I’m the proud “alum” of Grovetown Elementary School – home of the Chickenhawks. Why we had a mascot, I’ll never understand; we had no athletic program with varsity or junior varsity teams, nor were we even a feeder school for a middle or high school with a Rooster/Gamecock mascot, but I digress.
Being a “graduate” of that little school from the 1980s meant a profound appreciation – admiration even – for the towering principal, Wayne Hardy, with his booming baritone voice and even-keeled temperament. It means, for most of us, anyway, we survived classes with the tough-as-nails, cynically wry Ellen Lewis.
He’s just “Wayne” to me now; she’s just “Ellen.” I know it’s maybe more polite to still refer to them as “Mr. Hardy” and “Mrs. Lewis,” but they refer to me on social media by my first name, and when we get into any sort of heated political dialogue, I prefer evening the playing field.
You see both are Trump enthusiasts, and that’s fine; I, of course, am not.
What’s alarming to me, though, is how shockingly deluded both have shown themselves to be; it’s hard, after all, to be cognizant of data, facts, math and science while still being a Trump enthusiast. It just is. Wayne’s become less combative since the election, and he and are Facebook “friends” and show mutual respect with each other more often than not. Ellen Lewis and I, though, aren’t connected on social media, and it’s likely for the. best. You’ll see why shortly.
My sister – also a Trump enthusiast – Friday, offered on Facebook the following summation:
“The “President Elect” announced once he is inaugurated, he is going to ask everyone to wear mask for just 100 days and then stated it’s just 100 days!!! Where has he been the past 9 months?!?!? Oh yeah, he may not remember what all has transpired the past 9 months!!!
Bless it! What a shame!”
Of course I responded with stark reality.
Then came my former sixth grade science teacher, Ellen Lewis.
“Is this the week that masks are important and work? Perhaps, it’s next week that they are important to wear. It’s so hard to keep up with which side is in vogue at any given point in time. I don’t think that the paper masks that folks are wearing do anything at all. The virus is smaller than the weave of the fiber, “according to the latest experts”. Can you run the stats on the deaths without masks in comparison to how many die because the vaccine manufacturers have only quoted 90% and 95% effective? Floppy Joe is welcome to ask, but he cannot require.”
That’s right; my sixth grade SCIENCE teacher is a mask-denying cynic. I’m hastily copying and pasting the rest of this mentally jarring conversation – with my SIXTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER – so that I’m not alone in my concern for what our colleges and universities are (or at least were) offering our pubic schools with teaching degrees in-hand.
ME: Ellen you were a science teacher once so I’ll give you a scientific study done to show that masks do indeed have an impact. Of course the paper masks aren’t 100% effective. Condoms aren’t either. But wear one around someone else wearing one and y’all try to spit on one another and tell me who wets each other’s chins first. Try to blow out a candle with one. They’re better than nothing. (Kansas University study: Do Masks Matter in Kansas?
EL: The last study I saw at the beginning of the week, said that masks don’t really work. No one has a true handle on Covid- 19, but I am a cynic and see nothing but politics and control in this anyway. Although there could be someone I’d think about spitting “at”, I don’t plan on experimenting with it. I do know that when I did try a mask, it fogged my glasses, chapped my lips, and kept me breathless, since I couldn’t breathe wearing it. I have rotten sinus congestion. That was the end of the mask for me. Hmmm, blow a candle out? I’d probably set the paper mask on fire, if I tried that. Lovely graphics in the study, but I don’t think we will engage in “dueling” studies, but I will leave you with something from a professor I had. When I was taking at statistics course to complete the Phd, I had a great professor who gave the class a caveat on the first day of the semester. He said to always keep in mind that we can prove anything we want, take any position, and use the same data to reach opposite sides of a question. I can tell you that his comment certainly shocked my anal retentive, black and white twist on proving everything.
ME: Ellen oh trust me, I’m well aware folks can make studies say whatever they want, but I highly doubt Kansas University has a dog in the fight. Nor does the CDC or NIH or WHO. I hate wearing masks too. They doc my glasses up and remind me what I had for lunch way more than I’d like to admit; but I also hate that we’re on pace to hit 300,000 dead Americans before the end of 2020 and with two senior in-laws and a father with congenital heart failure (who says his doctor told him under no uncertain terms Covid WOULD kill him), it’s a small sacrifice to deal with.
EL: Ron, the CDE and NIH are both run by career Democrats, Redfield and Fauci. No dog in the hunt? They are in it up to their hairlines. WHO is in bed with the Chinese who were instrumental in getting Tedrous, the “person they wanted” to head the agency. Did I mention I am a cynic? I don’t have info about KU, but am willing to make a side bet on where their loyalties are. I understand the fragility of the elderly and those with at-risk side problems. I have four all on my own, but those who are in danger, should take precautions. Once we took the overload off the hospitals we should have opened back up and not destroyed the economy. Did the experts really think that Covid was going to take a trip in outer space and not be ready to infect people? Of course the numbers would go up. If we want to face this same problem forever, we have to establish herd immunity and/or have the vaccine, but hiding in the basement or other places doesn’t do that. It should have been allowed to run its course as long as we could handle those with severe needs. I’m a “glass full” kind of person and prefer to think of how many have it and survive. I’ve been keeping the death count and with my last update, we hadn’t even reached 1% of the population. I’ll do an update, but in my last count Covid was #3 on the list of deaths by the disease, beaten out by Heart problems and cancer.
ME: “scientists” and university scholars DO tend to be more liberal because science, data, facts and logic tend to have a liberal bias. Fauci has served for GOP and Democrat presidents. Never a complaint about him until BLOTUS came ambling into office with his paid-for college test scores and whatnot. If you’re a cynic, where pray tell is your cynicism for the greatest human fraud to occupy the highest office in our land? Our hospitals ARE overloaded again WITH our economy largely having been reopened most of the summer and fall, and had we done a better job not just plateauing our curve but instead flattening it, maybe we’d not be in the position we are now, where states are having to again shut down for human survival. ARTICLE: Sweden tried “herd immunity.” It was a failure.)
EL: You mean Obama, right? I saw that he was recently named the worst US president and they won’t get an argument out of me. Fauci was an active member and supporter of the Clinton Foundation and is a Democrat and best buddy of Hillary. It’s sort of like working to hold onto your bureaucratic job to keep the money coming in, you’ll work with anyone. My illogical dislike of him crew by leaps and bounds until he finally showed his desire for power is his main objective. A friend of mine was part of an MCG study and was infected with Covid. His doctor firmly believes in herd immunity and my own physician does too. The greatest hoax on the US will be a toss up between the Obama presidency and the scare tactics of Covid-19. I am looking for my data and will share with you as soon as I find it.
ME: Fauci has served in his current capacity since 1984. That’s St. Reagan the Infallible and two Bush administrations. I’m sure whatever right wing swill you aren’t cynical of would grade Obama so poorly but once again facts and data say the man who followed him was far worse. And this article – from pro-business usually very right wing Forbes – doesn’t even ACCOUNT for Covid. SOURCE: TRUMP’S ECONOMIC GROWTH IS SLOWER THAN OBAMA’S LAST 3 YEARS
EL: Did Obama have a Pandemic? Oh, no, he had the weakest recovery in history without a Pandemic Longevity doesn’t mean much in DC other than Fauci knows how to suck up to his bosses. He’s an arrogant twit for whom I lost respect months ago.
ME: Ellen, yes. Yes Obama did. Ebola, SARS, swine flu and zika and he let science take the lead. In fact, he learned from them and created the pandemic response team Trump’s chief of staff, John Bolton, dispersed months before the current Covid outbreak. Good call.
EL: I don’t drink swill, but I watch liberals gulp it down on a regular basis. I didn’t conduct the poll that graded Obama, so I won’t argue the point. I think his warts are showing up. The man who followed him improved the economy twice, save lives with his quick action in closing the border for some, under his leadership a vaccine is being developed faster than any in history for such a devastating disease, so comparing apples and oranges still doesn’t work. If you’ll remember Steve had two failed attempts in his bid for the White House, so I’ll sprinkle a little salt on that “dish”.
ME: Let’s also not forget the rampant and record and willful GOP obstructionism and sabotage of economic progress when Obama was President. Record (ab)use of the filibuster. The feigning of pearl-clutching outrage over the debt ceiling that cost the country a credit downgrade. Funny that debt ceiling stuff hasn’t been much of a concern under Donaldus the dimwit. Raised twice. Suspended twice. BET the deficit suddenly becomes an issue to feckless Republicans again after he’s removed from office. Watch. So share this “Obama worst” citation. You were among the early educators who stressed using citations. Trump coasted on the economy he inherited and every economic measure shows it slowed on his watch BEFORE Covid. I’ve already provided citation that bears that out instead of just saying it. That border closure likely exacerbated the issue, rushing ex-pats to airports before the European travel ban locked the country down without a quarantine or screening process in place here. More than 40,000 folks still traveled here from China after mango Mensa man’s Chinese ban. The vaccines? Pfizer is a German country. Their vaccine has no federal assistance attached to it outside of Germany’s.
EL: OK, if you want to include N1H1 that Obama gave to Biden to manage and then told Klaine that they had to clean up Biden’s mess when he screwed it up so badly, I’ll concede that fact. Klaine actually admitted that the only reason they survived N1H1 was pure dumb luck. If you’re going to accept the low bar and compare it to a Pandemic, go for it, but it’s hardly even a decent comparison. Not only did Biden screw up his job, he never replenished the equipment and supplies and left the cupboard bare. That’s why President Trump had to bring corporate America in to manufacture equipment on an emergency basis. Yep, Obama and Biden are quite a match. Obama did his best to cause divisiveness and Biden just had to be Biden to bring down the house on our heads.
*** She then shared a 2014 poll (conveniently before Trump was president) from Quinnipiac University where Obama did, in fact, poll at the top of “worst presidents since World War II,” although he also finished 4th best in the same poll. She didn’t use the most recent poll, though. In 2018, it was Donald Trump, with a whopping 41% of respondents choosing him as “worst.” Obama was second, but down from 33% to 21% in the four-year span. **
EL: Trump was the first to lock down and little Joe kept saying that made Trump a racist. Don’t you remember that? Ron, Ron, Ron, how can you disparage Trump calling names when you do it yourself?
ME: Ellen, you set the tone: “Floppy Joe.” Also, context matters. ““What I was trying to say was that if one relies only on vaccines as your major strategy, and vaccines are late then you are screwed, and really bad things can happen,” Klain added. “Of course H1N1 was beaten without much use of the vaccine. Of course, you could argue that what Trump has been doing the past few months — downplaying testing, downplaying masks, downplaying tracing and other public health measures, while promising a cure/vaccine is ‘just around the corner’ — proves my point: The U.S. death rate from covid post-June is unmatched in the world.” SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST
I remember the “racist” claim being fact-checked, too. SOURCE: POLITIFACT.
EL: So you use the Washington Post and Bezos. Uh huh.
ME: I use citations, period. Trump IS a racist. The REPUBLICAN Nixon administration sounded that alarm before I was even born. Nothing new there.
EL: Sure, if he’s such a racist, why does he have so many black friends and why has he done more for black and Hispanic citizens. I’m inclined to believe a black man’s assessment. ARTICLE: HERSCHEL WALKER: DONALD TRUMP IS NOT A RACIST
And the Nixon administration suffered the resignation of Nixon and multiple aides. Now there is a credible group, NOT
ME: oh my. You bristle at WaPo what with its long line of Pulitzer and Peabodys and hit me with …CNS NEWS? 
“Overall, we rate CNS News Questionable based on extreme right-wing bias, promotion of propaganda, and numerous failed fact checks.” SOURCE: MEDIA BIAS FACT CHECK
EL: Awe, did St. Obama get some backlash? He got away with murder compared to what the mentally deficient liberals did to him.
ME: Find the flaw in the DOJ slapping Trump with his racist housing policies then. I’ll wait. SOURCE: ‘NO VACANCY’ FOR BLACKS: HOW DONALD TRUMP GOT HIS START, AND WAS FIRST ACCUSED OF BIAS
EL: So, you don’t accept that he has done more for blacks regardless of whatever he’s accused of in the past. That would be like you being held accountable for poopy diapers. Come on…
ME: Heck no. Black unemployment was ALREADY in steep decline prior to his inauguration. No credit for that. The ONE thing he gets credit for is signing the FIRST STEP Act. That act has roots that go back well before he was in office though and he A. didn’t write the bill nor B. make it a policy platform. He signed what was sent to his desk. Good for him. A broke clock is right 2x a day. He wasn’t an infant in the early 1970s. A grown adult. Son of a racist father.
He DID manage to continue funding HBCUs but then chose to lie about “saving them” when in fact …• HBCUs received funding under the same program during President Barack Obama’s time in the White House. It’s a stretch to say Trump “saved” them.• Two experts calculated the total federal funding provided to HBCUs for PolitiFact. Those numbers show little change between the Obama years and the first year under Trump.” SOURCE: POLITIFACT
EL: I had you pegged for not being conned, but I guess I was incorrect. The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree and considering how well he gets along with other races, he’s done pretty well. I will tell you that at the beginning, I was not a Trump fan and I blamed the ego-ridden field of candidates for not forming and choosing among them, but let Trump win with 36%. That isn’t as bad as Harris’s 2% and no money, but Trump survived and got into the White House. As I watched his efforts and realized that low rent people were working to destroy him and get him out of office, even though he was doing a decent job, I realized that there was no hope for the party of Hatred and Animosity. You hold up fairly well, and don’t slip into the liberal formula, but think more than your brethren who use the formula of “you lie, cursing, and going off the charts”. Bravo on that. I have already offered to help the Trump 2024 campaign, so I guess we’ll see if there is anything left of America in four years. Floppy Joe has already threatened my savings and now that I’m retired I can’t afford a government thief taking my retirement funds. Joe’s sexual proclivities not withstanding, I do not expect him to complete his term in office. They will either force him out or kill him. We have a pool and I drew 6 months, so we’ll see on that one as well. Take care, I have much to do before I get to bed.
NOTE: She edited (and added to that comment; I missed most of it, but find much of it not worth even responding to.
ME: I back up what I say with attributions. You gave me … CNS News. Some self-awareness, ma’am. I can’t believe I’m having a discussion about critical thinking with my 6th grade science teacher and a former assistant principal from my high school whose choices of sources include a right wing website and little else by way of citations.YOU taught me and hundred, if not thousands of other students, better.
EL: Oh Ron, you tripped and stumbled. I reply in kind. You give me liberal sub-par citations and I don’t feel obliged to give you anything that you think is the only answer that is correct, that with which you agree from a site that is obviously biased. You are giving me liberal talking points, so I reply in kind. You cite the New York Times (gag), the Washington Post <eyeroll>, thewrap. com <entertainment business <cough>, Politifact. com <close, but no cigar>, Mediabias fact check <one guy’s opinion that has no scientific basis> really? If you really want to spar, you’ll have to give me something to aim at. I heard Herschell and know that the source was correct and actually, I will use a source, if I know it’s right, based on my own experience and what I’ve heard from the person myself. Yes, I watched the conventions although I had to have some help with the DNC. So many lies, so little time. You back something up with liberally biased material, I’ll return in kind. So, before you criticize my sources, perhaps you should look at your own. I taught you better, and I know you can do better. I am not trying to convert you in any way, just trying to take the emotional earmark off your comments.
ME: Ellen, you’re the one who’s clearly “slipped” • “that with which you agree from a site that is obviously biased.” she says while providing just a CNS “News” clip purporting that Donald can’t possibly be racist because a football player he gave millions to to skip his senior season of college said he’s not. Bravo. Great resource. You conservatives crack me up how you believe the 0.3% of African Americans say but tell us the other 99.7% is nonsense. But nope; the “southern strategy” of the GOP had nooooo effect on your thinking at all. You’re aware of the “southern strategy,” yes? I ask because it wasn’t mentioned in public school history or government courses. Nor was the post-Civil War “Lost Cause” spin mentioned either. • You bristle at sources that are largely center of the ideological spectrum, which is understandably “liberal” to radical right wing MAGAs.
ME: Note where CNS News is. Oh and incidentally, the most RECENT Quinnipiac poll that asked “who’s the worst president since World War II” was done in 2018. Donald Trump “won” that “honor” with a WHOPPING 41% of respondents. Hey, he beat Obama at something finally! LOL SOURCE: Quinnipiac poll: 41% say Trump worst president since World War II
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That’s how the conversation went; me with my citations (SHE TAUGHT ME THAT!) and sources. Her with … Herschel Walker via CNS News. My sixth great teacher, y’all.
The Blue Dawg 