As IF Times

When we think of the most impactful events on western life in the past 5 years, two events stand out conspicuously.

Arguably the most impactful was the entire narrative and follow on consequences of the January 6^th demonstration at the US Capitol in 2021. Who can forget the handwringing and faux outrage of the left and the entire media as they characterized the demonstration as a violent uprising threatening to topple democracy.  This event resulted in imprisonment, recriminations and even deaths for many of the unfortunates involved.

Politicians and media alike condemned the actions of the ‘violent rioters’ even as conflicting evidence at the time, made these assertions questionable.  One of the more interesting claims was that demonstrators were encouraged, even welcomed into the Capitol by law enforcement plants.  “An outrageous accusation” was the response of lawmakers and the FBI at the time.

As time went on, they admitted that, “ok there were a few, but just to monitor things”.  Under recent congressional grilling, the “few” number turned out to be somewhat higher. . But it wasn’t an easy path to the truth.  It started off with; there were NO feds. Over time, this became; there probably weren’t any undercover feds, which led eventually to ok, there were twelve undercover feds. And of course after the congressional grilling the actual number was 270.

This mischaracterization of events served to quell any opposition and investigation into the disputed results of the latest national election.  By criminalizing the mere event of protesting, the government crushed any opposition to the official narrative.

In a parallel but related track and very much a result of the official fibs told by the authorities at the time, the COVID narrative came on stream.  Though the horrific events are now a few years in the past, we recall the narrative espoused by the ‘authorities’ at the time.  The font of the narrative was Anthony Fauci but he took his moral authority from the WHO, which declared that this was a severe existential virus and extreme measures needed to be implemented.

It’s not necessary to recite all of the measures imposed upon the world, but suffice to say, it was a dystopian time with drastic Orwellian measures against entire populations. Now, as with the walk-backs on the January 6^th demonstrations, the WHO is distancing themselves from their own narrative.

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) has denied any involvement in forcing people to wear masks or receive vaccinations. A WHO spokesperson stated that allegations of forced vaccinations are “both flagrant lies and dangerous pieces of disinformation,” emphasizing that the agency has no authority to impose vaccine mandates or involve the military in such actions. The organization clarified that decisions regarding health measures, including mask and vaccine policies, are made by individual sovereign governments, not by the WHO….”

Thus, it’s clear that all governments worldwide must have decided on their own to impose mask and vaccination mandates without any influence by the WHO.  If this this case, why do they exist? This is amusing, because if it’s one thing that we’ve learned over the years, it’s that the internet is forever. It’s impossible to erase your digital footprint.  Just ask Jon Gruden.  Here’s the WHO head back in 2020:

“…Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged people to wear face masks once more amid a purported rise in Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.

He defended the necessity of face coverings against COVID-19 in public remarks delivered July 12, during the WHO’s COVID-19 media briefing that day. “As transmission and hospitalization [rates] rise, governments must also deploy tried and tested measures like masking, improved ventilation and test-and-treat protocols,” said Tedros, adding that “diagnostics, treatments and vaccines are not being deployed effectively.”

Tedros’ call for re-imposing mask mandates stemmed from his apparent concern about the continued rise of COVID-19 cases and deaths. These, he mentioned, put “further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers…”

The point of this discussion is not to reveal that authorities lie to us, as shocking as this may be for some.  The issue is that the lies are so blatant but that there are no consequences.  We all recall Baghdad Bob during the first Iraq war invasion stating in a live TV interview that there was total calm in Iraq even as buildings were being blown up behind him on camera.  Blatant mendacity is an affront in most civilizations and from a young age, most are taught that lies are not acceptable.  In the classic fairy tale, Pinocchio’s nose grew every time he lied to conspicuously reveal to the world his mendacity.

Why are societies now so tolerant of narratives that are completely absurd and detrimental to their own well-being?  That’s a question for social science PhD candidates to answer in the years to come, but I suggest there’s a simple explanation: There are no consequences.  Few ever seem to suffer from figurative long noses.  Lawyers are employed to parse words and events.  We may recall the famous Bill Clinton line of ” it depends what is, is.”   No one is naive enough to think that politicians will stop lying.  But at least bring in some consequences. Maybe the tar and feather business can make a comeback.

Source: As Gunman Rampaged Through Florida School, Armed Deputy ‘Never Went In’ – The New York Times

In case anyone missed it, there was a shooting at a high school in Florida recently, claiming the lives of 17 people.  The perpetrator was an ex student who was previously ejected from the school for numerous instances of unsociable behavior.

How unsociable?  Well the police had been called to his home no less than 39 times by his neighbors for various incidents over the years.  There were other subtle clues to his mental state, namely, self posted You Tube videos in which he publicly professed interest in becoming a mass shooter at a school, accompanied by images of his numerous weapons.  Oh and apparently he had been torturing animals as well.  Other students knew this kid to be disturbed and at least one publicly reported him to the authorities because they felt Cruz was such a menace.  Her exact words were, ” I think he’s going to shoot up a school.”

As we now know, the FBI were given specific directions to his online activities but somehow, no one took it seriously enough to even send an agent to knock on Cruz’s door.  The fact that Cruz used his real name for his online activities obviously confused the law agencies since they couldn’t figure out who or where he was.  At the time of the shooting, at least one and maybe 4 armed deputies were at the school but declined to engage the shooter.

After the horrific event, when fingers began pointing like sunflowers to the setting sun, somehow it was determined that it was the NRA who were the villains.  Like circus ringmasters, the shameless media led by CNN began ginning up the grief of the parents and children and redirected it towards the evil NRA.  Predictably, images of sobbing children filled the airwaves imploring that ‘something has to be done’.  For some reason, the knee jerk response to anything tragic defaults to “the government has to do something”.

In this case, governments were involved at every level.  From the district school level, which had revised their policies to not accosting students for infractions because of racial sensitivities; to the local police who were aware of Cruz from all the disturbance calls; and to the federal level of the FBI who were virtually given flashing red arrows to the existence of this young man.   Even the sheriffs who were posted at the school specifically to provide protection were of no use. There’s a television ad presently running which depicts a bank being robbed; as the patrons look to a uniformed guard, he states, “oh I’m not a bank guard, I’m a bank monitor”.  In the case of the Broward county deputies, life imitates art.

But it’s the NRA’s fault.

Predictably, every time a tragedy of this type occurs, there are the expected shrill wails from the same quarters that ‘government must do something’, which is essentially dog whistle for, ‘take away all guns’.  In this case, government was involved at every step…and they failed at every one of them.  This is the same mentality as blaming restaurants for obesity and then having governments regulate them.  Heck, may as well outlaw forks.

Blaming the NRA and expecting the government to guarantee everyone’s safety perpetuates a level of willful ignorance that seems to draw in more naïve people all the time.  As Rahm Emmanuel once stated, ‘never let a good disaster go to waste’. How do we know this tragedy is being used for political leverage? Dana Loesch, a spokesman for the NRA made the observation that crying white mothers made for very effective TV.  But does anyone see images of crying black mothers from a weekend, every weekend of shootings in Chicago?