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* UPDATED x1 * Rodney gonna Rodney

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U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, Friday said throughout the pandemic, he also relied on guidance from Fauci. But that’s changed.

“When you look at some of the emails, you look at some of the recommendations, right now they clearly don’t follow science and data that we know about this disease now,” Davis told WMAY. “They follow feelings, they follow politics and we’ve got to change that in Washington and frankly all levels of government.”

In one email dated Feb. 5, 2020, Fauci responds to a question from a sender asking about whether to mask when traveling to a redacted location.

“Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection,” Fauci wrote. “The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material. It might, however, provide some slight benefit in keep out gross droplets if someone coughs or sneezes on you. I do not recommend that you wear a mask, particularly since you are going to a vey low risk location.”

Scientists weren’t certain about whether masks would work on this brand new virus back in early February of 2020. Illinois didn’t get a mask mandate until May, and it was one of the first. So, to judge this sort of thing in hindsight is to undermine legitimate public health efforts and enables the covidiots, many of whom have morphed into anti-vaxers. It’s also downright stupid politics outside of a Republican primary.

*** UPDATE *** Here’s a statement from far-right congressional candidate Esther Joy King. Rodney’s words are nicer, but they’re basically on the same page…

“These email releases clearly show Dr. Fauci—without reading into his intentions—was no more informed than anyone else on Covid-19. His only advantage was to use “science says” to back up his opinions, many of which turned out to be 100% wrong. There was no settled science in the mask debate, no settled science in the opening of schools debate, and there was just lies on the Covid-19 origins debate. And yet, Dr. Fauci hid behind “science says” each time to give credence to his opinions—many of which turned out to be flat wrong. The cult of Fauci was a media echo-chamber of fear-mongering journalists, and anti-Trump liberals. Frankly, this cover-up and misdirection to prop-up political agendas scares me, and every normal American should be wary of being lied to by media elites.”

Nuts.

* Pantagraph…

Get your shots or get tested. That’s Illinois State University’s message to students returning to campus this fall.

It’s part of the university’s plan for a more traditional college experience after the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything on its ear 15 months ago.

ISU does not plan to require COVID-19 vaccinations at this time. However, students taking courses on campus who do not provide evidence of vaccination for the coronavirus will be required to participate in an on-campus COVID-19 testing program.

* Gallup…

• About half of Republicans, 46%, compared with 31% of independents and 6% of Democrats, do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Americans without a college degree are much more likely than college graduates to be vaccine-hesitant, 31% to 12%.
• Vaccine hesitancy is more common among middle-aged Americans (33% of those between the ages of 35 and 54) than among younger (22%) and older Americans (20%).

* Related…

* There’s Now a White Vaccination Gap in 18 U.S. States

* COVID prolonged foster care stays for thousands

* As vaccine demand slows, Cook County changes its strategy

* ‘I can feel the clouds lifting.’ Many long-haul COVID patients report improvement post-vaccination, surprising medical experts.

* Door-knockers to go ‘block by block, house by house’ to boost vaccination rates in 13 Chicago neighborhoods

* What are the guidelines for phase 5 in Chicago and Illinois? No capacity limits, some masking, and possible limits from individual businesses or towns. Here’s our guide.

* By the numbers: How the 1,544-room Hilton Chicago hotel reopens this week after 15 months

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 11:50 am

Comments

Davis wants to try to get on the demented anti-science cult bandwagon that is the GOP base, who is now attacking a top doctor with decades of experience. Reagan would have been sickened by what his party has become.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 11:57 am
Rodney, when the facts change, so do our actions. We were ignorant in February 2020. We learned. We followed the data. We did our best to control the spread of the virus. I know it’s hard, but try to keep up.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:15 pm
According to Rodney and his ilk, Dr. Fauci and the experts should have figured it all out before the virus was discovered, like 2017.

As they say, it’s better to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Comment by Sir Reel Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:20 pm
He’s really hoping that general election voters forget about his pro-Trump, anti-science messaging next year.

Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:22 pm
Rodney doesn’t understand changing one’s position when one learns something new.

He proves this all the time. This is one more example. He was a GQP tool in February of 2020 and he’s still a GQP tool in June 2021.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:22 pm
==do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine.==

I will never understand how THIS vaccine was the bridge too far…coming from the nation that eradicated Polio and kept Measles at bay.

Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:23 pm
One weird thing about litigating “Anthony Fauci: Threat or Menace?” is that by Christmastime no one will care.

Illinois is lifting all restrictions on *Friday*. Almost all kids will be able to get vaccinated in the fall. A lot of candidates are pouring an awful lot of energy into issues that the voters will have put way behind them by the next time there’s an election.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:24 pm
Of course those of us who were there during the pandemic (read: all of us) remember that the initial mask hesitancy was due in no small part to people wanted to use masks as a way of not socially distancing, not locking down, and not changing much of anything.

Comment by One hand //ing Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:25 pm
===According to Rodney and his ilk===

…science is undermined when new information is realized.

Think for a moment just how insanely ridiculous that notion is. Mind-boggling.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:26 pm
The thing about Rodney;

Rodney isn’t about having a position that is right or wrong.

Rodney is about the position on things that he feels gets him the biggest plurality… in any given snapshot of time.

Once you reconcile that, the flip flopping and pro-Trump, anti-impeachment, even after an insurrection… it all makes sense.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:26 pm
Rodney Davis is the Jenny McCarthy of Illinois politics.

Comment by Cheryl44 Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:29 pm
The last time I checked, Fauci is not on the ballot next year.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:44 pm
==…science is undermined when new information is realized.

Science undermines science then. Galileo was a heretic and remains one.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:56 pm
I get the idea that this is almost over in the United States or at least for those who get vaccinated it is, but this won’t be the last pandemic. Davis and his fellow denialists are a problem for the next one which may not be handled so easily. It matters and while voters may not keep it at the top of their mind–investing in public health should be a critical election issue.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:58 pm
So did the government find out that virus is indeed too large to pass through a mask, hence requiring people to wear a mask to stop the spread? I think the crux of Fauci’s e-mail is that the virus (he appears to refer to virus as a general term) is small enough to get through a mask. I have supported wearing a mask but the CDC has not been great about consistent messaging. A few weeks before we were told masks could come off, there was talk from the CDC of wearing 2 masks.

Comment by BoredBystander Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:01 pm
===I have supported wearing a mask but the CDC has not been great about consistent messaging===

Strict order is not often achievable during a novel virus pandemic.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:04 pm
===I have supported wearing a mask but the CDC has not been great about consistent messaging===

Strict order is not often achievable during a novel virus pandemic.

I understand, but consistent messaging from the agency leading the charge would have been helpful in increasing public support. Why was the lab leak theory reported as crazy and a non-starter by some? It is completely reasonable for the virus to have leaked out of the lab by accidentally infecting someone, not willful infection to be used as a biological weapon. Now that theory is being investigated, as it should have all along. The Chinese government was not honest about infection rates, which has been written in detail by CNN, so questioning how it started is reasonable. Perhaps this is more an indictment on Trump’s polarizing rhetoric but some level of questioning is fair.

Comment by BoredBystander Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:17 pm
“Scientists weren’t certain about whether masks would work on this brand new virus back in early February of 2020. Illinois didn’t get a mask mandate until May, and it was one of the first.”

That many news organizations continue to run these stories without including this vital context is 100% inexcusable.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:19 pm
Speaking of a good laugh (which RapidRodney provides every time he opens his mouth) State Rep Mike Murphy told Sam Madonia that he might run for Springfield rather than lose to Avery. After trashing Sen Turner most a guessing Murphy would zero Black voters in that race.

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:20 pm
===So did the government find out that virus is indeed too large to pass through a mask, hence requiring people to wear a mask to stop the spread?

They found out the spread was largely aerosol based which means the droplets of water the virus is suspended in that you exhale and send out when you talk are big enough to have masks significantly reduce transmission.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:25 pm
===Why was the lab leak theory reported as crazy and a non-starter by some?

The lab leak wasn’t a non-starter–the leak combined with sideways arguments that it was bio engineered is what was disputed. Early on scientists were able to study the genetic structure and understand that the chances it was bio-engineered is rapidly approaching zero.

The problem with the lab leak theory being argued as the explanation is that we have no actual evidence of it and crossover from animals is more likely as it happens all of the time. Sure, we should look into the lab leak theory, but also understand the likelihood is that it was a natural transmission from animals.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:28 pm
I’m curious what Dr. Expert Rodney thinks of injecting bleach.

Was that insanely serious proposal “following science and data?”

Comment by Steve Rogers Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:31 pm
“coming from the nation that eradicated Polio and kept Measles at bay”

The anti-vaxers are too far removed in age to understand the devastating effects of diseases like polio and small pox.

It has been over 55 years since my polio vaccination. By the time I got my oral vaccine in the early 1960’s, polio was on the decline.

The US lead the campaign to eradicate small pox. By 1980, small pox was eradicated world wide. The last US smallpox vaccination was in 1972. I have a small circular scar from the vaccination.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:33 pm
I will trust Dr. Fauci’s word over Rodney Davis’s spin any day.

Comment by Mama Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:43 pm
There is so much we have learned over the past 18 months. Applying the lessons learned against Dr. Fauci’s early emails will make it appear he didn’t know what he was doing. To be blunt, no one knew what they were doing 18 months ago.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:03 pm
Good for Rodney. Everyone made their sacrifices and most played ball. Time to move on but Dems don’t want that because focus much shift to the suffocating debt and IDES fiasco at home. This plays just fine in general election

Comment by Numbers matter Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:04 pm
===Time to move on but===

… Rodney Davis after an insurrection incited by Donald Trump refused to impeach the President.

I’m sure you wanna move on from that too.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:06 pm
To those who believe in the vaccine, the mask has become the MAGA hat of the left.

Comment by Ed Equity Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:26 pm
===But when you look at probabilities, a lab that’s doing gain of function research on viruses should not be ruled out.

And there we go. Not just claiming it might be a leak, but it is bio-engineered which has been ruled out by the science. Gain of function research would be detectable in the genetic code. This is exactly why Rodney is so wrong and why no one took the ‘lab leak’ idea seriously–it is almost always combined with claims of bio-engineering as you just did.

Analogies aren’t probabilities.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:28 pm
=== To those who believe in the vaccine, the mask===

Those who don’t believe in the vaccine, the mask threatens their fragile egos, as immune compromised folks, or others living with immune compromised folks know… you wear a mask for others

The macho angry that refuse vaccines and won’t wear masks aren’t going away

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:29 pm
===the mask has become the MAGA hat of the left.===

Lemme know if you want to have surgery with the medical staff not wearing a mask. Are they all MAGA?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:33 pm
===believe in the vaccine===

The vaccine isn’t some superstition. It’s real. It exists. It works. You might wanna go back to Facebook.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:33 pm
–But when you look at probabilities, a lab that’s doing gain of function research on viruses should not be ruled out.

I’m a scientist. Not an epidemiologist but I have 25+ years in the genomics sphere including virus work and it’s my opinoin that those of us in the field never fully discredited the lab borne theory but don’t believe it holds equal odds to the natural borne theory. Like 1:100 or 1:1000 type scenerio. And the odds of gain of function being involved orders of magnetudes lower. Reason being is there’s simply no credible evidence that it is lab borne. The sequences don’t show anything that would imply it is. There’s no hard evidence in China. Therefore it’s all conjecture or conspiracy.

But we do know that SARS can cross species and we’ve seen it do that multiple times over the past few decades. And while I think we are all careful to say that is not direct evidence of a natural borne pandemic, we at least know with hard data that it has and can happen.

Comment by Macoupin S2 Subunit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:34 pm
New York Mag, not the New Yorker. Apologies. And in addition to being impossibly long, they’re also impossibly thick with science - I had to re-read several sections several different times.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 2:53 pm
== Time to move on but Dems don’t want that==

We’re literally ending all restrictions this Friday. Three days from now, and today is almost over. Right here in Illinois, the state with Dems in every statewide office and Dem supermajorities in the legislature.

Did you really think anyone was stupid enough to buy that?

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:16 pm
==To those who believe in the vaccine==

As opposed to what…the rantings of Mike Lindell? You realize that DJT (the original MAGA) and his family got it, right?

Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:24 pm
If he wants to run for Gov, Rodney’s gonna have to watch his mouth more. Seems like he could easily become a gaffe machine

Comment by 13thVoter Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:28 pm
== –But when you look at probabilities, a lab that’s doing gain of function research on viruses should not be ruled out. ==

The point wasn’t that this was necessarily bio-engineered. The point was that a lab that does this type of work may also have other samples on hand for analysis and comparison. From the article… “But the WIV has not been transparent or consistent about its record of studying viruses most similar to the covid-19 virus, including ‘RaTG13,’ which it sampled from a cave in Yunnan Province in 2013 after several miners died of SARS-like illness.”

Even if it was 100% certain that it was from a natural source, that does not let Wuhan lab off the hook.

Comment by Occasional Quipper Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:38 pm
==If he wants to run for Gov, Rodney’s gonna have to watch his mouth more. Seems like he could easily become a gaffe machine ==

He’s a decently disciplined communicator, he’s just currently whipsawed between a Trump-y base and a statewide electorate that hates that kinda stuff.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:49 pm
===Even if it was 100% certain that it was from a natural source, that does not let Wuhan lab off the hook.

Why else would you mention gain of function? Any lab studying viruses could have samples on hand. Gain of function is explicitly mentioned because people want to imply it was engineered. There simply is no other reason to bring it up.

===Even if it was 100% certain that it was from a natural source, that does not let Wuhan lab off the hook.

If you want to investigate more, great, but again you need actual tangible evidence before concluding it is likely to have come from a lab.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:00 pm
A decently disciplined communicator does not go around calling metal detectors in the House floor entrance horses***t. He also should not tell a reporter that China Virus and Kung Flu are the same as UK variant. It reflects poorly on his image for the general . Yes, it’s red meat for the MAGAs he’ll need for the primary but he can’t win whole thing with them alone.

Comment by IL13thVoter Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:02 pm
I’m not sure what exactly the upshot of the “lab leak” hypothesis is supposed to be anyway. We clearly don’t need to know it’s origin to know how it spreads or how to vaccinate against it. I guess we just want to blame China for it, but to what end?

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:05 pm
==If you want to investigate more, great, but again you need actual tangible evidence before concluding it is likely to have come from a lab.==

Totally agree. That’s why part of the investigation needs to include how well they handled their samples that they obtained from natural sources. But what I keep hearing is “it wasn’t engineered, therefore nothing to see at the lab”, which is a false conclusion. The lab had other samples. They need to be investigated to see what all those samples were, and how well they kept them secured. That’s all I’m saying. And yes, I mentioned gain of function but not to be inflammatory. Just saying that since they have the capability to do that there (even if for the best motives), they need to be checked out.

Comment by Occasional Quipper Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:45 pm
“every normal American should be wary of being lied to by media elites.”

And every normal American should recognize when they are being gaslighted by crypto-fascists masquerading as Republicans.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:50 pm
== I guess we just want to blame China for it, but to what end? ==

If it does turn out to be the lab, then the question becomes what measures are they going to take to make sure we don’t have another pandemic. This includes both proper containment to keep a leak from happening, and proper communication if it happens anyway, even if by accident.

Comment by Occasional Quipper Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:54 pm
=== The cult of Fauci was a media echo-chamber of fear-mongering journalists, and anti-Trump===

This is gaslighting.

Cults do that.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 5:01 pm
“…those who believe in the virus…”
Science doesn’t care if you “believe” in it.

Comment by Teacher Lady Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 5:11 pm
The virus does not care if you believe in it, because Covid doesn’t discriminate. Some Facebook cooks showed up today. On the origins of Covid 19, traces of the viral genome were found in wastewater, in Spain, in March of 2019.

Comment by Glengarry Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 6:23 pm
I rarely push back on labels, because after all, one persons “far right” is another persons “moderate” but I think its a bit reactionary to call EJK “far right” looking at her platform. Pro-labor, Pro-”pathway to citizenship”, Pro-infrastructure all seem like pretty moderate positions. She wants to keep portions of the ACA, and her positions seem to be pretty center right as far as I can tell. Pro-life, Pro-2A, and Pro-law enforcement are definitely right of center, but I don’t think there is enough there to fairly call her “far-right” unless someone’s opinions on “far-right” include anyone right of Marx and Stalin. In fact,after some casual googling, the only folks I can find that refer to her as “far right” are this article and some DNCC press releases.

Comment by Just Another Anon Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 6:40 pm
=== I rarely push back on labels, because after all, one persons “far right” is another persons “moderate” but I think its a bit reactionary to call EJK “far right” looking at her platform.===

Ok.

Did she vote to impeach after the insurrection?

Her cult status… solidified

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 6:43 pm
* Would she voted to impeach after the insurrection?

Apologies.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 7:07 pm
The people who attack Dr. Fauci for initial imperfect knowledge of a novel virus are basically those worshipping a former celebrity president who seriously suggested injecting household disinfectant. That just about says it all.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 7:37 pm