COVID is not the first viral flu pandemic America has faced, yet the reaction is unprecedented. The entire economy has been shut down for months, some sectors still closed. Elective yet necessary medical care has been postponed leading to excess sickness and death well beyond that caused by the Chinese virus.

Many schools remain closed, as do restaurants, hair salons, and churches. We are forced to keep six feet away from each other at all times and are expected to wear masks, whether outside and alone or inside sharing an intimate moment with a loved one.

Are these rules and restrictions for the public good or are they a means of power and control over the people? The most draconian measures are being pushed by Democrats at the local, state, and national levels. Yet personally they often ignore the mandates they impose on the rest of us.

Do they know more about the dangers, or lack of, than they are letting on? Are they hiding the truth about the Wuhan virus for political reasons? Such as data from a UCLA/Stanford study finding the risk for a 50 to 64 year old of hospitalization is 1 in 790,000 and of death only 1 in 6,670,000. This is not what the media is telling us.

Is this a form of insider trading? A company insider knows of an upcoming announcement, merger, or acquisition that will affect stock price. They buy or sell stock accordingly based on that knowledge that the rest of the market does not yet possess. Such insider trading is unfair, and also illegal, except for members of Congress, who granted themselves an exemption.

It would be one thing if Democrat officials themselves abided by these burdensome diktats that they impose on the hoi polloi. But they don’t. One might call it elitism as in, “Do as I say, not as I do”.  Or simply that, “Rules are for little people.”

I think it’s more. These rules are not simply inconveniencing but potentially the difference between life and death, as we are continuously told. For example, masks have become mandatory and those defying have been called murderers.

If masks and distancing were so important, why are Democrat politicians putting themselves, their families and constituents at risk of ending up on a ventilator in an ICU by ignoring their own safety rules? Are these rules for public health or mostly for show? Is the goal to keep Americans from getting sick or to keep the economy shut down, dispiriting working Americans ahead of the November presidential elections in a last ditch effort of preventing President Trump’s reelection?

The examples are myriad. Michigan’s Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer marched in a George Floyd protest without regard to social distancing, a rule she happily fined her citizens $1000 for violating. Why wasn’t she afraid of contracting the virus?

Dr Anthony Fauci, the last word on all things COVID, told Americans to wear masks and socially distance else the country would never reopen. Yet at a baseball game in July, he was yucking it up within inches of two friends while wearing his mask under his chin, fearless of catching the Wuhan flu.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needed a shampoo and “blow out”, scheduling an appointment at a hair salon in her home district. Hair salons in California are considered non-essential businesses and ordered closed by the governor. Yet it was open for Madame Speaker and unfortunately for her, she was caught on video, violating the law of her home state, and she too wasn’t wearing a mask. Wasn’t she worried about catching the Chinese flu?

She said she was “set up” when the only set up was Governor Newsom closing California to influence the upcoming election. Hopefully, Pelosi receives another “blow out” on November 3, becoming House minority leader.

A homeless man in Nashville was arrested in August for not wearing a mask. Was he “set up” too?

Did Pelosi know for certain that her hair stylist or anyone else in the room was not sick or contagious? She is 80 years old and Fauci is 79. According to the CDC, someone that age has an 8 times higher rate of hospitalization and a 220 times higher death rate compared to an 18-29-year-old.

What if she and Dr Fauci are taking prophylactic hydroxychloroquine as President Trump did in May, the same drug Democrats and the media claim will kill anyone who dares take it? Is that why they are so cavalier about flouting the rules they impose on everyone else? Or do they know the virus has run its course and the odds of now catching it and getting sick are quite low? News they are keeping to themselves.

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On the East Coast, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, dined indoors in Maryland while his city’s restaurants are banned from indoor dining. While permitted in Maryland, he is telling his Philly constituents to “do as I say, not as I do.”

New York requires everyone wear a face covering when outside if unable to maintain social distancing. But unnecessary for Governor Andrew Cuomo, photographed walking his dog without a mask. Cuomo claims, “Wearing a mask is about respect” yet in Georgia in July he was caught neither wearing a mask or social distancing. His brother Fredo caught the virus but the governor was seemingly unafraid. Why?

Want to attend church? Fuhgeddaboudit. Unless it is a funeral for George Floyd, in which case it’s just fine. No gatherings for a sporting event, but for a BLM rally, no problem.

New York quarantines travelers visiting from out of state hot spots, but waived these mandates for those attending the recent VMA award show in New York City. Are the VMA attendees all healthy? Or is the virus no longer the big issue that we are being told it is?

One might chalk this up to hypocrisy, a common trait among politicians, particularly Democrats. Or do they know something we don’t, that the virus is no longer the threat it once was and are personally acting accordingly based on their inside knowledge?

COVID deaths and hospitalizations peaked in mid-April yet the restrictions remain in place, with no immediate end in sight until the end of the year, coincidently after the upcoming presidential election. What better way to peel off Trump voters than by creating fear, dispiriting working Americans to the point that media propaganda begins to sink in.

There is an adage, “Watch what people do, not what they say.” Why would Democrat politicians put themselves, their families, and constituents in harm’s way by ignoring the safety rules? Unless it is more hype than harm, more about fear than fact.

If they acted like it is a crisis then I might believe it is a crisis. Americans are catching on that now this may be more of a big con than the public health crisis we are being told it is.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a Denver based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook,  LinkedIn, Twitter, Parler, and QuodVerum.