The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays as a time when citizens should put aside our differences and focus on the freedoms that unite us. After weeks of protests and calls for reform, there is much that must be done to heal this country. However, the American Republic was always meant to be a work in progress. We have the ability to change our society but our constitutional system remains the greatest vehicle of justice and equality in the world. This holiday unfortunately shows how our differences threaten to overwhelm our common article of faith in this representative democracy. There is more than unites us than divides us and this holiday is a reminder of that transcendent fact. Many of us will join today to celebrate these United States and its history and values. My family will celebrate with a cookout and, of course, lots and lots of fireworks.
We will have a traditional cookout of burgers and dogs with homemade pies and other delights. One of my sons intends to make a red, white, and blue lava cake for the occasion with flowing raspberry lava. Who needs fireworks on the mall when you have a red, white, and blue flowing lava cake?
I truly love this holiday because it ideally celebrates what we have in common as opposed to what divides us. For all of our faults and failures, we have triumphed over great evils from without and within. The Framers gave us a system that has withstood it all through the test of time and turmoil. It will withstand these days and we will find a course forward as a nation.
As a Madisonian scholar, you will have to forgive my quoting James Madison from Essays for the National Gazette, 1792:
“In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example … of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.”
Happy Fourth everyone.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States
Unified?
It’s nice to have a President who undoubtedly loves this country and is unapologetically proud to be an American. Could not say the same for Barack Hussein Obama. Nor his wife.
Yes, it’s wonderful! Happy Glorious Fourth to everyone!
“Could not say the same for Barack Hussein Obama. Nor his wife.”
Ridiculous.
You want demographics? How ’bout we throw in skosh of “original intent?” Are four iterations enough?
“Unity” was never the imperative. The imperative was always to submit to the dominion of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, 1789 – something “Crazy Abe” just couldn’t bring himself to do…as “Crazy Abe” predicted, America destroyed itself…under Lincoln.
________________________________________
Naturalization Acts of 1790, 1795, 1798 and 1802
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” March 26, 1790
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof
“The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays as a time when citizens should put aside our differences and focus on the freedoms that unite us. After weeks of protests and calls for reform, there is much that must be done to heal this country. However, the American Republic was always meant to be a work in progress. We have the ability to change our society but our constitutional system remains the greatest vehicle of justice and equality in the world.”
– Professor Turley
______________
The “freedoms that unite us” are the new “freedoms” as principles of communism that are “…fundamentally transforming the United States of America…” into a despotic, third world, “tin horn” banana republic. The “…work in progress…” did not allow the likes of Lincoln to seize power, deny constitutional secession, alter history by violent and brutal force and falsely “amend” the nation. There is always a constitutional and legal path and there was a constitutional path to the ending of slavery (deliberations commenced soon after the adoption of the Constitution).
”And if there are amendments desired, of such a nature as will not injure the constitution, and they can be ingrafted so as to give satisfaction to the doubting part of our fellow citizens; the friends of the federal government will evince that spirit of deference and concession for which they have hitherto been distinguished.”
– James Madison, Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, June 8, 1789
Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly and every other conceivable natural and God-given right and freedom per the 9th Amendment, the immunities as Article 1, Section 8 restrictions on taxation to that of “…general Welfare…” and as restrictions on regulation to that of the value of money, the flow of commerce and land and naval Forces, the 5th Amendment absolute right to private property and a Supreme Court, as “…judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;…” are all prescribed by the Constitution and denied by treasonous men.
______________
“You can’t handle the truth!”
– Colonel Jessup
You can’t grasp the scope and breadth of American freedom with the attendant severe limitations and restrictions on government. The American Founders established a nation of freedom. In the year of our Lord, 2020, American freedom is gone and will soon be lost forever.
The entire communistic American welfare state is unconstitutional. Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
Individuals in America were provided maximal freedom under a government which exists, as the Subject of the new Sovereign, the People, to facilitate the maximal freedom of individuals solely through the provision of security and infrastructure or “…general Welfare.”
America was born of “…free white person(s)…” who enjoyed freedom of speech, press, assembly, etc., with privacy and no taxation for indivdual welfare, merely “…general Welfare…,” no interference by government in the affairs of private property and no regulation of anything other than money, the flow of commerce and land and naval Forces; a restricted-vote government elected by “…citizens entitled to vote…” who were male, European, 21 with 50 lbs. Sterling or 50 acres which amounted by design to merely 11.6% of the population when Washington was elected in 1788. Never did the American Founders envision or intend one man, one vote democracy.
“the people are nothing but a great beast…I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value.”
– Alexander Hamilton
Now American self-governance is voted in through an unrestricted vote by every foreigner communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) can shove into the country replacing American babies which American women don’t bear but abort since the “injurious”-to-the-Constitution 19th Amendment, while Americans are penalized by confiscatory taxation which compels patriots to be subject to communism and to be found “…adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort…” under the pontifications of a Supreme Court which has sworn to uphold and support, apparently, not the Constitution but the principles of the Communist Manifesto including, but not limited to, affirmative action privilege (immigration, matriculation and employment) generational welfare, forced busing, state run healthcare as Obamacare, quotas, social services, TANF, WIC, HAMP, HARP, HUD, HHS, SSI, SSD, unfair Fair Housing laws, discriminatory Non-Discrimination laws, rent control, minimum wage, Medicaid, Medicare, Depts. Education, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, etc., etc., etc.
Central Planning, Control of the Means of Production (i.e. regulation), Redistribution of Wealth and Social Engineering under the “dictatorship of the proletariat” here we come! This is not an anniversary celebration. This is a requiem mass.
Rest in Peace and May God have mercy on your soul, the United States of America.
https://www.library.georgetown.edu/woodstock/murray/whtt_c1_1954d
The American Proposition
– Father John Courtney Murray SJ
E PLURIBUS UNUM
The American Consensus
The first truth to which the American Proposition makes appeal is stated in that landmark of Western political theory, the Declaration of Independence. It is a truth that lies beyond politics; it imparts to politics a fundamental human meaning. I mean the sovereignty of God over nations as well as over individual men. This is the principle that radically distinguishes the conservative Christian tradition of America from the Jacobin laicist tradition of Continental Europe. The Jacobin tradition proclaimed the autonomous reason of man to be the first and the sole principle of political organization. In contrast, the first article of the American political faith is that the political community, as a form of free and ordered human life, looks to the sovereignty of God as to the first principle of its organization. In the Jacobin tradition religion is at best a purely private concern, a matter of personal devotion, quite irrelevant to public affairs. Society as such, and the state which gives it legal form, and the government which is its organ of action are by definition agnostic or atheist. The statesman as such cannot be a believer, and his actions as a statesman are immune from any imperative or judgment higher than the will of the people, in whom resides ultimate and total sovereignty (one must remember that in the Jacobin tradition “the people” means “the party”). This whole manner of thought is altogether alien to the authentic American tradition.
From the point of view of the problem of pluralism this radical distinction between the American and the Jacobin traditions is of cardinal importance. The United States has had, and still has, its share of agnostics and unbelievers. But it has never known organized militant atheism on the Jacobin, doctrinaire Socialist, or Communist model; it has rejected parties and theories which erect atheism into a political principle. In 1799, the year of the Napoleonic coup d’etat which overthrew the Directory and established a dictatorship in France, President John Adams stated the first of all American first principles in his remarkable proclamation of March 6:
. . . it is also most reasonable in itself that men who are capable of social arts and relations, who owe their improvements to the social state, and who derive their enjoyments from it, should, as a society, make acknowledgements of dependence and obligation to Him who hath endowed them with these capacities and elevated them in the scale of existence by these distinctions. . . .
President Lincoln on May 30, 1863, echoed the tradition in another proclamation:
Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and trespasses in humble sorrow, yet with the assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon. . . .
The affirmation in Lincoln’s famous phrase, “this nation under God,” sets the American proposition in fundamental continuity with the central political tradition of the West. But this continuity is more broadly and importantly visible in another, and related, respect. In 1884 the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore made this statement: “We consider the establishment of our country’s independence, the shaping of its liberties and laws, as a work of special Providence, its framers `building better than they knew,’ the Almighty’s hand guiding them.” The providential aspect of the matter, and the reason for the better building, can be found in the fact that the American political community was organized in an era when the tradition of natural law and natural rights was still vigorous. Claiming no sanction other than its appeal to free minds, it still commanded universal acceptance. And it furnished the basic materials for the American consensus.
“What greater expression of faith in the American experiment than this, what greater form of patriotism is there than the belief that America is not yet finished, that we are strong enough to be self-critical, that each successive generation can look upon our imperfections and decide that it is in our power to remake this nation to more closely align with our highest ideals?” – President Obama, at the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Marches
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/07/remarks-president-50th-anniversary-selma-montgomery-marches
“What greater form of patriotism…” ?? As if Barack Hussein Obama knows anything about “patriotism”?? please. that is what you call the ‘mendacity of Barack.’ The man is no patriot –never was, never will be. Neither is his wife.
OMG! In the United States of America, did you just say Barack Obama?
Barack Obama will NEVER be eligible to be U.S. president.
Barack Obama’s father was a foreign citizen at the time of the candidate’s birth.
– A “citizen” could only have been President at the time of the adoption of the Constitution – not after.
– The U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5, requires the President to be a “natural born citizen,” which, by definition in the Law of Nations, requires “parents who are citizens” at the time of birth of the candidate and that he be “…born of a father who is a citizen;…”
– Ben Franklin thanked Charles Dumas for copies of the Law of Nations which “…has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress, now sitting,…”
– The Jay/Washington letter of July, 1787, raised the presidential requirement from citizen to “natural born citizen” to place a “strong check” against foreign allegiances by the commander-in-chief.
– Every American President before Obama had two parents who were American citizens.
– The Constitution is not a dictionary and does not define words or phrases like “natural born citizen” as a dictionary, while the Law of Nations, 1758, did.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Law of Nations, Vattel, 1758
Book 1, Ch. 19
§ 212. Citizens and natives.
“The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ben Franklin letter December 9, 1775, thanking Charles Dumas for 3 copies of the Law of Nations:
“…I am much obliged by the kind present you have made us of your edition of Vattel. It came to us in good season, when the circumstances of a rising state make it necessary frequently to consult the law of nations. Accordingly that copy, which I kept, (after depositing one in our own public library here, and sending the other to the College of Massachusetts Bay, as you directed,) has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress, now sitting, who are much pleased with your notes and preface, and have entertained a high and just esteem for their author…”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To George Washington from John Jay, 25 July 1787
From John Jay
New York 25 July 1787
Dear Sir
I was this morning honored with your Excellency’s Favor of the 22d
Inst: & immediately delivered the Letter it enclosed to Commodore
Jones, who being detained by Business, did not go in the french Packet,
which sailed Yesterday.
Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & seasonable to
provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the
administration of our national Government, and to declare expressly that the Command in chief
of the american army shall not be given to, nor devolved on, any but a natural born Citizen.
Mrs Jay is obliged by your attention, and assures You of her perfect
Esteem & Regard—with similar Sentiments the most cordial and sincere
I remain Dear Sir Your faithful Friend & Servt
John Jay
Didn’t Michelle say that she was finally proud to be an American. ” Finally”.
Since you referenced him, I must take the opportunity to inform you that not only was Barack HUSSEIN Obama the greatest President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the United States since Harry Truman himself; but prior to his marriage, he undoubtedly had “access” to the white women.
This is to “Ya, bozo is a crappy president, but he’s rude to the smart people, so that’s good enough” anon
Marky Mark, we hear he had ‘access’ to the white ‘men’ too. How’s the Funky Bunch?
Happy Independence Day, folks.
Jonathan: I would also like to celebrate this 4th of July but Donald Trump is making that nearly impossible. In your post you you say we “should put aside our differences and focus on the freedoms that unite us”. Tell that to Trump. In his inflammatory speech to supporters yesterday at Mt. Rushmore. Trump made only passing reference to COVID-19, that is a great concern to all Americans, and instead pushed racial division rather than trying to heal the wounds that prompted the continuing nationwide protests. Those protests calling for racial justice and removal of the symbols of slavery Trump called a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history”. To emphasize his point Trump added: “We will not be terrorized, we will not demeaned, and we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people”. No “unity” speech there. Trump is not interested in healing racial tensions but in stoking the fires of racism among his supporters. And Trump thumbed his nose at his own government’s recommendation that everyone where a face mask while in public by not wearing one himself. Most of the attendees at Trump’s rally followed suit. In an ironic twist Kimberly Guilfoyle, Don Jr’s girlfriend , was tested positive for COVID-19 while in South Dakota. It seems the Trump family has a death wish!
And I would think in these times of mass protest over racial injustice and the need for racial healing you would not want to invoke the name of James Madison in your post. Don’t you think those of color reading your post might be outraged that you would quote a man who was born into a plantation society predicated on slave labor and where both sides of his family made their fortunes in tobacco farming using slave labor? But it seems some Madison scholars are still rooted in the past–unable or unwilling to confront the sad legacy of slavery that was the predicate in the formation of this country. Frankly, I would have preferred you quoted Frederick Douglas who spent his entire life fighting against slavery. In biting oratory Douglas said in his now famous 4th of July speech on July 5, 1852: “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty in which he is the constant victim…The Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn”. I would prefer quoting someone who epitomizes the fight against slavery over a slave owner every time. But Madison should not be banished from your university library. Study him in the context of his times but don’t quote him as a symbol of the “freedoms that unite us”. Poor Frederick Douglass would be rolling over in his grave.
Jonathan: I would also like to celebrate this 4th of July but Donald Trump is making that nearly impossible.
Donald Trump is not responsible for your issues.
Trump’s speech WAS about the freedoms that unite us. And he also talked about the “lies” that divide us…intentionally….you know, like the garbage spewed forth from the likes of the New York Times….a rag you clearly read….based on the first part of your comment 😉
Trump is responsible for what he says and does, just as everyone else is responsible for their own words (or silence) and actions (or failure to act).
Much of what Trump says and does (or is silent about and fails to do) serves to further divide the country or otherwise harm us. His failure to say and do everything within his power to prevent COVID-19 harms has resulted in needless deaths, needless longterm health problems, needless economic harm, …
FYI….from the New England Journal of Medicine, May 21, 2020:
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.”
FYI….uttered from the lips of the Hillary-loving CDC chair, Anthony Fauci:
“Masks are symbolic…they are not providing the protection people think they are….”
Perhaps you missed the Editor’s Note: “This article was published on April 1, 2020, at NEJM.org.” It’s out of date.
I can’t find your so-called quote from Fauci online (with a quoted Google query, or even with a partial quoted query like [Fauci “Masks are symbolic”]). No reason to assume you’ve quoted him accurately, since you don’t include a link to any source quoting him as saying that.
Commit,
I did a keyword search: Fauci mask symbol.
““I wear it for the reason that I believe that it is effective. It’s not 100 percent effective. It’s sort of respect for another person and to have that other person respect you. You wear a mask, they wear a mask, you protect each other,” Fauci told CNN’s Jim Sciutto Wednesday.
“I want to protect myself and protect others, and also because I want to make it a symbol for people to see that that’s the kind of thing you should be doing,” Fauci said.”
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/499724-fauci-says-he-wears-a-mask-as-a-symbol-of-what
The pertinent video:
https://youtu.be/NUHsEmlIoE4
However, I do not know the exact date for the video.
Thanks. I saw that quote earlier when I searched.
But I was trying to see whether Anonymous’s so-called quote is an actual quote or is instead dishonestly pretending that Fauci said something he didn’t say (dishonestly claiming that it was “uttered from the lips of … Anthony Fauci” when it wasn’t). Quotation marks are supposed to mean something.
I have no problem with Fauci’s actual statement, which has a very different meaning.
Fauci has essentially said that wearing a mask is the same as “virtue signalling.”
No, he hasn’t, though a dishonest person could pretend that he did by cherrypicking and ignoring the actual meaning of what he said.
Wrong.
You’re on a tear today.
Wear a face shield, if you don’t think that masks work. They’re just as efficacious and maybe more so. Some people wear both.
Fauci wears a mask as a “symbol of good behavior”…..
Fauci wears a mask to “virtue signal”…..
Fauci initially….in the midst of the outbreak….said NOT TO WEAR A MASK BECAUSE IT DOES NOTHING but make you FEEL AS IF you are protecting yourself!!!
And the New England Journal of Medicine, among others, confirms this.
Yup. No one in the medical field thinks masks worn by the public does any good except make you look paranoid and weak. Otherwise they would be wearing them as well in hospitals
Goes to show that Democrats will stop at nothing in their hunger for power, especially steamroll Americans…especially
My face mask is my blankly.
Prairie, from the CDC website today and updated June 28:
COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice (e.g., while shouting, chanting, or singing). These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Recent studies show that a significant portion of individuals with COVID-19 lack symptoms (are “asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (are “pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.
To reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings when around people outside of their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.
Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.
Cloth face coverings should NOT be worn by children under the age of 2 or anyone who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
Evidence for Effectiveness of Cloth Face Coverings
Cloth face coverings are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the cloth face covering coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. This is called source control. This recommendation is based on what we know about the role respiratory droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, paired with emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows cloth face coverings reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth. COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet), so the use of cloth face coverings is particularly important in settings where people are close to each other or where social distancing is difficult to maintain.
Who Should Wear A Cloth Face Covering?
General public
CDC recommends all people 2 years of age and older wear a cloth face covering in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
COVID-19 can be spread by people who do not have symptoms and do not know that they are infected. That’s why it’s important for everyone to wear cloth face coverings in public settings and practice social distancing (staying at least 6 feet away from other people).
While cloth face coverings are strongly encouraged to reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC recognizes there are specific instances when wearing a cloth face covering may not be feasible. In these instances, adaptations and alternatives should be considered whenever possible (see below for examples).
People who know or think they might have COVID-19
If you are sick with COVID-19 or think you might have COVID-19, do not visit public areas. Stay home except to get medical care. As much as possible stay in a specific room and away from other people and pets in your home. If you need to be around other people or animals, wear a cloth face covering (including in your home).
The cloth face covering helps prevent a person who is sick from spreading the virus to others. It helps keep respiratory droplets contained and from reaching other people.
Caregivers of people with COVID-19
Those caring for someone who is sick with COVID-19 at home or in a non-healthcare setting may also wear a cloth face covering. However, the protective effects—how well the cloth face covering protects healthy people from breathing in the virus—are unknown. To prevent getting sick, caregivers should also continue to practice everyday preventive actions: avoid close contact as much as possible, clean hands often; avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands; and frequently clean and disinfect surfaces.
Who Should Not Wear a Cloth Face Covering
Cloth face coverings should not be worn by:
Children younger than 2 years old
Anyone who has trouble breathing
Anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the cloth face covering without assistance
Recent Studies:
Rothe C, Schunk M, Sothmann P, et al. Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany. The New England journal of medicine. 2020;382(10):970-971. PMID: 32003551external icon
Zou L, Ruan F, Huang M, et al. SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients. The New England journal of medicine. 2020;382(12):1177-1179. PMID: 32074444external icon
Pan X, Chen D, Xia Y, et al. Asymptomatic cases in a family cluster with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The Lancet Infectious diseases. 2020. PMID: 32087116external icon
Bai Y, Yao L, Wei T, et al. Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. Jama. 2020. PMID: 32083643external icon
Kimball A HK, Arons M, et al. Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Residents of a Long-Term Care Skilled Nursing Facility — King County, Washington, March 2020. MMWR Morbidity and mortality weekly report. 2020; ePub: 27 March 2020. PMID: 32240128external icon
Wei WE LZ, Chiew CJ, Yong SE, Toh MP, Lee VJ. Presymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 — Singapore, January 23–March 16, 2020. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2020;ePub: 1 April 2020. PMID: 32271722external icon
Li R, Pei S, Chen B, et al. Substantial undocumented infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2). Science (New York, NY). 2020. PMID: 32179701external icon
Furukawa NW, Brooks JT, Sobel J. Evidence Supporting Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 While Presymptomatic or Asymptomatic [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 4]. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020;26(7):10.3201/eid2607.201595. Link
Oran DP, Topol Prevalence of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Narrative Review [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jun 3]. Ann Intern Med. 2020;M20-3012. PMID: 32491919external icon
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Rapid Expert Consultation on the Possibility of Bioaerosol Spread of SARS-CoV-2 for the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 1, 2020). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25769external icon.
Schwartz KL, Murti M, Finkelstein M, et al. Lack of COVID-19 transmission on an international flight. CMAJ. 2020;192(15):E410. PMID: 32392504external icon
Anfinrud P, Stadnytskyi V, Bax CE, Bax A. Visualizing Speech-Generated Oral Fluid Droplets with Laser Light Scattering. N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 15. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2007800. PMID: 32294341external icon
Davies A, Thompson KA, Giri K, Kafatos G, Walker J, Bennett A. Testing the efficacy of homemade masks: would they protect in an influenza pandemic? Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2013;7(4):413-8. PMID: 24229526external icon
Konda A, Prakash A, Moss GA, Schmoldt M, Grant GD, Guha S. Aerosol Filtration Efficiency of Common Fabrics Used in Respiratory Cloth Masks. ACS Nano. 2020 Apr 24. PMID: 32329337external icon
Aydin O, Emon B, Saif MTA. Performance of fabrics for home-made masks against spread of respiratory infection through droplets: a quantitative mechanistic study. medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.19.20071779, posted April 24, 2020.
Ma QX, Shan H, Zhang HL, Li GM, Yang RM, Chen JM. Potential utilities of mask-wearing and instant hand hygiene for fighting SARS-CoV-2. J Med Virol. 2020. PMID: 32232986external icon
Leung, N.H.L., Chu, D.K.W., Shiu, E.Y.C. et al.Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks. Nat Med. 2020. PMID: 32371934external icon
Johnson DF, Druce JD, Birch C, Grayson ML. A quantitative assessment of the efficacy of surgical and N95 masks to filter influenza virus in patients with acute influenza infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2009 Jul 15;49(2):275-7. PMID: 19522650external icon
Green CF, Davidson CS, Panlilio AL, et al. Effectiveness of selected surgical masks in arresting vegetative cells and endospores when worn by simulated contagious patients. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2012;33(5):487‐494. PMID: 22476275external icon
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fauci+video+masks+are+not+providing+protection&docid=608014674355161697&mid=3F95377787D631259EE03F95377787D631259EE0&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
“Right now….” says Fauci….in the midst of a pandemic….”there’s no reason people should be walking around wearing a mask….” Then he changed his tune?
after the surge of the pandemic??….sorry Fauci….we know you are a Hillary sycophant and it is NOT beneath you to do everything you can to surreptitiously harm President Trump. AND? we see that you did just that….but the sick FAKE NEWS media will never call you to acount…so…shame on you Dr. Fauci….shame on you…..
In that video, “right now” = March 8.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/05/outdated-fauci-video-on-face-masks-shared-out-of-context/
Bulls***. Fauci is a fraud. He told Trump NOT to halt travel of non US citizens from China back in January! Trump did it anyway! IN JANUARY!! Fauci said don’t wear masks at the HEIGHT of the pandemic….then he says DO wear masks as a SYMBOL of the “right thing to do”….even if it is a piece of useless cloth!!! Pelosi was in Chinatown San Francisco in LATE FEB urging people to “come to Chinatown” to shop and eat, etc, because as she says, “it is perfectly safe to be here”….in crowds….shopping….dining, in Chinatown…etc. Fauci and the Democrats and their MSMEDIA are irresponsible frauds and liars with a liberal political agenda thru and thru….Democrat sicko-phants!!
And no, Fauci….your after-the-fact excuse…that you wanted to prevent a run on N95 masks that were needed by medical professionals is pure bulls**. why didn’t you tell us that simply pulling a handkerchief or a bandana up over our mouths was helpful….at THAT TIME? You did not. NOW you insist that a flimsy, utterly useless piece of cotton, carelessly draped up and over your mouth is helping to PREVENT contracting Covid? You liar! FOR shame Fauci. FOR SHAME you Hillary sicko-phant. And by virtue of the fact that Hollywood celebs find you to be worthy of “fan-dom” and your own t-shirt worn by them makes it/you even more repulsive to the average American. Dr. Fauci is a Hilary sicko-phant and a fraud. CALL OUT HIS MAJOR MISTAKES! He got it ALL wrong!
Wow.
Masks are symbolic. Democrats are using COVID for political reasons
…
WSJ
The Coronavirus Credibility Gap
Politicians and experts sow distrust with double standards on protests and dissembling about masks.
By Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD
https://www.uclahealth.org/joseph-ladapo
July 1, 2020 7:20 pm ET
The American public is fractured over policy responses to Covid-19. That rift is most visible in debates about masks and new rounds of shutdowns. Such disputes are common in a country as diverse and opinionated as America. But political leaders and health officials have sown distrust by politicizing the pandemic response.
Political leaders and health officials have often invoked “science” to justify decisions manifestly guided by their personal preferences. That costs them credibility. Restoring public confidence will require acknowledging their role in politicizing the pandemic, yielding to accommodations and sensible alternatives in the areas of greatest controversy, and focusing on the widely supported goal of not overwhelming hospitals, rather than less meaningful metrics such as increases in Covid-19 cases.
One of the earliest signs of politicization was the broad animus directed at protesters who objected to the lockdowns. In a country where liberty and free expression are as fundamental as air and water, it is remarkable how casually political leaders and health officials disparaged and banned their activities—and even targeted protesters for prosecution. Politics was also at play when New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered police in Brooklyn to break up a crowd of mourners who gathered for a Hasidic Jewish funeral, warning that their actions were “unacceptable” and threatening to arrest them.
Contrast this with the approach that many of the same political leaders and public-health experts took toward the protests catalyzed by George Floyd’s killing. These protesters were neither maligned nor targeted with fines and arrests based on social distancing or mask mandates. They were often joined in the streets by politicians such as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
The double standard in treatment was political. All these public gatherings were led by people expressing sincerely held beliefs that they felt outweighed the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Protecting such expression, regardless of viewpoint, is fundamental to the integrity of a democracy. Instead, politicians played favorites with this core American tenet.
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Medical experts have also lost the empathy that previously characterized their approach to public health. Many illnesses spread as a result of personal decisions and behavior. The contemporary consensus in the medical community has been to acknowledge—without judgment—that preferences and circumstances of individuals vary. This has been true even when individual decisions affect the health of others. This is why public-health experts advocate pre-exposure prophylaxis antiretrovirals for HIV prevention, needle-exchange programs for drug users, and, in the U.K., e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
But this wisdom hasn’t been afforded to the Covid-19 pandemic. There is little accommodation for people who avoid masks because of difficulty breathing, claustrophobia or the belief that one’s face shouldn’t be subject to public policing. Some medical ethicists have suggested that if ventilators are in short supply, patients who religiously used masks and adhered to social distancing should receive priority—rationing medical care to punish noncompliance.
Further corroding public trust was health officials’ reversal about wearing masks. In February, they discouraged their use and told the public there was no evidence they were effective. Yet when questioned by Rep. David McKinley (R., W.Va.) on June 23, Anthony Fauci claimed the initial guidance was motivated by concerns about medical supply shortages—not doubts about mask effectiveness. No wonder many Americans don’t trust the calls to wear masks.
If political leaders and health experts want to restore their credibility and the public’s confidence, they need to begin by acknowledging that politics rather than science has influenced important public-health decisions and by making accommodations for dissenting perspectives. Alternatives to masks, for instance, include physical distancing and using face shields while indoors.
And while there is more to learn about immunity, there has not been a single confirmed case of reinfection among the 10 million cases of Covid-19 world-wide, according to a May report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Until the data say otherwise, people who have recovered from Covid-19 should be exempt from restrictions.
The most important step political leaders and health officials can take is to base their decisions on hospital capacity, rather than case counts, which inevitably will continue to increase among low-risk young people. Policing of social distance and restrictions on personal, educational and business activities are fueling culture wars. Focusing on the goal of not overwhelming hospitals is sensible and less vulnerable to politicization—so long as the data are publicly available for independent analysis. Hospitals often run near capacity to maximize profits, so the promises made during shutdowns to increase capacity need to be fulfilled—or capacity will become a political weapon.
Since citizens are already opting out of high-risk activities they want to avoid, let them enter bars, enjoy the beach, exercise at the gym, and learn in school if they choose. The government should intervene with mandates and closures only if regional hospital capacity requires it, while being transparent about bed availability, illness severity of hospitalized patients, and efforts to increase treatment capacity, including the supply of promising medications such as remdesivir and dexamethasone.
These steps would make the struggle against Covid-19 more sustainable and less politicized. Less petty squabbling and wasting of resources would mean more attention for strategies to protect the most vulnerable Americans.
Dr. Ladapo is an associate professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.
“To emphasize his point Trump added: “We will not be terrorized, we will not demeaned, and we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people”. No “unity” speech there.”
He’s referring to “ideology” not “race.”
Questions for you….have you ever felt threatened, phyisically, for identifying as a Trump supporter? For simply wearing a tshirt of a hat of your choosing? Have you ever had someone come up to you on the street and knock your Trump hat right off your head? That’s called ‘assault.’ Have you ever been spit on because of wearing a Trump shirt? Have you been afraid to lose your livlihood, your job, your standing in your community –simply by it being known you are a Trump voter? Have you ever driven through a city or town and had a violent mob block the road, and your safe passage while pounding on your windows and calling you a racist, fascist? Have you ever stood by and watched as your community, and its businesses were looted and destroyed and burned to the ground, while cops and first responders were told to “let it happen” b/c it was deemed a “sanctioned event”? My guess is “no.” THIS is what President Trump is calling “bad and evil.” The violent, totalitarian fascist mob. The brownshirts of the Democrat Party. Get it? My guess is “no.”
Note that *many* of these “domestic terrorists” seen assaulting both people and private property are skinny white kids wearing black hoods and masks (including Dem. Sen. Tim Kaine’s own misguided son, btw). It is utterly sickening to those of us actually living in these communities that the Antifa black-hooded, rich white kids (the actual Fascists!) are terrorizing and burning down….ostensibly in the name of BLM!??? On the contrary, they are harming black communities while also destroying BLM’s “brand” and “message” (whatever that is??????anyone know?????) These are the bad and evil criminals Trump is calling out.
Dennis,
Your comments are so condescending towards just blacks that in your ignorance you assume they are all as stupid as you.
Now if you’ve run out of statues of Racist Elks, Mooses & Beavers to tear down you could go do a protest in the middle of the night on I 5 up in Washington state as I hear they had a couple of their idiots run over/taken out last night. 😉
And never forget even with President Donald J Trump you are still Free. That means if you hate it here in the USA you’re Free To Leave, just don’t let the door hit you in your Racist Azz!
The Founders have already paid the Freight for your & your friend’s ignorance.
https://banned.video/watch?id=5eff9ff8672706002f3f1d17
https://banned.video/watch?id=5f00d539672706002f402db0
We should create a National Day Of Whining dedicated to those people like you who are too lazy to look beyond the lies and propaganda fed to you daily, and who wallow in the sins of the past so they can continue to be victims. To Frederick Douglas’ question, “What to the American slave is your 4th of July?” Well, to start with we have not had slavery in more than 150 years so that question no longer has meaning. Next, former male slaves had the right to vote 50 years before white American women did. Do you consider your right to vote important? Maybe not. Third, but for the courage and devotion of Americans of all race and ethnicities, your sorry ass would be either dead or giving a Nazi salute. I think that’s a pretty good reason to celebrate this country. Lastly, if you do not consider Madison to be a symbol of freedom, then you really are ignorant. Grow up.
This is intended to be a response to Dennis but got bumped far down.
“we have not had slavery in more than 150 years”
A subset of slavery has remained legal, thanks to the 13th Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States …” You might look up the history of how that italicized clause has been used over the last 150+ years.
“former male slaves had the right to vote 50 years before white American women did.”
They also had the right to vote 50 years before former female slaves did. It’s not as though slavery and racism are our only wrongs. Sexism is as well. Racism and sexism also intersect, as with your choice to omit non-white women from your description, as if white women were the only women who mattered.
BTW, “but for the courage and devotion of Americans of all race and ethnicities,” we might not have become an independent country in the first place or survived this long.That doesn’t excuse our ongoing racism.
Speaking of “a Nazi salute,” this was a really interesting segment on the differences in how Germany dealt with its legacy of Nazism vs. how the U.S. dealt with its legacy of slavery: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/how-germany-can-help-america-remember-slavery
A subset of slavery has remained legal, thanks to the 13th Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States
So what? Crime begets punishment.
Slavery is not a just punishment.
That you say “So what?” is very telling.
If the democrats really hate slavery, then why don’t they try to eradicate it where it exist today?
They do.
“If the [Republicans] really hate slavery, then why don’t they try to eradicate it where it exist today?”
Seems to me it is AG Bill Barr and President Trump who are working at taking down the sex slavery rings and ring leaders. Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison today. Just two weeks after US Attorney Berman was fired. How about that timing?
SMH.
Trump has been President for over 3 years. If Berman was actually getting in the way of Maxwell being arrested, then Trump was astoundingly incompetent not to have gotten rid of Berman earlier. Same for Barr, though his tenure has been a bit shorter. Don’t conflate correlation and causation.
And if Trump truly cared about “taking down the sex slavery rings and ring leaders,” he wouldn’t have been consorting with Epstein and Maxwell for years. Why didn’t Trump report the two of them to the authorities long ago?
Re Trump’s speech:
“This really is CNN in a nutshell. “Dark and divisive” is actually a subjective opinion, but to CNN it’s a factual statement.” -David Marcus
And, we must add the New York Times as well. Its headline is an opinion presented as ‘fact’….for shame NYT…..but we all know by now that the MSM is shameless….and FAKE NEWS!! They are Democrat activists with an Agenda and they prove it hourly!
Despite the present turmoil destabilizing our two countries, we continue to prove to the world that neighbours can thrive in respectful and peaceful friendship. Greetings from the True North Strong and Free. Enjoy your special Day. 🇨🇦🤝🇺🇸 forever.
Drifter……..Oh, Canada! I’ve always loved your National Anthem. It’s one of the best.
“The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays as a time when citizens should put aside our differences and focus on the freedoms that unite us.”
Hear hear, and back at ya JT.
“God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” the very French Statue of Liberty, etc., are nowhere to be found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights or the American thesis.
You’re conflating falsely and insidiously.
The “President’s March” (“Hail, Columbia”) is the American song of American patriots from the year of consummation of the adoption of the Constitution and seating of the President, 1789.
Professor Turley……..Sounds like y’all will enjoy a true celebration! Happy 4th!
I’ve said before, Honest hubby and I met in DC and were living there, celebrating the 4th, in 1972 ( this was before the subway was built). We both lived on Capitol Hill at that time. He was at 1st and E Street, S.E.. and I at Duddington Place, around the corner. We walked with our friends over to the Capitol to celebrate the 4th that year, and oh my god what a celebration. It was almost patriotic overkill,,,,,,,just fantastic, even though Viet Nam was still going, and Watergate break-in had just happened two weeks prior. But It was an amazing experience……almost 50 years ago today…..
Thank you for making this blog possible. God bless you, your family, all who gather here, and of course, our America.
Celebrating Independence Day? You could have started on Thursday. The Declaration was actually approved on July 2nd. Here is what John Adams wrote to his wife on July 3rd:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the story. If you don’t know who Paul Harvey is you’re a child. If you do know who Paul Harvey is you should be eating more prunes.
But one thing more unites us. It is fireworks.
Tell the McCloskeys to fire a rocket at the private property invaders.
There is more THAT unites us. Not “than” unites us
I think Turley talks into a device which then types the words. He does not see on his typing paper, or laptop screen, the words.
Happy Fourth of July to you Prof. Turley and to all who follow this blog. It may well be the last or the penultimate time we are able to celebrate it.
If Joe Biden and his progressive anti American VP are elected the mob will drag them to the left and Juneteenth will supplant it.
Happy 4 of July every one!!!
Happy Independence Day to you and your family, Professor Turley!
If your son has time to bake that cake, pictures of it would make a great update!
If you or anyone in your family is arrested for the fireworks we will start a GoFundMe to cover your bail!
Have a Happy Fourth of July 🙂
Happy Fourth Turly, Esq.
Thank you for an uplifting piece!!! Much needed.