COVID Isn't A Moral Failing

my initial experience with contracting COVID. As I mentioned yesterday, you know, there is still this lingering feeling of being a failure that I have because you know, when you do a show where you're trying to inform people on how to stay safe, how to stay sane, how to stay involved and connected, I feel a responsibility to not only tell you about what my opinions on what to do in order to live a full, complete, you know, life, and also to be a full and complete participant in

our democracy. And I feel a responsibility to model that behavior.

And so I toiled really hard for a while with how I was going to bring the news to all of you, how I was going to break the news to all of you that I had contracted COVID after two years of telling, you know, sharing doctor Jonathan Metzel's insights, sharing you know, insights from other guests, bringing on doctor Fauci, bring on other doctors to talk about how to keep ourselves safe and sane during this time, and then to turn around and be like, oh, by the way, I

got the thing that I was trying to protect all of you from getting, And look, I get it. I know that it is highly transmissible. I know that pretty much at the stage that we are in going into year three, headed into year three in a couple of months with this virus, that it's a feat that I haven't contracted it before now, and that you know, it

isn't a moral failing. It is the reality that when we had the opportunity to end COVID, because of our politics, because of this divide in our country, we didn't write. You had some people that believed in science and doctors and vaccines, and then others that were calling in bomb threats to hospitals and threatening nurses and epidemiologists. We're living

and twisted and distorted times. And so I say all that because I wanted to give some insight into how I've been feeling while I've been isolating for the last ten days. And you know, when you are alone, and like I said yesterday, I appreciate technology, thank God, because I don't know what I would have done without it. But when you are alone, you're alone with your thoughts, and you think about a lot of things and what you could have done differently and what you will do differently.

And the fact of the matter is that COVID is not a moral failing. If you contract it, it is now essentially going to be like how we contract the flu and the chicken pox, and God forbid anything else outside of that that pops up in this world these days. But what I will continue to say is, you know, to be mindful. I didn't just throw up my hands and say, well, it's everywhere, so now I don't care.

It was. You know, I was out an outdoor family event, and you know, me and another good friend of mine were the only two people who ended up walking away with like actual symptoms. That doesn't mean that other folks didn't contracted. It just means that maybe they don't know because they were asymptomatic. Thankfully, my symptoms have been mild, but I do get tired when I am talking a lot.

I do find myself getting winded, and you know, I've had a cough and congestion like everybody else has had, but thankfully no fever, Thankfully no brain fog, and you know, thankful for science and doctors and vaccines. That's all I kept thinking about. You know, I was like on I think it was the second day that I was in isolation.

I was laying on my couch behind me, and I was just you know, I had been in my feelings and one of my best friends was just like, Danielle, I need you to concentrate and like, find some gratitude, find some things that you were grateful for. This is not like the end all be all, like you're acting as if, like, you know, the world is crashing in on you. I mean it is right when we're talking about like the world, but you know, my world. She was being specific to pull me out of my bullshit

and my nonsense, and so I did. I was laying there and I started to think about what are the things that I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for fucking vaccines. You know, this virus that is now swimming inside of me and will I guess, you know, as doctor Jonathan Metel has said, We'll live inside of us for God

knows how long isn't killing me. I'm not in a hospital, I'm not on a ventilator, and the only thing that separates me from you know what is it now the million plus people that have lost their lives to COVID is the shots that I got in my arm and

the booster. Right, I was thinking back to my God, thank God that I got this in twenty twenty two and not in twenty twenty when we were all rolling the dice, when we were washing cardboard, right, because we didn't know how long this virus that we had never heard of existed on surfaces where you know, we were quarantine inside our homes that afraid that each sniffle or cough was going to mean the end of our lives.

How far we have come into plus years of living with this pandemic, and the thank God for those that toiled away and had been working on mRNA, you know, vaccines before this virus struck, because they knew the potential of what would be coming. You know, That's the faith that I have in science and in doctors and analysts

and researchers. Right, health practitioners that have been, you know, toiling away in what has become a thankless and in some cases dangerous, fucking profession to try and keep the rest of us safe. And I think, you know, my God, that I wasn't crossing my fingers and toes and praying

that like that I wasn't going to die. You know, I explained to all of you back in twenty twenty that I did lose my step grandmother, who you know, was a vibrant, seventy something year old woman who contracted COVID and within three weeks she had left us within you know, a few days of having developed symptoms, had a fever that wouldn't quit, that was over a hundred degrees, and rushed to the hospital, tried valiantly to stay off of a ventilator because as a former health worker herself,

she knew where that was going to lead. And then in a few weeks was gone. She didn't get the opportunity to get the shots in her arm. She didn't get the opportunity to you know, be a beneficiary of science and knowledge and research. And so, you know, as I laid on the couch and I was thinking about that, and thankfully that my friend had told me, you know, to stop feeling sorry for myself. That I started to,

you know, gain perspective. And so I just say to all of you, sometimes we are just so in our own ships, so in our own stuff, that it is really difficult to kind of climb out of it. And that's why it is important to have community, family, friends, people who care about us, who can see us spiraling and struggling and say, hey, I need you to take a breath. I need you to take a minute. I need you to focus on the good things that are

in front of you right now. I need you to realize that like, yes, you may physically be alone in your apartment, but you can be on FaceTime in a blink of an eye with any number of people who will be happy to sit on the phone with you, so that you are not feeling alone and feeling down. And I say that, you know, because we talk a lot on woke f about mental health and emotional health

and wellness. And you know, as the statistics which I mentioned yesterday too are coming out that are talking about, you know, the well being of our children in this country not being so fucking great. Right that we've talked about, you know, the ambient stress that is just running consistently in our heads. We've talked about languishing, that feeling that isn't quite depression but isn't real happiness and is somewhere in between. We've talked about the fact that people are

being heavily medicated for their their feelings of despair. You know, yesterday was scrolling through Instagram and I came across this story of this, you know, young rapper, young black man and his girlfriend who at I think she maybe thirty two, just recently committed suicide. She was an influencer on social media, and he shared with the world on his Instagram page

her message, her last message to him. And I got to tell you that when I got to the end of it, I was in tears because the pain that this young woman was feeling, the loneliness, the grief, the feeling that she just did not belong in this world and no longer wanted to pretend. She said, so many people are suffering alone, and I just want us all to be mindful that having gratitude or quote unquote being happy isn't something that just happens right. It isn't happiness

doesn't fall in our laps. It's something that nowadays, in particular, we just really need to be intentional about our happiness, be mindful of our mental and emotional well being, and if we're finding ourselves in moments of spiraling and despair, to reach out and if you have no one around you to reach out to, to reach out to. Hotlines. Organizations are set up out there so that we don't feel alone, that there is a voice on the other

end of our phone. And so it was just something that I have been thinking about and wanting to share that I understand when people were talking about the real loneliness that quarantine and COVID were kind of producing during this time where when I was in you know, in the shutdown, I wasn't alone. I was with my family. And I tell you that if I had been alone

in this apartment, I probably would have gone mad. Because it's only been ten days that I have been in here, and you know, and I'm still able to put on a mask and go for a walk, and you know, and have this time where I am physically still around

people while remaining safe and distanced from them. So I just say to folks, the times are really hard, they show no signs of getting any better, and so please, you know, reach out to people and if you have no you know, community, go to hotlines, go to organizations, and recognize that there are people that are there and trained to to help you. So that's my offering and my reflection on COVID. Hey, I'm David. Plots of Slights.

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With all this time that I've had on my hands, I have finally gotten back into writing, and I wrote a piece recently that I want to share with all of you because we are god damn sixty some odd days away from midterm elections, and I got to tell you that the news that has been coming out with regard to the changes that have been happening at CNN, news reports coming out about the owner of Politico who was calling colleagues over to pray for Donald Trump on

election night, CNN has decided to throw out their seasoned journalists and bring on a bunch of Trumpers because they want to be fucking quote unquote neutral. And what that signals to me, as I'm certain to all of you, is that the media hasn't learned a fucking thing. They

haven't learned Dick from twenty sixteen. They haven't learned a fucking thing from twenty twenty, and they are going to all but fucking solidify the end of our democracy with their degreed, their fucking greed, the desire for ratings and more money and ads right at the expense of telling the American people the truth. So I wrote a piece that is up at Medium right now. I've shared it on both my Instagram and on Twitter, and it is

entitled the Fourth Estate is Crumbling. If not for the Press Center, Joe McCarthy's desire to purge UnAmericans would have succeeded.

Nixon's treachery wouldn't have been revealed. So I want to share this piece with all of you today and in hopes that you will head over to medium dot com, find it, and share it with at least one other person, because it is important for us that the more woke and conscious that we become, that we bring other people along with us and make sure that they are aware that there are forces at play that are trying to make certain that you don't wake up, that you get

as much misinformation as possible, and without a strong, free, independent press, our democracy is fucked. So here I go. Over the last six years, American politics has undergo gone a transformation unlike anything we have seen in the modern era. To put this into context, consider that for over two hundred and forty years, America has been able to sustain

its political designation as the world's foremost democracy. Through a civil war, two World Wars, the Cold War, and too many lesser wars in between, this nation has been able to maintain the illusion of democracy, a beacon, a dream

of freedom worth risking life and limb to attain. At the age of five years old, Americans begin to pledge allegiance to the flag, to salute the red, white, and blue, and recite our obedience and with it our solemn vow to uphold principles of being one nation under God, indivisible

with liberty and justice for all. That is, of course, until January sixth, twenty twenty one, when we saw that very same flag, the one that we had seen planted on the moon and on fields of battle, used as a weapon to break into the Capitol building as an attempt to overthrow the very government and country citizens swore to protect. As the capital was engulfed in a plume of smoke, being defaced by a group of white domestic

terrorists that were weaponized by their commander in chief. The eyes of countless journalists dispatched to cover one of America's darkest days since the Civil War revealed the absolute horror millions of Americans felt that day. We knew, as we were watching this siege unfold, that history was indeed in the making. It would be the responsibility of the Fourth Estate to place into words the utter mayhem and disgrace

that besieged our capital. Since the beginning of this nation, a free and unencumbered press has been essential to holding elected officials accountable for their actions and keeping the citizenury informed. A free press is the essential marker and distinction that

separates the world's democracies from dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. And yet, over the course of the last six years, not only have we watched our nation grapple with a global health pandemic whose catastrophic grip could have been avoided, and a racial uprising, but we have also witnessed one of the country's major political parties profess their allegiance not to the

flag or the nation, but instead a man. If America were any other country, the free press would be unrelenting in its coverage of a nation on the brink, particularly when for the first time in its history. The International Ideas Global State of Democracy Report labeled the United States, and this was back in twenty twenty one, a backsliding democracy.

Many knew the direction that this country would head towards when the Republican Party anointed Donald J. Trump as its leader, a man known all too well for his greed, his racism, and his lies. However, what makes good TV turns out doesn't translate to making good government or a secure democracy. Quote. While journalism plays various roles in society, perhaps its most important is how it serves as a bridge of information from the government to the common citizen, wrote Nathan to

Sando in the ut Daily Beacon. This bridge, however, is now under assault. Donald J. Trump became president in large part because of the willful ignorance of the free press to the danger he presented to the republic. While media outlets clamored for clicks the advent of showcasing quote, both sides became their hallmark for providing a microphone and ink to one of the most egregious political figures this country

has ever seen. While the forefathers of this nation had keen insight into the hearts of men, they didn't care too much for the thoughts of women. Nothing could have prepared them for this, except the assumption that a free press would bring to the people what it had since the beginning of time, the truth. Sadly, there is nothing truly free about a press that has fallen to privatization and capitalism. Why let the truth get in the way

of a good clique. We bore witness as the revolving door at the Trump White House as it dumped its many pervators on the doorsteps of once reputable outlets, all in their faue quest for the appearance of neutrality while giving voice and credence to the rhetoric that is held bent on destroying everything the forefathers imagined, including and most importantly, a free and informative press. If not for the press, Senator Joe McCarthy's desire to purge on Americans would have succeeded,

Nixon's treachery wouldn't have been revealed, and so on. Yet, now we find ourselves at a crossroads, as media outlets are being purchased like pieces on a monopoly board by white ring extremists who are using the veil of neutrality to place bad actors in positions of power, providing them with the platform to lie to tens of millions. The ability to suss out the truth is becoming almost impossible for the average citizen. The time for neutrality has long

since passed. It should have ended the day that Donald J. Trump bragged about sexual assault and referred to Mexicans as rapist. Now Here we are with a former twice impeached ex president with classified nuclear documents scattered on his Morilogal office floor, eyeing a potential run for the presidency in twenty twenty four, with the press ready to launch America into authoritarianism. If the Fourth Estate doesn't wake up soon his inauguration in

January twenty twenty five, maybe the last story they write. Quote. Journalism can never be silent. That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph, and the signs of horror are still in the air. Henry Grunwald, former editor in chief of Time magazine folks I felt compelled to write about the Fourth Estate because I am a part of it. No, I am not a quote

unquote trained journalist. I did not go to school for journalism. I went to school for politics and for education. But as a host of two podcasts, a writer, a television commentator, I find it not only my responsibility, but my duty to tell the American people the truth. Anytime that I am asked to go on TV, I don't think about who will follow me, what clicks will I get, or worse, what hate mail and potential death threats could I get.

I think about the person that is standing in their kitchen multitasking, probably with a laptop on the kitchen table, while they're making dinner, tending to pets and children or plants, going about their day to day, trying to keep their head above water, And I think about what I can say that will stop them dead in their tracks and have them imagine the freedoms that they have enjoyed up

until this moment disappear. I want to stop them dead in their tracks and recite the many reasons why rage should be flowing through their veins just as easy as blood is. Because their country, the one that we were taught to swear allegiance to, is under attack. No, there aren't a currently tanks rolling down our streets or bombs

bursting in the air. Yet, but there are people working behind the scenes, tirelessly, unrelenting to destroy everything that we have come to understand and want to perfect about this union. And if the papers, the blogs, the websites, the social media platforms are all commingling to keep the wool over our eyes, then it is the responsibility of those of us that are living with our eyes wide open to tell people the truth over and over and over again

until they wake the fuck up. Our story does not have to end here, much like in relationships that go through rough times or marriages that have rough patches, With the right help, right with the commitment, it can be thick. And so the question that I have for our media is do they have a commitment to the destruction of our democracy? And if they don't, then recognize that neutrality is dead. That neutrality is nothing more than making the conscious decision to look the other way so that you

do not offend those that seek to destroy others. We have control, dear friends, because without our eyeballs, without our dollars, they cease to exist. So if we want our voices to be heard, raise them loud and often. That is it for me today, Dear friends on Woke f as always Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fun. Get a behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from The Daily Show

with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the notable guests and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun laws and take a closer look at how and why these topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday.