Okay, I hear you. And I acknowledge your argument. You feel, like Bill, that folks who died, died with COVID rather than from COVID. Here are my fact based arguments as to why that is extremely unlikely, looking beyond what the pundits or websites say (and yes, I read the directive issued by CDC on March 24th, 2020 - and it was transparent, and it was prospective - going forward - which means that it wasn't "falsifying" anything, since you can't falsify what hasn't happened yet lol).
First off, the CDC doesn't determine how deaths are classified across the globe, or anywhere but the US. The pandemic outbreak initiated prior to March 24th, and was much worse in other countries before it got bad here. Hence, the CDC's directive had nothing to do with mortality elsewhere, and the effects of COVID were felt across the globe (except perhaps Australia, which has done a remarkable job following some draconian restrictions).
Second, if CDC guidance applied throughout the United States, then why was mortality restricted to areas that were experiencing outbreaks, and why has that mortality rate gone down as doctors have learned to manage the virus more effectively (ie -ventilators. Bad idea. Last resort.). Again, this does not mesh with the CDC's guidance being the cause of COVID mortality.
Third, how do you explain excess mortality when considering deaths by all causes, coincident with the periods of COVID outbreak? I've added a graph below to illustrate this point, taken from a screenshot. If the CDC were simply labeling deaths COVID when they were in fact from some other cause, then 2020 would look like 2017, 2018, and 2019 (and most other years prior). A bad flu season will show up, as you can clearly see for 2018 - which was the worst since the 2009 Swine Flu. If these numbers are incorrect, then there's more wrong than simply the CDC. You've got to believe something, or you may as well disbelieve everything.
Simply put, there are multiple independent, parallel arguments that support increased mortality during the pandemic that has nothing to do with CDC's issuance last March. No BS, no obscurification, and I have no reason to mislead anyone. If you were to tell me that these excess deaths were premature harvesting of future deaths from susceptible individuals who would have died soon anyway, well - I guess we will have to see whether the future mortality from all causes drops off soon. But the data from the last year doesn't point in that direction. Still, it is formally a possibility. And I'm willing to listen to any other reasonable, fact-based arguments that might support a different position.
But it seems fairly cut and dried to me, based on logic and data, not opinions.
