“Conservative” hero Tucker Carlson cannot contain his glee announcing the resignation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She is, of course, anathema to MAGA-Republicans because while Trump floundered, she successfully lead New Zealand through the first and most dangerous phase of the pandemic with strict public health measures. The measure of her success can be seen clearly in the following:
Deaths per million of population through January 19th, 2023. . .
USA (3,258) New Zealand (469)
Achieving such a massive saving of life required public health policies that “conservatives” hate including masking, social distancing, quarantine of cases, and mandatory vaccinations. She is therefore fair game for Tucker. According to him she is a “totalitarian,” “an appalling abuser of human rights,” and a “puppet of the Chinese government.” Even worse she is the “lady with the big teeth.”
Here is a sample of Tucker’s presentation. A technique he uses again and again. Outrageous slanders disguised as questions . . .
“What are the chances she was a puppet of the Chinese government? We don’t have enough evidence to prove that, but we would rate that as about 100% likely.”
Enough evidence? You don’t have ANY evidence! Left out of this “analysis” is why China would give a rat’s ass about New Zealand’s covid policy. Of course, Tucker knows his audience and the accusation of a link to “Chy-Na” without evidence is all he needs. They will absorb the slander without thinking or asking obvious questions.
It is certainly reasonable to challenge New Zealand’s priorities and policies but it is worth noting that if our government had achieved the same level of mortality that they did, approximately 940,000 lives could have been saved. Before you ask – the age demographics of NZ are very similar to ours with 16% over 65 versus our 17%.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
No one with a grain of sense could take Tucker Carlson seriously. My favorite description of Tucker came from a Tweet: “He always looks like a dog trying to understand a magic trick.”
His one talent is telling MAGATs what they want to hear.
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Of course he was famously defended by Fox lawyers making exactly the point you just did – He cannot defame people because everyone knows he is just a clown.
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Didn’t kings used to execute court jesters who weren’t funny? Maybe we should go back to the good old days.
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RE: “it is worth noting that if our government had achieved the same level of mortality that they did, approximately 940,000 lives could have been saved.”
Not really. Your statistics don’t actually reveal a cause-and-effect reality. So, this statement commits the logical error of presenting a counterfactual as factual.
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There is no error in my statement. It is pure mathematics. We can debate the real world figure of avoidable deaths until the cows come home. People working for Trump said it was in the hundreds of thousands.
The real point is that New Zealand implemented far stricter public health measures than we did and achieved a death rate that is about 1/7th of ours. You may think the economic price for saving those lives was too high, but only a moron like Carlson would mock and slander her for the pleasure of other morons.
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RE: “There is no error in my statement. It is pure mathematics.”
Your math may be fine, but your logic is flawed, as stated.
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There is no flaw in my math OR my logic.
Your nonsensical claim that there is no cause and effect connection is laughably dopey. As usual. There IS a causal connection between strict public health policies effectively implemented and lower fatalities.
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RE: “There IS a causal connection between strict public health policies effectively implemented and lower fatalities.”
Why, because you say so?
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So what?
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Attempting to draw comparisons on COVID response between the US and NZ is extremely shallow thinking.
NZ is an island with only one country on it. It has only 2 ports of entry. It is very restrictive immigration policies(you cannot emigrate to NZ if you are over 40 years old and must be financially independent) and has relatively little international trade. Go ahead and look around your house and see if you can find anything made in NZ.
It was not NZ’s internal policies that delayed COVID there, it was their border and entry procedures. NZ is what you would build if quarantine was your goal. COVID never really gained a foothold there before the vaccines and therapeutics were available.
If Trump had tried to follow NZ’s method you’d have needed a wall across the Canadian border as well as Mexican, and to close 90% of our international airports.
But go ahead and see how silly you can be.
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“Attempting to draw comparisons on COVID response between the US and NZ is extremely shallow thinking.”
At least it is thinking. Your kneejerk defenses of Trump’s many failures don’t count as that.
“It was not NZ’s internal policies that delayed COVID there . . .”
Bullshit. There are many island nations that were unwilling to implement the measures that New Zealand did. They paid a price in lives lost.
Deaths per million . . .
Trinidad (2,814)
Aruba (2,639)
Bermuda (2,445)
Saint Lucia (2,273)
French Polynesia (2,118)
BVI (2,042)
Bahamas (2,031)
Republic of Ireland (1,678)
I could go on. Being an island makes it easier to control a pandemic but does not get the job done without strong public health policies.
But, we digress. I had already agreed that there is plenty of room for disagreement on which policies make sense. The point I was making is that Tucker Carlson is a classless clown who panders to morons with lies and slanders. Refute that why don’t you?
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I’m not a Carlson fan. He is right sometimes, and sometimes wrong, but always sure.
But sure, tropical islands that depend on tourism did not follow NZ’s border policies. That’s not the point.
It would not have been possible for the US to follow that policy.
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“It would not have been possible for the US to follow that policy.”
Because you say so?
The idea that the pandemic was an issue of border control is pretty far off the mark. Maybe in the first few weeks, but once it got in the border was far less important than public health policy. That is true in NZ as well as anywhere else.
Of course controlling the border is far simpler in NZ than here, but they did far more than that. Public gatherings restricted, masking required, aggressive testing and strict quarantine for the infected. Imagine how many lives would have been saved if we had implemented serious vaccination mandates as NZ did. Probably in six figures.
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“ We don’t have enough evidence to prove that, but we would rate that as about 100% likely.”
Classic Republican logic.
“ ‘We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence,'” Bowers said.
AZ Speaker of the House, Rusty Bowers, regarding Giuliani’s efforts to overturn 2020.
That right wing party rhetoric is mostly lies is one thing, but that it works for millions of people does not conjure up much respect for either group.
Besides, Carlson has admitted, and used as legal defense, that no one expects truth from him.
Santos of the right wing airways? Probably.
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