Springfield City Councilor Angela Romine owns a massage therapy business deemed ‘non-essential’ by the authorities during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Viewing this as government overreach, Romine decided to run for city council. She won a seat representing Zone 1. Good for her. America has no political class. And, as we have seen, everyone — without consideration of merit — gets a shot at an elected job. Whether it be a local gig or one of the 537 national positions.
Talking with a local TV reporter, the newly minted councilwoman says drugs, crime, and homelessness are interrelated problems. And, unfortunately, “there isn’t one big fix-it-all”. But she is going to roll up her sleeves and “start tackling things as we can”. I’ll grant there isn’t much original there, but it’s solid stuff.
However, while last week Romine appeared as a sober-minded citizen, this week the mask has slipped. She has unleashed her inner ignoramus and embraced science-denial with the enthusiastic precision a toddler gives to eating ice cream. The result was a mess.
To get the ball rolling, I’ll allow Romine’s own words to introduce the issue. This past Monday, at the Springfield Council meeting, she claimed doctors have been “trying to prescribe two medications” that have “great reputations” but,
“We're not prescribing a certain prescription because it's for off-label use, which could help people that are sick with COVID, and it's not being used because it was politicized... and demonized. Right now we're trying even a vaccine that has severe side effects, but we're not willing to try a protocol that has helped people. One doctor even came out and said she's treated 900 patients and she's had zero deaths, yet we're not prescribing them here.”
What is this drug that “could help people that are sick with COVID”, the one that was “politicized... and demonized”? It turns out she’s referring to hydroxychloroquine. This notorious drug had its moment in the sun when last year a single French study released on March 20th claimed that hydroxychloroquine, used in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin, before the onset of COVID symptoms, had some benefits with no downside. The next day, Trump was touting the drugs as the "biggest game-changers in the history of medicine."
The FDA authorized emergency use. The WHO soon followed. But within two days of the study’s release, a statistical analysis revealed it was deficient in methodology, data collection, and that it cited Chinese sources that lacked real evidence. In April, the magazine that had published the study disowned it. By June 21, the FDA revoked hydroxychloroquine’s authorization. And on July 1, issued a report warning of the dangers of taking hydroxychloroquine including “serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure.”
And yet a whole year later, Angela-come-lately is still demanding the use of a thoroughly discredited drug.
Next, her claim that “we're trying even a vaccine that has severe side effects” is complete bullshit. It is made without merit and has no support from any medical authority. I won’t say more about it here.
In an interview with the local newspaper, the day after the meeting, Romine revealed the second drug she alluded to was ivermectin — which is often used in the U.S. to treat or prevent parasites in animals. It is approved for human use in very small doses, but only to treat parasitic worms. It has to be closely monitored as it reacts badly with other drugs.
Besides the side effects, it is not an anti-viral. It has no effect on the coronavirus. And the FDA has not authorized its use (why would it?).
Romine is undeterred by science. She claims she had been prescribed one or both medications when she previously contracted COVID-19. And because of the drugs’ intervention, Romine believes she “didn't get sick, didn't need to be hospitalized, and didn't even have a cough." In the interests of full disclosure, she should release her medical records. Her story would still be no more than an anecdote, but at least she could prove she didn't make the whole thing up.
But secrecy is her thing. She maintains that “doctors locally are afraid to speak up because they can lose their jobs” by touting hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. How very convenient. Anonymous sources are hard to refute.
However, she does tell which doctor turned her on to hydroxychloroquine. And guess where she found her?
“I watched a YouTube video, now granted I didn't know this doctor, but she's standing there saying — begging people, begging doctors to give the hydroxychloroquine protocol a chance because she said, ‘I've treated 900 patients and I have zero deaths.’”
Yes, once again the internet is cited as proof positive — because there’s a video. And who is the doctor? Another one of Trump’s heroes, Dr. Stella Immanuel. This remarkable woman combines medical practice with her side job as the founder of a charismatic religious organization called Fire Power Ministries. Let’s just say Immanuel’s beliefs are not mainstream. Here is an extract from her Wikipedia page
Immanuel's medical claims are sometimes combined with her spiritual beliefs: she believes many gynecological illnesses are the result of having sex dreams with succubi and incubi, and receiving demon sperm; and that endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages, and sexually transmitted infections are caused by spirit spouses.
In a 2015 sermon, Immanuel said space alien DNA is used in medical treatments and that “reptilian spirits” and other extraterrestrials run the U.S. government.[11][12] The same year, she also said Illuminati are using witches to destroy the world through abortion, gay marriage, children's toys, and media, including Harry Potter, Pokémon, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Hannah Montana. In another 2015 sermon, she said scientists are developing vaccines to stop people from being religious.2][11]
The fact that Immanuel is a wack job, is not in itself proof that her case has no merit. To say that she is a nut, therefore everything she says is wrong, is an example of the ‘ad hominem’ logical fallacy. However, as mentioned above, the medical community has the science to show her theory is injurious insanity.
If nothing else, the video is now a year old. The crackpots have moved on to the next thing. The foil hat crowd has found a new conspiracy. And even Fox News is promoting vaccines. But Romine is old-school and sticks to the old-fashioned, untried and untrue.
But it makes you wonder why Missouri is called the “Show Me” State. Because whenever you show them the truth, they react badly. The “Don’t Show Me” State is probably a better fit.