In a world where narratives count more than facts and data, we may be evolving to a time people armed with actual knowledge are in a place to shut down those too lazy to ground their positions in something other than personal prejudice. Take the Trump true believers claiming election fraud. They’ve yet to produce anything when challenged to show us the basis for their claims. The other side has placed their goods on the table. Only the like-minded listen to these people. Others cast their votes against “Trump Won” candidates.

We can deal the same fate to those claiming the world is ending because of overpopulation, climate change, or a combination of the two. Adherents of “the science” tell us Covid came from a “wet Market,” locking everyone down, including children, prevents the spread, and mandating vaccination for everyone numerous times is necessary. Our nation’s history is really what “The 1619 project ‘ claims. The gap in the U.S. between rich and poor has grown to an all-time high.

We know from the Russian Collusion and The Biden Laptop fiascos those without facts turn to suppress those that do. Unless you’re the Chinese Communist Party, facts ultimately will come out. We can extend the growing embarrassment of elites in politics and media taking this route to their followers.

Simply asking for the basis of their position on any of these subjects may result in a blank look. How can you question dogma? Everyone knows this is true. I read it in the N.Y. Times or The Washington Post. O.K., but where are the facts? Could you show us the data? Volunteer to read whatever they can provide, but in return, they have to read your sources. 

Of course, you need to have sources to offer. If you don’t readily have them, may I suggest a few easily accessible books and articles that skewer many progressive, most cherished themes?

If you expect a post dealing with the upcoming mid-terms, forget it. With less than a week to go, if people continue to support the most incompetent administration since Buchanan, nothing I can say now will change minds. I’ve given chapter and verse of Biden and his friend’s ability to screw up everything. Either the administration, with the all-out support of its media allies, gets two more years of total government control or common sense prevails. With millions of people already voted, it’s time to move on. 

While not the central issue in this election, one problem is increasingly coming to the forefront, the utter failure of our public K-12 education system. Parents observed the performance of public school systems during the pandemic and didn’t care for what they saw. The lack of in-person learning and perceived indoctrination led Glenn Youngkin’s surprise gubernatorial win in Virginia. 

The N.A.E.P.’s national assessment confirmed the worst fears of parents. Our kid’s lost substantial ground during the pandemic. If not made up, kids not learning to read or do the math properly may never catch up. Of course, this deficit falls hardest among those already in challenging circumstances.

Learning loss is evident in those losing the most in-person schooling. Public schools, both traditional and charter, were more likely to be remote. On the other hand, Catholic and other private schools were mostly open. The latter group lost little, if any, ground: 

The Swedish experience shows school closures were unjustified and keeping them shut unnecessarily. The Swedes, following the data, refused to close their K-12 schools. This courageous stand resulted in no learning loss.

As we now know, mRNA Cvid vaccines don’t prevent transmission. Vaccinated people can both spread and get Covid. At a recent E.U. Covid hearing, a Phizer representative admitted the company never tested their vaccine for transmission prevention. Call me naive, but I thought the vaccine, when approved, protected against both.

There was no basis for this delusion. Why was there all the talk about vaccine passports and gatherings of any size demanding proof of vaccination? Mandates became widespread. Remember Pres. Biden’s “Pandemic of the Unvaccinated?” If the vaccines fail to block transmission, How could we be so misled?

Our experience with smallpox and other vaccines is they protect us against getting and spreading disease. It’s why I went to great lengths to get poked ASAP. After all, people over 65 made up three-quarters of Covid deaths. My wife and I being in our 80s are prime targets. When it proved impossible to make an appointment online, I called our County supervisor’s office. Realizing our plight, they found us spots clear across the Valley of the Sun. We were thrilled. We would be safe, and others safe around us.

While some people noticed a lack of test results on vaccine effectiveness against transmission, the government and media establishment labeled them “vaccine skeptics.” Evens though we observed “breakthrough ” infections and spread among the vaccinated, the push to vaccinate everyone, including children, became almost universal.