Editor’s Note: As with all things COVID-19, we respect our author’s opinions and ideas on this issue – all of their ideas. With that in mind, we present this new opinion piece. Note that 19FortyFive promotes the free expression of ideas and does not take any editorial stance on COVID-19 – or any issue. Debate is what we do – and we think do best.
Dr. Anthony Fauci Reemerges – In an address as the most recent recipient of the Fullbright Prize, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated he was “thoroughly humbled to be in the company of so many outstanding individuals who have previously received this award.”
Two words that should never appear in a sentence together: “humble” and “Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
If there is any word that should accompany the name of the former head of the NIH it is narcissist.
Hubris.
Definitely liar.
These may be strong words. But what else do you call a man who so confidently continues to claim that vaccinations have been “proven to be safe and highly effective in clinical trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers, going into the arms of several millions of Americans and billions of people throughout the world” without any long-term clinical trials?
According to an anecdote from Ron DeSantis in his book “The Courage to Be Free,” he questioned Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under Donald Trump, about the historical precedent of the strict policies being advocated by federal agencies in D.C. She admitted, “Well, this is kind of like our own science experiment.”
The Purpose of Vaccines
Traditionally, vaccines have been defined by their ability to prevent infection and the spread of disease from one human to another. The MRNA technology used to fight COVID did no such thing, despite adamant claims from Fauci and cohorts that it would do just that. At best, it minimized symptoms which may also account for depressed natural immune responses to subsequent strains of the COVID virus and any other potential illness.
In addition, while it’s difficult and irresponsible to claim that vaccinations have caused more damage than good, there is sufficient evidence to at least question the side effects and unintended dangers of the COVID-19 vaccines, particularly among healthy young males.
Yet no one, least of all Anthony Fauci, the apotheosis of science itself, seems concerned with pursuing research that may confirm vaccination safety.
It’s enough for him to say the magic words – safe and effective – and all in his fiefdom bow down in reverence.
Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
It’s hard to keep track of Fauci’s lies. The masks. The denial of the lab leak theory and involvement in gain of function research. The uptick in vaccinations required for herd immunity based on polling numbers.
Yet the more Fauci is exposed, the more he doubles down on his claims.
The Return of Anthony Fauci
After a much-appreciated disappearance from the public eye, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently re-emerged in an extensive interview in the New York Times and a subsequent video interview with CNN’s Kaitlin Collins last week.
Instead of facing criticism, he dodges tough questions by scapegoating those who disagree with his narrative.
Fauci continues to claim that the pandemic response in the United States was “not as successful as [it] could have been … unfortunately, over the course of the pandemic the anti-science element has been emerging in certain segments of our society.”
According to Fauci, he was not liable for the public health policies that led to devastating consequences such as economic collapse, learning loss, deaths of despair, and skyrocketing inflationary spending. Not to mention another dangerous side effect – the high level of distrust in public institutions. Less than half of Americans said they trust would trust the public health institutions to manage a future pandemic.
The self-aggrandizing megalomaniac now insists: “. . . it wasn’t me. The CDC was the organization that made those recommendations. I happened to be perceived as the personification of the recommendations. But show me a school that I shut down and show me a factory that I shut down. Never. I never did. I gave a public-health recommendation that echoed the CDC’s recommendation, and people made a decision based on that. But I never criticized the people who had to make the decisions one way or the other.”
This evasion of responsibility provides a stark contrast with his public announcements that he told Trump to “shut down the country.” Or that the outbreak was exploding because we didn’t do so.
His mea culpa refusal also flies in the face of his 2021 statement: “”If you are trying to get at me as a public health official and a scientist, you’re really attacking not only Dr. Anthony Fauci, you’re attacking science.”
He consistently evades blame when criticized and seeks to procure praise by lying about successes and ignoring the costs that came at the expense of his mere “recommendations.”
Otherwise known as back peddling or saving face.
It is this kind of inability for honest introspection that is perhaps the most disturbing characteristic about Fauci. Someone who Thomas Sowell would no doubt classify as a member of the “anointed class” – a collection of people best defined as a metropolitan liberal elite or intelligentsia who have an unshakable belief in their moral and intellectual superiority over the masses.
In other words, Fauci and other bureaucrats and politicians like him (think John Kerry, Al Gore, Gavin Newsom, and many other environmental policy champions) seem to suffer what’s commonly known as a savior or messiah complex. Men like Fauci cannot get enough of the spotlight to tout their miraculous no cost solutions to the world’s greatest threats.
While many have happily allowed the bad memories of the pandemic to fade into the background, Americans should not be complacent. As sure as the sun rises, there will be another pandemic or catastrophe. Unless the public refuses to prop up elitist tyrants like Fauci they will continue to rear their ugly heads.
Jennifer Galardi is the politics and culture editor for 19Fortyfive. She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, politics, and policy. In a previous life, she wrote for publications in the health, fitness, and nutrition space. In addition, her pieces have been published in the Epoch Times and Pepperdine Policy Review. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
