COVID-19: Astroturfing the "reopen" demonstrations

[ryoder 1,590]

I saw the Reddit thread a couple days ago, but this is an easier read:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/whos-behind-the-reopen-domain-surge/

[Phil1111 1,149]

So the usual pack of miscreants, PAC's and religious lobbyists." majority of them are tied to various gun rights groups, state Republican Party organizations, and conservative think tanks, religious and advocacy groups."

All seeking to conceal political objectives. Instead of "Throw the old, infirm and weak under the bus of the economy. We need four more years of trump" dot com

Good job tracking that down.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

And now commentary on immigration. It has nothing to do with risk, public safety or any economic reasons. It is simply because Trump needs a boogeyman and his supporters hate non-white immigrants, match made.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Well, Kentucky was the first to have these.

Now they are seeing a spike in infections. 
Go figure.

It will be interesting to see what the next 10 days or so brings to the places that had those protests.

[ryoder 1,590]

9 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

And now commentary on immigration. It has nothing to do with risk, public safety or any economic reasons. It is simply because Trump needs a boogeyman and his supporters hate non-white immigrants, match made.

Wait...are you telling me people aren't clamoring to get into the country with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world??? 

[JerryBaumchen 1,363]

32 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

Now they are seeing a spike in infections. 

Hi Joe,

To be expected.  No tears from me.

Jerry Baumchen

[Phil1111 1,149]

28 minutes ago, ryoder said:

Wait...are you telling me people aren't clamoring to get into the country with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world??? 

They worked in two elections so far. "Mob rule. A socialist takeover. imperil the social safety net, raise taxes Terrorists marching on the U.S. border." Soon the border wall will have to be finally finished. Because MS-13 terrorists with links to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State,HRC, all from African "shithole" countries, all with C-19, Ebola, chronic wasting and flesh eating disease. Are flooding to the border.

His base spurred on by sermons on Sundays will swallow it all up.

[ryoder 1,590]

[facepalm]

[timski 80]

5 minutes ago, ryoder said:

[facepalm]

blessing in disguise? Let the herd thin itself (while the rest of us do the right things.)   

[billvon 2,991]

3 minutes ago, timski said:

blessing in disguise? Let the herd thin itself (while the rest of us do the right things.)   

Unfortunately it won't work like that.

How it would work in reality:

• 100 idiots show up for the rally; gather close and yell at each other.  The five infected people then infect 40 people there.
• Those people go home and tell their friends what MAGA patriots they are.  Their friends get infected.
• One of those friends works at Mission of the Immaculate retirement home, less than 2 miles from the demonstration.
• Half the residents there get sick and die.  They are not diagnosed with COVID because they die before they can get tested.
• One of those 100 idiots, a month later, does an interview and say "See?  It was all a lie!  I didn't get sick."

The one bit of good news in this case is that no one showed up for this rally other than the cops.  Perhaps the idiots saw the cops and thought "I don't want to get arrested?"  If so, GO NYPD!

 

 

[timski 80]

6 minutes ago, billvon said:

If so, GO NYPD!

Bill,

       I missed the location! Believe me friend, I'm fully aware of the implications of not taking this seriously. I'm kinda working on the front lines...

~Fireman Tim

 

[billvon 2,991]

I can't help but consider that if Russia and/or China wants to take another chunk out of US power, their best avenue right now would be to pour money into troll farms that push reopening the economy.  That way death rates spike - and Americans blame their own government.  It's a two for one.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

43 minutes ago, billvon said:

I can't help but consider that if Russia and/or China wants to take another chunk out of US power, their best avenue right now would be to pour money into troll farms that push reopening the economy.  That way death rates spike - and Americans blame their own government.  It's a two for one.

There is a distinct centralized effort in these protests. No idea if Russia and China are involved, but as you point out it would be smart of them to do so. We do know that any attempt to look into that will be ridiculed by "patriots".

[turtlespeed 220]

1 hour ago, SkyDekker said:

There is a distinct centralized effort in these protests. No idea if Russia and China are involved, but as you point out it would be smart of them to do so. We do know that any attempt to look into that will be ridiculed by "patriots".

Not at all.  Look into it.

Look just as hard into the actual cause of the virus' release.

[ryoder 1,590]

1 hour ago, SkyDekker said:

There is a distinct centralized effort in these protests. No idea if Russia and China are involved, but as you point out it would be smart of them to do so. We do know that any attempt to look into that will be ridiculed by "patriots".

More likely Russia than China. It would be dumb of China to cripple the customer that buys boatloads of manufactured goods from them.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

3 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

Look just as hard into the actual cause of the virus' release.

How have you already determined that the virus was "released"?

[tonyhays 86]

3 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Joe,

To be expected.  No tears from me.

Jerry Baumchen

 

[Coreece 190]

2 hours ago, SkyDekker said:

There is a distinct centralized effort in these protests. No idea if Russia and China are involved

The Michigan Protest was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/michiganconservativecoalition/posts/?ref=page_internal

[turtlespeed 220]

52 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

How have you already determined that the virus was "released"?

Probably a poor choice of words.

It was released from China.  The Chinese government allowed whomever it was that was patient 0 to leave China.

But yeah - probably a poor choice of words.

[kallend 2,027]

3 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

Probably a poor choice of words.

It was released from China.  The Chinese government allowed whomever it was that was patient 0 to leave China.

But yeah - probably a poor choice of words.

So when John Dillinger escaped from the Crown Point jail, he was in fact released.   

Got it.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

10 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

Probably a poor choice of words.

It was released from China.  The Chinese government allowed whomever it was that was patient 0 to leave China.

But yeah - probably a poor choice of words.

Don't think we have any idea who patient 0 was at this point, nor whether he or she ever left China. There is no doubt there are lessons to be learned here. Some countries seem to be learning them quicker than others.

All in all it would seem that those who rely on science, those who focus on what is needed now, those who lead are performing better than those who blame leaders from 3 years ago. But I guess it is more about the feels, right?

Edited April 21, 2020 by SkyDekker

[turtlespeed 220]

1 minute ago, SkyDekker said:

Don't think we have any idea who patient 0 was at this point, nor whether he or she ever left China. There is no doubt there are lessons to be learned here. Some countries seem to be learning them quicker than others.

All in all it would seem that those who rely on science, those who focus on what is needed now, those who lead are performing better than those who blame leaders from 3 years ago. But I guess it is more about the feels, right?

Why are you assuming Binary sexuality as the only options?!!? Non binary peoples cannot be patient zero?

Seriously, though, there has to be a balance. 

Eventually, the whole populace will be exposed to the virus. It's inevitable. All we can hope for right now, in sincerity is to keep the medical infrastructure from being overwhelmed.

In super congested places, like New York, an even stricter for of social distancing was called for, but never happened.  Why?  Wouldn't that have saved lives? They did what the balance would let them do.

they SHOULD have shut down the subways and all other public transportation.  That decision would have greatly improved the infection rate.  It probably wouldn't have been the most desirable decision. 

Why aren't people on the left screaming about harsher restrictions still in NY?  

The rest (or most) of the country is not NY though.  The shelter in place and social distancing has let the infrastructure adapt enough and at this moment, can handle a small increase in patients.  

If the numbers begin to rise more sharply than expected - adjust the levels of distancing again.

 

I can see why you would push back on the US trying to restart its economy.  If it happens too fast, then its a win for the leader you hate so much, and conversely, a win for his opponent if the economy tanks.

 

 

[SkyDekker 1,465]

24 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

I can see why you would push back on the US trying to restart its economy.  If it happens too fast, then its a win for the leader you hate so much, and conversely, a win for his opponent if the economy tanks.

I guess in the same way I can see how you are willing to sacrifice a few hundred thousand people just so your dear leader has a better chance at re-election.

[billvon 2,991]

28 minutes ago, turtlespeed said:

 

I can see why you would push back on the US trying to restart its economy.  If it happens too fast, then its a win for the leader you hate so much, and conversely, a win for his opponent if the economy tanks.

And I can see why you'd want to reopen.  Other people's deaths don't matter to you, and that way Biden gets hurt, which makes you happy.  Win-win for you.

[turtlespeed 220]

2 hours ago, billvon said:

And I can see why you'd want to reopen.  Other people's deaths don't matter to you, and that way Biden gets hurt, which makes you happy.  Win-win for you.

Not at all.  I'm not sure what you were insinuating.  I'm not hoping for any deaths.  The inevitability is there, though.

I believe you think that the number of deaths will change, somehow, the longer we draw it out.  That is a flawed assumption.

I think the number of deaths will be the same, it is just a different time line.

The time line you want would injure your political opponent, so it makes sense for you to advocate complete and total closure for as long as you think it is advantageous.