OPINION:
In testimony before a House subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, former COVID policy czar Anthony Fauci apologized for lying to the American people about the origins of the virus; about the mitigation efforts he recommended that harmed oh so many people; about the stupid 6-foot social distance mandate that appeared like a magic rabbit pulled from a magician’s hat; and about all the fake science, so-called science, pseudoscience that went into the government’s campaign to seize American citizens’ liberties. Oh, no he didn’t.
That’s a joke.
There are about as many facts in that lede sentence as flew from Fauci’s mouth his entire four years of COVID tyranny. Tit for tat, so they say.
He lies, I lie, we all lie.
Here’s the thing about Fauci: He had an opportunity to come clean during this House hearing and acknowledge mistakes were made, non-scientific recommendations were advanced, individual rights were often unjust and illogically clamped, and that hey, in the name of restoring Americans’ trust in the health bureaucracies that are supposed to protect, not harm, let’s talk truths, uncomfortable as they may be, and right the wrongs and correct the narratives of the three-plus years of coronavirus crazy Americans, as well as the world, suffered.
But he didn’t take that chance. He didn’t grab that opportunity. Instead, he dug in deeper on his obfuscations and lies and clever turns of phrases; and when pressed for answers and explanation and clarification, he first pretended he couldn’t hear the question then second, pretended he was telling the truth. How do you know if Fauci is lying? He opens his mouth and speaks.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks he should be put in jail.
Rep. Michael Cloud thinks he should stop pretending scientific certainty and certain science were the orders of Fauci’s COVID days.
And that right there is the biggest takeaway from the whole coronavirus madness that permeated America for most of Joe Biden’s administration and part of Donald Trump’s: In the end, medical and health decisions should never be left for the bureaucrats to decide. Individual choice, individual self-determination, individual sovereignty should never, ever again be stripped from individuals all in the name of health safety for the citizenry — all at the quote-unquote, wink, wink recommendation of a Ph. D-wielding medical dude or dudette, as the case may be.
Fauci is the face of all that went wrong during COVID.
He’s the guy who told Americans to stay home, stay out of work, stay away from church, stay off the streets and so forth and so on, and for goodness sake, wear one face mask at all times — two if you’re really concerned about your neighbor — and get the shot, get the shot, get the shot. He’s the guy who pretended to know how many would die — people will die! People will die! — if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened the state for business, and bucked the Fauci “I Am Science” recommendations, err, best medical practices, err, health and safety suggestions, err, dictates. He’s the guy who went on one news network to tell people, in no uncertain terms, to stay off the streets and stop eating Thanksgiving turkey with relatives, then two hours later go on a different news network and insist that he never delves into policy but rather stays in his lane of science.
Policy? What policy? That’s for the politicians to decide.
And then, two hours after that when Republicans didn’t jump as high as he liked, he’s the guy who went on yet another news network to talk about how certain members of the American class with certain political ideologies and certain political leanings — cough, cough, MAGA, cough — were going to end up killing people because they insisted on going to church and singing.
Yes. This guy.
That Fauci.
As Cloud said: The thing that gets the American people is the certainty by which Fauci issued his so-called scientific guidance, and even as the real science emerged in the weeks and months and years that followed the initial certainties Fauci proclaimed — that he never adjusted accordingly. Mask up stayed mask up, despite the fact that masking up was proven a useless COVID mitigation tool. Get the shot stayed get the shot even after study after study showed the shots weren’t stopping the prevention of COVID and the spread of COVID — even after the federal bureaucratic definitions of vaccine and vaccination changed to fit the fact the COVID shots weren’t working in line with the old definition. That is to say, they weren’t working at all.
Yes. This guy.
That Fauci.
He had his chance to come clean on some of that bull and strip the lies and obfuscations from the public consciousness that he himself created and advanced. But he didn’t seize the day, as they say. He simply smiled wider and spun harder.
Once a bureaucrat, always a bureaucrat.
For Americans, that is the one big lesson to teach the coming generations: Do not let public service wonks, to include tax-paid members of the federal health agencies — no matter how many educational degrees they possess and no matter how expert they proclaim to be in a certain field or area of study — do not let them dictate policy. They are there to advise. They are there to guide. They are there to take their best guesses based on the best-known and available information about the direction America and Americans should take.
But they are not all-knowing, and they cannot erase an individual’s right to choose. They cannot, and should not, be allowed to shred the Constitution. They cannot, and should not, ever be allowed to again threaten the spirit of liberty and individualism that’s the core of American Exceptionalism.
Had the concept of God-given individual rights and liberties been in play during the COVID years, America never would have reached the point where Fauci was allowed to dictate-while-pretending-Not-To-Dictate how free citizens live their lives. And American tax dollars wouldn’t have to be used right now to chase Fauci for truths that we all know but he refuses to admit.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
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