Coronavirus, Greens, and the horseshoe theory wingnut breech (and the Capitol insurrection)

Wingnuts and horseshoe theory wingnuts among certain sectors of the left have both claimed that coronavirus death counts are way wrong.

Medical experts agree.

Some say they're off by 100 percent.

As in as much as 100 percent TOO LOW.

So, when you read reports of 65,000 deaths, or whatever the number is at coronavirus tracking pages, you need to really think as much as 130,000.

Meanwhile, per an update to the header, there's something horseshoe-y about many Greens' claims about the Jan. 6 quasi-insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. See the second update below. 

There's additional problems. A number of states generally aren't checking nursing home deaths. Here in Texas, the Freedom of Information Foundation has been prodding for information, with the hint of possible legal action if that is not forthcoming.

As the story notes, the CDC told states two weeks ago to start counting suspected as well as test-confirmed deaths, but this will take time to percolate through state pipelines.

And, for hospitals or medical examiners who may be overburdened now? The story also notes that nasal swabs can be gathered from the deceased and frozen for later study. Also, blood samples can be frozen, then tested later for antibodies.

Coronavirus officially became "not just the flu" last week, despite a growing number of lefty as well as Trumpist and further right conspiracy theorists. And per this, it probably was unofficially "not just the flu" by the start of April.

This additional testing is important for other reasons.

We will have some sort of coronavirus issues in the fall, per both Dr. Redfield and Dr. Fauci; even Dr. Birx, more of a toady than Fauci, agrees. It's likely to be less severe than in the summer but still real, and conjoined with influenza.

And, it's likely that, not only will it be a new problem in the fall, but also next spring and beyond.

Meanwhile, people on the GP's official (and public) Facebook group are acting like many a libertarian type in fighting alleged government tyranny if a vaccine IS developed, but also going down the wingnut road in claiming conspiracy theories about coronavirus itself, only in this case, the pharmaceutical industry is the villain.

Please.

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Updates: Contra Noah Berlatsky at the now dead Pacific Standard, who claims that horseshoe theory is semi-worthless and used to oppress leftists, it's real. Given that, from all I can tell, he's not an actual lefist (dude has written for REASON!) he's full of it. (I have since Tweeted him this link and gotten no response.)

(Update, April 19, 2021: This reminds me a bit of Green Party nutter and (former?) Ron Paul-tard William Pounds, profiled by me here. That said, I don't think Pounds has ever claimed to be a leftist.)

Reading between the lines? I think he's saying that both lefty and righty anarcho-libertarians (a concept that also proves the truth of horseshoe theory) are being attacked by conventional conservatives.

Well, in these quarters, you're also being attacked by a semi-conventional, or more, leftist. Deal with it.

Just came across this late-April Atlantic piece that says 30 percent of Americans believe in some version of coronavirus conspiracy theory, which breaks into one of two big subtheories: Either it's being overhyped when it's really "just the flu," or it's a bioweapon. Even though Trump has preached the second, that has many greenie types who believe it. (That said, over the past year or so, my learning curve on just how many Green Party greens are NOT leftist or even that close to it has ramped up.)

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Update, Jan. 8, 2021: A number of Greens are claiming that the insurrectionist assault on the U.S. Capitol two days ago was at a minimum staged theater, if not a full false flag. See poll at top right of the blog.

Update 1A, Jan. 10: I put up a post about that at the official GP Facebook group, asking how many believed that. That's a moderated group. Well, 8 hours later, the post was not in the moderate queue nor was it on the page. I posted that fact as a comment to the post about the party's official statement on the riot or worse. Such censorship by admins (and NOT the first time by ANY means!) reflect poorly on the party, since it is an OFFICIAL party outlet. Specific to this issue, party officials trying to censor learning just how many numnutz it has on this issue is ALSO problematic.

Update 2, Jan. 8: Now that we have COVID vaccines, antivaxxerism is raising its head more and more among Greens, along with anti-quarantine and similar stances. Per places like Wiki, there is arguably a political stance that can be called "libertarian socialism," but without understanding "libertarian" in its European, not American usage, you wind up with nutters like some Greens. I also have little doubt there are Greens who, like fired pharmacist Steven Brandenberg, believe the vaccines can change DNA. April 19: This even more reminds me of Pounds, who used the term, as did others, on the GP's official Facebook group, for which I turned off most notifications long ago. I occasionally used that in the past about myself, but, BUT, only within European understanding of the word "libertarian."

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Update, Feb. 2, 2022: Horseshoers of the "left" in the antivax movement openly working with fascists shows just how real and bad this is. Beyond that, more and more Greens who oppose "trans activism" (and maybe other forms of identity politics, too?) are willing to make common cause with the fascist-tolerant on the modern right. That's all while trying to go "black is white" with how they invoke the Nuremberg Code like a falsified shibboleth.