One of the most infuriating aspects of the whole COVID debacle has been the extent to which the left has all but canonized Anthony Fauci. The guy has been a government bureaucrat for over 50 years and should be long retired by now. But he sticks around because, hey, he’s the highest-paid federal employee around today.
What really sticks in our craws, however, is how Fauci flip-flops all over the place. First masks weren’t necessary, now they’re essential, then we still have to wear them after we get vaccinated, but wait, now the vaccinated can stop wearing them. It’s maddening.
This time, however, Fauci has really stepped in it. After over a year of denying the possible lab origins of COVID, Fauci has now changed his mind and says that it could very well have been a virus that escaped from a lab. It’s a complete 180 from his previous position, which wouldn’t otherwise be cause for anger, except that for the past year we’ve seen social media companies and the mainstream media suppressing any discussion of COVID’s possible lab origins. After all, if Fauci doesn’t believe it came from a lab, he’s obviously right, right?
This is the problem with bureaucrats like Fauci, who enjoy the power they exercise and want to hold onto it at any cost. He’ll say whatever he has to in order to suck up to the powers that be, and he’ll be all over the map from month to month in what he’s saying, depending on which way popular thinking is trending.
Just imagine if Fauci had come out a year ago in favor of the lab origin hypothesis. Might we not have been able to dispense with all this masking and social distancing silliness, since we would have known or at least surmised what COVID’s origins were, and thus would have known more about its characteristics, instead of guessing haphazardly?
The problem with Fauci and his ilk is that they think that they’re so much more intelligent than the rest of us, and that goes to their head. Their pride gets in the way of their reason, so that when those who are more intelligent than they are, or who point out their mistakes, critique them, that criticism falls on deaf ears. The only thing more difficult for people to say than “I’m sorry” is “I don’t know,” and for someone of Fauci’s stature, admitting that he doesn’t know where COVID came from, how it spreads, or how dangerous it is would be damaging to his reputation.
That’s why we’ve heard such conflicting descriptions of COVID or advice on how to prevent it, because the “experts” would rather pretend that they know all about COVID than admit to the hoi polloi that they’re clueless and need to study it further to learn more. Never underestimate how dangerous the combination of a little bit of intelligence and a lot of pride can be. Thankfully we may exit the COVID era with our freedoms intact, but we may not be so lucky next time if arrogant bureaucrats like Fauci continue to have their way.