Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

You are completely deluding yourself if you think that Tony Holohan doesn't have a lot of power. Or is your interpretation of power a narrow one related only to the power bestowed by elections? There are many sources of power, the media and social media being one of the most potent. Look at how he uses Twitter, how he guest appears wherever possible, how he has God like status in many Irish homes in spite of or perhaps because he is outside Government. And as CMO he is an authority figure and there is still an enormous degree of subservience to authority in this country. That old sense of the boss knows best and don't dare question.

And yes you're right that the chief goal of politicians is to get re elected. In order to continue their cushy lifestyle. Therefore many will be in a bind over how to play this. Many, deep down, resent the power [a massive psychological power] that TH has over the Government and many, deep down, don't agree with this constant abundance of caution. But they'll play safe, they won't defy their party whip and let's not forget that a great many people support these restrictions, though less and less as time goes on.And unfortunately there are those who benefit from the restrictions and they're all voters too.And finally, let's not forget the power of group think and how politicians operate in their own little bubble where conformity rules the day, especially nowadays. So when he weighs it all up Johnny politician reckons he's far better off toeing the line and back slapping the friends in high places.

Well why not use the original source instead of some far right grifter fake news site who has chosen to spin the word "could" into a clickbait article?

It shows where posters are getting their information from and don't see why it needs to be dumped here.

Sorry for upsetting you. I have a feeling if someone posted a link to RTE etc. you would be the first moaning about MSM.

Pfizer is making Billions off of this. Is it really that shocking that they would want it to last for as long as possible?

Omicron is only 23 days old today. Yet opportunist politicians are out with the usual bleating about the lack of planning. I wonder what contingencies they thought of.

Meanwhile, Norway has banned alcohol sales, Denmark is closing entertainment venues at 10pm and the Netherlands is locking down. Michael Martin made the mature, responsible and deeply unpopular call. No thanks expected.

Nobody thought there would be a variant of covid, it isn't something anybody could have predicted or planned for or used as an excuse for caution for 18 months.

Why should anyone accept your criteria for the number of acceptable deaths?

Its not all about you.

Everyone knew that new variants are part of the picture. The transmissibility of this one has forced the hand of health authorities all over Europe, not just in Ireland. Its arrival 4 weeks before Christmas has amplified the hysteria.

I'm not the other poster's keeper, so I have no idea why he posted the link he posted but my assumption would be because that's where he saw the information he wanted to share.

You can post what you want, but it is very disingenuous to get all up in arms about a not-my-politics slanted publication being linked instead of addressing the point made. It's like an ad hominem attack on the source rather than an actual point. Like you just really want everyone to know that you really don't like the meany publication, rather than having anything relevant or useful to say.

And then you went with "you and the OP dumping that crap here lap up anything without any critical thinking" when I pointed out that the Reuters link was in the fourth line. I'm not sure I've ever posted a link to a GP article in my life.

It's a pretty immature and aggressive way to try and have a conversation about anything. That's all.

You decided to jump in and defend the OP and their sources after they went quiet when it was shown their link dump was shown up for what it was from a grifter fake news site.

All I was doing was pointing out the dubious source. Sorry for upsetting your Saturday night.

You keep missing the word "could" in that article. That's why the poster had to link to a fake news website instead of using the source.

That's odd as viruses tend to mutate as a matter of course. The only people who didn't see variants arriving when this pandemic began are people who had or have no idea about viruses in general (and I'm only talking about trivia level knowledge as opposed to the insights of a virologist).