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Fauci: ‘Bizarre’ White House Behavior Only Hurts the President

29 points by dankohn1 6y ago

supernova87a 6y ago
Fauci has the enviable position of being objectively correct on almost everything he says, and being correct on a topic that pretty much everyone cares about and can see he's correct. You can observe the difference in how resilient such a position is against political games and maneuvering, compared to a position that is based in subjective or differences of opinion-based matters (where the each side may have legitimate claims that have to be weighed). When some issue draws heavily on subjective factors, you play games like this and you will lose against people who are more politically skilled than you. But in this case, right makes might. I love it.
- monocasa 6y ago
  I'm not sure it's so cut and dry that he's resilient to political games. I follow right wing groups to understand the cognitive structure they use to understand the world and new events, and they're currently comparing him to Josef Mengele.
  - supernova87a 6y ago
    Well, let me qualify my remarks to limit to those people whose opinions are worthy of respect, and can hold sway over other reasonable people. I don't know what the opinions of these groups are that you mention, but in this case they sound fringe to the point of being ridiculous. I hope. I really hope. Btw, is there somewhere (non-gross) to read about such theories being circulated? Maybe my deeper interest is, what does someone's life have to be like to be receptive to these kinds of ideas? And how do we fix it?
  - spiderfarmer 6y ago
    This is very depressing.
  - oblongx 6y ago
    How right wing, we talking dailystormer?
    - pmiller2 6y ago
      They might actually like Mengele there.
      - pohl 6y ago
        They’d still happily wield him as a rhetorical cudgel, probably, though.
  - thephyber 6y ago
    Are these groups active in the QAnon LARP?
- Fjolsvith 6y ago
  Fauci saying that masks are not effective protection from coronavirus: https://streamable.com/oml2rf https://streamable.com/oml2rf
IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago
There is always 2 sides to every story. Here is an op-ed from a top level cabinet official coming straight at him. Specifically stating Dr Fauci has been wrong at every major call. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/07/14/anthony-fauci-wrong-with-me-peter-navarro-editorials-debates/5439374002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/07/... As with everything, it would seem that the truth is somewhere in-between. Skepticism seems to be the order of the day
- cbsks 6y ago
  Did you click the links in the op-ed? Almost every claim is false, and the rest are inaccurate at best. The only claim that wasn't refuted in the links was the Henry Ford Hydroxychloroquine study. Here's more context on that: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/navarro-doesnt-give-full-picture-on-hydroxychloroquine/ https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/navarro-doesnt-give-full-p...
- monocasa 6y ago
  Just because two people say different things doesn't mean the truth is in the middle. One side can just be completely full of it.
- saimiam 6y ago
  The first link in the article you provide - the one which says that Fauci fought against the president wanting to ban flights from China - says the exact opposite - that no, Fauci, did not fight the president ie, Fauci supported banning flights from China.
- thesteamboat 6y ago
  > As with everything, it would seem that the truth is somewhere in-between. I hate this sentiment. I agree it's largely true, but it makes a large difference whether that `correct point' is halfway in between or 95% on one side. Whether your intention or not, naively suggesting the truth is in the middle without any further clarification comes across as a cheap political ploy.
- jVinc 6y ago
DNied 6y ago
Surely it hurts quite a bit more than "only the president"?
- pmiller2 6y ago
  I'm reading it as "(only) (hurts the President)," not "(only hurts) (the President)." From the article: > “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that,” Fauci told The Atlantic in a series of interviews this week. “When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president.”
HeyZuess 6y ago
As an outsider watching this stuff happening it is always exciting but predictable. This is the end of Fauci, the narrative is being told, he is on his way out.
- perl4ever 6y ago
  I don't believe that he's an appointee of the President, so it's not clear to me where things go from here. If the White House can fire him, they will, but can they?

29 points by dankohn1 6y ago

Fauci has the enviable position of being objectively correct on almost everything he says, and being correct on a topic that pretty much everyone cares about and can see he's correct. You can observe the difference in how resilient such a position is against political games and maneuvering, compared to a position that is based in subjective or differences of opinion-based matters (where the each side may have legitimate claims that have to be weighed). When some issue draws heavily on subjective factors, you play games like this and you will lose against people who are more politically skilled than you. But in this case, right makes might. I love it.

monocasa 6y ago
I'm not sure it's so cut and dry that he's resilient to political games. I follow right wing groups to understand the cognitive structure they use to understand the world and new events, and they're currently comparing him to Josef Mengele.
- supernova87a 6y ago
  Well, let me qualify my remarks to limit to those people whose opinions are worthy of respect, and can hold sway over other reasonable people. I don't know what the opinions of these groups are that you mention, but in this case they sound fringe to the point of being ridiculous. I hope. I really hope. Btw, is there somewhere (non-gross) to read about such theories being circulated? Maybe my deeper interest is, what does someone's life have to be like to be receptive to these kinds of ideas? And how do we fix it?
- spiderfarmer 6y ago
  This is very depressing.
- oblongx 6y ago
  How right wing, we talking dailystormer?
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    They might actually like Mengele there.
    - pohl 6y ago
      They’d still happily wield him as a rhetorical cudgel, probably, though.
- thephyber 6y ago
  Are these groups active in the QAnon LARP?
Fjolsvith 6y ago
Fauci saying that masks are not effective protection from coronavirus: https://streamable.com/oml2rf https://streamable.com/oml2rf

IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago

There is always 2 sides to every story. Here is an op-ed from a top level cabinet official coming straight at him. Specifically stating Dr Fauci has been wrong at every major call. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/07/14/anthony-fauci-wrong-with-me-peter-navarro-editorials-debates/5439374002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/07/... As with everything, it would seem that the truth is somewhere in-between. Skepticism seems to be the order of the day

cbsks 6y ago
Did you click the links in the op-ed? Almost every claim is false, and the rest are inaccurate at best. The only claim that wasn't refuted in the links was the Henry Ford Hydroxychloroquine study. Here's more context on that: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/navarro-doesnt-give-full-picture-on-hydroxychloroquine/ https://www.factcheck.org/2020/07/navarro-doesnt-give-full-p...
monocasa 6y ago
Just because two people say different things doesn't mean the truth is in the middle. One side can just be completely full of it.
saimiam 6y ago
The first link in the article you provide - the one which says that Fauci fought against the president wanting to ban flights from China - says the exact opposite - that no, Fauci, did not fight the president ie, Fauci supported banning flights from China.
thesteamboat 6y ago
> As with everything, it would seem that the truth is somewhere in-between. I hate this sentiment. I agree it's largely true, but it makes a large difference whether that `correct point' is halfway in between or 95% on one side. Whether your intention or not, naively suggesting the truth is in the middle without any further clarification comes across as a cheap political ploy.
jVinc 6y ago

DNied 6y ago

Surely it hurts quite a bit more than "only the president"?

pmiller2 6y ago
I'm reading it as "(only) (hurts the President)," not "(only hurts) (the President)." From the article: > “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that,” Fauci told The Atlantic in a series of interviews this week. “When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president.”

HeyZuess 6y ago

As an outsider watching this stuff happening it is always exciting but predictable. This is the end of Fauci, the narrative is being told, he is on his way out.

perl4ever 6y ago
I don't believe that he's an appointee of the President, so it's not clear to me where things go from here. If the White House can fire him, they will, but can they?