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Birx is Trump's creature. She's been sucking up to and covering for him from day one. She even tried to hand-wave away his bleach and sunshine injection idiocy.

Birx is Trump's creature. She's been sucking up to and covering for him from day one. She even tried to hand-wave away his bleach and sunshine injection idiocy. There's no reason to trust her assessment of the CDC. She wasn't criticizing the quality of their work--she was trying to cast doubt on the number of Americans who have died, because Trump doesn't want anyone to know how many Americans have died on his watch.

solidasparagus 6y ago
You are completely wrong. She's an excellent public health official. Her work in HIV/AIDS is highly respected. She has pushed a modern data-driven approach to a field where that is not common enough. At the heart of being a good high-level public health official is good political skill, something Birx excels at. Her ability to maintain her leadership role under Trump is impressive and important. You can't improve public health without support and money.
- SrslyJosh 6y ago
  You can't improve public health when the person in the Oval Office wants to cover up a pandemic, either. Her comment, FTR: > “When he gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue — and so that’s what dialogue he was having. I think he just saw the information at the time immediately before the press conference and he was still digesting that information" That's a very political way of saying he's a dangerous ignoramus.
  - solidasparagus 6y ago
    What would you suggest? Call him out? Somehow I doubt that's going to change him - but it will lead to her being replaced. And the replacement being replaced. And so on until Trump finds a sycophant who cares as little about public health as Trump does.
    - SrslyJosh 6y ago
      What does it matter how much she cares about public health if she can't convince Trump to allow a proper response to the pandemic? Better to be fired and tell us everything that's been going on in the WH than to stay and keep enabling Trump.
      - m0zg 6y ago
        > a proper response to the pandemic? Your suggestion is a little short on details. Please educate us, what a "proper response to the pandemic" would look like, in your opinion. But do also please use the _realistic_ options, short of authoritarianism, welding people in their homes, or assuming a limitless supply of domestically manufactured testing reagents and ppe.
        sundaeofshock 6y ago
        How about proper testing and contact tracing? How about clear, nationwide recommendations? How about if the president took it seriously, instead of turning it into a culture war? How about if he set a good example by wearing a mask in public? Here’s the thing: places like South Korea and Germany seem to have a pretty good handle on this. Why can’t we in the US get our act together?
    - SrslyJosh 6y ago
      And I completely get what you're saying. If Trump wasn't completely unfit for office, she might be able to do some good. But so far, I haven't seen anything that suggests that she's been able to make a decisive difference in anything the WH is doing. The same goes for Fauci, AFAICT. They've been doing damage control at press conferences, but I can't see any other good that's come of their presence than correcting some of the misinformation from Trump et al.
      - solidasparagus 6y ago
        Not being able to see what's happening != nothing happening. I don't know any details, but I am certain that Birx and Fauci do more than just cover for Trump at press conferences

solidasparagus 6y ago

You are completely wrong. She's an excellent public health official. Her work in HIV/AIDS is highly respected. She has pushed a modern data-driven approach to a field where that is not common enough. At the heart of being a good high-level public health official is good political skill, something Birx excels at. Her ability to maintain her leadership role under Trump is impressive and important. You can't improve public health without support and money.

SrslyJosh 6y ago
You can't improve public health when the person in the Oval Office wants to cover up a pandemic, either. Her comment, FTR: > “When he gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue — and so that’s what dialogue he was having. I think he just saw the information at the time immediately before the press conference and he was still digesting that information" That's a very political way of saying he's a dangerous ignoramus.
- solidasparagus 6y ago
  What would you suggest? Call him out? Somehow I doubt that's going to change him - but it will lead to her being replaced. And the replacement being replaced. And so on until Trump finds a sycophant who cares as little about public health as Trump does.
  - SrslyJosh 6y ago
    What does it matter how much she cares about public health if she can't convince Trump to allow a proper response to the pandemic? Better to be fired and tell us everything that's been going on in the WH than to stay and keep enabling Trump.
    - m0zg 6y ago
      > a proper response to the pandemic? Your suggestion is a little short on details. Please educate us, what a "proper response to the pandemic" would look like, in your opinion. But do also please use the _realistic_ options, short of authoritarianism, welding people in their homes, or assuming a limitless supply of domestically manufactured testing reagents and ppe.
      - sundaeofshock 6y ago
        How about proper testing and contact tracing? How about clear, nationwide recommendations? How about if the president took it seriously, instead of turning it into a culture war? How about if he set a good example by wearing a mask in public? Here’s the thing: places like South Korea and Germany seem to have a pretty good handle on this. Why can’t we in the US get our act together?
  - SrslyJosh 6y ago
    And I completely get what you're saying. If Trump wasn't completely unfit for office, she might be able to do some good. But so far, I haven't seen anything that suggests that she's been able to make a decisive difference in anything the WH is doing. The same goes for Fauci, AFAICT. They've been doing damage control at press conferences, but I can't see any other good that's come of their presence than correcting some of the misinformation from Trump et al.
    - solidasparagus 6y ago
      Not being able to see what's happening != nothing happening. I don't know any details, but I am certain that Birx and Fauci do more than just cover for Trump at press conferences