Mark Dolan: If this snowflake generation can't handle a largely mild respiratory virus, I think they'll struggle with nuclear war

It's all about opinions isn't it? In my view, Vladimir Putin is a twisted, evil and dangerous man, whose invasion of a free democratic European country must fail.

But are you seriously telling me, that the deeply confused Joe Biden, is the right man to handle this situation?

Someone who masterminded the devastating and botched allied departure from Afghanistan, and someone who can't tell the difference between Ukraine and Iran?

This is a man who probably needs to be reminded at the start of every briefing, that he’s actually president. It's all about opinions. And in spite of Putin being an awful human being.

full credit must go to old Vladimir for ending the pandemic.

Have you heard a squeak about the virus since the invasion happened? Proof if you needed it, that so much of the hysteria around Covid has been fuelled by the media.

No media, no pandemic. It made money and it filled column inches, to pretend that Covid was ebola or the bubonic plague. It wasn't.

Because notwithstanding that Covid has been a nasty virus that has taken too many from us, it has been mild and non fatal to most.

A third, famously, had no symptoms. Act like you’ve got it, remember that? But you wouldn’t know any of that that, given we spent two years living under a narrative based around fear.

And to be precise, it was a mono-narrative, where only one view could prevail. It terms of the pandemic, the mono-narrative, was that we must have lockdowns, stay at home orders, masks, arrows in supermarkets, you name it.

Even though lockdowns, for example, had never been tried before.

All of these extraordinarily damaging measures, which Johns Hopkins University, say may have prevented 0.2% of deaths - were pushed by the government, the opposition and most of my colleagues in the media. It was a mono-narrative. Don’t take my word for it.

Dr Angelique Coetzee, the medic who discovered Omicron in South Africa, recently said the following. Quote: “there has been a lot of pressure from European scientists who have said ‘please don’t say it is a mild illness’. In South Africa it is a lighter disease, but in Europe it has been a serious, serious illness which is what the politicians want me to say”.

She was attacked for calling Omicron mild.

Why? Because it didn’t fit, you guessed it, the narrative.

As it turns out Omicron was milder than Delia Smith’s recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. Something I pointed out, in November of last year.

And Coetzee was baffled by our reaction to Omicron at the time.

Turns out it was a massive Omi-con, and a load of Omi-crap. We are seeing the same mono-narrative with the Net Zero agenda – Britain will basically be under water a week next Tuesday apparently.

And we should all start eating bugs, rice cakes and Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages as a matter of urgency. And pay for a twenty grand boiler and sell both our kidneys to buy a Tesla.

The mono-narrative is everywhere, a bit like Omicron ironically.

There is a mono-narrative that the NHS cannot be criticised and that the only solution for the health service is more money.

God forbid that there should ever be a mono-narrative saying a man can become an actual biological woman, but with attacks on our greatest living author JK Rowling, you could argue it’s already heading that way.

The truth can always withstand scrutiny, challenge and debate. Lies and exaggeration cannot.

Welcome to 2022.

It's all about opinions, but the scary thing about the mono-narrative is it often means having an opinion foisted upon you, as with the South African Dr Koetzee. But here’s another example.

the star conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Valerie Gergiev, has been sacked for not condemning Russia.

He hasn't defended Russia, he hasn't waved the Russian flag at a concert or had a tattoo of Vladimir Putin inked onto his left buttock.

He simply hasn't said anything. It's one thing to get in trouble for what you HAVE said – you know my views on cancel culture - I'm all about free speech, bring it on - the good the bad and the ugly.

But to lose your job for not saying something. That is compelled speech and takes us to a very dark place.

A mono narrative, a single view on any issue is never a good thing and we are in danger of having it in relation to this conflict too.

It doesn't take an expert in geopolitics to view Russia as the bad guy, for invading a free country.

Absolutely. And the scenes are horrific and war crimes are playing out on our TV screens.

But would it be so wrong to try to understand why this happened, so that it can be resolved and not happen again? Just as we perhaps should've done a bit more due diligence about old Saddam Hussein.

when we were searching for those imaginary weapons of mass destruction and when we killed thousands of people and sowed the seeds of ISIS? The mono-narrative about Donald Trump is that he was all bad.

His behaviour on January 6th inciting trouble in the US Capitol was a disgrace, and I’ve always doubted his fitness for office, but he boosted the US economy, had a balanced attitude to Covid, he battled extreme political correctness, and he didn’t start a single war.

But it doesn’t suit the mono-narrative, does it?

It was Donald Trump, of whom I'm no big fan, although we both enjoy orange make up, engaged with people like Putin

And Kim Jong-un –

Trump was the first American president to meet with a North Korean leader. Jaw jaw, not war war as Churchill put it.

The mono-narrative now allows no criticism of Joe Biden, who couldn’t run a bath for himself, let alone the free world.

That the Democratic party foisted this confused pensioner onto the free world is unforgivable. Trump bad, Biden good? Pull the other one.

Meanwhile the armchair generals on Twitter have been calling for the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

This has mainly been called for by virtue-signalling types, who were previously asking for lockdowns, which has cost the west trillions and diminished its power to now tackle this crisis.

You need money to win wars and to defeat bad people I'm afraid.

The way that you defeat your enemy is by understanding them.

And that can't be done with the mono-narrative. Let me help you with the no fly zone idea.

If the allies stop aircraft flying over Ukraine, any Russian aircraft would be shot out of the sky.

Which would spark the biggest international conflict since 1945. Not a great idea.

If this snowflake generation can't handle a largely mild respiratory virus, I think they'll struggle with nuclear war. But hey, it’s all about opinions. And let’s hear all of them, shall we?