The Art of Gaslighting: Argument by Distant Denigration
The Kunlangeta Part VII
"The habit of sneering marks the egotist, the fool, or the knave, or all three." -Johann Lavater
When no argument is made before combat, we know we're not talking science.
Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University with a wide range of leadership credentials.
Dr. Sunetra Gupta is a Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford with a storied background.
Dr. Martin Kulldorff is a Professor of Medicine at the Harvard School of Medicine, and also a biostatistician who has advised the FDA and CDC.
Fringe indeed!
And Dr. Francis Collins is either Kunlangeta or a tool. I don't mean for that to sound like an empty insult. After all, these labels come to mind because his method for combatting (not debating) was to denigrate three world class medical and disease academics from afar. This is not a gentleman's approach to sincere problem solving.
Attacks on Dr. Tyson and Dr. Fareed
This past Tuesday, December 21, Dr. Brian Tyson and Dr. George Fareed addressed the Imperial County Board of Supervisors about their amazing results treating COVID-19 cases early. After 7,000 patients passed through their doors and were put on early treatment protocols, just 4 were hospitalized and 0 died. Their results with patients presenting with moderate to severe symptoms is itself far better than average Imperial County results including so many asymptomatics who never need care of any kind.
The two men have given dozens of interviews and traveled halfway around the world to present their treatment plans. They battle for every patient of theirs and for all the others who do not have appropriate medical advocates. Now they've written a book that describes their medical journey during the pandemic. I guess that makes them dangerous to those who might use the pandemic for their own agenda.
When you've saved a lot of lives in your community, your community turns out in your support. Watch.
Most everyone cheered and clapped. Multiple times. Except most of the council members sitting in chairs behind shields.
Of course, accidentally click under the video on YouTube and you're send to "the latest information from the CDC" and "more resources on Google" that aren't going to tell you anything about how easily COVID-19 can be beaten if we just use simple obvious measures (that aren't masks, lockdowns, remdesivir, or ventilators).
A day later, the Los Angeles Times put out an obtuse hit piece, referencing "Imperial County medical groups" concerned about Dr. Tyson and Dr. Fareed spreading "misinformation".
Of course, the article does not delve into the treatment results of Dr. Tyson's and Dr. Fareed's patients. Why bother with the most important facts? It quotes a hospital executive who might have seen more income from COVID-19 payouts had Tyson and Fareed not treated so many of the county's sick.
The article does point to the "toxic effects" of ivermectin without mentioning that these rates are far lower than most medicines (and lower than severe adverse events rates of just going to the hospital!). It also pulls a couple of quotes from Dr. Tyson out of the contextual flow of the presentation, which look in print to be defensive.
Tyson called it “amazing that you guys are actually entertaining this conversation” and alluded to the concerns voiced by the medical society, telling the board, “I’m not a quack.”
The article then entertains an appeal to authority,
Dr. Adolphe Edward, chief executive of El Centro Regional Medical Center, countered that when providing information to the public, “we need to stick with what we know is approved by the FDA for COVID-19 treatments.” At his hospital, he said, patients have asked to be treated with ivermectin, vitamins — even bleach.
“Misinformation itself ought to be stopped. Enough is enough,” Edward said.
And, of course, the article includes what I'll now dub, "The Boulware fallacy", released in "a statement":
Medical staff at El Centro Regional Medical Center released a statement this week warning that hydroxychloroquine and other “alternative medications” have not been shown to be effective, and “many carry serious side effects and toxicity, which have resulted in emergency room visits.”
This part just makes me cringe:
Fareed and Tyson have also reportedly attended school board meetings where Tyson argued against indoor mask mandates for children.
In this age, we can always count on a good "Folks, we're dealing with dangerous men, here. They don't think starving children of oxygen is a good idea."
Imperial County had the highest rate of new coronavirus cases among California counties over the last week, with more than 330 for every 100,000 residents, according to The Times’ data tracker. That was more than twice the rate of Los Angeles County.
Intensive care units at El Centro Regional Medical Center and Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District have quickly become packed with COVID-19 patients in recent weeks.
Yeah, so WHOSE PATIENTS ARE NOT THE ONES GETTING HOSPITALIZED?!
Sorry for the all caps.
Addendum: Prompted observation by an RTE reader, this is from the comment section in the LA Times article:
If you look closely, you will see that the narratives are entirely media driven.
The New Normal Separation
Chairman Mao often used the newspapers as a tool for sending insults, painting his foes into rhetorical binds, or blaming them for his failures. No discussion would take place. Only the exercise of power. He is not the only one, of course. But we have never before seen this tactic so broadly and violently applied in medicine or the sciences.
But at least this time it backfired, judging by the crowd who came to support Dr. Tyson and Dr. Fareed. Mao both despised and controlled the mobs. America's medical Kunlangeta only despise the people, and it's not fooling enough people. It is now America's task to shed this gaslighting completely.
Addendums:
From time to time I may drop a few more examples here that others have written up.
Joyce Kamen (Dec 8, 2021): The Despicable Defamation of a Lifesaving Doctor
The story of Dr. Fred Wagshul, one of the eight founding physicians of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC)
Look at the comments to the story. There were only two (by the same person) so far at the time I wrote this comment but they certainly question the entire premise of the article based on what they claim is the experience of a friend of theirs with el centro regional (being left in a bed and basically not being seen.... and having doctors consider putting him on a ventilator) with Dr Tyson (the medical centre sent back Dr tyson's treatment without informing the patient apparently; patient left the hospital, went to Dr Tyson and was able to have treatment done at home). You are right that the American medical Kunlangeta only despise the people and aren't fooling enough people. I think this applies to quite a few doctors across the globe actually.
This is disgusting because I remember days past when I would have read an article like this uncritically and simply believed it. The media are complicit in deceiving people and have blood on their hands.