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To the editor:
Public consensus frames Dr. Anthony Fauci as science itself. It brands his critics as political actors, blind to facts.
This view is too simple. The debate was not about science. It was about power, policy and the choices men make when the world locks down.
Science does not decree. It doubts. It tests.
Dr. Fauci changed his view on masks, immunity and schools. This is normal for research.
But he spoke with absolute certainty. When other scientists offered different paths, the state silenced them.
True science demands debate. Suppressing it is the real error. Public health requires balance. A virus harms bodies. Lockdowns harm lives.
The prolonged closures broke small businesses. They caused deep learning loss for children. They triggered a quiet crisis of youth mental health.
Elected leaders had a duty to look at the whole ledger. Weighing these human costs against a single disease is not political gain. It is governance.
There is also the question of the source. Dr. Fauci dismissed the laboratory leak theory early. Yet records showed his agency funded high-risk viral research in Wuhan.
Asking hard questions about this money is not theater. It is the necessary work of accountability.
No public official is above the law or the truth. The critics did not attack science. They questioned the heavy hand of the state. In a free world, that questioning is a duty.
Robert Sica
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thePuma
Alas, many of the critics did in fact attack science, and are continuing now to attack the scientist. It is my strong belief that Fauci always acted in good faith in the best interest of the public. Many accusations were/are being levied at him then/now with limited insight then and benefit of hindsight now, and with unreasonable malice aforethought.
When covid hit, we were all flying by the seat of our pants until the "facts" became known. There was a reasonable educated advisable reaction to err on the side of caution. Almost always the best response to the unknowns we were facing. It is indeed the heavy hand of the State that should be questioned. As it was being wielded by the Trump 1 administration, the science and the facts were too often disregarded to the detriment of the nation and the world.
Certainly, you don't blame your doctor when he can't immediately cure you of an illness that has never before been seen and advises you it's best not to mingle and spread it to anyone else.
Friday, August 21 Report this
reenjoe
Had Covid, with a fatality rate of 1-2%, been as deadly as past pandemics in which as many as half of those infected died, Dr. Fauci would have been canonized by all instead of reviled by some. ThePuma is exactly right and Sica is exactly wrong, as usual.
Wednesday, August 26 Report this