Biden's contradictions undermine his message

Once upon a time, journalist were taught to give the "who, what, when and where" when writing their news stories. But it is increasingly difficult for even the most conscientious journalist to get those questions answered when they seek answers from high government officials and bureaucrats. President Donald Trump said one thing; Dr. Anthony Fauci contradicted him. Then Fauci went on a flip-flopping binge. President Joe Biden says one thing today, and the opposite tomorrow; and even worse, says one thing, and does the exact opposite. After all the "little sidesteps," how can any American have trust in what any government official tells them?


On Aug. 4, the Dispatch-Argus published an article from Capitol News Illinois by Jerry Nowicki. When I finished reading it, I found myself asking the question, "Is this really useful information?"

I have never attended journalism school, but had I written the piece, I would have tried to answer the following questions.

A. New Covid hospitalizations in the last 7 days:

1. How many vaccinated people in Illinois were hospitalized with the original Covid variant?

2. How many vaccinated people in Illinois were hospitalized with the Delta variant?

3. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois were hospitalized with the original Covid variant?

4. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois were hospitalized with the Delta variant?



B. New Covid cases in intensive care in the last 7 days:

1. How many vaccinated people in Illinois were placed in intensive care with the original Covid variant?

2. How many vaccinated people in Illinois were placed in intensive care with the Delta variant?

3. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois placed in intensive care with the original Covid variant?

4. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois were placed in intensive care with the Delta variant?


C. New Deaths from Covid in the last 7 days:

1. How many vaccinated people in Illinois died from the original Covid variant?

2. How many vaccinated people in Illinois died from the Delta variant?

3. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois died from the original Covid variant?

4. How many unvaccinated people in Illinois died from the Delta variant?


I suggest that if the above twelve questions were honestly answered, the readers of the Dispatch-Argus would have the information they need to make rational decisions for themselves. They would not have to rely upon the changing and contradictory statements made from day to day by their elected officials and the bureaucrat "experts."


It seems incredible to me that the government would not keep such statistics.

And if the government doesn't keep such statistics, why not? If not, how can any government make intelligent decisions without the answers to these 12 questions?

If a democracy is going to work, the citizens have to be given full and honest information. Voters can't intelligently vote if they are fed gobbledygook by their elected officials and the bureaucrats.

Do I blame Jerry Nowicki for writing an article that raises more questions than it answers? No. I blame government officials, the CDC and the Illinois Department of Public Health for failing to provide straight answers to really important questions that every American needs answered.

I understand viruses can mutate, and what was good advice yesterday may not be good advice as the virus mutates. But it is the height of irresponsibility for Biden to restrict travel to the U.S. from the U.K., Ireland and 26 countries in Europe, as well as South Africa, to slow transmission of COVID-19, while throwing our Southern border open to Covid-infected migrants, and releasing 1500 Covid-infected migrants into McAllen, Texas, to infect anybody they come in contact with.

In the words of the Wall Street Journal, "If the president wants the public to defer to public-health officials when it comes to masking and social distancing, he can't expect people to ignore these same officials when they tell us that large numbers of recent migrants may be contributing to the crisis."

The president's pathetic double standard undermines every sound part of his message.

Copyright 2021, John Donald O'Shea

First Published in the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus on August 19, 2021

So Why is the U.S. Closed to Cuban Immigrants? — Another Biden Double Standard

Do you still believe what the Biden administration tells you? If so, wake up!

On March 3, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to increase "refugee admissions" into the U.S.

It reads:

"It is important to take this action today to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin.


"The United States Refugee Admissions Program embodies America’s commitment to protect the most vulnerable, and to stand as a beacon of liberty and refuge to the world. It’s a statement about who we are, and who we want to be. So we are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission."

The executive order was consistent with his pre-election promises. Since the day Donald Trump was elected, President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the "Squad," and virtually every Democrat have been proclaiming — or perhaps bellowing — that our Southern border must be open to refugees seeking to escape persecution in their native countries, that this country must take all comers, and that they must be released and given a date in the future when their claims of persecution will be adjudicated.


But now when the people of Cuba take to the streets to protest their government's one-party rule, incompetence, brutality, and violation of human rights, suddenly our country's doors are slammed shut by Biden's Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. They will not be allowed entry here, even if they demonstrate genuine fear of being persecuted, imprisoned or tortured on their islands.

"If individuals make, establish a well-founded fear of persecution or torture, they are referred to third countries for resettlement. They will not enter the United States."

"Allow me to be clear: if you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States,"

"The time is never right to attempt migration by sea. To those who risk their lives doing so, this risk is not worth taking."

Fleeing from Cuba to the U.S., across 90 miles of unpredictable open sea, via small boat is undeniably a dangerous venture. You have to be absolutely desperate to do it. The gamble that Cubans take risking their lives in small boats should say to any open-minded American that life in millionaire-socialist Bernie Sanders' Cuban socialist paradise is a delusion of a deranged mind. No sane man would put his family in an open boat and cross 90 miles of open sea without calculating that living in Cuba is worse than dying at sea. Taking the trip is presumptive evidence of a good faith and genuine fear of being persecuted, imprisoned or tortured by Cuba's communist government.


Moreover, any country that gives a damn about the welfare of its people wouldn't force people who wanted out to cross a small ocean in a small boat. If Cuba was a free country, like Marxist Bernie and "the Squad" contend, it would allow its dissatisfied citizens to emigrate to the U.S. or elsewhere via safe ocean-going ships, or by airplane.


And if Mayorkas really fears the dangers of the trip across 90 miles of open-water, why doesn't he, assuming that he is a reasonable man, have a similar fear for the safety of families, women and children making the trek from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Or is a 90-mile voyage across open-water really that much more dangerous than a 1,323 mile trip from Guatemala City to the Texas border? Are women and children really safer traversing deserts in the hands of drug cartels and across Covid-infested lands than they'd be in open boats? At least women and girls traveling in small boats with their families don't get raped.


Now, re-read President Biden's executive order. Is their any exception for "Cubans who show up in small boats?"


Bottom line. You're welcome if you risk your life and pay the drug cartels to bring you 1,500 miles to the U.S. You are not welcome if you risk your life in a small boat to come 90 miles without enriching the drug cartels.


So why are our shores closed to Cubans? I am just cynical enough to believe it is because Cuban refugees have the effrontery to vote Republican. Their experiences in the affairs of life have taught them never again to vote for socialists, Marxists or totalitarians.

Copyright 2021, John Donald O'Shea

First Published in the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus on August 6, 2021