used as the skeleton for covid19. There is no evidence of any other virus used as a covid19 backbone. It is a conspiracy theory that has been throughly debunked. - JIbba - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:48 pm: Contrarian: Thanks for thinking science is important, you misunderstand the scientific method. Science helps us sort through falsehood to find what might be true, until more data arrive to help us refine or change our ideas. That is why things are always changing and must change if new data show us that we are in error. It is a feature, not a bug. - 47th Ward - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 1:52 pm: Thanks for the kind words Guy. All I meant is that your comment wasn’t clear. I thought Rich’s facepalm emoji title was an accurate take on Lightford’s unfortunate remarks. I guess I don’t give her the same credit you do for her role as a hospital board member. Maybe I should, but I’ve never encountered her in that capacity. Regardless, I don’t think her board position conveys any extra credibility on her health care opinions. She may be an expert on hospital finance, but that doesn’t necessarily give her any special insight on epidemiology for example. I wasn’t trying to slander her or attack her. I was just making fun of your comment. - Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 3:19 pm: Perhaps Ms. Lightford should avoid “I think, I feel and I believe” and switch to logos—-statistics, facts, data, charts, and graphs. Can’t wait to see Ms. Lightford’s PowerPoint on Cahoots. - Bigtwich - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 3:31 pm: ==someone was in cahoots== Cahoots Brewing in Oak Park? Sounds like a violation of the Executive Order. - Southern Illinois Infrastructure - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 4:30 pm: Key difference, by going anti-science, Lightford is in a distinct minority of Illinois Democrats, Illinois Dems for the most part are following the science on COVID-19. By going anti-science, Rep. Bailey is pandering to Eastern Bloc Facebook that is anti-science as well. Big difference. - MG85 - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 4:56 pm: Looks like Senator Emil Jones made the right choice. - James - Thursday, May 21, 20 @ 5:37 pm: Many thoughts are better kept to oneself. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.