Rand Paul Called Fauci a Liar

[J.C.MacSwell]

1 hour ago, iNow said:

Oh, didn’t realize we’d managed to get that number so low. Progress!  

On a bad day it seems more like 110%...😄

[MigL]

Not much to add with my low opinion of R Paul, but even  A Fauci has recently admitted that the possibility that SARS-COV2 may have escaped from the lab is there. We just don't have enough information yet, and we may never, as China s refusing to release records from WIV, and resisting further investigatio into the origins of the virus.

The author of this piece has an obvious agenda against certai people, such as P Daszak and even A Fauci, but the details are factual and indicate circumstancial evidence for both, the virus jumping from bats to intermediate species and to humans naturally, or the engineered 'gain-of-function' and accidental ( or incompetent due to lax protocols ) escape from the Wuhan lab.

Origin of Covid — Following the Clues | by Nicholas Wade | May, 2021 | Medium

I don't necessarily agree with the author's conclusions, but do agree that more information is needed.
And only China can supply that information.

It is also a lengthy and informative but easy to understand article on virology and the rationale behind 'gain-of-function' research, which B Obama tried to stop ( IIRC ), but D Trump re-instituted.

[iNow]

13 minutes ago, MigL said:

The author of this piece has an obvious agenda against certai people, such as P Daszak and even A Fauci,

I agree. The local president of my State Senate posted on his social media about Fauci’s comments the other day and the comments within were full-on tinfoil hat… talking about Fauci is the one who released the virus or he knew it was China that did it and hid that fact intentionally bc of some ownership stake he has in a Chinese stock. Stuff like he should be hanged or put before a firing squad. Nasty stuff. Shocking, but  it surprising.

Stories like these are just chumming the waters to attract the misinformed and downright hateful among us and get them to focus on scapegoats instead of solutions (or the lack thereof).

 

On another note, Biden today ordered the IC to review the Covid China lab leak theory:

 https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/biden-says-us-intelligence-community-divided-covid-origin-2021-05-26/

Quote

"I have now asked the Intelligence Community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days," Biden said.

"As part of that report, I have asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China."

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by iNow

[John Cuthber]

6 hours ago, iNow said:

The local president of my State Senate posted on his social media about Fauci’s comments the other day

Did you post a response?

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, John Cuthber said:

Did you post a response?

Suppose the trouble with that is that YOU then get death threats, from blokes with beards and MAGA hats! 

Edited May 27, 2021 by exchemist

[iNow]

9 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

Did you post a response?

In fact, yes. I did. I provided additional context that Fauci offered… adding the more complete quote… to combat the selective framing my senator used. It largely fell on deaf ears / blind eyes, tho 

8 hours ago, exchemist said:

Suppose the trouble with that is that YOU then get death threats, from blokes with beards and MAGA hats! 

Not quite that severe, but pretty close. I’ve had to dial back quite a bit on what I do and do not decide to comment upon, the motivation being to protect my family from the whack jobs who can’t disagree agreeably. 

[StringJunky]

8 minutes ago, iNow said:

In fact, yes. I did. I provided additional context that Fauci offered… adding the more complete quote… to combat the selective framing my senator used. It largely fell on deaf ears / blind eyes, tho 

Not quite that severe, but pretty close. I’ve had to dial back quite a bit on what I do and do not decide to comment upon, the motivation being to protect my family from the whack jobs who can’t disagree agreeably. 

Don't you use a nom de geurre?

[iNow]

6 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Don't you use a nom de geurre?

No. These people are effectively neighbors 

[StringJunky]

2 minutes ago, iNow said:

No. These people are effectively neighbors 

Oh, OK.

[iNow]

In fairness, I’m using the term “neighbor” rather loosely. Greater anonymity is a good idea, which is why I lock down the majority of my PII from those with whom I’m not connected 

Edited May 27, 2021 by iNow

[MigL]

And I thought I lived in a rough neighbourhood.
Always thought Iowa was a calm, almost boring state.

[iNow]

2 hours ago, MigL said:

And I thought I lived in a rough neighbourhood.
Always thought Iowa was a calm, almost boring state.

Then Trump woke the militias and racists. 

[Phi for All]

16 hours ago, iNow said:

Then Trump woke the militias and racists. 

And people we once considered salt of the Earth are now promoting scorched-Earth. 

Populism removes important tools I think we need as citizens. I believe, if asked, that most folks would prefer a kind of  "line-item veto" power wrt leadership decisions, so they could disapprove things they didn't want, and approve the stuff they like. But populists give that up in favor of supporting a person no matter what they propose. Trump supporters have to accept all the pussy-grabbing and corruption and demeaning soldiers in addition to the stances they share. For folks looking for alternatives, they seem to be heavily limiting themselves.

Fauci wants the science to be the basis for decision, and not because it comes from him. If he's popular, it's because he's smart rather than charismatic, and that gives me the option to reject something dumb he says. 

[John Cuthber]

58 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

I believe, if asked, that most folks would prefer a kind of  "line-item veto" power wrt leadership decisions, so they could disapprove things they didn't want, and approve the stuff they like.

I'd imagine you are right.

But part of the problem is that Trump isn't interested in asking what they like; he's interested in telling them what he likes (or, at least pretends to like)

So, he's the one telling them that they can't get a decent job because of immigrants.
He's the one telling them they need to have more guns to stop shootings.

He's the one telling that that the democrats would poison puppies at perverted orgies ... or whatever.

While, in fact, it's the Republicans who seem to get found to be misbehaving.

But the media is run by billionaires.

Most of the folk voting for Trump do not realise that they don't have much in common with a so called "rich" businessman.


 

[ScienceNostalgia101]

...whose idea was it to conduct ANY kind of medical research in the same country known for gutter oil and tainted baby formula?

[swansont]

2 hours ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

...whose idea was it to conduct ANY kind of medical research in the same country known for gutter oil and tainted baby formula?

If by this you are referring* to China, I imagine it was China's. Which, as a sovereign nation, can choose to do what research it deems appropriate. 

(*The US has its own history of tainted baby formula and other foods, so I'm not sure)

!

Moderator Note

I should also point out that slurs against people are not only bad form, but also a violation of our rules (2.1. and 2.4, since this is an ad hominem) Please stop doing that.

 

[CharonY]

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/563874-fauci-paul-doesnt-know-what-hes-talking-about-and-i-want-to-say-that

Quote

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday escalated his ongoing feud with the nation's top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci about the role the National Institutes of Health (NIH) played in funding controversial research in Wuhan, China.

The two traded barbs during a tense exchange, triggering a shouting match in which Fauci accused Paul of lying in order to further his agenda. 

During a Senate Health Committee hearing about the federal COVID-19 response, Paul said the NIH funded illegal gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which created a highly dangerous and transmissible virus able to infect humans. Gain-of-function is a controversial method where researchers make a pathogen more infectious, often to develop more effective treatments and vaccines.

It’s an unsubstantiated accusation Paul has made before, and one Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has denied. 

 

[John Cuthber]

On 7/1/2021 at 10:40 AM, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

...whose idea was it to conduct ANY kind of medical research in the same country known for gutter oil and tainted baby formula?

Are you talking about work funded by the USA?
It was essentially decided by people who think money is more important than health and by those who close down funding for research institutions in the USA.

So it's Republican policy.

[Area54]

On 5/17/2021 at 4:03 AM, iNow said:

Pretty sure nobody here is blinkered enough to suggest Fauci ought to be dismissed based on misguided words from Rand Paul so that last post likely wasn’t necessary. 

Keep in mind that lurkers read these threads also. They may well outnumber the participants, and even the non-participating members. The post was an opportunity to educate some of them.

[iNow]

55 minutes ago, Area54 said:

Keep in mind that lurkers read these threads also. They may well outnumber the participants, and even the non-participating members. The post was an opportunity to educate some of them.

Fair point. Don’t disagree 

[J.C.MacSwell]

Okay. So what is wrong with these journalists argument here?

On 5/21/2021 at 5:28 PM, J.C.MacSwell said:

I give it a plus, though I also think Paul is obligated to scrutinize and question him, obvious politics notwithstanding.

Fauci does seem to think he should be above answering to Paul, to the point he doesn't really give substantial answers. (not that I heard everything, or any more than highlights, but his claim that what was funded was not gain of function is pretty clearly lacking...or hopefully I can be corrected?)

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by J.C.MacSwell