The Second Wave is Here…But It’s Not A Virus
Updated
Already you can see an attempt to condition Americans to fear a second wave of the coronavirus. It’s getting trotted out as one explanation why tech companies need to embed Chinese-style surveillance into our societal fabric forevermore.
It’s also a reason officials, aided by panicked corporate media headlines, put facts and data aside to target states that have chosen to reopen. The narrative being spun is to cast them as irresponsible and ignorant.
Not much reporting about Germany, however, where no evidence of a second wave has emerged after its lockdown began to lift, according to The Telegraph. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a surprise announcement that playgrounds, zoos and museums would be allowed to reopen as government figures showed no evidence of a second wave.
After Merkel’s announcement, the reproduction number, or “R” (how many people an infected person passes the virus) rose above government targets to 1.0 last Monday, after dropping for weeks. A fear-driven corporate media and some health officials seized the information of evidence of a second wave.
But not so fast…
The Telegraph writes:
“The rise was little more than a statistical blip within normal fluctuation rates, according to Prof Lothar Wieler of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI)…As if in confirmation, on Wednesday the R number fell to 0.75 — its lowest level in more than a week — and it is now at 0.76.”
Despite all the good news and favorable indicators, some U.S. governors are doubling down on their stay-at-home orders. This is testing the patience of The People as government leaders suggest a shutdown that will extend into late May, June, July and in some states, indefinitely.
In mid April, peaceful protests begin popping up in cities across America. There was escalating anger at the extended lockdowns and authoritarian policies of state governors. Plus crippling unemployment numbers – over 30 million jobless as of this week. The protests experienced a brief respite in anticipation, as shelter-in-place—what U.S. Attorney General William Barr called “disturbing close to house arrest” —order expirations approached.
Texas, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia allowed their stay-at-home orders to expire on April 30 against a headwind of corporate media venom. South Carolina, Florida, Kansas, Missouri announced they would be allowing orders to expire this week [Monday]. Several other states moved into a ‘Safer-at-Home’ phase which is essentially a relaxed version of the stay-at-home orders.
Then there were some states that didn’t. Thus it turned out America’s second wave came not from a virus, but in the form of larger public protests.
California protests exploded in the face of an obviously humiliated Gov. Newsom who, in a petulant move many are calling an overreach, closed Orange County state parks and beaches due to heavily publicized overcrowding.
But every action earns a reaction. Police estimate that between 2,500 and 3,000 people gathered near the popular pier in Huntington Beach on Friday to protest the decision. Police on horseback created a perimeter to contain the crowd
In response, the city council of Huntington Beach has voted to mount a legal challenge against embattled and increasingly angry Gov. Newsom, and the city of Dana Point is pursuing a temporary restraining order against both the vaccine-pushing governor and the state.
Simultaneously, at the state capital in Sacramento, another brushfire of protest broke out: 32 people arrested.
After launching the largest initial protest at Michigan state capital in Lansing against draconian Gov. Gretchen Whitmer weeks ago, state residents mirrored California’s pushback in a second go round of protests. On Friday, the governor signed another executive order, terminating the old state of emergency and replacing it with a new one lasting through May 28.
President Trump, who tweeted ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ during its first round of mid-April protests again:
The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2020
Popular Conservative voice Candace Owens also took to Twitter voicing her views to her over two million followers:
“Apparently [Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer] believes she is a duly elected dictator of a socialist country,” Owens had tweeted. “The people of Michigan need to stand up to her. Open your businesses. Go to work.”
Owens’ tweet resulted in a suspension of her account:
And what would widespread American civil disobedience be without the chutzpah of New York City?
Last week a mass gathering saw thousands of mourners outside the Williamsburg funeral service for Chaim Mertz, a prominent rabbi in the community. Clutching his pearls, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio took to Twitter, immediately and needlessly igniting controversy:
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
The tweet activated more than 100 clergy and Jewish leaders, along with New York State elected officials, to sign a letter to Mayor de Blasio, expressing anger and disappointment at what they called his “scapegoating” of the Jewish community.
Days later, chaos unfolded amid heavy NYPD presence in the Hasidic Jewish neighborhood.
More protests are planned for May, in Wilmington, Delaware; Concord, New Hampshire; Carson City, Nevada; and in cities all across California.
It seems like a simple IF/THEN equation. The greater the length of lockdown extensions ordered by State Governors is directly proportional to likelihood of mass sustained protests by their populations in opposition and defiance.
With extensions reaching into late May—and even indefinitely in some states—could May be the month of record American protests, the likes of which haven’t been seen in this country since the 1960’s?