Thread by @sunnshiiny

This isn’t hard.

The coordinated disinformation currently being used on the far right includes the claim that 99.9% of people, never mind children, will recover.

Journalists who continue to provide tacit legitimization of these false narratives (aka lies) are the problem.

https://twitter.com/ClintonDesveaux/status/1457472573588086784

Gladu is referring to the nonsensical “medical” advice promoted as Great Barrington legitimate information.

There are no medical professionals at PHAC stating masks and vaccines are unnecessary. The Canadian Institution responsible for public health is the authority & standard.

Solomon is providing some validity to Gladu’s “alternate facts” by not challenging her assertion adequately. Polio was not just a childhood disease. It was more prevalent in children.

It resulted in death or long term effects if the patient recovered.

It’s an apt comparison. Many children survived but were restricted an iron lung, permanently. Because they could no longer breathe independently.

President Roosevelt suffered polio as an adult and was left without the full use of his legs for the remainder of his life.

COVid is a virus with incredibly devastating consequences for adults and children. While mortality is low for children, lifelong complications are not. Neither is the acute distress during active infection.

Many children are ending up in hospital with complications.

In fact, children under 19 years of age are at the highest risk because they are the largest cohort that is unvaccinated. They make up 20% of COVid cases. That’s 1/5 cases. Those at risk of mortality overwhelmingly are unvaccinated.

There are no questions that masks and vaccines are effective.

There are NOT two sides to this situation. There’s science, and then there’s disinformation. That’s it.

“Alternate facts” do not exist. There is reality and everything else is a false reality.

Gladu hiding behind her ignorance regarding which medical professional to believe is garbage and a clear sign Solomon is giving her a pass.

The lies are killing people. Unnecessarily putting lives at risk. Journalists need to grow a backbone. Put down the kid gloves.

Gladu needs to be publicly humiliated when she makes such egregious statements.

It’s irrelevant that Q’Anon and evangelical religious zealots are the CPC voter base. It’s repugnant that Gladu chooses to feed ignorance by gaslighting the CPC base.

Gladu isn’t dumb. An IQ test isn’t required to restrict public service to technocrats. But populism has consequences. Populists tell their supporters what they want to hear. Not what they need to hear.

So why are conservatives pandering to populist demands and public ignorance? What is CPC attempting?

To remove all faith & trust in Canadian institutions. To remove legitimate authority.

Ultimately if you have no trust, democracy dies.

Without truth & fact, democracy dies.

But to acknowledge this truth, you must first recognize CPC has abandoned democracy. That’s where people are getting stuck. They want to believe in Canadian exceptionalism. But we aren’t exceptional. Authoritarianism and fascism can happen anywhere people choose lies over truth.