Dr. Scott W. Atlas who was a former special adviser to President Donald Trump has slammed the mainstream media for amplifying misinformation that falsely informed Americans to believe that the federal government is guilty of all coronavirus-related damages.
“America has been paralyzed by death and fear for nearly a year, and the politicization of the pandemic has made things worse by adding misinformation and vitriol to the mix. With vaccines finally being administered, we should be entering a joyous phase. Instead, we endure still more inflammatory rhetoric and media distortion,” Atlas told Wall Street Journal op-ed that was published on Tuesday.
Atlas had served as an adviser to President Trump from August through November. He, however, narrowed his points down with three realities to help Americans understand the role of the federal government in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
“First, all 50 states independently directed and implemented their own pandemic policies,” he wrote while specifying that the federal government is not responsible for school closings, shelter-in-place orders, or mask requirements.
“Second, nearly all states used the same draconian policies that people now insist on hardening, even though the number of positive cases increased while people’s movements were constrained, business activities were strictly limited, and schools were closed. Governors in all but a few states—Florida and South Dakota are notable exceptions, imposed curfews, quarantines, directives on group gatherings, and mask mandates,” Atlas continued.
Atlas continued, “Third, the federal government’s role in the pandemic has been grossly mischaracterized by the media and their Democratic allies. That distortion has obscured several significant successes while undermining the confidence of ordinary Americans.
“federal financial support and directives enabled the development of a massive, state-of-the-art testing capacity and produced billions of dollars of personal protective equipment,” while federal agencies met all requests for supplemental medical personnel and hospital-bed capacity.
Atlas listed a variety of federal government accomplishments, including increasing the protection of the elderly and “expedited development and delivery of life-saving drugs,” and then declared that any post-vaccine lockdowns will essentially be “doubling down” on policies that didn’t work the first time.
He also said, “States and cities that keep their economies locked down after highly vulnerable populations have been vaccinated will be doubling down on failed policies that are destroying families and sacrificing children, particularly among the working class and poor.
“The media has done its best to misinform the public with political attacks about who is to blame for this pain and misery even as it diminishes the great achievement of the new vaccines.”
Atlas then pointed out that “the decline of objectivity in journalism has been evident for years” and now even top scientific journals are contaminated by politics… “It is not at all clear that American society with its cherished freedoms will survive, regardless of our success in defeating the pandemic threat,” he said.
