The Next Phase of Team Reality

My life - and this is just half of the brood!

Returning to Substack, a ninth child now in the crib and reconnecting with you all prompts a reflection on our collective journey over the last four years. It’s a stark reminder of what’s at stake: the future we are creating for our children.

Our shared Covid journey began with a clash that the dominant narrative did not align with reality. These concerns, sparked by discrepancies in the message being broadcast by authorities, forced us to question and seek the truth.

We fought hard.

I recall a discussion with Scott Atlas sometime in 2020. After some successes trying to right the ship at the Trump White House, I questioned aloud why they hadn’t changed course. Why were they still feeding the same old tripe down to the States?

I mused to Scott: “Maybe they’re just trying to save face.”

Scott replied: “No, Justin. You need to know. These people are dumb.”

While many of my fellow members of Team Reality like to proscribe happenings to some vast conspiracy, my take has always been: Don’t attribute malice to what can be explained with incompetence.

Did we win?

We have had numerous successes. Mask mandates come - but they don’t seem to stay long. Stay-at-home orders and school closures are shot down almost immediately. Even on one of the most difficult issues - vaccines - we made incredible strides. The uptake of the ridiculous dual-use jab is extremely low and almost non-existent for the youngest age groups.

We may not feel that we won and we may never get the credit for being right - but I feel we did our best and we fought the good fight.

So where do we go from here?

We’ll be doing a lot more writing on this platform - a lot of it will be Covid-related but some of it will be relevant to the news at hand.

Let’s talk… politics.

As you may or may not be aware, my primary occupation throughout most of my career has been in digital fundraising. Having worked on political campaigns for over 25 years, I've garnered a bit of insight into what works and what doesn't in the political sphere.

Although we were all ardent supporters of Governor DeSantis, in the end, our efforts fell short. He was seriously one of maybe five politicians who gave us the time of day. In fact, Governor DeSantis went on to engage with and even hire many people from Team Reality directly onto his team. We are eternally grateful for his exceptional leadership over these past four years.

In DeSantis' defense, very few Republicans secure the nomination their first time out. Even Donald Trump ran multiple times: officially in 2000 and unofficially in 204 and 2012. It is challenging to turn a big ship around. It will take time.

Sometimes the best man for the job isn't the best candidate for the moment.

So, what should you do?

I shall leave that to you. I have more to say, and while we will indeed be covering COVID in the coming months, we also wish to remain relevant and produce for you data-driven evidence on anything under the sun that we deem relevant for today - including politics.

Who do you support and why?

These are undoubtedly difficult and precarious times. I am a proud conservative Republican and was a staunch defender of President Trump; however, I was also among the earliest critics of his handling of the COVID response.

You might recall my reaction early on, on March 29th, as the federal government extended the recommended lockdowns and protocols that have haunted all of America for over two weeks. I said this:

Regarding Trump, my friend and great commentator Mary Katherine Ham put it best, I think - "It's like Republicans were tired of getting bullied, so they went to find the BIGGEST bully they could and made him President."

Now, we're stuck with that bully.

And frankly, his record is not great. Since 2016, Republicans have seen the following losses:

• 34 to 24 governorships

• 68 to 55 state leg chambers

• 26 to 22 Republican trifectas

• 5 to 17! Democrat trifectas

• 241 to 222 Reps

• 52 to 49 Senators

• 1 President to no President

And so - here we are - stuck with Donald Trump facing down ANOTHER Trump vs. Biden run. Not terribly inspiring but vitally important.

Like a dutiful soldier, I could muster my courage and throw all-in for Trump.

But if there's one thing I've learned from my time during COVID - it's to stick your neck out for the truth, and you'll be rewarded - if only with a clear conscience.

Truth

I remember March 17th, up at 3 AM thinking: "What if I'm wrong? What if this is the next plague and I'm downplaying its impact? What if these interventions would help?" That same day, STAT News of Stanford published an important article by John Ioannidis, essentially confirming what I and others had been saying: the data was wrong, and our interventions could be disastrous.

So, I'm going to move forward and speak the truth I've uncovered. I will not be a full-throated cheerleader - because I can't, in good conscience, do so now.

As I wrote in my November 2022 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed:

The White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, Anthony Fauci, and Deborah Birx, put the Constitution into an induced coma. Mr. Trump's decision to adopt Chinese Communist Party tactics and shut down the country gave license to states to amplify and extend these terrible policies, to governors to wield unprecedented executive powers, and to school districts to shut students out for months or even years.

Mr. Trump did very little to constrain this overreach. His dramatic COVID order shut down your business, barred your kids from school, denied you access to your church, your gym, and your coffee shop. It suppressed screenings and treatments for cancer and other illnesses and kept people from visiting loved ones in the hospital or attending their funerals.

Studies appear weekly confirming what almost everyone now acknowledges—the lockdowns were futile as well as onerous. One set of researchers wrote: "Overall, we conclude that lockdowns are not an effective way of reducing mortality rates during a pandemic."

Mr. Trump paid lip service to the need to reopen the country but never rallied lawmakers or other officials to do anything about it. It was left to governors like Brian Kemp of Georgia and Ron DeSantis of Florida to do that on their own.

So, I will keep the pressure on until I get the satisfaction that President Trump recognizes his part in this folly. I hope to earn concessions - although I doubt they will come. But I hope also to tell my kids, I will always stand for what it true.

In the end, I’ll pull the lever for the best option I have, but I cannot stay silent.

Yours,

Justin