The following column has been authored by non-clinicians.
Among the many guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appear to be unaware of is the first rule of holes. And that is, when you find yourself in one, stop digging. So, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky just calls for a bigger shovel.
The latest instance of this is the new, "improved" mask guidance for schools.
Back on Feb. 15 of this year, the CDC said it had no plans to alter the recommendation on mask wearing for schools. Now the recommendation is for tying up children’s faces only in "high risk" counties. The CDC now claims the "science changed," which is only partially true.
What's really changed is the political science and the rhetoric that goes with it.
With the exception of a few pockets of concentrated neurotics and moral exhibitionist parents, the people of the United States of America are sick and tired of useless mask mandates.
Jacob Sullum has looked into the situation and writes, "The fact that Walensky announced the changes before the CDC had even managed to revise its 'Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools' suggests she was anxious to disguise the agency's growing irrelevance. If the CDC had waited much longer, it would have become painfully clear that almost no one was paying attention to its advice anymore."
During the entire masking masquerade, the CDC has distorted the science.
The spokespersons distort statistics, ignore science not supporting their preconceived notions and do their best to cancel any doctor, researcher, or scientist not following in lockstep.
There was never a justification for masking children who are functionally immune to COVID-19. The seasonal flu is more dangerous. Privately, Walensky "conceded during a closed-door congressional briefing on Feb. 15 that the studies on which the CDC relied to justify school mask mandates 'all have limitations . . . because we are not randomizing schools.' In truth, most of the studies did not even compare schools with mandates to schools without them."
Yet, publicly she repeatedly claimed, "the scientific case for ‘universal masking in schools was beyond dispute."
Walensky is the public relations person for pandemic panic.
Any credibility she had as a scientist or government official is long gone. Her slavish devotion to a politically inspired narrative saw to that.
The CDC is filled with those like Walensky and Dr. Fauci who seem to have let their ego and fanatical commitment to the Left destroy the public’s trust for the agency and the government in general.
We could not agree more with Sullum’s conclusion: "[The CDC’s] explanation of this shift, like its rationales for previous reversals, is transparently dishonest. While Walensky may hope to salvage the CDC's reputation by finally acquiescing to political decisions she stubbornly resisted until last Friday, it is probably too late for that."
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.