5 Years of Covid--The Gaslighting Continues
Legacy media is dead-set on pretending all is fine and dandy about the Pandemic™--don't let them get away with anything (and try keeping your anger at bay)
Since the anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian war is yesterday’s news, let’s take a moment out of our otherwise busy lives and watch legacy media proudly peddle misinformation on the occasion of Covid’s fifth birthday.
Translation, emphases, and [snark] mine. Plus the anger.
When the Pandemic Hit Austria
Via ORF.at, 25 Febr. 2025 [source]
The country saw it coming, the virus had already invaded neighbouring countries [viruses are the new CO2, apparently, if you’d like to follow that kind of ‘logic™’]. In February 2020, the coronavirus also reached Austria. The world has changed since the pandemic. The virus has since lost its terror, but the aftermath is still clearly noticeable in politics and society.
‘Everyone will know someone who has died from coronavirus’ [thus former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz], ‘the next few weeks will be crucial’ [we were all too lazy to flatten the curve in two weeks, apparently], ‘the new normal’ [that sentiment used to be denigrated as ‘conspiracy theory’], and ‘everything done right’ [that I would never say]: words that still resonate five years after the first coronavirus infection was confirmed in Austria [with PCR ‘tests’ that were not up to that task…].
On 25 February 2020, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2, as the virus is actually called, were confirmed in Tyrol. It was an Italian couple [‘I’m from viruses without borders, may I see your Covid Passport, please’]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) soon declared Covid-19 a pandemic. At the time, it was only vaguely suspected that hardly a stone would be left unturned in Austria and the world.
Wuhan Changed the World
Although there is often talk of a laboratory mishap [that would be the ‘lab leak’ hypothesis], it is very likely that the virus spread around the world via zoonosis from a food market in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan [not what many of the most relevant people would say]. Infections spread and images from Italy, which was already badly affected, shocked the whole of Europe.
As the capacity of the mortuary in Bergamo was already completely exhausted, military lorries transported dozens of coffins to crematoria in other regions [ah, the good ol’ myths of Bergamo are trotted out to ORF’s low-information readers]. The fact that doubts about the authenticity of the images were already being spread online was just a foretaste of the wave of disinformation that the pandemic brought with it [wait for it]
The First Lockdown
On 16 March 2020, the then federal government under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) announced the first lockdown. Public life was ‘reduced to a minimum’ and borders were closed [we cannot, however, do so now to stem the flow of migrants]. Thousands of companies struggled with closures and the ad hoc switch to working from home, schools with sudden home schooling. For Austria, the pandemic was also a painful wake-up call in terms of digitalisation.
Concessions to the Future
People were told not to go out on the streets and largely stayed at home. Toilet paper became a scarce commodity after hamster purchases. Interpersonal contacts were suddenly subject to instructions from politicians—which, of course, provoked anger among the population [still makes me mad as hell].
People in hospitals and care homes were socially isolated and face masks became ubiquitous [this is like a greatest hits listing of the most insane mandates: people died alone, deprived of human contact, and masks don’t work]. Freedom as we knew it was over—temporarily and for the protection of the general public [no need for a judicial review, then, eh?]. Those who complied entered into a kind of social contract, a concession to the hope of a future that would soon return to normal. Others defied the rules imposed ‘from above’ and began to doubt the origin and effect of the virus [wait for it].
The Vaccination is Here
In the autumn [2020], the ‘corona traffic light’ was launched, which was soon set to ‘red’. Between lockdown and ‘lockdown light’, the obligation to register in the catering industry also began [remember ‘contact tracing’?]. Restrictions were tightened again at the end of December, but Austria officially began administering the new mRNA vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer on 27 December.
The fact that the MRNA technology had already been researched for years did not reassure sceptics [what came out ever since has done nothing to reassure anyone that mass-vaccination in the depths of the (fake) pandemic™ was a good idea]. For many, the rapid development of the novel vaccine was another reason to mobilise against the measures—also because, contrary to many expectations, the vaccination does not protect against infection [you know, if your gov’t declares you ‘illegal’ (Katharina Edtstadtler) based on your vaccination status, it makes me mad as hell; also, note the Big Lie about ‘no-one ever claimed the poison/death juices prevent transmission’: yes, that was the entire rationale behind virtually all the mandates from winter 2020/21 onwards].
‘Sleeping sheeple’ against ‘Covid Deniers’ [orig. Schwurbler]
In Austria, too, a section of the population organised regular protests. Far-right activists often got involved and sometimes took over the demonstrations. The crucial question of how people felt about the CoV measures could divide entire families [yep, I’ve been called many things by my brothers]. The social divide between ‘sleepers’ and ‘deniers’ still reverberates today [guess why: because the perpetrators are still running free].
Anger at politicians who were unable to channel the public debate grew steadily. Institutions, doctors, and nursing staff also became the target of fierce personal attacks. Countless surveys have since confirmed that trust in politics has also dwindled [and in journos™ and experts™].
This has also influenced the rise of right-wing populist parties in recent years, including in Austria. According to Foresight and the Institute for Strategy Analyses (ISA), the pandemic was still a strong voting motive among FPÖ voters in the National Council [parliament] elections last September [yep, guess why: because the perpetrators are still running free]. The fact that the FPÖ was the first and only party to call for a hard lockdown in 2020 seemed to be forgotten [might have to do with the fact that they changed their mind once they noticed the absurdity of the mandates, but that is a thought that the ORF journos™ cannot entertain].
Compulsory Vaccination as a Symbol
The other parties also made it easy for the FPÖ. Political decisions were often too incomprehensible, public information too confusing [if that’s not a stunning indictment of the experts™ paraded by politicos™ and journos™ alike, then I don’t know what could be]. The ‘3G rules’ (vaccinated or recovered or tested) were perceived as severe discrimination, culminating in the ‘lockdown for the unvaccinated’ at the end of 2021 [and that fucking shitshow was not a ‘perception’ or ‘discursive’ artefact: it was state-sponsored discrimination based on refusal to get jabbed].
The handling of a compulsory vaccination programme is still seen as a political gaffe [orig. Schildbürgerstreich] today. It was passed by the National Council in 2022 with a clear majority and brought into force, but never implemented [perhaps because politicos™ were afraid of the backlash?] However, the anger over the broken promise that there would be no compulsory vaccination remained, and there were fierce protests in all federal states [well, people don’t like to be treated like cattle, what did you expect?].
A year later, there was light at the end of the tunnel and the pandemic was declared over on 5 May 2023 [took longer in Vienna, governed by the most insane Branch Covidians]. In Austria, Covid-19 was no longer a notifiable disease from 1 July. By then, more than six million infections had been recorded in the country and 22,500 deaths had been linked to the coronavirus.
Difficult to Come to Terms With
The reappraisal was approached rather half-heartedly. The government initiated a ‘reconciliation process’, which resulted in a little-noticed report by the Academy of Science [oh, that kind of shitshow—I remember this, and the most insane aspect was the proposal that Austrians rejected the mandates because of the Counter-Reformation of the 16th century: true story]. At the presentation, the then Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) admitted mistakes. The Covid-19 Federal Financing Agency (COFAG), which distributed state aid to companies and resulted in a U-committee, is still being wound up [oh, Austro-Covidistan spent untold billions with virtually no strings attached: no-one went to jail].
Five years after the first infection in Austria, Covid-19 has lost its scare, but the disease has by no means disappeared. At the peak of the latest wave, almost 1,000 Covid patients were hospitalised within a week in October. And numerous post-Covid patients are still waiting for their symptoms to be better researched and treated.
Bottom Lines
I’m so fucking mad at these people.
I thought I’d be detached enough not to swear and provide an even-handed posting.
I can’t, and I won’t.
I’ll call out these assholes for what they are: cowards.
I took a decision not to get injected and I was declared ‘illegal’ in my home country. By a fucking politico™ who then handled the ministerial portfolio for ‘constitutional affairs’, believe it or not:
Then there are the utterly insane Branch Covidians who celebrated physical violence to get people jabbed:
And, adding insult to injury, this is what passes for a ‘reckoning’ with that sordid time:
I could go on. Heck, the Branch Covidian lunacy is literally the reason I started Die Fackel 2.0 in autumn 2021.
I kept many receipts, including this one:
As long as the perpetrators aren’t put in front of a judge, there will be no justice.
As long as there’s no judicial review, the next ‘pandemic™’ is just around the corner.
Those who didn’t fall for the scam, I salute you.
Remember that stance, for the next chance to stand your ground will come before too long.
I maintain my anger like a smoldering ember. All it will take is one strong breath to bring it back to a roaring, all-consuming flame.
I've taken to calling the Covid scheme a "crime against humanity". It's great for getting people asking and be willing to talk about it.
Of course, the number one question is "But why haven't they said anything on TV?", to which the reply can only be: "Ask the journalists. Write them and ask."
From which people recoil as a rabbi before bacon.
But it's a great way to make it clear to other skeptics that you can in fact talk about it in public, and that they are not alone.
Remember that it took decades of propaganda to make the Holocaust what it is today in the public's consciousness. We're in for a similar haul, creating awareness about the Covid-crimes.