
<p>Dr. Anthony Fauci entered the era of the Covid Pandemic as one of the most respected medical authorities in America. ; He had gained his fame (and fortune) for his handling of the HIV crisis of the 1970s. ; Other than that, he was an obscure bureaucrat as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.</p>



<p>Fauci and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul have been having a political feud for a long time. ; It hit a low point in the recent Senate hearings when Fauci came with a prearranged ad hominin attack on Paul – complete with props. ; It was one of the worst and most disrespectful attacks on a Senator by a witness in recent memory. ; Some think it was deserved, others think it was a breach of protocol by a very arrogant government worker. ; To each his own on that one.</p>



<p>Blaming Paul, Fauci recounted the arrest of a man who claimed he was coming to Washington to kill Fauci. That is definitely scary, but public figures get these threats from all sides on a regular basis. ; In fact, Fauci was playing the sympathy card against a senator who has been violently attacked and injured by a Trump hater – and Paul and their family were assaulted on a number of other occasions. ; Paul did not blame Fauci for those.</p>



<p>However, the pissing contest between Fauci and Paul is more of a distraction than an enlightenment. ; Fauci’s fall from the pedestal of universal public acclaim has more to do with his handling of the Covid crisis than the criticism of a single senator. ; ;</p>



<p>Fauci has blundered more than once. ; He has been seen to cover up past mistakes – hoping the public memory is short. ; One of his first pronouncements on Covid-19 was to assure the nation that the virus would not have a significant impact on the United States. ; As a chief medical advisor to Trump at the time, Fauci shares some blame for Trump’s initial optimistic statements. ; While the biased media regurgitates Trump&#8217;s mistaken statements, they never re-run the Fauci tapes.</p>



<p>In terms of masking, Fauci has been all over the map. I recall – and wrote up a commentary – about a television interview in which Fauci was asked if he would wear a mask. ; He acted indignant when he said, “Why would I wear a mask if I do not have any symptoms?”</p>



<p>In a later iteration, Fauci said that masks are ineffective in protecting a person from contracting the virus. ; Their only utility is to prevent an infected person from spreading the virus. CNN fact-checkers confirmed that Fauci did advise against wearing masks, but said it was only because of the shortage of masks. That was NOT Fauci’s explanation in the cited interview.  ;CNN’s excuse was not consistent with a February 2020 email from Fauci saying that masks “were not really effective in keeping out the <em>virus.&#8221; ; </em>On July 1, 2020, National Public Radio reported on Fauci’s <em>“mixed messaging on masks.”</em></p>



<p>At various times, Fauci advised people to wear masks when leaving the house and that it was safe to go without masks in the outdoors. ; He later recommended universal masking. ; Fauci has also vacillated on the issue of in-classroom learning.</p>



<p>Fauci has yet to explain his misrepresentation to Congress in which he said that his agency never funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan clinic where some believe Covid-19 originated. His parent organization, the NIH later admitted that such funding was provided. In fact, Fauci once discounted the possibility of the virus escaping from the clinic – later admitting that is it possible.</p>



<p>While Fauci is considered the go-to guy in all matters relating to Covid, he is often at odds with other national authorities. ; He is never asked to explain these inconsistencies. ; Consequently, he contributes to the growing confusion and frustration. ;</p>



<p>There have been unsubstantiated rumors – and I stress “unsubstantiated” – that Fauci and his wife have investments that profit from his medical opinions and actions. ; They are unsubstantiated because Fauci has not been transparent about his investments. ; When the subject was broached by Kansas Senator Roger Marshall in a recent hearing, Fauci said that his financial records are public for anyone to see – and called the Senator a “moron.”</p>



<p>Again, it appears that Fauci misrepresented (lied?) in his testimony. ; Several news organizations were unable to find the financial statements – in one case where some financial records were obtained, they were so highly redacted that the information was useless. ; ;</p>



<p>OpenTheBook.com – an organization that tracks public spending has been trying to obtain Fauci’s financial records. ; They are not readily available as Fauci claims and OpenTheBook stated that “we&#8217;ve sued Dr. Fauci and his agency for his contract (amendments, changes, modifications), conflict and financial disclosures, job description, and royalty payments.” ;</p>



<p>There have been questions – and criticisms – as to why Fauci should be the highest-paid person in the federal government – with a taxpayer-paid salary of more than $400,000. ; What many may not know is that his wife works for NIH – essentially doubling the Fauci household income.</p>



<p>There have been calls for Fauci’s resignation. ; They have fallen short for several reasons. ; Usually, they are associated with only one of Fauci’s controversial issues – a story with a shelf-life of a day or two. ; No one has effectively done a comprehensive job review on Fauci. ; In addition, Fauci is on the political team that receives cover from the news media. ; ;</p>



<p>If there was an honest deep dive into Fauci’s financial records &#8212; and a legitimate comprehensive job review &#8212; Fauci may or may or may not get fired – although a case can be made. ; If not terminated, he would certainly be taken down from the ivory tower upon which the Democrats and the media place him.</p>



<p>As just one citizen, my initially high admiration for Fauci has slowly eroded over time as more and more facts came to light – as more and more flip-flops occur. ; I have seen behind that kindly grandpa façade to find an arrogant establishmentarian bureaucrat. ; If it was within my power, I would fire Fauci for a number of reasons.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Fauci is losing it … and the “it” is respect
