THEY SILENTLY CONCEDED THE LOCKDOWNS WERE INDEFENSIBLE: Jay Bhattacharya’s Confirmation Hearing Was an Embarrassment for Democrats. It was as close as we may ever get to a formal surrender in the long war over Covid policies. Senators who had once denounced the NIH nominee’s “dangerous” ideas — and supported the unprecedented authoritarian restrictions — had nothing to say at the hearing about lockdowns, mandates for masks and vaccines, or anything related to Covid. Pandemic? What pandemic?