February 18, 2025 • 13 mins
PT1 Journey of Discovery: COVID 5 years later
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Previously on Your Morning Show with Michael del Choonhah.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Here's our big journey of discovery for the day. Pew
Research walks us through COVID five years later. The impacts
of COVID nineteen Now I'll never forget. I was at
McGill's restaurant in Tells, Oklahoma, and I had to go
number one.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I go into the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I stand at the urinal as I'm going, I look
up and the whole wall is different sayings, and my
eyes go right to this one that says life is
best understood looking back, unfortunately, must be lived looking forward.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It was the most profound.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
P of my life. Think about that. How true is that?
Golfers know what I'm talking about? Can't find your ball?
Look back? Oh, there it is.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Now. I lived COVID in real time.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I had to dodge a lot of You're going to
get fired if you say this, You're going to get
fired if you say that.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Guess what.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I said this and that and twice on Sunday. But
I followed the models. I searched for the assumptions. I
knew virology one oh one, David's Nadi and best of
all is doctor McGowan. Were invaluable resources, so I won't
say that I went through it alone. But none of
it made sense. The notion you get this, you'll die,
(01:25):
so obey us didn't make sense because a lot of
people got it and didn't die, and those who got
it and died were usually explainable. And the notion of
stay home, stay safe, this is the new normal was
too suspicious of a mantra from day one, especially without
(01:48):
the data, because no virus is a new normal. All
viruses are absorbed, they're never cured. You get it, you die,
you get it, you live, and you're immune. But nevertheless,
let's look at COVID can't do real time now, but
(02:11):
let's do it looking back through the eyes of ourselves
and pure research, and remember this so much that we
know that it is true now that was treated as
crazy conspiracy five years ago that I can't begin to touch.
And judging by who you were getting your information from,
(02:31):
I have no idea what your reality was. There were
a lot of inconsistencies, which led to some people driving
around in their car wearing a mask all alone. And
you got to scratch your head and say, what's that
(02:53):
all about, Alphie. I'll never forget a one hundred degrees
Saturday afternoon, a perfectly thin, healthy twelve year old boy
running around playing little League with a mask on and
one hundred degrees, And I'm thinking to myself, what's the
medical logical one oh one on this? What are the
odds of this kid getting sicker from wearing the mask
(03:15):
and one hundred degrees versus getting COVID and surviving it. Well,
what we find is the most significant pandemic of our
life arrived as the United States was already experiencing three
major societal trends, and where it took that was to
(03:40):
a whole new level. And that was the growing divide
between partisans on the left and the right, and a
decreasing trust in many institutions, and finally, a massive splintering
of the information environment. And that all bears out. So
as America is already US versus them, left versus right divided,
(04:00):
here comes COVID with two completely different messages, all playing
the fear card. Because when you're afraid, other than the
fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, there
really is only two kinds of fears.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
The kind of.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Fear that, oh, I'm standing here and there's a ledge,
and if I take another step, I'm going to fall
seven hundred feet to my death.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I think I'll take a step back. That's a good fear.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But the kind of fears for things that probably won't happen,
those can be debilitating fears. But they wanted you afraid
so that you would obey. It was a control thing.
And then when it was all said and done, and
you paid all the price and they made all the billions, well,
(04:59):
the betrayal set in. So let's look at these numbers.
The response to COVID nineteen. Looking back, nearly three quarters
seventy two percent of US adults say the pandemic did
more to drive the country apart than bring it together.
I said this all throughout COVID to my local audience.
I'll say it now to my national audience. COVID revealed
(05:20):
far more than it did. Let me repeat that, sot'al
seidle in. COVID revealed a lot more than it did.
It revealed how divided we were more than it created divisions.
It revealed what little faith we have, or over faith
(05:45):
we have in government, more than it did it. So,
looking back, nearly three quarters seventy two percent say the
pandemic did more to drive the country apart than bring
it together. Sixteen percent said it didn't have much impact
either way. Eleven percent said it did more to bring
the country together. You know, stand strong, COVID strong, We'll
(06:05):
get through this together. Yeah, that's how it started. Wear
a mask and save someone's life, love someone else. Then
if you don't wear the mask, good oah. Then it
turned into remember invasion of the body snatchers. That's what
COVID reminded me of Donald Southern walking around pointing at
you and the same people. It's my body, don't tell
(06:27):
me what to do, and that we're not telling you
what to do with your body. Fundamental differences arose between
Americans over what we expected from our government. There's still
two kinds of Americans who that every day. Right, Hey,
there was a tornado in Tuscaloosa County. Oh, that's the
government's job to solve it is Tornado's happen. Tasca Lucia
(06:47):
has county officials. Why do we have to all stand
strong now as a nation and federal government's got to
solve every problem in life. I got a deadbeat husband
who left and isn't supporting the kids. What's the government
for that? But we're both working. We need daycare. What's
the government going to do to pay for my daycare?
There's two kinds of Americans every day, those that want
(07:08):
the government to be everything.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I have a god. I don't need the government.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
It also revealed the difference between Americans tolerance for health risk,
which groups and sectors to prioritize in a pandemic. You know,
essential workers versus you. Here's a fifteen hundred dollar check
that was we thought, that's what we thought your liberty
was worth fifteen one time fifteen hundred dollar payment. That
(07:40):
one did almost get me fired my option manager. You
sent me a nasty email. How dare you you're a
contract employee getting paid. How dare you tell everybody else
to feel guilty for taking their fifteen hundred dollars. Oh no,
I'll let them take fifteen hundred dollars and then stay home
and have their life run.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
I just wouldn't say that. I'm so sorry. I wasn't sorry.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The pandemic left few aspects of daily life in America
on touch. Looking back on nearly five years later, three
quarters of Americans say COVID nineteen'sh pandemic took some sort
of toll on their lives. Twenty seven percent said it
took a major toll on their life, Forty seven percent
said it took a minor toll on their life. The
(08:23):
virus itself also had a staggering impact. A large majority
of US adults have had COVID nineteen at some point,
and more than one million Americans did die from COVID,
and those deaths are real, just like the flu can
take people who are very sickly or at end of life,
(08:47):
and that's not to be taken lightly. In fact, there
was probably no greater betrayal, And the only betrayal greater
than the betrayal on our children was the betrayal of
the elderly, the most vulnerable. Millions continue to struggle with
long COVID, and most say they know someone who was
hospitalized or died from the virus. Massive gaps remained between
(09:09):
Republicans and Democrats. How did COVID a virus send up
by a bend up partisan well? A majority of both
Democrats and Republicans were personally impacted by the pandemic. Eight
and ten Democrats, including independents, who leaned to the Democrat
Party say COVID nineteen took at least a minor toll
on them. Sixty nine percent of Republicans and GOP leaners
said the same, and virtually identical shares of Republicans and
(09:32):
Democrats say they had tested positive for COVID nineteen or
had been pretty sure they had it.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
But I ain't sticking nothing in my nose. Who knows
what the government's going.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
To do with that.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's not my DNA.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
That was my version of Tom Hanks belittling half of America.
Two years after the pandemic started. Republicans were more likely
than Democrats to say the country had given too little
priority to individual choice and so reporting businesses and economic
activities in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and a larger
majority of Republicans than Democrats said the country hadn't given
(10:08):
enough priority to the need of k through twelve students. Democrats, meanwhile,
were more likely to say the country came up short
on limiting the risks for vulnerable population and protecting public health,
they still wanted the government to do more. The left
apparently doesn't even look back and understand. More clearly, most
(10:30):
Americans said they probably would not get the most updated
version of the COVID vaccine. Have you ever done it?
Who's still wearing a mask? Who's still getting these vaccines? Now,
there are some people with certain health proclivities that it
could make great sense, But by and large, culturally, what young, healthy,
(10:56):
non obese, non diabetic, non smoking, thirty five year old
is still walking around with a mask or getting a vaccine?
I still I can't even imagine what's leading to that conclusion.
About eight and ten Republicans, eighty one percent said they
probably wouldn't get an updated vaccine. By contrast, a majority
of Democrats said they were planning to get or had
(11:20):
already received, the latest COVID vaccine, same virus, same mutations,
all the way down to a mild cold. Some are
still wearing masks, some are not, Some are still getting vaccines,
a majority of the others are not.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Two different Americans. That speaks to the matrix.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
With the benefit of five years of perspective, Americans offer
a mixed assessment of how their leaders and institutions responded
to the COVID nineteen pandemic. Those in the front lines,
hospitals and medical centers stand out for positive ratings. About
half of US adults are fewer now say they're state
elected officials forty nine percent, Joe Biden forty percent, Donald
(12:07):
Trump thirty eight percent. I don't know how you could
give Joe Biden a better rating than Donald Trump. But
because they did the same thing, the only difference. As
Donald Trump knows he was duped by Fauci, Joe Biden doesn't.
A slim majority fifty six percent get positive ratings to
public health officials. I don't know how only local hospitals
(12:29):
get full throated approval from the Americans. Looking back, I
can think of a few that were a big part
of the problem. Seventy nine percent of Democrats say public
health officials response was excellent or good, while thirty five
percent of Republicans agree, well, that's all if you believed
in the fear and the hospitals being the only defense.
Now looking back, sixty two percent of Republicans say they
(12:50):
should have should have been fewer restrictions on activities. I
haven't even gotten to education and the information environment, probably
the two most revealing. Or we'll talk about the twenty
(13:12):
twenty election, or the twenty twenty four election, or even
going back to the twenty sixteen election as a birthplace
of the death of journalism, but COVID was a big
breach in that trust. COVID was the final straw that
killed journalism and the effects COVID's going to have on
(13:32):
our kids K through twelve that lived it for five
years will be felt for a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Miss a little, miss a lot, miss a lot, and
We'll miss you. It's your Morning Show with Michael del Churno.
Previously on Your Morning Show with Michael del Choonhah.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Here's our big journey of discovery for the day. Pew
Research walks us through COVID five years later. The impacts
of COVID nineteen Now I'll never forget. I was at
McGill's restaurant in Tells, Oklahoma, and I had to go
number one.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I go into the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I stand at the urinal as I'm going, I look
up and the whole wall is different sayings, and my
eyes go right to this one that says life is
best understood looking back, unfortunately, must be lived looking forward.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It was the most profound.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
P of my life. Think about that. How true is that?
Golfers know what I'm talking about? Can't find your ball?
Look back? Oh, there it is.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Now. I lived COVID in real time.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I had to dodge a lot of You're going to
get fired if you say this, You're going to get
fired if you say that.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Guess what.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I said this and that and twice on Sunday. But
I followed the models. I searched for the assumptions. I
knew virology one oh one, David's Nadi and best of
all is doctor McGowan. Were invaluable resources, so I won't
say that I went through it alone. But none of
it made sense. The notion you get this, you'll die,
(01:25):
so obey us didn't make sense because a lot of
people got it and didn't die, and those who got
it and died were usually explainable. And the notion of
stay home, stay safe, this is the new normal was
too suspicious of a mantra from day one, especially without
(01:48):
the data, because no virus is a new normal. All
viruses are absorbed, they're never cured. You get it, you die,
you get it, you live, and you're immune. But nevertheless,
let's look at COVID can't do real time now, but
(02:11):
let's do it looking back through the eyes of ourselves
and pure research, and remember this so much that we
know that it is true now that was treated as
crazy conspiracy five years ago that I can't begin to touch.
And judging by who you were getting your information from,
(02:31):
I have no idea what your reality was. There were
a lot of inconsistencies, which led to some people driving
around in their car wearing a mask all alone. And
you got to scratch your head and say, what's that
(02:53):
all about, Alphie. I'll never forget a one hundred degrees
Saturday afternoon, a perfectly thin, healthy twelve year old boy
running around playing little League with a mask on and
one hundred degrees, And I'm thinking to myself, what's the
medical logical one oh one on this? What are the
odds of this kid getting sicker from wearing the mask
(03:15):
and one hundred degrees versus getting COVID and surviving it. Well,
what we find is the most significant pandemic of our
life arrived as the United States was already experiencing three
major societal trends, and where it took that was to
(03:40):
a whole new level. And that was the growing divide
between partisans on the left and the right, and a
decreasing trust in many institutions, and finally, a massive splintering
of the information environment. And that all bears out. So
as America is already US versus them, left versus right divided,
(04:00):
here comes COVID with two completely different messages, all playing
the fear card. Because when you're afraid, other than the
fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, there
really is only two kinds of fears.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
The kind of.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Fear that, oh, I'm standing here and there's a ledge,
and if I take another step, I'm going to fall
seven hundred feet to my death.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I think I'll take a step back. That's a good fear.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But the kind of fears for things that probably won't happen,
those can be debilitating fears. But they wanted you afraid
so that you would obey. It was a control thing.
And then when it was all said and done, and
you paid all the price and they made all the billions, well,
(04:59):
the betrayal set in. So let's look at these numbers.
The response to COVID nineteen. Looking back, nearly three quarters
seventy two percent of US adults say the pandemic did
more to drive the country apart than bring it together.
I said this all throughout COVID to my local audience.
I'll say it now to my national audience. COVID revealed
(05:20):
far more than it did. Let me repeat that, sot'al
seidle in. COVID revealed a lot more than it did.
It revealed how divided we were more than it created divisions.
It revealed what little faith we have, or over faith
(05:45):
we have in government, more than it did it. So,
looking back, nearly three quarters seventy two percent say the
pandemic did more to drive the country apart than bring
it together. Sixteen percent said it didn't have much impact
either way. Eleven percent said it did more to bring
the country together. You know, stand strong, COVID strong, We'll
(06:05):
get through this together. Yeah, that's how it started. Wear
a mask and save someone's life, love someone else. Then
if you don't wear the mask, good oah. Then it
turned into remember invasion of the body snatchers. That's what
COVID reminded me of Donald Southern walking around pointing at
you and the same people. It's my body, don't tell
(06:27):
me what to do, and that we're not telling you
what to do with your body. Fundamental differences arose between
Americans over what we expected from our government. There's still
two kinds of Americans who that every day. Right, Hey,
there was a tornado in Tuscaloosa County. Oh, that's the
government's job to solve it is Tornado's happen. Tasca Lucia
(06:47):
has county officials. Why do we have to all stand
strong now as a nation and federal government's got to
solve every problem in life. I got a deadbeat husband
who left and isn't supporting the kids. What's the government
for that? But we're both working. We need daycare. What's
the government going to do to pay for my daycare?
There's two kinds of Americans every day, those that want
(07:08):
the government to be everything.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I have a god. I don't need the government.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
It also revealed the difference between Americans tolerance for health risk,
which groups and sectors to prioritize in a pandemic. You know,
essential workers versus you. Here's a fifteen hundred dollar check
that was we thought, that's what we thought your liberty
was worth fifteen one time fifteen hundred dollar payment. That
(07:40):
one did almost get me fired my option manager. You
sent me a nasty email. How dare you you're a
contract employee getting paid. How dare you tell everybody else
to feel guilty for taking their fifteen hundred dollars. Oh no,
I'll let them take fifteen hundred dollars and then stay home
and have their life run.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
I just wouldn't say that. I'm so sorry. I wasn't sorry.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The pandemic left few aspects of daily life in America
on touch. Looking back on nearly five years later, three
quarters of Americans say COVID nineteen'sh pandemic took some sort
of toll on their lives. Twenty seven percent said it
took a major toll on their life, Forty seven percent
said it took a minor toll on their life. The
(08:23):
virus itself also had a staggering impact. A large majority
of US adults have had COVID nineteen at some point,
and more than one million Americans did die from COVID,
and those deaths are real, just like the flu can
take people who are very sickly or at end of life,
(08:47):
and that's not to be taken lightly. In fact, there
was probably no greater betrayal, And the only betrayal greater
than the betrayal on our children was the betrayal of
the elderly, the most vulnerable. Millions continue to struggle with
long COVID, and most say they know someone who was
hospitalized or died from the virus. Massive gaps remained between
(09:09):
Republicans and Democrats. How did COVID a virus send up
by a bend up partisan well? A majority of both
Democrats and Republicans were personally impacted by the pandemic. Eight
and ten Democrats, including independents, who leaned to the Democrat
Party say COVID nineteen took at least a minor toll
on them. Sixty nine percent of Republicans and GOP leaners
said the same, and virtually identical shares of Republicans and
(09:32):
Democrats say they had tested positive for COVID nineteen or
had been pretty sure they had it.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
But I ain't sticking nothing in my nose. Who knows
what the government's going.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
To do with that.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's not my DNA.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
That was my version of Tom Hanks belittling half of America.
Two years after the pandemic started. Republicans were more likely
than Democrats to say the country had given too little
priority to individual choice and so reporting businesses and economic
activities in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and a larger
majority of Republicans than Democrats said the country hadn't given
(10:08):
enough priority to the need of k through twelve students. Democrats, meanwhile,
were more likely to say the country came up short
on limiting the risks for vulnerable population and protecting public health,
they still wanted the government to do more. The left
apparently doesn't even look back and understand. More clearly, most
(10:30):
Americans said they probably would not get the most updated
version of the COVID vaccine. Have you ever done it?
Who's still wearing a mask? Who's still getting these vaccines? Now,
there are some people with certain health proclivities that it
could make great sense, But by and large, culturally, what young, healthy,
(10:56):
non obese, non diabetic, non smoking, thirty five year old
is still walking around with a mask or getting a vaccine?
I still I can't even imagine what's leading to that conclusion.
About eight and ten Republicans, eighty one percent said they
probably wouldn't get an updated vaccine. By contrast, a majority
of Democrats said they were planning to get or had
(11:20):
already received, the latest COVID vaccine, same virus, same mutations,
all the way down to a mild cold. Some are
still wearing masks, some are not, Some are still getting vaccines,
a majority of the others are not.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Two different Americans. That speaks to the matrix.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
With the benefit of five years of perspective, Americans offer
a mixed assessment of how their leaders and institutions responded
to the COVID nineteen pandemic. Those in the front lines,
hospitals and medical centers stand out for positive ratings. About
half of US adults are fewer now say they're state
elected officials forty nine percent, Joe Biden forty percent, Donald
(12:07):
Trump thirty eight percent. I don't know how you could
give Joe Biden a better rating than Donald Trump. But
because they did the same thing, the only difference. As
Donald Trump knows he was duped by Fauci, Joe Biden doesn't.
A slim majority fifty six percent get positive ratings to
public health officials. I don't know how only local hospitals
(12:29):
get full throated approval from the Americans. Looking back, I
can think of a few that were a big part
of the problem. Seventy nine percent of Democrats say public
health officials response was excellent or good, while thirty five
percent of Republicans agree, well, that's all if you believed
in the fear and the hospitals being the only defense.
Now looking back, sixty two percent of Republicans say they
(12:50):
should have should have been fewer restrictions on activities. I
haven't even gotten to education and the information environment, probably
the two most revealing. Or we'll talk about the twenty
(13:12):
twenty election, or the twenty twenty four election, or even
going back to the twenty sixteen election as a birthplace
of the death of journalism, but COVID was a big
breach in that trust. COVID was the final straw that
killed journalism and the effects COVID's going to have on
(13:32):
our kids K through twelve that lived it for five
years will be felt for a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Miss a little, miss a lot, miss a lot, and
We'll miss you. It's your Morning Show with Michael del Churno.
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