Red Rubber Mask

The roller-coaster ride we took is nearly at an end

By Michael D. Shaw 

 

On 25 February, the CDC issued its new guidance on when to wear masks. The guidance lays out a system that designates individual counties as being at either low, medium, or high risk from COVID-19. As it happens, around 62.6% of counties—accounting for 71.7% of Americans—fall into the low- and medium-risk categories.

The CDC is free to engage in whatever verbal cosmetics it cares to apply, but it is clearly backing off from its ill-conceived COVID strategy for political reasons, not to mention a host of learned material demonstrating how useless masks really are. The agency also took a big hit when even the establishment-loving NY Times did a story on how the CDC has been withholding large amounts of vaccine data that are unfavorable to the vaccine narrative.

For anyone who has been following the CDC (and most of the other federal health agencies) for any length of time), their credibility is in the toilet. Their influence—such as it is—is merely based on how much money they have to throw around, and how many science prostitutes are willing to take it.

Steve Kirsch takes an even dimmer view. He thinks that science is dead, and he may well be correct. Considering that he is a major donor to MIT, and even that would not provide enough juice to get a faculty member to sponsor a talk he wanted to give on COVID, I must bow to his conviction.

But, let’s not dwell on the negative. Instead, let us journey back to April, 1966 when the hit record “Red Rubber Ball” was released by The Cyrkle. Songwriters Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers) probably knew little of coronaviruses or government incompetence and overreach, but the relevance of the lyrics is stunning:

I should have known you'd bid me farewell
There's a lesson to be learned from this and I learned it very well
Now I know you're not the only starfish in the sea
If I never hear your name again, it's all the same to me

I should have figured that as soon as things got hot, you’d dump me. But, I learned that there are other places to get health info, and I needn’t bother with you anymore.

And I think it's gonna be all right
Yeah, the worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball

Self-explanatory

You never care for secrets I confide
For you I'm just an ornament, somethin' for your pride
Always runnin', never carin', that's the life you live
Stolen minutes of your time were all ya had to give

The CDC seemed immune to outside criticism, and the people it supposedly serves mean nothing. Even the pathetic guidance you did issue seemed forced and insincere.

And I think it's gonna be all right
Yeah, the worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball

I’m getting more confident now!

The story's in the past with nothin' to recall
I've got my life to live and I don't need you at all
The roller-coaster ride we took is nearly at an end
I bought my ticket with my tears, that's all I'm gonna spend

CDC…baby…I’m through with you.

And I think it's gonna be all right
Yeah, the worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball

Oh, oh
I think it's gonna be all right
Yeah, the worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball

It was Pablo Picasso who said, “Art is a lie that tells the truth.” OK. Maybe the morning sun really didn’t shine that day like a “red rubber ball,” but it might as well have.

[Lyrics quoted as “fair use,” as is the record jacket image]