Podcast: "I Feel Snitty"
Episode 64: C(ovid)OMPLEX
Premiere Date: 7/30/20
Length: 8:57 (1,361 words)
Link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/covidomplex/
Transcript:
Welcome to I Feel Snitty, episode 64, entitled, “C(ovid)OMPLEX.” I’m your host, Craig Rozniecki.
As you may have noticed, I took some time off after writing, recording, and releasing my anti-Trump rock opera parody, “Arrogant Covidiot.” Thanks to everyone for listening and the positive feedback. While it may not have won any Grammy’s, I’m glad to know it helped several jam and laugh through this COVID mess. If you haven’t heard it yet and want to, just go to my Podbean page, and either click on episode 50 for the entire rock opera parody or click on episodes 51 through 63 for each individual song.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk C(ovid)OMPLEX. About 5 months ago, Donald Trump pretty much said on national television, “We only have 15 cases of the General Tso with Chopsticks Virus and that’ll be down to zero soon.” Fast-forward 5 months and we’ve eclipsed 4.5 million cases and 150,000 deaths. To place that latter number into perspective, 161,300 of our soldiers died in all of these wars combined: Vietnam, Korean, American Revolutionary, 1812, Mexican-American, Iraq, Philippine-American, Spanish-American, and Afghanistan. COVID will likely surpass that number in the next month.
The longer COVID has hung around, the more I’ve noticed people resorting to narcissistic and conspiratorial tendencies. I’ll start with the conspiracies.
1) “COVID is a hoax.”
Don’t you just love these? Whether it be the moon landing, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Sandy Hook shooting, or COVID, rest assured there will be a group of people who try to spread the conspiracy that it was a hoax. Yes, because our technology was just as advanced in 1969 as it is today; scenes from Die Hard films were commonly used for more than just entertainment; we tend to lie about kids being shot as much as we lie to kids about holidays and fictional characters growing up; and when over 150,000 seemingly disappear, oh, it’s because they were never here in the first place. Tell me, do you trust your doctor? If you answered no, then why in the world are you seeing him or her in the first place? If you answered yes, however, like most, I would think, then why would he or she lie about a pandemic like COVID? Also, who do you trust more, your doctor or conspiracy theorists, wearing matching labcoats they apparently purchased at Party City, spouting debunked conspiracy theories? Every time a person suggests that this virus is a hoax, over 150,000 families feel a direct slap across the face, as not only have they had to mourn the loss of a loved one, but they have to deal with insensitive, unsympathetic, tin-foil hatted whackadoodles claiming their mother, father, son, sister, father, or daughter either didn’t die or never existed. As I always say, if you are such an individual, try placing yourself in their shoes (not literally) and think about how you’d feel if you lost a close family member to a pandemic like COVID and others spread unsubstantiated rumors that they either didn’t die or never existed. Unless you’re void of a heart, my hunch is you’d react a bit differently.
2) “COVID is the government trying to strip us of our freedoms.”
Really? This is how the government will seize total control over the population – mandating that masks be worn to prevent the spread of a virus? This is exactly what Hitler did, isn’t it? Before killing 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, he made sure they were all mandated to wear masks to, you know, help prevent them from getting killed. It makes so much sense when you don’t think about it, doesn’t it? In the midst of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden never said, “If Americans are forced to wear masks to prevent the spread of a deadly virus in 19 years, these attacks will have served their purpose.” This paranoia has been counterproductive. It’s prompted governors to ease restrictions before they’d like, only elongating the process. As Confucius may have said one time or another, “With an airborne virus, think, feel, be free, but wear a fucking mask or you may cease to be.” Amen.
3) “COVID was created to prevent Trump from getting re-elected.”
Yes, because as everyone knows, leaders all across the world said on national television, “Russia, if you’re listening, we’d like you to hack the emails of Donald Trump.” Oh, that’s right, Trump said that of his opponent – Hillary Clinton – in the run up to the 2016 election. My bad. So what, Democratic governors, senators, and congressmen and women concocted a plan to spread a deadly virus across the globe, killing over 150,000 Americans in the process – many in densely-populated blue cities, knowing full well Trump wouldn’t respond well, and hurting his chances of re-election as a result? It almost sounds too easy… What’s especially crazy about this is presidents often times see at least a temporary bump in their approval ratings after a crisis hits. Look at George W. Bush’s support pre- and post-9/11. He was hovering around 40% prior to the attacks and saw his approval skyrocket to near 90% after them. It’s because, during crises, people seek leadership, answers, and direction. While it wasn’t near as drastic, Trump received a temporary post-COVID bump in the polls, as he reached his highest approval of the term at 45.8%. I can all but guarantee you, if he had actually tried to immediately tackle COVID and illustrated any semblance of leadership during the pandemic, his approval would have shot up to 55-60% and all but guaranteed him a second term. Of course, that didn’t happen. He simply went on a blame campaign; matters became exponentially worse; and his approval started plummeting as a result. Oh, but of course, since he said himself that he takes no responsibility for anything pertaining to Coronavirus, his staunchest of supporters now believe he was the subject of a psychic vision the band Harvey Danger had for their song “Flagpole Sitta” (“Paranoia, paranoia, everybody’s coming to get me”).
4) “Hospitals are inflating COVID numbers in order to receive more government funding.”
Eh, considering it’s been estimated COVID cases are 10 times that of the confirmed numbers, I think it’s safe to say this is a bunch of malarkey. Next?
5) “Dr. Anthony Fauci created Coronavirus.”
No, just no. A well renowned doctor didn’t start a virus and then spend his time continually trying to protect people from said virus. That’d be like Stewie on Family Guy saying, “I’m going to destroy the world, but believe me when I say, if it’s up to me, nothing will be destroyed. Woo-ha-ha-ha.”
There are other conspiracies – involving biological warfare, GMOs, and even Bill Gates – but I’ll leave those for another day.
Not only have I noticed some resorting to conspiracy theories so nonsensical Russian bots have been saying, “Okay, now that may be go too far,” I’ve seen many depict themselves as selfish narcissists. Let’s get something straight: you don’t need that once-in-a-lifetime $10 haircut at Great Clips. You don’t need to bump ‘n’ grind at club More Than Herpes every night. You don’t need to make it appear as though you’re about to make out with someone at a bar because you’re speaking so closely to them. Newsflash for everyone: this isn’t about just you; it isn’t about just me; it isn’t about just any single person. It’s about us. Hydroxychloroquine isn’t the magical cure to this pandemic. A vaccine may not be either. Believe it or not, the only guaranteed magical cure we’ll have to defeat this virus is through every one of us taking precautionary measures to stop the spread. That includes avoiding large crowds; maintaining social distancing; and wearing masks in public. This isn’t about politics; it’s about health. Wearing a mask isn’t telling others, “I’m a slave;” it’s saying, “I care.”
That’s it for today’s episode. I’ll see you again next week. Until then, you can check me out on Podbean, Twitter, Amazon, and Blogger. This has been I Feel Snitty with Craig Rozniecki. Take care.
Episode 64: C(ovid)OMPLEX
Premiere Date: 7/30/20
Length: 8:57 (1,361 words)
Link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/covidomplex/
Transcript:
Welcome to I Feel Snitty, episode 64, entitled, “C(ovid)OMPLEX.” I’m your host, Craig Rozniecki.
As you may have noticed, I took some time off after writing, recording, and releasing my anti-Trump rock opera parody, “Arrogant Covidiot.” Thanks to everyone for listening and the positive feedback. While it may not have won any Grammy’s, I’m glad to know it helped several jam and laugh through this COVID mess. If you haven’t heard it yet and want to, just go to my Podbean page, and either click on episode 50 for the entire rock opera parody or click on episodes 51 through 63 for each individual song.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk C(ovid)OMPLEX. About 5 months ago, Donald Trump pretty much said on national television, “We only have 15 cases of the General Tso with Chopsticks Virus and that’ll be down to zero soon.” Fast-forward 5 months and we’ve eclipsed 4.5 million cases and 150,000 deaths. To place that latter number into perspective, 161,300 of our soldiers died in all of these wars combined: Vietnam, Korean, American Revolutionary, 1812, Mexican-American, Iraq, Philippine-American, Spanish-American, and Afghanistan. COVID will likely surpass that number in the next month.
The longer COVID has hung around, the more I’ve noticed people resorting to narcissistic and conspiratorial tendencies. I’ll start with the conspiracies.
1) “COVID is a hoax.”
Don’t you just love these? Whether it be the moon landing, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Sandy Hook shooting, or COVID, rest assured there will be a group of people who try to spread the conspiracy that it was a hoax. Yes, because our technology was just as advanced in 1969 as it is today; scenes from Die Hard films were commonly used for more than just entertainment; we tend to lie about kids being shot as much as we lie to kids about holidays and fictional characters growing up; and when over 150,000 seemingly disappear, oh, it’s because they were never here in the first place. Tell me, do you trust your doctor? If you answered no, then why in the world are you seeing him or her in the first place? If you answered yes, however, like most, I would think, then why would he or she lie about a pandemic like COVID? Also, who do you trust more, your doctor or conspiracy theorists, wearing matching labcoats they apparently purchased at Party City, spouting debunked conspiracy theories? Every time a person suggests that this virus is a hoax, over 150,000 families feel a direct slap across the face, as not only have they had to mourn the loss of a loved one, but they have to deal with insensitive, unsympathetic, tin-foil hatted whackadoodles claiming their mother, father, son, sister, father, or daughter either didn’t die or never existed. As I always say, if you are such an individual, try placing yourself in their shoes (not literally) and think about how you’d feel if you lost a close family member to a pandemic like COVID and others spread unsubstantiated rumors that they either didn’t die or never existed. Unless you’re void of a heart, my hunch is you’d react a bit differently.
2) “COVID is the government trying to strip us of our freedoms.”
Really? This is how the government will seize total control over the population – mandating that masks be worn to prevent the spread of a virus? This is exactly what Hitler did, isn’t it? Before killing 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, he made sure they were all mandated to wear masks to, you know, help prevent them from getting killed. It makes so much sense when you don’t think about it, doesn’t it? In the midst of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden never said, “If Americans are forced to wear masks to prevent the spread of a deadly virus in 19 years, these attacks will have served their purpose.” This paranoia has been counterproductive. It’s prompted governors to ease restrictions before they’d like, only elongating the process. As Confucius may have said one time or another, “With an airborne virus, think, feel, be free, but wear a fucking mask or you may cease to be.” Amen.
3) “COVID was created to prevent Trump from getting re-elected.”
Yes, because as everyone knows, leaders all across the world said on national television, “Russia, if you’re listening, we’d like you to hack the emails of Donald Trump.” Oh, that’s right, Trump said that of his opponent – Hillary Clinton – in the run up to the 2016 election. My bad. So what, Democratic governors, senators, and congressmen and women concocted a plan to spread a deadly virus across the globe, killing over 150,000 Americans in the process – many in densely-populated blue cities, knowing full well Trump wouldn’t respond well, and hurting his chances of re-election as a result? It almost sounds too easy… What’s especially crazy about this is presidents often times see at least a temporary bump in their approval ratings after a crisis hits. Look at George W. Bush’s support pre- and post-9/11. He was hovering around 40% prior to the attacks and saw his approval skyrocket to near 90% after them. It’s because, during crises, people seek leadership, answers, and direction. While it wasn’t near as drastic, Trump received a temporary post-COVID bump in the polls, as he reached his highest approval of the term at 45.8%. I can all but guarantee you, if he had actually tried to immediately tackle COVID and illustrated any semblance of leadership during the pandemic, his approval would have shot up to 55-60% and all but guaranteed him a second term. Of course, that didn’t happen. He simply went on a blame campaign; matters became exponentially worse; and his approval started plummeting as a result. Oh, but of course, since he said himself that he takes no responsibility for anything pertaining to Coronavirus, his staunchest of supporters now believe he was the subject of a psychic vision the band Harvey Danger had for their song “Flagpole Sitta” (“Paranoia, paranoia, everybody’s coming to get me”).
4) “Hospitals are inflating COVID numbers in order to receive more government funding.”
Eh, considering it’s been estimated COVID cases are 10 times that of the confirmed numbers, I think it’s safe to say this is a bunch of malarkey. Next?
5) “Dr. Anthony Fauci created Coronavirus.”
No, just no. A well renowned doctor didn’t start a virus and then spend his time continually trying to protect people from said virus. That’d be like Stewie on Family Guy saying, “I’m going to destroy the world, but believe me when I say, if it’s up to me, nothing will be destroyed. Woo-ha-ha-ha.”
There are other conspiracies – involving biological warfare, GMOs, and even Bill Gates – but I’ll leave those for another day.
Not only have I noticed some resorting to conspiracy theories so nonsensical Russian bots have been saying, “Okay, now that may be go too far,” I’ve seen many depict themselves as selfish narcissists. Let’s get something straight: you don’t need that once-in-a-lifetime $10 haircut at Great Clips. You don’t need to bump ‘n’ grind at club More Than Herpes every night. You don’t need to make it appear as though you’re about to make out with someone at a bar because you’re speaking so closely to them. Newsflash for everyone: this isn’t about just you; it isn’t about just me; it isn’t about just any single person. It’s about us. Hydroxychloroquine isn’t the magical cure to this pandemic. A vaccine may not be either. Believe it or not, the only guaranteed magical cure we’ll have to defeat this virus is through every one of us taking precautionary measures to stop the spread. That includes avoiding large crowds; maintaining social distancing; and wearing masks in public. This isn’t about politics; it’s about health. Wearing a mask isn’t telling others, “I’m a slave;” it’s saying, “I care.”
That’s it for today’s episode. I’ll see you again next week. Until then, you can check me out on Podbean, Twitter, Amazon, and Blogger. This has been I Feel Snitty with Craig Rozniecki. Take care.
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