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Comment by mydongle | Hacker News Reader

It's tragic watching this play out. 4chan's /pol/ amongst many other racists love it. They don't have to do anything while everything implodes. They see Covid-19 as a nothing burger, and health experts giving these protestors a pass vindicates their belief. But if Covid-19 is not a nothing burger, then these protests will end up with many black people and other minorities sick and possibly dead. People on the alt-right have mostly avoided doing anything and are telling their side not to engage. Because as far as they are concerned, right now it's just leftists burning their own leftist cities down.

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If they love it, perhaps they do because it proves what they have been saying: that this has been politicized from the get-go, in so many ways, and all of the staunch denials of it become ever more ludicrous as this continues. Don't worry, the WHO says that there is no human-to-human transmission, China told them. Don't buy masks. What are you doing without a mask on, do you just hate the elderly? Anyone re-opening early is going to destroy America. But get out and protest! The Lancet has assured us that Trump as usual didn't know what he was talking about.

On and on.

They love it because, like anyone, they love being proven right. If you want them not to love it, then do not prove them right.

We shouldn't have let politics drive all of our COVID-19 policies and responses, but we did, now it is evident, and we're going to have to pay for that with a loss of trust.

bingo

the information war is being fought with bricks and 'boogaloos', nothing about 9 days of riots and protests goes against 4chans goals and desire to throw the US into chaos.

you don't even need disinformation when articles will back you up based on your political alignments

In re:

> They see Covid-19 as a nothing burger, and health experts giving these protestors a pass vindicates their belief.

Four minutes later someone says just that:

> by admitting there are exceptions, [public health experts] reveal that they were not being straight with us all along.

I never said I thought Covid-19 was a nothing-burger, and I have nothing to do with the right-wing online crazies.

Nevertheless it is clear that public health experts have not been straight with us. You don't need to be a right-wing loon to see that their open letter contradicts what they have been saying until now.

Why did you personally attack me and associate me with the 4chan nutters with no basis whatsoever?

> I never said I thought Covid-19 was a nothing-burger, and I have nothing to do with the right-wing online crazies.

I never said you did.

> Nevertheless it is clear that public health experts have not been straight with us.

Depends on the public health officials you listen to, eh?

> You don't need to be a right-wing loon to see that their open letter contradicts what they have been saying until now.

I agree. Mass protests during a pandemic are irresponsible although understandable, in my opinion, and the open letter people are talking about in this thread sounds to me to be pretty irresponsible as well, although I haven't read it.

I just watched a bunch of videos of demonstrations happening today all over the world. While my heart soared a little voice in the back of my head was saying "...but covid is loving this..."

> Why did you personally attack me and associate me with the 4chan nutters with no basis whatsoever?

I didn't attack you, I wasn't even responding to you. I was struck by the pattern match, that's all. I apologize for the offense, and wish you well.

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