Never in a million years could I have imagined going to a bank teller with a mask on and asking for money. – Unknown

Welcome to “Caught My Eye” (CME)!

NOTICE: CME is coming to you, STILL, I repeat STILL, coronavirus free, from deep inside an underground bunker in Montana. The bunker also serves as the worldwide headquarters for The Western Word blog!

CME is the once a week column that is posted here every Friday morning. This is when I take a look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. There may be some sarcasm and pointed independent commentary so be warned!

Here are the topics that “Caught My Eye” this week:

• The Conspiracy
• Opening Up America Again
• Major Polls
• One More Thing

THE CONSPIRACY:

With the coronavirus pandemic in full force, the fake news and conspiracy posts are hitting social media. Facebook has even started to flag fake coronavirus posts to let people know they are not true. It seems like many older people have problems differentiating from real news or news that is slanted to one side or full-blown fake news. It’s sad to see some people make fools of themselves.

I happened to see a comment left on a friend’s Facebook post about the coronavirus and New York City adding 4,000 people to the coronavirus death list although they never tested positive. The people did have symptoms of coronavirus like fever, coughing, etc. No big deal, I thought.

The article actually put one conspiracy theorist over the deep end. Her comments are so far-fetched that I have to share them. The grammar and spelling errors belong to her:

I do believe China released this virus from the lab that is funded by Bill Gates, and now Bill Gates, who has no medical degree, no medical pathology or any kind of degree is all behind the vaccine and making it mandated for all. Bill Gates and China are the consipiracy, the othe problem is it didn’t get as bad as they thought, so now they are giving hospitals money to label death due to Covid 19 even when it was not, or what about the 90+ year old nursing home patinet who was already on “end of life care” tests positive, dies. Did Covid kill them? They could have died that week without Covid. A baby born at 22 weeks, the mother tested positive, the baby days, the baby does not test positive to Covid, but cause of death for baby, Covid 19! NO! That’s the conspiracy Someone needs to take Bill Gates down!!!

I can picture her typing the response with a tinfoil hat on!

You can thank me for the laugh later…

OPENING UP AMERICA AGAIN:

In a White House press briefing and post on the White House website, President Trump unveiled Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, a three-phased approach based on the advice of public health experts.

The White House claims these steps will help state and local officials when reopening their economies, getting people back to work, and continuing to protect American lives.

You can read about the criteria and the three phases by clicking HERE.

Trump seems to think some states will open up in just a few days. That depends on the 14-day trend line that shows a downward trajectory of new cases and reports of illness.

In Phase One, the rule is schools that are now closed should remain closed.

Right now I don’t think that most states have the capability to do enough testing. It seems Trump is saying some of you will die, and that’s ok. Trump already holds, due to his poor preparedness, the distinction of killing more Americans than Osama bin Laden.

Finally, one thing they could do for testing purposes to see if the coast is clear, maybe Trump could hold MAGA rallies in the states that show fewer outbreaks. Kind of like the canary in the cage deal…

MAJOR POLLS:

There are two polls that I want to bring to your attention.

First, Pew Research released a poll that found that 65% of those polled thought that President Trump was too slow to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

The poll was conducted April 7-12. There were 4,917 adults polled.

The poll also found that the public strikes a decidedly cautious note on easing strict limits on public activity. About twice as many Americans say their greater concern is that state governments will lift restrictions on public activity too quickly (66%) than not quickly enough (32%).

Check out the whole poll HERE.

Another poll, this one from Gallup, shows trouble for President Trump. Gallup reports as President Donald Trump works to contain the damage from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., the rally in support he enjoyed as the nation entered a virtual lockdown has faded. His job approval rating, now 43%, has slipped six percentage points since mid-March when he earned 49% approval, which tied his personal best.

The Gallup Poll was conducted April 1-14 with 1,017 adults polled in all 50 states. The margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points

The Gallup poll also found that thirty percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., marking a 12-point drop since the prior reading in early March. A monthly drop this large has only been recorded twice in the past two decades.

You can read the whole poll from Gallup HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

I missed writing about this yesterday during my “Thursday Numbers” column for some reason, but April 16 is an important date for me. It was 39 years ago that I headed to Lackland Air Force Base Texas for basic training. I volunteered.

I know, I know, I don’t look that old.

I served on active duty for 11 years, 7 months and 28 days. I took a buyout during the downsizing of the military and was honorably discharged in 1992. I started college in 1993 using the GI Bill and graduated in 1996 (Communications/Political Science).

Whenever I’m asked why I chose to serve in the U.S. Air Force, I reply, “Because I scored high enough to have the choice.” 😉

Have a great weekend!

##END##