Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony S. Fauci addresses his remarks and urges citizens to continue to follow the President’s coronavirus guidelines during a coronavirus (COVID-19) briefing Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in the James S. Brady White House Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
You’d be forgiven if you thought George Constanza, the fictional character on Seinfeld, said that. Actually, it’s more reasonable to attribute it to America’s head epidemiologist, Dr. Antony Fauci.
Good Reason for the Noble Lie
Is there anyone as well versed in the art of the noble lie than our own Dr. Fauci? Grace Curly in American Spectator highlights the brazen fibs by the U.S federal government’s highest-paid employee ($411,000).
Dr. Fauci’s Righteous Lies
Journalist Mary Katharine Ham stunned CNN hosts and her fellow panelists when she brought up the epidemiologist’s track record with the truth:
“‘He has at least twice, and I will be gentle, in saying at least shaded the truth about his COVID pronouncements based on his own judgment on what the public can handle. Now, you may think those shadings of the truth were noble, that for instance, saying that masks were not particularly efficient for helping protect you back in the beginning of the pandemic so that they could be in greater supply for health workers, that the end result was okay. But it did seed distrust of him with good reason.”
Ms. Hann then brought up another instance where Fauci “decided to lie to Americans because he thought he knew what was in our best interest better than we did:”
“He also has admitted saying that when it came to herd immunity, he looked at polling to base his statements on how much herd immunity would be the threshold that we needed.”
The man who controlled so many of our lives for over a year was proud of his lies — they were righteous ones.
Americans Can’t Handle the Truth
Dr. Fauci, continues Ms. Gracy, didn’t tell us the truth because America can’t handle the truth.
The fact-checkers are not keeping track of these falsehoods anymore, but are the voters? Americans are sick of doom and gloom predictions, gaslighting and fear tactics.
Don’t be surprised if the country’s patience for liars — even noble ones — is wearing thin.
U.S. Tax Money for Gain of Function Research?
Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers have helped fund research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was the crux of last week’s dispute between Sen. Rand Paul and Anthony Fauci, reports the WSJ.
In their latest bout, the Kentucky Senator accused Dr. Fauci of lying to Congress, a federal crime, when he said this year that the National Institutes of Health had never funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. The exchange descended into shouting.
Dr. Fauci, along with all researchers involved in gain-of-function research, would “suffer significant reputational damage and perhaps lose funding if scientific research they supported caused a pandemic,” continues the WSJ.
On Sunday Dr. Fauci said the research cooperation was necessary because “SARS-CoV-1 originated in China.” But exactly what did that cooperation yield?
some scientists think the government definition is too limited and can allow de facto gain-of-function research to bypass safety protocols.
Rutgers molecular biologist Richard Ebright says the NIH-funded work “was—unequivocally—gain-of-function research.”
Follow the Money
Congress should thoroughly investigate the process that led to the approval of money for the WIV and possible gain-of-function research. It should also debate limits on this kind of research in the U.S. and push for international standards. While China is unlikely to budge, its opacity has aroused justifiable suspicion around the world, and the White House should keep the pressure on Beijing and the WHO.
Democrats and much of the media will avoid the topic because Mr. Paul and the populist right have taken up this cause. Such groupthink is what prevented the lab-leak theory from being treated seriously for more than a year. Making the same mistake twice is inexcusable.
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