OPINION - It's Time To Speak Up

Exactly 1 week ago, I wrote an opinion piece on this page.  As of this morning, nearly 1.3 million people have now read it.  It clearly struck a nerve both good and bad.  I've gotten hate and love mail from 22 states and I literally cannot keep up. Just got an email on it right before I started this sentence. I've been called a murderer and a hero.  I am neither of these things.  I am only telling a COMPLETE STORY.  One that's complicated, and messy, but one we all need to wrestle with.

My stance has not changed and the numbers look way better, way faster than the experts and the models predicted.  Even the numbers in NY are looking a lot better on the front end. 

There are those who called me a moron because I pointed out there was ventilator capacity in NYC. There still is.

There are those who called me an idiot because there are no vaccines to help. Hydroxy+Zinc+Azitrho continues to yield great results for many. Don't talk to me about anecdotal. It's not anecdotal to the cured.

There are those who said they hope I'd burn in hell for saying old people should just die so we can get rid of them. I repeat what I have said all along, shame on us if we don't protect them. We are. We have shut down 95% of our economy specifically to care for them. The average age of death in Minnesota is 87.  

I have learned much in the last week.  One, the angry mob is real, and they are vicious.  But for some reason most of those people have strong far-left posts on their timelines.  Hmmmmm.

I really don't get it. Why is any of this political? You are SICK if you want this to continue just because you want this to look bad for Trump.  YOU are the one who wants people to die for disgusting reasons, not me.

Don't @ me about profits over people.  Profits?  Who's talking about making money? I'm talking about horrific losses versus CATASTROPHIC losses.  Nobody's making money here.

MN Governor Walz, now I know why you didn't want to release your models. 22,000? 36,000 dead in MN?

What?

NY has 8,600 and all their leading indicators are WAY DOWN. We were never going to be NYC!!!!  Meanwhile restaurants are empty, barbers silent, theaters dark.....You can MOW a golf course, but you can't play on one?  Please.  Golfers are never closer than 6 feet.

Small biz owners are tough. They don't screech and wail like the far left, but it's TIME TO SPEAK UP!  We can have common sense accommodations and get people back to work.  

The time is now to act.

Call your mayor, governor, city commissioners, dog catchers, everyone. Fargo Mayor Mahoney said he's starting to talk to the governor of North Dakota about some adjusted business operations. But if he doesn't hear from YOU they think it's just me on the radio. Do it kind and respectful but tell them your stories!  Tell them what its like to see your life savings go down the drain. To lose your job and then look for a new one only to find that nobody's hiring. To lay off your people who need their paychecks.  To be jailed in your home and miss your 12-step recovery group. To lose your routine that keeps you from relapsing.

I got an email from Alabama yesterday from a mom who saw my piece.  She has an autistic child who is suffering mentally because the support services in the school are gone because classes are closed.  Meals aren't the only things that school kids need.

So let's find those common sense accommodations and responsibly open up the economy (see last post).  Call your representatives!  Right now the only thing elected officials hear is "You are evil if you do anything that could lead to one person dying." That's such an immature argument. Look at the WHOLE PICTURE. We can protect our at-risk and elderly and have commerce too....We are not talking about good vs. bad options.  We are talking about bad and worse!

Economics are a complicated thing. You kill your economy and the health care system that saves lives won't be around next time. 

I see the state of North Dakota just released it's daily report for Saturday the 11th.  5 days ago there were 18 people hospitalized from C-19. Since then the daily count has gone to 16, then 14, then 13.  And now today 10.

Yes that's right, a total of 10 people across a state of 800,000 are in the hospital from this, and we've shut down the whole state.  There is playing it safe, and then there is this.

Media loves the attention right now. Trump haters love the disruption of a campaign that was going to walk in for a 2nd term. Hospitals get more money if they call that case COVID 19. There are a lot of motivations to see this continue.

But it can't. 

The good news is that the tide has shifted since I wrote that piece last week.  More people are willing to say what I'm saying. How about you?  We can take on the angry mob. Share this, and others like Steven Moore, Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino and others who get it.  Tag a lawmaker in it.

It is time for YOU to raise a voice and press the issue. 

Not a call for an irresponsible, full-out, back to normal.

For a common sense, BALANCED, return to something that might remind you of it.

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Steve Hallstrom is President and Managing Partner at Flag Family Media (radio) and Fieldstone Group (public relations and consulting) in Fargo, ND.  He also hosts a morning local radio news program 6-8:30 am on AM1100 WZFG and a 7 pm nightly radio news program. He can be reached at steveflagfamily [dot] com.