To answer your first question, I think the main thing they're trying to distract us from is the implosion of the biosphere. Remember six weeks ago when half of Australia burnt to ash and a billion animals died? Last year when the Amazon was on fire, along with parts of Siberia that haven't even been touched by humans?

Food prices are rising, supply is shrinking. UV radiation is going off the charts. Yesterday, my weather station read 90 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking a record. Today it's in the sixties, overcast, and chilly.

Earth's climate systems are disintegrating, that's the bottom line.