The most maddening part of mass Covid denial is you’re treated like a raving hypochondriac if you do literally anything to protect yourself and your family from playing Russian roulette with a virus that wants to wreck you at the cellular level.
I’d like to thank all the people who’ve made this possible despite the fact that I’m one of exactly 23 humans still masking, avoiding indoor dining, and bringing portable HEPAs everywhere I go.
First it was you do you. Now we’ve reached the stage where Covid denial requires total assimilation. If you’re still masking or taking any precautions, you’re a threat because you remind the masses of something they desperately want to deny and ignore.
There’s an effort in utah to revise history and push a narrative that our fair state’s Covid-19 response has been exemplary. Permit me to connect some dots that reveal another reality. (Thread)
Utah friends, can we talk about Natalie Cline, Utah Parents United, and the growing lack of respect these people demonstrate in forcing their fringe agenda down our throats? 🧵
@spidadmitchell
To be clear, this $10mm would be for my children because I would die immediately from complex cranial implosion disorder. So, yeah, for my kids. 🙏😵
At the SLC airport, where about 5% of travelers are masked and maybe 1 in 10 people I encounter on the shuttle or I the airport are persistently coughing and unmasked. Excited to add this new dimension to Airport Hell.
I learned during this pandemic that probably 80% of Utahns cannot (will not?) differentiate between matters of fact and opinion. If anything, they invert the two.
Just blocked a piece of shit who wanted to lecture me about not being “obsessed” with Covid while my young, healthy, fully vaccinated daughter cries and struggles to breathe thanks to Covid. So line up with the idiotic comments of you want to get blocked tonight.
It truly is remarkable to live through a mass dissociative event. 1. Mass trauma 2. Mass denial 3. Mass dissociation. Any lingering reminders will be yeeted out of polite society.
“Omg I can’t believe Natalie Cline did something so awful” said nobody who’s paid attention to Natalie Cline.
The time to deal with Cline was the first time she used her public office to push violent fringe ideologies. There will be more Clines because we allow it.
I wish we’d stop using California as a straw man to stop people from thinking.
You know what California’s biggest problems are? Housing, transportation, and (depending on where you are) air quality.
You know what Utah’s biggest problems are?
When people here in Utah or in other states say that we don’t want to be like California this is what we’re talking about! 👇
California has lots of failed policies and this is certainly a big one.
i dont think the majority of Utahns realize that cafeteria workers are literally sent around like debt collectors, interrupting the instructional time of literal SEVEN year olds so they can distribute lunch bill envelopes to kids. its’s horrible. lunch should be free for all kids
@SharonGF_NBCT
Utah was founded by Mormons, thrived because of Mormons, and you’re only here because Mormons. Thats why only Utah celebrates days of 47. We remember those that founded this great state.
Just so we’re clear…
Both the state of utah and LDS church have the resources to fix the great salt lake problem *this year* so it’s just a matter of will at this point.
We could have used the trillions we printed to fight Covid to create a fantastic new infrastructure for fighting airborne pathogens. Instead we’re getting a bigger military-police complex.
@Captain__Moroni
I’m not worried about the acute illness. It’s what SARS-2 can do over time (and after the acute disease phase is over) to our organs, nervous system, brain and immune system that concern me.
Partisan politics and perverse economic incentives still have their roles. But I think the mass psychology of unprocessed trauma is the larger factor right now. I’ve had many experiences that point to this.
This just happened at my kids’ middle school. Luckily the principal was alerted and the cops got involved. The other kid on this text thread told everyone to stay home because he worried this little punk was going to shoot up the school.
This is in utah county.
Guys, we really need broad-based media literacy education. Whatever you think of Vice, the reporting on the Tim Ballard / OUR expose is strong. High number of facts per second, well sourced, disciplined. Much of the information is culled from the Davis county investigation.
“If you don’t hate this man and join us in our internet scarlet letter campaign against him and his family then that means you are evil Kwaku!!”
Basically how my mentions look right now. The VICE worshippers act in such a way that it makes me side w Tim Ballard even more.
It offends me at the atomic level that anyone would intimate that 4,500 dead Utahns is anything other than an abject tragedy. How we talk about this matters.
We have at least 1.5x the entire 9/11 death toll in utah and we are bragging about it? If these Utahns had died fighting in war, or from a plane crash or earthquake we would put up a monument, not use them as political capital.
@JessicaLexicus
I works with a non-profit and my kids’ principals to get HEPAs in every classroom and yet none were turned on and running at back to school night 🙈
@SpencerJCox
Worthwhile for us to sit with this part of the letter: “[I] have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate…who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”
@MichelleLQuist
@optoutdoorsgirl
@SpencerJCox
@SenMikeLee
This is why I, once a Cox supporter, can’t take him seriously anymore. One minute he’s talking about appealing to our “better angels” and putting down partisan pitchforks, then next he does stuff like this. Over and over and over.
My 13yo daughter described “utah mom” thusly:
- Stanley mug
- bleached blonde hair pulled up in a messy pony
- wearing tights, just came from Vasa where she ‘bounced on an exercise ball for an hour’
I’m really struggling with this right now. I feel betrayed by how so many in utah have treated this pandemic. I see so much willful ignorance an apathy towards others. I barely recognize my state. I don’t feel at home here anymore.
Take care everyone. I hope you find some comfort, some peace, and some sources of renewal. Don’t give up on people entirely and don’t give up on yourself.
We need sensible utah parents to push back on Cline and UPU with coordinated effort and, importantly, mature, adult tactics. One way to do that is to join
@CC_Utah
, where we stand for compassion, reason, and integrity. Jump onboard. /end
There’s a very specific mental illness infecting this country, and it’s obsession with guns and violence. It’s way beyond time to put serious regulations on guns. This is happening every damn day.
This post is not my finest moment. Tweeters pointed out this man is likely wearing compression socks to reduce the risk of blood.l clots while traveling, which I applaud. I thought about deleting but I’m going to own it and be better.
I’m glad to see bipartisan denunciation of Natalie Cline. But here’s the thing: it’s been obvious for a long time that she’s poisonous. We shouldn’t need something so dangerously over the top to galvanize folks against a truly depraved person in public office.
i think it’s good that that Spencer Cox & Deidre Henderson denounced Natalie Cline—time for the
#utleg
to unite as well & stand up for kids & impeach Natalie Cline. she’s a danger to Utah’s children
Meals on Wheels in my area can’t get consistent volunteer help right now due to Covid. Elderly people missing meals is another subtle but insidious consequence of letting the virus run wild.
We need to pay attention to the style, to the tactics. This is adult bullying, full stop. And these stylistic cues should tel us something about the substance of these people’s agendas. If their arguments are so compelling, why the need to scream, rattle sabers, and bulldoze?
Y’all still sure Covid is over? Are you going to feign shock when the waves of longterm disability become clear, as they did with AIDS four decades ago? We going to wait that long to face facts?
On indoor air quality, the state has a massive budget surplus and expiring federal money that could make a huge difference in schools. I haven’t heard a single word of encouragement from public officials to get this done.
@RobertGehrke
As
@utahbayou
pointed out, folks in Utah already have to show a “passport” to enter a bar and it includes your height, weight, eye color, ad donor status.
“Utah’s educational system does not exist to rewrite history through the lens of wokeness.”
@RepChrisStewart
clearly you have no idea how whitewashed American History curriculum is.
Thankfully I haven’t tripped many land mines on this app, but I have to say the D*zNat crowd is truly, irredeemably horrible. Just insufferable, gross human beings.
@NateForUtah
What misinformation? That the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan? That ivermectin was effective? That long term shutdowns were counter productive? That the shot was not safe or effective? Elaborate.
Gutted. Two weeks in, we get a notice four days after exposure. No clear plans for what we are supposed to do next. I’m angry and worried and don’t know what to do. We need leadership now, not tomorrow or next week
@GovCox
@BradWilsonGOP
@JStuartAdams
The CDC pushing that
#EXTREMEmasker
agenda in order to *checks notes* oh yeah slow the spread, protect the vulnerable, prevent ICU overflow, and deny the virus more chances to mutate. Radicals.
#DeltaVariant
surging in U.S. New data show Delta much more contagious than previous versions of
#COVID19
. Unvaccinated people: get vaccinated & mask until you do. Everyone in areas of substantial/high transmission should wear a mask, even if vaccinated.
We know now that Covid is connected with a host of longterm maladies including organ damage, cognitive decline, and even new autoimmune disorders. So if you let Covid rip, you’re passing on a legacy of chronic disease to future generations and policymakers.
@JeffStenquist
My school-aged kids are paying for the sins of our lawmakers, who overstepped their authority last spring with SB 195 and HB 1007. Lots of pots and kettles right now, and you’re messing with my kids’ health, sir. Pick another political football.
Last year utah required masks in schools and we led the nation in our response to the winter surge. This year the
#utleg
passed a law restricting mask orders in schools and we have one of the worst covid surges in the nation. This is not freedom. It’s captivity.
@jkimballcook
@ATrumpublican
A government mask mandate would not have allowed it. Think about it. Freedom works. Kids can still wear masks to school, we didn’t ban them.
My daughter who’s in first grade puts stuffed animals by the back door so they’re waiting for her when she gets home from school. Just thinking how sad it’ll be when she stops doing this. 🥺
Problem is, once we blew through the gates, and the national narratives around Covid shifted away from mitigation and toward anti-science conspiracy, the state plan shifted the goal posts and changed the success metrics until there eventually was no public written plan at all.
We homeschooled our kids last year b/c covid uncertainty and Swiss cheese plans from the state and school board. Now, my kids are desperate to go back. They deserve to return to school in a safe environment. We have all the tools. Those who won’t mask can homeschool this year.
@JazzfanJustin
Parents can home school. Parents can choose an online option. Parents can mask up their own kids with cloth, N95 or KN95. And 99.995% of the kids who contract COVID-19 will recover. We actually lost more children to the flu in 2018/19 than we have to the coronavirus in 2020/21.
@GovCox
@POTUS
I say this with as much restraint as a very angry father of at-risk kids can muster: pick another political footbal. Stop playing games with public health. No more, sir.
First, a disclaimer. I don’t want to dunk on politicians or disparage my home state. I love utah and want to celebrate our successes. But because I love this state I can’t abide blatant attempts to mischaracterize what’s happening here.
Now, various state officials have been pushing the story that Utah’s Covid response has been nation-leading because we have a relatively low death rate. This is both a conflation of correlation vs causation and a justification of policies that are at best unserious.
On a flight from Oakland to SLC and the poor flight attendants are complaining that they’ve never had to give more passengers (including adults) repeated warnings to wear a mask.
#utahproud
On masking we went from Herbert saying “my mask protects you, your mask protects me” to Gov Cox coining the term “extreme maskers” and speaking with overt disdain for masking in official briefings. Our good Governor once said to not be a jerk about masking. It’s a tool.
Utah entered the pandemic with structural advantages with regard to death rate: youngest population, low incidence of smoking etc, low population density.
Nothing we can do about it, time to learn to live with wrong-way drivers. If you’re concerned, buckle up and make sure your airbags are working properly. The rest of us aren’t going to live in fear.
In today’s edition of Multiple Things Can Be True:
I don’t want the national guard enforcing Covid precautions but the state government has absolutely failed in its pandemic response - in almost every conceivable way.
Prodded by people screaming in public meetings, the state legislature passed its endgame legislation last spring, making it nearly impossible for local authorities to enact mask requirements in schools. When SLCO made it work legally, the legislature turned the screws.
Days before our
@KSLInvestigates
team goes to court to fight for your right to see Utah AG Sean Reyes’ work calendar, lawmakers advanced a bill to ensure those records stay secret in the future.
I’ll see you at 10 with this report on
@KSL5TV
#Utpol
#Utleg
On vaccination, you have our senate President publicity talking about monoclonal antibodies almost as a replacement for vaccination and the state joining a federal lawsuit against vaccine mandates. These things send a clear anti-vax message.
FINALLY! Just in time for the winter COVID surge, the CDC now has a useful wastewater dashboard.
It indicates that nationally COVID wastewater levels are HIGH and rising further.
You can access the dashboard here:
@HFentonMudd
@CoastalMask_Cat
I have been feeling a little sick, yes. That’s why I tested. I’ve heard of false negative but not false positives. Have you seen that happen?
I’m in DC for meetings and I noticed the places where congressional members and staff meet with constituents and lobbyists have excellent ventilation and these wall-mounted HEPA/UV germicidal units. That’s smart. We need similar infrastructure in our schools, workplaces, churches
Regardless, we need to learn from the recent past and insist on truthful narratives vs wishful thinking and revisionist history. We have more big challenges ahead and we need serious efforts and real leadership to deal with them all. (End.)
NOW: Utah Senate is suspending the rules ahead of an expected debate on overturning the Salt Lake County mask mandate. Democrats oppose doing that, but the rules are suspended anyway.
#utpol
On testing, we went from then Lt Gov Cox pushing testing and tracing hard in the spring of 2020 to now Gov Cox literally telling people not to get tested a few weeks ago. As of April 1, many testing sites will be shut down and reporting will slow to a trickle. Flying blind.
Importantly, the state’s posture has been one of personal responsibility, which makes no sense during a punch health crisis. It’s fundamentally the wrong framework.
"If we had people update their buildings every three years, we'd put people out of business."
State Fire Marshall Ted Black needs to find a new line of work. He found every excuse in the book to justify building poisoning 50+ people.
Style matters. We live in a time where rewards accrue to the loudest, shrillest, and often most obscene voices. We need to push back hard on this trend.
Back to death rates, the basis for our claims of utah exceptionalism. I still can’t believe there’s anything other than reverence and humility around dead Utahns. We have at least 4,500 lost souls (some excess death estimates suggest that number could be 3X).
This kind of gaslighting of healthcare workers by the very people who created the awful conditions forcing many to quit is totally unacceptable. We need long memories come election time.
I made a comment to my kids about wearing a mask to keep us safe, and my SIX YEAR OLD reminded me “masks keep other people safe, which is just as important mom”.
The kids are all right.
All the folks who bray about being tough in the face of threats to kids need to take a seat unless they’re pushing for real accountability for Cline. This isn’t about canceling someone for a bad take. It’s about accountability for systematic bad behavior that put kids at risk.