How Mike Baker Feels About Coronavirus Response

So how do you feel about all this? Weirded out? No. You haven't been here since COVID, right? Yeah, we were, I think the last time it was before then, just before then. It started to settle in. And then I traveled last, it was mid-February, I was in New York City. And it was starting to, people were starting to be aware, right? And they were talking about it a little bit, but there were real no changes in behavior. And then it really hit and everybody went into a hurry, locked down. The good thing is, pandemics don't last, right? So we're going to get past this. This is not like the zombie apocalypse. So I'm not one of those people that is hiding in my bunker, even though I like my bunker. What kind of bunker you got? A good bunker. I bet you do. But you have a real one, right? I do, I do. You want the kind that screws like a fucking submarine? A little periscope that comes up, looks around the compound. Looks like a gopher. Yeah, we use it for a variety of reasons. But I'm worried because it's serious and of course it's tragic to lose anybody. And we've lost over 150,000 people. But you also got to keep this in context, right? I mean, we've had pandemics before. Pandemic just means it crossed international boundaries. So there's an element here, two things can be true. You can believe the science, which of course you should do. Pay attention to statistics and data and do the best things you can do. But you can also look at it and go, we're kind of fucked because part of this problem is the coverage of it because of political reasons. Not to jump right into the political thing, but I can't help but think that we wouldn't have quite as much confusion and we wouldn't have quite as much of the angst that people are feeling. If it weren't for sort of the visceral hatred that exists out there on some sectors for the president. And again, I don't have a dog in the hunt, but I have a feeling like the tone of coverage will change in November if Biden wins. And not, the science doesn't change, right? It's still the same fucking virus. But I just have a feeling that we'll see a tone change. Suddenly it'll be a little bit more about if Biden wins, it'll be more about, yeah, let's look on the bright side. Let's get this coverage sorted out. Let's get the country working. Let's do these things. And again, you can believe both things. You can believe that we're fucked because of the politics and you can also believe the science. My friend got tested, turned out positive, and the doctor asked him what his political leanings are. And he said, why? And he said, well, I really believe in hydroxychloroquine, but a lot of people who are Democrats who don't like the president don't want to use it. I'm like, that is hilarious. And he goes, hydroxychloroquine, when used correctly, he said, particularly in the early stages of the virus, seems to be very effective. Now there's all these people that are coming out and saying it's not. And there's all these people that are coming out. And I talked to my doctor about it and I said, well, why do you think that it's because the doctor that I use currently, he recommends it for people that are high risk as a prophylactic. That's the way Trump is supposedly taking it. He's like, it's actually, there's a study that shows that it's very effective, a study from Italy that shows it's very effective as a prophylactic. And he says also when you when you get it, you get the catch the virus and then you get it quickly. So if you can get hydroxychloroquine in you quickly. But you know, look, I'm a moron. I don't know who the fuck to believe. So I read all this shit. I'm like, well, do I believe the doctor? Do I believe all these other doctors say it's bullshit? Do I believe that whole team of doctors? By the way, Andrew Sholes has a fucking hilarious video on hydrochloroquine. Like what is it? He did one of those Instagram videos. So go check that out. But it's it's one of those things where it's like, I wish the president didn't talk about it because then we would know what the fuck it is. Is it good? Is it bad? I mean, are people really not taking it just because the president is the one who endorsed it like that? It's so crazy. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Right. I mean, there's some crazy. So it's it. Yeah. And people don't know it. Like to your point, people don't know what to believe. Right. It's one thing if if the reporting or the the dissemination of information is partisan during normal times, but you're talking about a public health crisis and you would think we'd set all of that bullshit aside. I mean, if we can't come together as a country during a fucking public health crisis, what the hell is wrong? But and it's both sides. Both sides are tossing hand grenades at each other. So it's not just one side or the other. I'm going to send Jamie this right now because this is from Newsweek. This is why it's really confusing. This is from Newsweek. And this is from a professor of epidemiology from I believe from. Yeah, from Yale School of Public Health. Yeah. And he says the key to the COVID-19 already exists. We need to start using it. And he's recommending hydroxychloroquine. Did you get it? Yeah. Yeah. Look at this. Like this is a fucking real problem. This is a real doctor, a professor of epidemiology. Like what the fuck? Yeah. I mean, and you see some folks coming out, some doctors coming out and saying, well, it doesn't work in patients. And then it turns out you read further into the story and it doesn't work on patients who are already seriously ill. Yes. That's what they're saying. Right. And so, but you have to... The problem is nobody makes it past the headlines for the most part. And more and more people are getting their bullshit information from Facebook user groups. And nobody reads down. And to be fair, media outlets know that. So they'll bury the contradictory information in the 20th paragraph or something. Yeah. Because they know no one's going to venture down there. Everybody looks at the headlines and goes, oh, see, that convinces me or supports my theory. But yeah, I look at this and we've been doing everything you can do. We've been wearing masks. I don't see what the bullshit is about the masks. Wear a fucking mask when you're out in public. Yeah, it's not that hard. Who cares? You get used to it. You know it's better. Bandanas are way better. You can breathe out of them better. Yeah. Yeah. Plus it just looks good. Yeah, you feel like a bandana. Yeah, if you get your horse waiting outside. Do you know that whole video where there's a bunch of doctors that keeps getting removed from YouTube and Facebook? And a bunch of doctors talking about hydroxychloroquine and Z-Pax and zinc. Everybody's like, you need to listen to this lady. Then it turns out the lady believes that the cause of impotence is spirits and she thinks there's alien DNA in vaccines. Is that what she said? Yeah, it's a little odd. She's completely off the reservation. Oh, you're not supposed to say that, right? I think you're not supposed to say off the reservation. It's offensive to Indians. Damn it. Yeah. Okay, hold on. Let me make a note of that. That one I didn't have on my list of what's offensive. I was taught by a Native American lady. I'm not supposed to say that one. She's off the chain. I think you could say that. Off the hook? No. Off the hook. Off the chain is good, right? It's not crazy. Shit, I need a new crazy term. What's a non-offensive crazy term? Well, I shouldn't say not going to offend anybody because there's no such thing anymore. Ooh, fucking nuts. How about that? We just go with that. Yeah, fucking nuts. She's a doctor. She's a legit doctor, but apparently she is nuts. Yeah. What do you got, Jamie? What did she say? Summer reported that a 2015 sermon that laid out a supposed Illuminati plan hatched by a witch to destroy the world using abortion, gay marriage, and children's toys, among other things. Emmanuel claimed that DNA from space aliens is currently being used in medicine. She also offered prayers through her website to remove generational curses transmitted through placenta. Yeah. Yeah. Seems legit. No, I see where she's coming from. Trump addressed the video, hold on a second, saying, I think they're very respected doctors. There was a woman who was spectacular. She was spectacular, placenta. They might have heard him say placenta. But he said of hydroxychloroquine, I happen to think it works in early stages. So that's the problem. When he says that, and then the lady who believes in witchcraft says that, then maybe it's it does work. But the problem is a fucking lady who believes in an alien DNA and witchcraft and generational curses transmitted through placenta. I wonder what's children's toys. I mean, I got kids. Now I got to worry. I mean, which ones would you assume? I'm going to go with Mr. Potato Head. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, most of my kids basically now all we got around the house is Nerf guns. And so like any time you walk over, do you remember the pink panther where you'd walk over and he'd walk around the house and then Kato would like leap on him from somewhere? That's what it's like around my house. Now you're going to get popped in the air hole by a Nerf bullet at close range because you never know when they're going to sneak up on you and use these things. And so, but that's about all we got anymore of that. And we do have some Legos. So I'm hoping she wasn't talking about Legos. If she's talking about Legos, then we know she's really crazy. Yeah. But I think to your point again, you know, part of this is it would be nice if the messaging from the White House was better. Let's face it on a number of things. We wouldn't have quite the chaos that we do right now. Well, he's basically using the same strategy used to be a famous person. You know, you know, he says wacky shit. He speaks off the cuff. He doesn't care. He doesn't have a filter. And you can't, you just can't employ. It seemed like you could do that and become president, but you can't do that and be president.