A Battle of “Experts”
Amidst all of the shenanigans between Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci, more statistics seem to be bandied about. Some of them are actually thought provoking and deserve some exploration. Paul has taken it upon himself to be the fly in Fauci’s ointment. At every step of the way he has been there to question his findings and disagree with his conclusions. After all, he’s a doctor. Despite popular belief, he is still licensed to practice as an ophthalmologist. I guess he has that going for him.
This is where we get bogged down into the small details of pitting one expert against another. See, Rand Paul did go to medical school. I’m sure he did take classes in immunology. He probably knows more than the average bear. Yet, when compared with a medical doctor that has spent the past four plus decades studying immunology exclusively there can be no real comparison.
The numbers I saw last night would allow you to question all of this. In 2018, the world death rate was 0.76 percent. That was the same death rate as 2019 and the same as 2020. That nugget of information would lead one to believe that COVID hasn’t impacted the world population at all. I suppose if we looked at this through a vacuum we’d close the book and move on.
Sadly though, we don’t live in the world. We live in the United States. In the United States, death rates have not been level. When one looks at the world rates for just COVID we see something else entirely. Sure, there are disputes about how deaths should be counted, but these deaths are counted the same way around the world and they have yielded very clear results.
So, two things are clear based on the data we do see. First, the overall mortality rate IN THE UNITED STATES has gone up since COVID has been a thing. So, releasing world data is nice, but that demonstrates that most of the world has gotten this thing under control. That’s because when health experts in those countries have proposed ways to get the virus under control, the people in those countries actually listened.
There are nearly eight billion people in the world. The U.S. population represents around four percent of that total. Basic math tells us that the mortality rate would really need to spike in the U.S. for it to have a dent in the overall world mortality rate. This is especially true when we consider that things like masking and heightened hygiene have decreased the amount of flu deaths we normally have and probably improved health on the other end.
Fauci already has earned his keep and faith in his expertise. In addition to all of the potential disasters he has helped prevent in the intervening decades, he had to listen to Trump prattle on with his nonsense for over a year. One can forgive him if he loses his cool even this one time.
So, we can debate whether we should count people who die because of COVID or whether people die with COVID. We can argue as if those verbs, pronouns, and adjectives even matter. The point is that an expert that has been doing this for going on 50 years tells us it matters. Sure, he could be wrong I guess. Science continually improves itself throughout time. If you are prepared to take the word of an eye doctor over him then you take your life into your own hands. Good luck.
Sigh……the world is full of dullards….Paul being one of them.
1I would love to see Fauci sue some of these jerks who endanger the lives of his family. Do to Paul what JJ’s son did to alex jones.
Is it something in your water down there? You seem to have more than your fair share.
2I contend that Paul is not really a doctor. He may have gone to school but did he meet all requirements? If so, is he board certified? You know – little things like that!
3The dumbest of my two Kansas Senators, Roger Marshall, also a “doctor,” though one I would never consult if I needed one (my vet would be so much better) had a tense exchange with Dr. Fauci yesterday. Dr. F. Was heard to mutter “what a moron … Jesus Christ!” afterward, not knowing or probably even caring that his mike was on.
Although morons are plentiful in Kansas, Marshall is probably the dumbest, except maybe for Kris Kobach, who is in a category of his own,
4Maggie @3, here is what Snopes has to say about that board certification thing:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rand-paul-ophthalmologist/
5Runt Paul couldn’t pass the Sleepy Ben Carson ‘standard’ as to who is a doctor. Practice and diploma aside, would any of you consider having yourself or a family member treated by either of those two? … and the needle points to: not a doctor.
Whereas with Dr. Fauci even without the benefit of a face to face examination, if and when he declares covid vaccines safe for the under 5 kids, Jane and I will have our boys vaccinated. Before anyone clubs us like seal pups, let it be said this will also occur in consult with their pediatrician and a physical exam.
6Mike in MO beat me to it. Here’s a guy who thinks it’s unfair to expect someone who’s going to do surgery on eyes to show he’s competent in the latest science and techniques in the field. I suspect very few “grandfathered” ophthalmologists from
71992 are still practicing.
He may have done well in med school and his residency but he’s an asshole with bad judgement and a chip on his shoulder. I wouldn’t let him take my pulse.
And remember, no medical specialist in Kentucky is required to be certified by their professional organization. May be the same in other states, too.
What I think is hilarious is that the “do your own research” crowd really doesn’t get it. They aren’t really doing their own research. They don’t have a control group and an experimental group and then conduct a scientific experiment. They aren’t doing a comprehensive literature review in Scholarly journals to see what the established science is. They couldn’t look at a single published experiment and tell you why the methodology is good or bad on that particular study.
So, what do they do? They simply find someone that says what they think is true and then trust that said person knows what they are talking about. It could be a YouTube person. It could be their cousin Fredo down at the Meglomart. It could be people from their church group that heard from somewhere that the vaccine does something or did something to their cousin’s friend’s brother’s roommate.
All of this is regards to disregarding the statements of experts in the field. So, eventually you get to a question. Do you trust experts in the field or do you trust someone you know that seems like they know what they’re talking about? That’s how this “do your own research” ends up working out. It involves taking what the experts say, setting that down, and then finding whatever jackass you can that says something different. That’s what counts as research these days.
8There’s more than one way an ophthalmologist can be blind.
9May they all eventually get nominated and awarded their very own Herman Cain Award, “Awarded…posthumously”.
Special accolades for all the Rand Paul Rethug types.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/
10Thanks Mike in MO! I kinda thought there was something hinky about this guy! Real doctors just don’t behave the way he does. They are too damn busy doing real honest to God doctor stuff.
11No problem Maggie.
12I strongly suspect Rand Paul is a competent eye doctor, even with the BS’ing.
13I just got a double cataract operation from the senior eye surgeon at Kaiser Oakland. Whole new viewpoint,
Now I can drive at night, without glasses.
Ormand,
Glad the surgeries worked. I have had both eyes done myself, but not at the same time. It’s mind blowing to see the difference before and after.
Enjoy it while you can, it most likely will fade some with time, especially if you keep staring at computer screens like I have. Mine did.
God knows, you need all the visual help you can get driving in Oakland . I’ve only been there once, on a Thursday afternoon at 3:00 in August , on I 80 and it was lunacy. Somehow, I suspect Dr. Paul isn’t up to the abilities of your Dr. or he would still be doing surgeries.
14It just occurred to me that Insurrection Barbie should be set up on a date with Qanon Shaman. They would be a well matched couple based on their wardrobe choices alone.
15