So, yesterday afternoon I woke up and something was on NPR about vax denial...

[TreasonousBastard]

Seems some group had a groups of antivaxers in a room and was trying to educate them. Nothing worked.

Until, of all things, Chris Christie got up and did an excellent job of telling his personal story. When he was finished, maybe half the crowd was at least thinking about changing their minds.

His secret? Well, to start with, the crowd had a deep distrust of government, and authority in general. They were, or believed they were, tricked and lied to all their lives. Cigarette companies told them tobacco was really healthy, their parents told them weird stuff, bosses lied, advertising told then each product was best, and the worst were politicians-- bullshitting them blind worse than any Nigerian prince.

So, when Fauci tries to tell them about covid, they are primed to throw him out with the trash. Same with any other "experts". Experts had been conning them all their lives, and they weren't having any of it.

Christi's push was simply to avoid anything technical or medical. He told about his time in the hospital, and about how the meeting in the White House ended up with everyone sick. Hope Hicks ran two or three miles a day and was in excellent shape and got sick. Donald hisself got sick. And not just down for a bit, but sick almost with death rattles. He told the personal story the White House glossed over.

The audience was rapt. Here was someone not repeating the usual BS, but speaking from bitter experience.

And it worked better than anything else.

[SheltieLover]

1. Can you imagine only believing Christie about anything?

Glad for once he did something good.

[OhioChick]

2. My thoughts exactly..

Can you imagine not listening to Fauci, Scientists and Doctors but instead, Christie.

[SheltieLover]

3. No!

Brainwashed covididiots!

[OhioChick]

6. Exactly!

People became such fools in such a short time, it's mind-boggling.

Damn idiots.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. I found myself on a phone news thread about Covid, with over 400 replies. I only...

got through a few of them, maybe 50, but all of the ones I saw were negative, trashing Fauci.

Scary stuff out there.

The amazing thing is that they are wary of Big Brother, but don't get that Little brother is spreading lies jut as fast.

[OhioChick]

8. People have gotten batshit crazy...

Many of the doctors on Twitter had their DMs open for questions to reassure the public of the safety and need for vaccinations and several had to close them due to hate mail and death threats.

[pnwmom]

4. I think this might have been the NPR show you woke up to.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/19/978407316/how-do-you-reach-trump-voters-who-say-they-dont-want-the-vaccine-try-doctors

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Thanks. Sounds like it, but internet connection is slow and it won't load. I'll try again later.

[pnwmom]

10. This is some of what it said about Christie.

"You all know how I got it," Christie said. "I went into what was supposed to be the safest place in America. The White House."

Christie caught COVID-19 during debate preparation sessions at the White House in late September. All but one person in the room ended up coming down with the virus, including President Trump. Trump was hospitalized for a few days. Christie, who is obese and asthmatic, was in intensive care for a week. But, he also said a much younger aide got very sick.

The message he tried to drive was about the randomness of it all. It's not always easy to predict who gets really sick and who doesn't. He talked about his cousin and her husband, in their early 60s. She was a smoker, but he was active and physically fit.

"They both ended up getting hospitalized and two weeks ago they both passed away," Christie said. One of the participants audibly gasped, explaining she wasn't expecting him to say they had died.

[Mad_Machine76]

24. The WH used to be the safest place in the world

Until Trump got elected.

[elias7]

9. There's a very good reason people don't listen to scientists and have distrust of govt

That’s the game the republicans have been playing for years, bombarding talk radio and certain news channels with this message. And when Trump politicized the CDC, NOAA, etc, he brought the bullsh*t to a new level. People don’t realize who is really conning them, and it isn’t the scientists.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

12. Bingo!

They've been trained for years to distrust the government, the media, etc.

They MIGHT trust someone who has shared that belief, at least until that person is declared a "RINO" by even louder propagandists.

[Duppers]

17. Exactly!

Thank you!

[Roy Rolling]

11. Ancient Wisdom

There’s an historical saying: first-class learning is by hearing the benefits and consequences of an action.Second-class education is from seeing the consequences on others. Third-class learning is doing something and experiencing the consequences yourself.

All produce the same result, people just learn in different ways.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Generally first class means best. Surely you have the order backwards

Learning by doing is almost always best, though it greatly benefits by being augmented perhaps before and after by the other two modes.

[Scrivener7]

21. I took it to mean that the smartest can learn by hearing and will adjust their behavior

without having to experience the horrors. The dumbest need to experience the disease to believe it, so by the time they learn the truth about it it doesn't do them much good.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Indeed, a good perspective on it. . . . nt

[mnhtnbb]

19. This is the process used for training physicians

that my husband--an MD-- would tell me when he talked about his experience of medical school and residency. Hear one, see one, do one. Makes sense.

[csziggy]

13. I heard that, too - it was Frank Luntz trying to convince the RepuQs who learned from him

To not trust government. AFTER Christie talked, he had Tom Fried, who had spoken earlier, come back on and emphasize essential points. That is what made the difference.

One woman in the group said she didn't want to hear from government officials, she wanted facts - but she was among those who disliked and disbelieved Dr. Fauci. I was thinking that group of anti-science RepuQs only wanted to hear what already fits into the delusional mind set they developed by listening to Frank Luntz. They wouldn't know a fact if it bit them on the ass.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. Frank Luntz has been serious about fighting Covid since at least a year

https://milkeninstitute.org/videos/frank-luntz-interviews-mike-milken-about-fighting-covid-19

Milken Institute Chairman Mike Milken joins Frank to discuss the collaborative and innovative efforts in the worldwide response to COVID-19, as well as the steps needed for long-term recovery.

I can't watch the video (cookies), and it is about an hour long, but the blurb seems to indicate a serious take on the virus. This is over a year old, from April 21, 2020.

[underpants]

16. So Luntz presented the problem then fixed it

That’s my take on what I’m reading here.

Luntz has, luckily for him, not been established as to the disastrous effects he’s had on this country.

[Duppers]

18. That's the truth!

[Scrivener7]

20. How is it that the rest of us are able to discern the difference between Fauci's information and

cigarette advertising?

Honestly, it's almost a gift that this political climate has enabled us to corral and identify the stupidest, most destructive element in our society. Now if we could only somehow learn, as a society, to turn our backs on them and ignore everything they stand for, the vast majority of our problems would go away.

I'm not willing to figure out the special formula to get some of them to not play Russian roulette with their lives. Republicans are 25% of Americans. 43% of them won't get vaccines. That's 10.75% of Americans. We can get to herd immunity without them.

I don't care what they think or what they do. If they insist on dying or on dealing with crippling health problems for the rest of their lives, let them.

[tanyev]

23. Then people like Luntz and Christie are going to have to do it.

Because I couldn't keep a civil tongue in my head when confronted with that much stupidity.