The Never Ending Episode of Newhart!

The Never Ending Episode of Newhart!

By Billy King

Growing up I watched a lot of sitcoms on TV. One of my favorites was a show called Newhart.

The show starred Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon, an innkeeper in a small town in Vermont. Dick was a writer of do-it-yourself books who also helped his wife, Joanna run the Stratford Inn. What stood out in this series was the fact that Dick seemed to be the only normal person in a town full of nutty people. These people included a maid who is a snobby upper class woman who feels she’s above doing any manual labor, a bumbling mayor who always hangs out with a sidekick named Chester, and the most memorable characters, a man named Larry and his two brothers both named Darryl. Larry was the only one who spoke while the two Darryls stood silent. No matter how many times you had seen them, Larry always did an introduction, “Hi! I’m Larry. This is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl.” Moreover, everyone saw this and thought it was normal.

As I said before, Dick was the only normal person in a town full of nuts and because of this, he was the one who seemed like the abnormal person on the show, which is what made it so great to watch.

Unfortunately, that premise is only fun to watch. It is not so fun to live. Lately, I feel like Dick Loudon in my very own never-ending episode of Newhart.

I have found myself living in a world where a virus with a .05% mortality rate has thrown the world into chaos and fear. At first, many so-called experts said it would kill 2 million people in the US alone and we had to lock everything down. The lockdown was supposed to be an effort to “flatten the curve” meaning instead of allowing the virus to spread rapidly and overwhelm medical facilities, we would lockdown and slow the spread so that there would be enough hospital beds and other medical needs to handle all the death and destruction this plague would surely bring. Then the goalposts were moved and the experts said 200 thousand would die. Now as it stands, we have lost less than 50,000 people. Now it is not even about flattening the curve anymore. Now people have it in their heads that locking everything down is the cure for this disease. Normally, people can see that there is no real science to back this claim but the people in this never-ending episode cling to it.

The mainstream media (MSM) has not helped in this matter. Not only are CNN and MSNBC doing their part to fuel the flames of panic and fear but the major networks like CBS, ABC, and NBC have joined in. Every press briefing given by the President turns into a circus with the clowns in the media trying to make the President the butt of some sick joke. So many questions the American people need to know go unasked. Here are a few just off the top of my head:

• Ø  Is it possible that COVID -19 has been here a while thus raising the case count and lowering the death rate?
• Ø  With all the cases being discovered, are we now doing more clinical studies for the effects of hydroxychloroquine so that it can be a viable treatment? If not why?
• Ø  How many people are dying WITH COVID-19 vs how many are dying FROM COVID-19?
• Ø  If some scientific evidence shows that facemasks protect against infection, why does the CDC not require them?
• Ø  What is the scientific evidence that shows that lockdowns work better than a combination of social distancing measures such as a combination of hand washing, quarantining only the sick and elderly, wearing facemasks, and cleaning surfaces more often?
• Ø  The models being used are only projected through August. What happens after that? Do we have to start this mess all over again?
• Ø  How will the summer heat affect the spread?
• Ø  You say the economy will bounce back better than ever after this. What is your plan to kick start the economy once this is over?

Instead, we got questions like this:

• Ø  Why do you keep referring to this as the Chinese virus?
• Ø  Are you aware that a staff member whose name I don’t know referred to it as the “Kung flu”?
• Ø  Don’t you think it’s racist to refer to this as the Chinese virus?
• Ø  Don’t ya think you should apologize for downplaying this virus?
• Ø  Aren’t you spreading false hope to Americans? (Followed up by) What do you say to Americans who are scared?
• Ø  Why are you saying Governors should be more grateful to you?
• Ø  Are there problems with you and Dr. Fauci?
• Ø  Who dropped the ball on this?

In a normal world, the news outlets would want to report actual facts and calm the fears of Americans. This nutty MSM is more interested in the “gotcha” questions than actually reporting the news.

Heaven forbid anyone talks about going back to work lest you be called a heartless moron who does not believe in science and wants all the old people to die! The sad part is that I truly believe that there’s a happy medium somewhere where we can both go back to work and protect those who are vulnerable to this virus but not in this crazy world! Now people who just want to go back to work and provide for their families are being ridiculed by late night talk show hosts like Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah. As if these two elitists have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. They prefer to sit on their moral high horses and look down their collective noses at normal Americans while trying to shame them back into their homes. You would think the majority of Americans would not stand for this but you would be wrong. In this nutty episode of life we’re living in, Americans are not only listening and abiding by what they’re seeing from the MSM and elitist celebrities; they’re ratting out anyone who dares to try to live a semi-normal life.

Mayors who are more nutty than the one on Newhart have decided to let criminals out of jail so that they do not catch this virus. The rest of us have to remain under house arrest but the criminals can roam free. What’s more insane is that in certain states, police arrest women for taking their children to the park. Elsewhere, we see police chasing down a man for jogging on the beach. In one state where people were protesting lock-downs, the police tried to arrest protesters saying that protesting was not an essential activity! Instead of being outraged by this, what used to be normal Americans are cheering this on!

Just when I think things are going to return to normal and we’re going to get back to work, things get crazy again. Essential workers are now being required to wear masks after going months without one during what was supposed to be the peak of this virus! In my state, the governor says restaurants can open at 50% capacity but salons and tattoo parlors must remain closed.  Can someone explain how a restaurant with at least 50 people is safer than a barbershop that is only allowing one customer at a time while other customers wait in their vehicles? For that matter, why have any of the so-called essential businesses been allowed to stay open? Would the essential workers not infect others and should they not be dead by now?

None of this is making any sense to me so I think I’ll just look up ole Larry and his two brothers named Darryl and see if we can figure things out. I’ll let you know what Darryl thinks as soon as he tells me! Until then, that’s my two bits. Take them for what they’re worth!