The Official Fauci Diaries Thread

5,304 Views | 122 Replies | Last: 7 hrs ago by bearister
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Great headline from the Wall St Journal

"Elite overreaction"
"Deliberate deception"

hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
This is just the first of many lies under oath. A lie to cover his tracks and those of his buddies.

SBGold
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Too much wasted on this and Paul is a moron. All anyone needs to know about this and move on to the made-up crisis is this:

""This hearing is designed to entrap you," said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Scientists also scrambled to Fauci's defense ahead of the unusual hearing the second time the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist has been back before Congress to discuss pandemic origins since leaving the government in 2022. While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he talked the nation through numerous outbreaks over decades, including HIV, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks, while advising seven presidents.

In a public letter, more than 150 infectious-disease experts and other scientists wrote that "no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges" and that they are "urging our elected representatives in Congress stop these witch-hunts."

Among topics discussed at Wednesday's hearing was whether NIH-funded research in China may have played a role in how the pandemic started.

Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, coming to light when it spread at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. There's no new scientific information supporting that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory, a theory Paul champions. A GOP-led subcommittee that studied the question in 2024 did not find any evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.
Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there's more evidence supporting COVID-19's natural origins."

Follow the science, not stupid partisan politicians.

VOTE BLUE AND GO BEARS FOREVER
oski003
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this and Paul is a moron. All anyone needs to know about this and move on to the made-up crisis is this:

""This hearing is designed to entrap you," said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Scientists also scrambled to Fauci's defense ahead of the unusual hearing the second time the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist has been back before Congress to discuss pandemic origins since leaving the government in 2022. While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he talked the nation through numerous outbreaks over decades, including HIV, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks, while advising seven presidents.

In a public letter, more than 150 infectious-disease experts and other scientists wrote that "no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges" and that they are "urging our elected representatives in Congress stop these witch-hunts."

Among topics discussed at Wednesday's hearing was whether NIH-funded research in China may have played a role in how the pandemic started.

Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, coming to light when it spread at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. There's no new scientific information supporting that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory, a theory Paul champions. A GOP-led subcommittee that studied the question in 2024 did not find any evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.
Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there's more evidence supporting COVID-19's natural origins."

Follow the science, not stupid partisan politicians.

VOTE BLUE AND GO BEARS FOREVER


COVID 19 welcome from a lab.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/lab-leak-true-origins-of-covid-19/

The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.


Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events.

Wuhan is home to China's foremost SARS research lab, designed by Moderna CEO Stephen Bancel's company, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering and organism supercharging) at inadequate biosafety levels.

Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.

By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn't.

Follow the science, not stupid Democrats and pardoned scientists covering their asses.
oski003
How long do you want to ignore this user?
oski003 said:

Why was Fauci's pardon backdated to 2014?


Answer: 2014 was the year legislation was passed making gain of function research on coronaviruses illegal.
Eastern Oregon Bear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this

Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.
socaltownie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
tequila4kapp said:

socaltownie said:

2) Attacking doing science as conspiracy. From a CAL board it pisses me mildly off that alumni won't let scientists do what they do - be uncertain, grapple with difficult data to understand, go down dead ends. Rethink hypothesis. You know....do science. I look at what I can spend the mental energy on with these contemporaneous notes and say "Good, they are trying in real time in a crisis to do good science.

Finally, this is NOT to agree with the subsequent public health response. I think during it we saw really a weakness in our system - that the epidemiologists were provided a privileged position and that trade offs were not considered. Yes. More people would have died....but the evidence is also clear that closing schools for as long as we did had profound effects on students. Those are AWFUL moral choices but many in the public health community - largely those from the epi side of the house - didn't grapple with them because (my opinion) they dismiss the social sciences. We will live with that blindness for some times.

THAT, I wish, was the focus. Because the country SHOULD grapple with the knock on effects of our response. It would be more mature to recognize that there was no good answer. That "science" is about uncertainty and the slow grinding toward "truth" that will always been imperfect (we call them "models" and "Theories" for a reason). That will matter the next time.....not, I think, whether it was a bat or the PRC which would NEVER have admitted a mistake because that is NOT the way they operate (and indeed, would be an existential threat to the regime in their eyes). We can gladly start a new thread about the real challenges of the PRC governing ethos.

Edit
And in one of the more predictable moments ever he evokes the 5th.

I agree with these statements but I also remember the scientists speaking in absolutes and certainties. It was much more like "Science says X, if you don't comply you are a flat earther." I don't recall much in the way of "based on what we know now" type qualifiers. Science needs to engage the public in a more 'honest' way if science also wants the space to say things like you mention above.

This gets at a blind spot among the epidemiologists and a critical framework they were, I think, working from. History and generation were important - AIDS.

As you might recall, when HIV/AIDS first emerged there was a LOT of uncertainty. Science was slow. The communities impacted were challenging to both identify and study. They were, in the US, marginalized. So there were WILD conspiracy theories (":you can get aids from touching surfaces!!!"

The lesson that MANY (not all but many) in the epidemiological community learned from AIDS is that you are forceful and definitive. You are trying to get people to change behavior. Don't' waffle. And like the fight club you can't TELL them you are doing this because then its power is lost.

I will say it again - it is THIS that I wish we were talking about. What are the policies we will have in place the next time? Who gets in the room? How will the president be advised? etc. etc. etc.

And it isn't just "the government." (one post above). I was involved locally with this. The government was tryng to make sense of this and the public health community advising them COULD have tapped into behavioral health side of that academic discipline that actually looks at human behavior. They did not. What COVID underscored is just how sidelined they are by the medical/epid. wing that operated under the ludicrous assumption that people would just wear masks. What I fear is that the COVID-19 post-hoc finger pointing WILL make it more difficult to get the public to act....and that the epidemiologists haven't learned that theie blindspots made both the pandemic and the knock on effects worse.



Take care of your Chicken
oski003
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this

Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


Why worry about the war with Iran, the economy, and robots? Global warming will kill us all. Or Russian nuke. Or neurotoxins.
sycasey
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Cal88 said:

oski003 said:

sycasey said:

oski003 said:

sycasey said:

socaltownie said:

Help a guy out who has never understood this obsession.

1) the origins of the virus. I can go either way on this. It doesn't surprise me that we could see interspecies transmission of a new virus but I am NOT a virologist. I am more of a student of modern chinese politics so it also wouldn't surprise me if it was an accidental release from a bio lab in china. That background of work also leads me to believe that the LAST thing the Chinese would have done is cooperate with us on investigating origins. So layered on a pandemnic would have been the gravest crisis among nuclear armed states since 1962. Oh great! And for what end? Does the origin story save a single life? I would love to hear the hypothetical.

2) Attacking doing science as conspiracy. From a CAL board it pisses me mildly off that alumni won't let scientists do what they do - be uncertain, grapple with difficult data to understand, go down dead ends. Rethink hypothesis. You know....do science. I look at what I can spend the mental energy on with these contemporaneous notes and say "Good, they are trying in real time in a crisis to do good science.

Finally, this is NOT to agree with the subsequent public health response. I think during it we saw really a weakness in our system - that the epidemiologists were provided a privileged position and that trade offs were not considered. Yes. More people would have died....but the evidence is also clear that closing schools for as long as we did had profound effects on students. Those are AWFUL moral choices but many in the public health community - largely those from the epi side of the house - didn't grapple with them because (my opinion) they dismiss the social sciences. We will live with that blindness for some times.

THAT, I wish, was the focus. Because the country SHOULD grapple with the knock on effects of our response. It would be more mature to recognize that there was no good answer. That "science" is about uncertainty and the slow grinding toward "truth" that will always been imperfect (we call them "models" and "Theories" for a reason). That will matter the next time.....not, I think, whether it was a bat or the PRC which would NEVER have admitted a mistake because that is NOT the way they operate (and indeed, would be an existential threat to the regime in their eyes). We can gladly start a new thread about the real challenges of the PRC governing ethos.

Edit
And in one of the more predictable moments ever he evokes the 5th.

I agree with a lot of this. I don't think we actually know what the real origin of the virus was and I suspect we never will be certain. China's government will prevent that information from getting out if it is at all embarrassing to them.

More than a few people in government or otherwise in privileged positions ran with the "zoonotic origin" theory early on as though it was a certainty when it really was not. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of political wrangling was involved in that. That said, I'm not sure I've seen clear evidence that Fauci himself lied about this. Seems like he might have just actually believed in that origin theory all along. (IMO him pleading the fifth is a mistake.)

The issues in public health response, IMO, belie a weakness in our government and inability to make hard choices about tradeoffs. This is not just a Trump or Biden thing, it's both . . . and Congress too. Epidemiologists will likely argue for the maximalist position in stopping virus spread. It's government that has to make the choice about tradeoffs. In other countries we saw how they were able to quickly reopen schools and keep them open; it's a failure of leadership and a failure of trust that this didn't happen in America.


"...Ultimately, these things came from an animal reservoir. I have heard these conspiracies theories (about Wuhan) and like all conspiracy theories, they are just conspiracy theories."

Pay attention to the actual question he was asked there: it was about China having a bioweapons lab and the virus coming out of that (presumably intentionally). That was indeed a conspiracy theory that was floating around at one time.


The question:

Do you have any sense of where the virus probably came from?

Fauci's lie:

"Ultimately, these things come from an animal reservoir."

Yes, Wuhan is characterized as a bioweapons lab, which it may or may not have been. However, the question is whether or not the lab leak therapy is credible and where Fauci thinks the virus came from. Fauci answers that it came from a reservoir and conspiracies are only conspiracies.


That was a huge lie, under oath I presume?

It's in the video and was part of a TV interview with Sean Hannity, so no not under oath.

The other part oski003 is leaving out is that Hannity did indeed preface his question with a reference to theories about bioweapons. Not unreasonable to think Fauci was referring to that as the conspiracy theory.

EDIT: I do have my issues with how info about the virus was communicated and some of that lies with Fauci. People are getting way out over their skis in trying to prove criminal behavior though.
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this

Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


No. The only people saying this are the ones who have regrets about supporting the lockdown but are too afraid to admit it. People need to be held accountable for all this. The COVID lockdowns were the greatest civil rights violations this country has seen since the Democrats locked up the Japanese during WW2.


socaltownie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
hanky1 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


No. The only people saying this are the ones who have regrets about supporting the lockdown but are too afraid to admit it. People need to be held accountable for all this. The COVID lockdowns were the greatest civil rights violations this country has seen since the Democrats locked up the Japanese during WW2.




Oh come now. Joe McCarthy would like you to hold his beer.
Take care of your Chicken
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
socaltownie said:

hanky1 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


No. The only people saying this are the ones who have regrets about supporting the lockdown but are too afraid to admit it. People need to be held accountable for all this. The COVID lockdowns were the greatest civil rights violations this country has seen since the Democrats locked up the Japanese during WW2.




Oh come now. Joe McCarthy would like you to hold his beer.


Far greater than McCarthy era civil rights violations. Not even close.

400 hundred million civilians were locked in doors. Many were ostracized, fired from their jobs, faced state sponsored vitriolic abuse all for questioning "The Narrative".

Children's education was stunted. Businesses were lost. Elderly parents died alone. All for what? Because some elites got drunk w authoritarian power.
Eastern Oregon Bear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
It seems undeniable that during a pandemic, reducing our exposure to each other reduces or at least slows the spread of the disease. It's sad and regrettable that funeral attendance was discouraged, kids had to attend school virtually and businesses suffered but it did saves lives. Those collateral pain and damages sucked, but life sucks at times like that. It's not the first time. History is littered with pandemics causing death and social upheaval.

As for Fauci, his hands aren't clean and he deserves some punishment, though having a big ego isn't a crime.

Go ahead and take your seat on the 20/20 Hindsight Commission, though the past is the past. The vast majority of the medical community was acting in good faith and were doing what they thought was right to reduce illness and deaths. In my mind, there's plenty of other things we should be devoting our time to before we spend a lot of effort going down this rabbit hole.
Eastern Oregon Bear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
hanky1 said:

socaltownie said:

hanky1 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


No. The only people saying this are the ones who have regrets about supporting the lockdown but are too afraid to admit it. People need to be held accountable for all this. The COVID lockdowns were the greatest civil rights violations this country has seen since the Democrats locked up the Japanese during WW2.




Oh come now. Joe McCarthy would like you to hold his beer.


Far greater than McCarthy era civil rights violations. Not even close.

400 hundred million civilians were locked in doors. Many were ostracized, fired from their jobs, faced state sponsored vitriolic abuse all for questioning "The Narrative".

Children's education was stunted. Businesses were lost. Elderly parents died alone. All for what? Because some elites got drunk w authoritarian power.

There aren't 400 million Americans.

Like I said elsewhere, during a pandemic, life sucks. The Covid virus doesn't care about your civil rights.
sycasey
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

hanky1 said:

socaltownie said:

hanky1 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


No. The only people saying this are the ones who have regrets about supporting the lockdown but are too afraid to admit it. People need to be held accountable for all this. The COVID lockdowns were the greatest civil rights violations this country has seen since the Democrats locked up the Japanese during WW2.




Oh come now. Joe McCarthy would like you to hold his beer.


Far greater than McCarthy era civil rights violations. Not even close.

400 hundred million civilians were locked in doors. Many were ostracized, fired from their jobs, faced state sponsored vitriolic abuse all for questioning "The Narrative".

Children's education was stunted. Businesses were lost. Elderly parents died alone. All for what? Because some elites got drunk w authoritarian power.


There aren't 400 million Americans.

Like I said elsewhere, during a pandemic, life sucks. The Covid virus doesn't care about your civil rights.

There was also never a time when I was "locked indoors." I was able to leave my house and walk around outside just fine, even when restrictions were at their strongest.

I did have problems with the length of school closures and other things but let's not go nuts here. Some other countries were way more draconian about the "lockdown" rules.
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

It seems undeniable that during a pandemic, reducing our exposure to each other reduces or at least slows the spread of the disease. It's sad and regrettable that funeral attendance was discouraged, kids had to attend school virtually and businesses suffered but it did saves lives. Those collateral pain and damages sucked, but life sucks at times like that. It's not the first time. History is littered with pandemics causing death and social upheaval.

As for Fauci, his hands aren't clean and he deserves some punishment, though having a big ego isn't a crime.

Go ahead and take your seat on the 20/20 Hindsight Commission, though the past is the past. The vast majority of the medical community was acting in good faith and were doing what they thought was right to reduce illness and deaths. In my mind, there's plenty of other things we should be devoting our time to before we spend a lot of effort going down this rabbit hole.


20/20 hindsight? Maybe from some, but not from me.

Go back to my posts on this forum during COVID and you'll see that I was saying the same thing back then when everyone was bloody screaming about how we should unquestionably obey the government.

I mentioned back then that Fauci was the Democratic party's golden calf and some guy went on a crusade to get me banned on this site. lol
Aunburdened
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SBGold said:

Great analysis. And the nasty slur you pointed out is well deserving of a suspension.

Show me on the doll where the truth hurt you
Free Wags.
Also Free Dwight Way and ProBonoBear415.
Aunburdened
How long do you want to ignore this user?
The best jokes are the ones that have the most truth in them

Free Wags.
Also Free Dwight Way and ProBonoBear415.
Aunburdened
How long do you want to ignore this user?
hanky1 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

It seems undeniable that during a pandemic, reducing our exposure to each other reduces or at least slows the spread of the disease. It's sad and regrettable that funeral attendance was discouraged, kids had to attend school virtually and businesses suffered but it did saves lives. Those collateral pain and damages sucked, but life sucks at times like that. It's not the first time. History is littered with pandemics causing death and social upheaval.

As for Fauci, his hands aren't clean and he deserves some punishment, though having a big ego isn't a crime.

Go ahead and take your seat on the 20/20 Hindsight Commission, though the past is the past. The vast majority of the medical community was acting in good faith and were doing what they thought was right to reduce illness and deaths. In my mind, there's plenty of other things we should be devoting our time to before we spend a lot of effort going down this rabbit hole.


20/20 hindsight? Maybe from some, but not from me.

Go back to my posts on this forum during COVID and you'll see that I was saying the same thing back then when everyone was bloody screaming about how we should unquestionably obey the government.

I mentioned back then that Fauci was the Democratic party's golden calf and some guy went on a crusade to get me banned on this site. lol

If people are really struggling to understand why people are angry about Fauci lying through his teeth about the origin of the virus to save his own skin and still angry about COVID in general, perhaps a history lesson about the realities of lockdowns is in order.

Free Wags.
Also Free Dwight Way and ProBonoBear415.
Aunburdened
How long do you want to ignore this user?
And to further drive home the point that this is not about Fauci being in love with his celebrity and begging his peers to put him up for awards.

Free Wags.
Also Free Dwight Way and ProBonoBear415.
tequila4kapp
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

It seems undeniable that during a pandemic, reducing our exposure to each other reduces or at least slows the spread of the disease.

This misses the mark. People under 60, the skinny, the healthy, and those with no co-morbidities did not need to be isolated. Fat old people with co-morbidities needed the isolation.
bearister
How long do you want to ignore this user?
"The most powerful thing a president has, they say, is the power of pardon," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "So he was pardoned by Biden, and I respect that. I know how powerful it is. … They say it's literally the most powerful thing a president has."


Covita!


“Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside”
—Jim Morrison

“I love Cal deeply, by the way, what are the directions to The Portal from Sproul Plaza?”
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I don't understand how anyone can see these facts and continue to worship at the alter of Fauci. Seriously there are still crazies who suckle at the teet of the golden calf.

concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
oski003 said:

If Biden would have pardoned Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, we wouldn't have one of the best movie scenes in American history!


Did I miss something today?
concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
tequila4kapp said:

concordtom said:

tequila4kapp said:

This topic is about Fauci, and the allegation / belief that he lied and conspired about the origin source, likely for financial reasons.

I'm sorry, but I honestly am not able to follow the logic. It seems like so much conspiracy theory connecting the dots.

I believe I mentioned in my first post that I want to see receipts. No receipts = speculation and conspiracies.

But considering that some 1.1 million Americans died from the disease - more than 2x the number who died in WW2 and Vietnam combined - it is worth getting answers.


Sure.
But what's wrong with this explanation:

Random virus mutations happen and spread.
Spanish pandemic
Plague
Small pox
Etc….

Such things wiped out Native American populations - they had no understanding, warning, clue. It was maybe spirits, they wondered.

Why does it have to be some manmade secret thing with people looking to profit?

My goodness, I don't understand the need to create or FIND some mystery that indicts people who from my vantage point were innocently and valiantly trying to find solutions.

I'm not trying to not know truth. I was just satisfied with what I thought was truth.

Robin Williams Live At The Met has a funny part where he's playing a paranoid , "Look in the hole! Look in the hole!", like, for a snake. Imagining things not there.

As I said, it's a distraction. Perhaps on purpose.
But this reminds me of the Jan 6 hearing. I was incensed and fired up. Others here on BI couldn't care less.

So I'll just laugh.
Keep calm and carry on.
concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SBGold said:

Great analysis. And the nasty slur you pointed out is well deserving of a suspension.


Nah.
Just needed to be called out.

Glad you liked my rationale, though.
Thx!
oski003
How long do you want to ignore this user?
concordtom said:

oski003 said:

If Biden would have pardoned Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, we wouldn't have one of the best movie scenes in American history!


Did I miss something today?


Yes.
concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
hanky1 said:

SBGold said:

Yeah except:

No Policy Violations: A simultaneous release of federal ethics reviews concerning Fauci's awards and prize money did not find any ethics violations or illegal conduct.

We don't imprison people when this is the case. Sorry


Lying under oath is a crime.

Deliberating deleting federal communications to hide the truth is a crime.

Using your federal position to cut federal funding to anyone who questions you or disagrees w you is a crime.

His legacy and all of yours who blinded agreed w him is secure: the greatest villain and villain enablers of the 21st century.



Oh, Oh!
I know who you are talking about!

YES!!!!



concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
oski003 said:

sycasey said:

oski003 said:

sycasey said:

socaltownie said:

Help a guy out who has never understood this obsession.

1) the origins of the virus. I can go either way on this. It doesn't surprise me that we could see interspecies transmission of a new virus but I am NOT a virologist. I am more of a student of modern chinese politics so it also wouldn't surprise me if it was an accidental release from a bio lab in china. That background of work also leads me to believe that the LAST thing the Chinese would have done is cooperate with us on investigating origins. So layered on a pandemnic would have been the gravest crisis among nuclear armed states since 1962. Oh great! And for what end? Does the origin story save a single life? I would love to hear the hypothetical.

2) Attacking doing science as conspiracy. From a CAL board it pisses me mildly off that alumni won't let scientists do what they do - be uncertain, grapple with difficult data to understand, go down dead ends. Rethink hypothesis. You know....do science. I look at what I can spend the mental energy on with these contemporaneous notes and say "Good, they are trying in real time in a crisis to do good science.

Finally, this is NOT to agree with the subsequent public health response. I think during it we saw really a weakness in our system - that the epidemiologists were provided a privileged position and that trade offs were not considered. Yes. More people would have died....but the evidence is also clear that closing schools for as long as we did had profound effects on students. Those are AWFUL moral choices but many in the public health community - largely those from the epi side of the house - didn't grapple with them because (my opinion) they dismiss the social sciences. We will live with that blindness for some times.

THAT, I wish, was the focus. Because the country SHOULD grapple with the knock on effects of our response. It would be more mature to recognize that there was no good answer. That "science" is about uncertainty and the slow grinding toward "truth" that will always been imperfect (we call them "models" and "Theories" for a reason). That will matter the next time.....not, I think, whether it was a bat or the PRC which would NEVER have admitted a mistake because that is NOT the way they operate (and indeed, would be an existential threat to the regime in their eyes). We can gladly start a new thread about the real challenges of the PRC governing ethos.

Edit
And in one of the more predictable moments ever he evokes the 5th.

I agree with a lot of this. I don't think we actually know what the real origin of the virus was and I suspect we never will be certain. China's government will prevent that information from getting out if it is at all embarrassing to them.

More than a few people in government or otherwise in privileged positions ran with the "zoonotic origin" theory early on as though it was a certainty when it really was not. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of political wrangling was involved in that. That said, I'm not sure I've seen clear evidence that Fauci himself lied about this. Seems like he might have just actually believed in that origin theory all along. (IMO him pleading the fifth is a mistake.)

The issues in public health response, IMO, belie a weakness in our government and inability to make hard choices about tradeoffs. This is not just a Trump or Biden thing, it's both . . . and Congress too. Epidemiologists will likely argue for the maximalist position in stopping virus spread. It's government that has to make the choice about tradeoffs. In other countries we saw how they were able to quickly reopen schools and keep them open; it's a failure of leadership and a failure of trust that this didn't happen in America.


"...Ultimately, these things came from an animal reservoir. I have heard these conspiracies theories (about Wuhan) and like all conspiracy theories, they are just conspiracy theories."

Pay attention to the actual question he was asked there: it was about China having a bioweapons lab and the virus coming out of that (presumably intentionally). That was indeed a conspiracy theory that was floating around at one time.


The question:

Do you have any sense of where the virus probably came from?

Fauci's lie:

"Ultimately, these things come from an animal reservoir."

Yes, Wuhan is characterized as a bioweapons lab, which it may or may not have been. However, the question is whether or not the lab leak therapy is credible and where Fauci thinks the virus came from. Fauci answers that it came from a reservoir and conspiracies are only conspiracies.



This is PERFECT evidence!!

Something nobody on earth can see with the naked eye ,
In China,
And happened long before anyone started looking with microscopes!!

The accusers can say whatever they what, nobody can prove the line of questioning wrong.

So, just keep hammering away.
Even when Obama birth certificate was public, "oh, that's not the LOOOONG form!"

Give me a fudge-filled break!
concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this and Paul is a moron. All anyone needs to know about this and move on to the made-up crisis is this:

""This hearing is designed to entrap you," said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Scientists also scrambled to Fauci's defense ahead of the unusual hearing the second time the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist has been back before Congress to discuss pandemic origins since leaving the government in 2022. While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he talked the nation through numerous outbreaks over decades, including HIV, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks, while advising seven presidents.

In a public letter, more than 150 infectious-disease experts and other scientists wrote that "no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges" and that they are "urging our elected representatives in Congress stop these witch-hunts."

Among topics discussed at Wednesday's hearing was whether NIH-funded research in China may have played a role in how the pandemic started.

Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, coming to light when it spread at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. There's no new scientific information supporting that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory, a theory Paul champions. A GOP-led subcommittee that studied the question in 2024 did not find any evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.
Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there's more evidence supporting COVID-19's natural origins."

Follow the science, not stupid partisan politicians.

VOTE BLUE AND GO BEARS FOREVER


Going after Fauci is an attempt to repackage history of this away from Trump, who nearly died from the disease himself, and who stupidly stood the podium and tried to talk to Americans as if he was a scientist himself.

Remember when he rambled on about how maybe we could Inject sunlight into the body, or the whole swallow bleach thing?

He couldn't stand others getting the nations attention so he began to take over those hearings. Just like he couldn't stand having the winning soccer team, receive their trophy without him having his photo taken.

Thanks everybody for reminding me what this was all about.
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
concordtom said:

hanky1 said:

SBGold said:

Yeah except:

No Policy Violations: A simultaneous release of federal ethics reviews concerning Fauci's awards and prize money did not find any ethics violations or illegal conduct.

We don't imprison people when this is the case. Sorry


Lying under oath is a crime.

Deliberating deleting federal communications to hide the truth is a crime.

Using your federal position to cut federal funding to anyone who questions you or disagrees w you is a crime.

His legacy and all of yours who blinded agreed w him is secure: the greatest villain and villain enablers of the 21st century.



Oh, Oh!
I know who you are talking about!

YES!!!!






Notice those who still believe in the golden calf try to deflect? They can't admit they worshipped at the alter of a false God. Someone they literally hoisted up as a God now torn down and exposed as a liar.


concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this

Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


Prison?
He should be given a medal!
concordtom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
oski003 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this

Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


Why worry about the war with Iran, the economy, and robots? Global warming will kill us all. Or Russian nuke. Or neurotoxins.


Trump is in a position to improve all of those things, isn't he?

What is he doing to make this country and world better?
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
concordtom said:

oski003 said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


Why worry about the war with Iran, the economy, and robots? Global warming will kill us all. Or Russian nuke. Or neurotoxins.


Trump is in a position to improve all of those things, isn't he?

What is he doing to make this country and world better?

Those who worship the golden calf deflect again to draw attention away from how foolish they looked for believing in the golden calf.
hanky1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
concordtom said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

SBGold said:

Too much wasted on this


Agreed. There's so many other things that need attention NOW. The war with Iran. The economy. Getting some training wheels in place for AI. Another government shutdown is looming at the end of September. Let's work on those current pressing issues rather than rehashing the past and seeking retribution for an elderly man who by the time he's convicted would probably die before serving much prison time.


Prison?
He should be given a medal!


the children cannot admit the lies from the golden calf have been exposed. They double down on their ignorance.
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.