No flags should be flown over government entities but the US flag, the state flag and the city flag,

Based on what exactly? Is there some kind of historical or philosophical underpinning to that assertion?

Most Ukraine funding is actually in the form of weapons, most of which have been sitting in warehouses in case of war with Russia. Now they get used before going obsolete and the US’s #1 rival is quickly becoming irrelevant without putting US soldiers at risk. We provide the weapons and Ukraine supplies the soldiers. I think we got the better side of that bargain.

This whole idea that the US is spending money abroad out of some kind of altruism or that we just let other countries take advantage is preposterous. It’s always money spent in furtherance of US interests. We are the wealthiest country in the world in large part because we exploit the labor and resources of the rest of the planet.

That’s not a new war. It’s the war behind all the other wars.

What’s not clear cut about the wet market theory? Do you know why native Americans were devastated by European diseases, while Europeans had no such problem with any native American diseases? It’s because Europeans lived in crowded cities in close proximity to livestock. Almost every historical epidemic can be traced back to “wet market” theories. Viruses can swap genes and do so frequently when infections from different species come into contact - especially in crowded conditions where bodily fluids are present, like in a meat market.

If a conspiracy theory is true, it’s just a conspiracy. What makes a conspiracy theory isn’t the potential conspiracy, it’s the insane lengths people will go to believe them. The simple explanation is the virus evolved in exactly the same ways other viruses have evolved throughout all of history.

There are far more detailed arguments that could be made but, frankly, I don’t see the point. If you are interested in reality than the information is freely available. If not, then nothing I say will matter.

The theory was downplayed from the start because it was unlikely, then later because evidence pointed another way. Maybe some did call or a conspiracy theory then too. In today’s world it was a damn good bet that it would become one, so maybe they jumped the gun. It sure is one now.

Gosh, it’s so sus that a virology lab in a location where a virus of concern is most commonly found was studying said virus. I mean what possible explanation could there be? It has to be a vast global conspiracy!

When you’re down to the “wake up sheeple” arguments, it’s pretty clear the discussion has run it’s course.

Fauci made the mistake of being nuanced with conspiracy theorists who are not interested in actually understanding anything. While it’s not inherently a conspiracy theory to consider a lab link possible, it is absolutely a conspiracy theory to dismiss a scientific consensus that spans scientists from dozens of countries and across the political spectrum.

And yeah, you can find “scientists” who disagree, just like you can find scientists who think it was engineered by aliens. A handful of crackpots don’t invalidate broad scientific consensus.

If you say so. It sounded to me like exactly what I said. The concept alone of a lab leak isn’t a conspiracy theory, but it’s grown from there into what is definitely a conspiracy theory. I hadn’t recalled that Fauci actually stated it that clearly, so thanks for the reminder.

Fauci started walking back his claims that the lab leak theory was false.

Did he though?

Fauci walked back calling it a conspiracy theory, not his claims that it was false. I think you know that which explains the “started”, because you knew you were bullshitting.

Which is suspicious to say the least.

Is it though?

If this wasn’t a conspiracy theory before, conspiracy theorists sure turned it into one.