Rand Paul is a doctor-turned-politician. That should have made the Kentucky senator a valuable voice during a pandemic. Instead, the ophthalmologist has abandoned any claim to uphold this medical approval “to live my life and practice my art with sincerity and honor”. While Paul still claims To honor the Hippocratic Oath, the Republican has failed at every turn to demonstrate his commitment to “keep aloof from injustice and corruption.”
Finally, after nearly two years of spreading outrageous lies about the virus and the scientists fighting it, Paul has been called out by the main target of his dangerously irresponsible attack on public health initiatives to combat Covid-19. dr Anthony Fauci has accused the senator, who is running for a new term in 2022, of spreading a “catastrophic epidemic” for “political gain.”
Indeed, according to the immunologist, who has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since former President Ronald Reagan’s first term, he is attacking Paul Fauci and spreading misinformation to raise money for his re-election.
That’s blunt talk few would ever have expected from Fauci, the normally mild-mannered doctor who has seen the country through decades of health scares. But Fauci, like many others, has recognized that Paul needs to be put in his place.
The damage the Kentuckian has done since the pandemic began is incalculable. If Paul is not exposed now and held accountable, he will continue to undermine the health and safety of a country the Senator is meant to serve.
Paul the famous announced During a lecture to students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, it was said that “misinformation works.” a solid source of deceit, bums and red herrings since the beginning of the pandemic. He has reinforced and amplified the false premises put forward by Donald Trump – the charlatan he once against but finally hugged.
As one of the few conservatives with the professional background and political stature to stand up to Trump’s deliberately dishonest and consistently misguided approach to the gravest public health crisis of our time, Paul was in a unique position in 2020-21 to help vulnerable Americans convince them to comply with mask requirements and to be vaccinated. Instead he promoted skepticism on vaccines and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And he has repeatedly launched hysterical attacks on Fauci, an infectious disease specialist who has been trying to project a coherent vision to combat Covid-19.
As a key advisor to both Trump and President Joe Biden, Fauci has done his best to follow the science while acknowledging that his own understanding of the unique challenges presented by the virus and the right steps to take to address them Coping has evolved over the last two years. This willingness to adapt his messages has led to vicious attacks from Paul, who regularly accuses the immunologist of manipulating data, giving bad advice and acting premeditated scaremongering. The Senator has gone so far recommend that “Dr. Fauci should be voluntarily removed from television because what he’s saying is such a disservice.”
Last Tuesday, as the country’s most prominent infectious disease expert appeared before the Senate Health Committee To make an argument in the face of the rise in Omicron variants for masking and vaccines, Paul attacked the immunologist.
“Senator,” Fauci replied, “we’re on a committee here to look at a virus that has now killed nearly 900,000 people [in the United States]…. And you keep coming back to personal attacks on me that have absolutely no relation to reality.”
Paul cut him off, once shrieking, “You have pleaded for your infallible opinion to be enshrined in law.”
Fauci had had enough and asked for time to speak uninterrupted and deliver a scathing rebuke to the defeated Republican presidential nominee’s war on science.
“What happens when he comes out and accuses me of things that are completely wrong is suddenly it sparks the crazies out there and I have threats on my life, harassing my family and my kids with obscene phone calls because people lie about it me,” Fauci said. “About three or four weeks ago, on December 21st, a person was arrested while traveling from Sacramento to Washington, DC at a speed limit in Iowa. And the police asked him where he was going, and he was going to Washington, DC to see Dr. to kill Fauci. And they found an AR-15 and several ammo magazines in his car because he thinks maybe I’m killing people.”
Then Fauci got to the heart of the matter. Fauci addressed the question of why a medical senator capable of debunking Trump’s big lies is bringing them up instead a screenshot from Paul’s campaign website, which suggested “Dr. Fire Fauci,” and then urged people to donate to the senator’s reelection bid.
“You can do $5, $10, $20, $100,” Fauci noted — who then said to Paul, “You’re making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain.”
Fauci’s willingness to call out Paul has resonated with allies in Congress and the scientific community.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) commended the doctor for refusing to let Paul’s attacks go unanswered. “Thanks very much,” said Murphy, “for proclaiming this agenda for what it is: an attempt to score political points, build a political power base around science denial, and personal attacks on you and your family.”
Nearly 300 scientists and public health and medical professionals signed a letter deploring attacks on Fauci that were described as “inaccurate, unscientific, baseless in fact, and increasingly motivated by partisan politics,” and newspaper editors agreed with the historically conservatives Houston Chronicle Summarize things succinctly to explain, “Clowns like Sen. Rand Paul should stop fooling the adults who are determined to get us through the pandemic.”
As absurd as his strategy may seem, Rand Paul has made it clear that he plans to go up against science and scientists in 2022. Democrats, including Paul’s able challenger Charles Booker, should realize they cannot let the senator’s cuts go unchallenged. You must disagree with Paul’s cynical policies with as much clarity – and fury – as Dr. fauci
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The new book by John Nichols Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability to Those Who Caused the Crisis, will be published by Verso on January 25.
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