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Welcome to the Commentary Magazine Daily podcast. Today is Friday, December 3, 2021.

I'm John Pudmore. It's the editor of Commentary Magazine reminding you again that as you consider

your end of year giving, you should give a thought to Commentary a nonprofit 501c3 that publishes

Commentary Magazine that produces the Commentary podcast you're now listening to. And that produces

also our daily website. Commentary is a 75 year old institution that relies for its continued

existence on the generosity of not only our subscribers, but also of people who are willing to

help support our deficit. And I would be very grateful if you would consider us as part of your

annual giving. You can go to www.commentary.org slash donate to do so at your leisure with me as

always executive editor Abe Greenwald Hyab. Hi John. Senior writer Christine Rosenhykristine.

Hi John. An associate editor Noah Rothman. Hi Noah. Hi John. So here's what we're noticing. We're

noticing that politicians are giving press conferences to announce that as in the case of

New York governor or Kathy Hokel that there are five cases of the Omicron variant in New York state

a state with 16 million people in it. I think Gavin Newsom has given a press conference. They're

you know involving one person and then there's somebody in Michigan. If this were the plague one

would understand why the need to go public with information about the existence of either a handful

or a single patient, a deadly virulent condition that could hit anybody at any time and kill them.

But Abe what have we noticed about Omicron thus far not only in the United States but everywhere

on the planet that we are told there are cases. So far there are no reported deaths

and and and and the overwhelming majority of the cases are quite mild.

And the evidence now seems to indicate as is always the case with these things that

it it's existence is older than we had first been led to believe that was probably

...