by John Fredericks
In a bizarre and brazen attempt at long-term self-preservation at the expense of her boss, President Trump, GA Governor Brian Kemp and business owners struggling for survival, Dr. Deborah Birx donned her scarf and embarked on a 14-state blatant CYA tour to revive her sagging reputation.
To small business owners struggling for economic salvation and unemployed hard-working Americans with rent and mortgage payments due, Dr. Birx has a simple message: let them eat cake.
If things so south with Covid-19, she can say “I told you so,” and court the Democrats while getting glowing write-ups in the New York Times.
Facts, of course, matter very little to deep-state elites like Birx. It’s all about the next gig.
In the D.C. swamp, everyone searches desperately for their next K-Street trough. Reputation and street cred with the Left in a potential Biden Administration becomes omnipotent.
While President Trump, Vice President Pence, Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, Kellyanne Conway and many other Administration officials are encouraging governors to open businesses and open schools safely, Birx told governors to ramp up more restrictions and go backwards.
Exhibit #A: Virginia
In her recent Virginia visit with Gov. Ralph Northam (D), one source present at the meeting who requested anonymity to speak freely, said Birx was jawboning Northam to retreat the Commonwealth back to phase two.
“Dr. Birx was imploring the governor to roll out more restrictions statewide, and not regionally, as Gov. Northam has done,” the official said.
“While the governor gave clear evidence that a regional approach was more prudent, Birx called for a statewide mandate. She wanted to roll back Virginia’s bars, restrict all restaurants to 50 percent capacity and limit gatherings to 10 people across the entire state. The governor, while respectful, rejected her advice and took a more measured, targeted approach focused on Hampton Roads, where the outbreak is.”
News To Me?
Even more frightening, Birx told the governor and those present at the meeting that Chesapeake, VA was a vacation destination worthy of severe restrictions to “stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.”
Seriously? I live in Chesapeake. We all leave the city to go on vacation. What would someone do on vacation in Chesapeake? Ride a bike on the I-264 shoulder? Take pictures of snakes in the Dismal Swamp?
Facts Matter
Virginia’s last seven-day Covid-19 death rate average is 6.5 per day.
There are 8,626,210 current Virginia residents.
That puts the average Virginia Covid-19 related death rate at .00000075 percent of the general population.
In other states visited by Birks, the spike that was raging earlier in July has apparently abated, and in some states dropped off the cliff completely.
According the Virginia Health and Hospital Association (VHHA) dashboard, there are 7,342 potential Covid-19 beds still available. 1,350 beds are currently in use, just over 15 percent of capacity. That means 85 percent of the beds remain available.
And for this, Birx demanded Northam shutter Virginia’s economy – again.
According to sources at the meeting, Birx said a surge was imminent, coming up from southern states who resisted her draconian Nurse Ratched-like advice.
Maybe Birx, in her quest to become the darling of the Washington Post editorial board, didn’t bother to review the recent data that showed the “imminent disaster” predicted for Texas and Florida was a media mirage that never materialized. Hospital rates and deaths have fallen dramatically in both states.
While I have had my differences of late with Ralph Northam, I applaud him for resisting the pathway to further economic calamity for the Commonwealth.
He has resisted calls from all sides to further shutter Virginians livelihoods and businesses.
President Trump puts America first.
Apparantly, Birx puts Birx first.
