“…like making love near a lake…”
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Don’t make it into something dirty.
I guess I’m lucky it went over my head.
I met a man in Germany. The first thing he said to me was “I’m Austrian”. And the second was to say that a traffic light is a little green light that turns red when you get near it, and ask me why American beer was like making love in a canoe…
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The knives are out for Dr. Fauci among the extreme right-wing twitterati. Took them only a couple of days to pivot from the position that COVID19 is all a hoax to acknowledging it’s a real threat. Now they’ve got the Bizarro-world-fantasy machine spinning full speed on the guys who can save us.
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100’s of thousands at least. Get the plastic bag over the head and you’ll really have something.
What “stand” would you have him take? For those who are ONLY seeing him speak on cable tv, with or without his “bosses” present, you should know that Dr. Fauci has regularly been making his consultation available to the physician community in the form of audio & video interviews with medical journal editors and others responsible for communicating clinical and scientific information to the professional community. Even though I am retired, I have followed him rather closely (because I admire his knowledge, experience and candor greatly) in these presentations. I have also watched about half of the daily White House briefings where he has appeared. I do NOT hear Dr. Fauci saying ANYTHING substantially different to his physician colleagues than I do to the general public. More detailed and technical for sure, but not substantively different. One could conclude two things from that: A) He’s “covering his ass” for the sake of his job, or B) He’s giving the best statement he can, at the moment, given what the science and clinical experience has taught us so far.
Given what I’ve seen of Tony Fauci over these many years, I think there’s no question it’s the latter. But, as he himself has clearly said several times and ways, “there is a LOT we do not know yet.” Given that decisions have to be made about certain related issues with imperfect or lacking knowledge, SOMEONE clearly has to make those decisions. Dr. Fauci himself has said he is glad that he is not entrusted with that burden. That process is called “politics” and you can like it or not, but it is NOT part of the role of our scientists and clinicians.
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I’ve got no quarrel at all with that.
The “stand” I would like to see him take is to state unequivocally that the statements made by the president are not based on science or medicine and if taken at face value may lead to serious consequences.
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What’s the point of starting a pissing contest, getting fired for stating the obvious and losing a platform that provides the public with information based on reality?
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It seems we all are affected by the corona virus and have survived! I suggest it is time to stop this social distancing nonsense and go back to normal!
Heiwa, this quote is from you, from your website (I forget the name–was it nutjobkrazypants. com?) 
“No atomic bombs ever exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 1945. News about 100 000’s of Japanese being vaporized in a nanoseconds FLASH and disappearing in thin air or slowly being killed by nuclear radiation during several months afterwards autumn 1945 at various Japanese hospitals were just Fake News and propaganda!”
No sane person would trust you to peel a banana, let alone consult on health safety.
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Well maybe you’ve got more faith in (or hope for) politicians than I do as a physician. But would not trust ANY statement, from ANY President as being “based on science or medicine.” The guy to listen to for that is Fauci, and he speaks the truth every time I’ve heard him open his mouth, including in the White House briefings. He is the 180 deg. opposite of a bullshitter and, if he doesn’t know, he says so.
The problem is, and Fauci has made this point abundantly in several talks I’ve heard him give, is that “science & medicine” DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS for all of the problems and questions right now, but in the meantime SOMEBODY has to decide things.
You can like that or not like it, and that’s what we have periodic elections for. Trump’s biggest problem is that he likes to spout off too much on stuff he knows nothing about. But everyone should clearly be able to see that. You don’t BUY the “snake oil” do you when you hear the quack promote it!
In the fields of science and medicine, Trump is a bit like the quack. But I don’t think anyone is relying on him for advice in those areas. I think you will find that, in the end result, Trump (nor any other President) will not go directly against fact based science or medicine as articulated by the Dr. Faucis of the nation. But when science or medicine doesn’t have an answer, Fauci will say so and won’t tell him what to do. It’s not his job!
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A lot more than a “bit” of a quack, he is the poster child for quackery of all stripes. His ignorant “base” would jump into an active volcano if he told them it would harm his opponents and get him reelected.
Thousands of medical practitioners are literally putting their lives on the line every day “taking a stand” against the pandemic. I don’t think a 79 year old talking head has a lot to lose by making a statement that might save thousands of lives.
It’s not like he is on the ER floor or working an ICU and can’t be spared. By exposing a monster quack he just might offer the nation a service equal to the front line doctors and nurses.
Is that more a commentary on Trump and his base or perhaps tells us more about the absolute hatred and disgust his ‘base’ has for the thought of who would be elected (from the Dems) in his stead? I can’t speak for any group but that’s damned sure how I arrived at supporting this clown 3+ years ago.
Please start a new topic if anyone would like to discuss further.
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Maybe you could clarify what you mean here but this doesn’t seem even remotely true.
- He has said it was “contained” and “under control” (as McKay Coppins pointed out).
- He has said “It’s going to disappear” and, “We have very little problem in this country” (as David Leonhardt pointed out).
- He said three weeks ago that the U.S. had “15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” (as the White House briefing transcript shows).
- He tweeted just eight days ago that “The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation” (as The Hill pointed out).
Who cares.
The point is that his quackery and the willingness of his cult following is a threat to the physical as well as economic health of the nation. The few people who are in a position to speak out are afraid of losing their jobs. Because of that thousands or more may lose theirs.
Fauci should put his job on the line to save those lives, just as the thousands of health care workers are puttiing their lives on the line every day.
You do apparently as witnessed by you constantly bitching about it most recently in the above post.
Either cite an example of Fauci or Birx hiding the truth with a link to them ‘having fear for their jobs’ or STFU and tuck this little shread of TDS back into the Atlantic or Salon article you got it out of. ‘Fear of losing their jobs’ my ass… As if either one of them would have trouble finding gainful employment…
Did Trump underestimate the seriousness of this virus in the early stages? Absolutely. That hasn’t been the case for quite some time now.
I know it’s painful watching his approval numbers rising but be patient. Your time to gloat will come if he advises an opening of the economy too early against the medical experts’ advice and it goes bad.
In the end I think most folks will come to their senses and realize they should protect their health as well as their wallets and vote differently next time for all positions if they are able to vote. Trump has certainly not been a source of inspirational leadership and his snowflake whining about how he isn’t treated fairly by the “fake news” and “lamestream” media is at best distracting. His speeches are painful and make me nostalgic for Bush who by his own admission got his words tangled up. Trump makes Bush sound like Winston Churchill.The minority of the population that back Trump and believe he is doing a good job are free to do so. Trump is NOT running the country but is an influence of sorts, the governors, mayors and to a lessor extent congress are running things along with a remaining number of professionals in CDC, NHS, FEMA etc whose ranks have been decimated in the last few years. That alone is scary. The economy is going into a tailspin and things will get worse. Much worse. Hunker down, forget politics and wash your hands.
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