In the words of President George W. Bush:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice...uh...won't get fooled again.
Paraphrase, exact quote after the jump.
From TIME magazine, December 7:
A year after China abruptly scrapped its notoriously stringent zero-COVID controls and amid a recent surge in respiratory illness cases, some Chinese citizens are starting to worry about a potential reintroduction of the controversial regime of mass testing and restrictions that defined the pandemic years in the country and ultimately led to an unprecedented eruption of public unrest.
Concerns coincide with new reports of COVID testing being brought back to airports and hospitals, as well as a notice issued by the education ministry on Monday urging schools around the country to step up prevention efforts for influenza viruses and COVID ahead of winter season. Rumors are also swirling on Chinese social media that the nationwide COVID-tracking app is being reactivated in some provinces, with some users claiming that the app had never been taken down, though censorship of a related hashtag has only fueled more speculation.
“Scenes like this make me feel really uncomfortable,” one Weibo user commented under a video of people in hazmat suits disinfecting a school in Hebei province.
“There are widespread rumors that the health tracking app is being revived, and worries that there will be another lockdown… These worries probably won’t come true, unless there’s a new pandemic,” wrote another Weibo user. “These worries really represent fear and sadness about the past three years of trauma, and hatred of the abuse of power during COVID.”....
....MUCH MORE
Although this is serious business, possibly foreshadowing a return to the lockdowns that proved so helpful throughout the world, when the need arose to flood various economies with liquidity without causing hyper-inflation, I prefer to look upon this news as an excuse to post more of our favorite Bushisms:
Lest We Forget: "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."—Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000——"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."—Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004——"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002——"It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet."—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000——"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."—Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008——"They misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
