Conspiracy Theories Aren't Just For Right Wing Imbeciles

Pew took a look at the kinds of people most likely to believe that the pandemic was planned. Katherine Schaeffer reported that 71% of Americans "have heard of a conspiracy theory circulating widely online that alleges that powerful people intentionally planned the coronavirus outbreak. And a quarter of U.S. adults see at least some truth in it-- including 5% who say it is definitely true and 20% who say it is probably true, according to a June Pew Research Center survey. The share of Americans who see at least some truth to the theory differs by demographics and partisanship. Educational attainment is an especially important factor when it comes to perceptions of the conspiracy theory. Around half of Americans with a high school diploma or less education (48%) say the theory is probably or definitely true... That compares with 38% of those who have completed some college but have no degree, 24% of those with a bachelor’s degree and 15% of those with a postgraduate degree."

Partisan affiliation also plays a role in perceptions of the theory. About a third (34%) of Republicans and independents who lean to the GOP say the theory that powerful people intentionally planned the COVID-19 outbreak is probably or definitely true, compared with 18% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. It’s worth noting there is no significant difference in how likely partisans are to have heard at least a little about the theory: 72% of Republicans have heard of the claim, compared with 70% of Democrats.

Conservative Republicans are especially likely to see at least some truth in the theory: Roughly four-in-ten (37%) say it is probably or definitely true. This contrasts with 29% of moderate and liberal Republicans, 24% of moderate and conservative Democrats and 10% of liberal Democrats.

That said, make what you will out of the video above, circulating online among left-wingers.

The breakdown in accepted, shared societal "knowledge" is something that can be blamed on... you know who: the Orange Menace, who, like any authoritarian figure, needs to be able to define Truth or-- at the very least-- cast doubts on any shared vision of objective reality. Trump's been working on that kind of manipulative tactics for his entire public life.

Yesterday, CNN reported that "Trump's new political self-preservation effort to show he has a grip on a pandemic that is killing hundreds of Americans every day is being exposed by his refusal to share the stage with scientific experts-- or the facts. On a day that laid bare his refashioned campaign strategy, Trump... tried to show he is managing the fight against Covid-19 after weeks of neglect. [The putrid Orange Mance] has been flailing for days, as a vicious surge in infections races across the sunbelt, caused in part by governors who heeded his calls to open states before the pathogen was suppressed."

The anchor of Trump's new, punchier briefings is a scripted opening in which he cherry picks the most hopeful aspects of a pandemic that has destroyed the rhythm of American daily life and turned the economy upside down. Wednesday was yet another tragic day, with another 1,195 new deaths and 71,695 fresh infections.

In his two briefings so far, his rejigged approach seems more like a cosmetic political exercise than an attempt to provide the country with meaningful public health advice as the pandemic gets worse.

And the new tone detected by some political commentators did not survive a Fox News interview in which the President again doubted the value of diagnostic testing, which scientists say is crucial to isolating newly infected patients and stopping the spread of the disease.

...Trump, however, went on to make misleading statements that would never have been uttered by a public health expert but that he seems to think are politically helpful. He blamed migrants from Mexico crossing the closed border for causing a spike in cases, along with young people attending anti-racism protests.

The President also claimed that kids with strong immune systems don't bring the coronavirus home and that all schools can open in the fall. He did not provide any scientific evidence for the assertion or explain, for instance, why children who often pick up the flu and colds in class would not be at similar risk for transmitting the coronavirus.

And yet again, Trump claimed falsely that the United States is doing "amazing things" in comparison to other countries as it fights the virus. In fact, the US lags fellow highly industrialized nations in suppressing infection curves and leads the world in infections and deaths.

...Trump's approach to managing the virus-- that tends to put his own political interests ahead of science-based reasoning-- extends to reopening schools, which he wants to do so that the country will look like it's back to some semblance of normality ahead of the fall election.

But experts disagree with his calls.

..."He wants to open the schools, regardless of what the science says. And the science is pretty clear. If you open schools in areas or school districts where there's a high level of virus transmissions, say if you were going to do this in Houston today or San Antonio or Phoenix, it will fail," said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University.

"It will fail because not only are the kids transmitting the virus but adults, vendors are going in and out of the schools," Hotez said on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

"What will happen within two weeks, teachers will start going into the hospitals, going into ICUs. It'll be bus drivers, cafeteria workers and parents will start getting sick. It's untenable. It's not sustainable."

So Trump finally cancels the live GOP convention in Charlotte Jacksonville... while insisting that in-person schools must be opened.