Fortunately, I did not tune into the public hearing in the Senate Wednesday where Republicans grilled Doctor Fauci for almost three hours. That afternoon when doing errands off campus (of the retirement community where Embry and I now live), I overheard a conversation between two people whom I assumed were MAGAs that went something like this, “Well, you know that Fauci is guilty as hell because he wouldn’t answer any questions. He just kept saying ‘Fifth Amendment.’”
“Absolutely, totally guilty and he should spend the rest of his life behind bars!” his friend responded. “This proves he is a crook and a liar.”
With fear and trembling that afternoon I opened both The New York Times and The Washington Post to read the condescending, mean remarks toward Fauci by Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and other Republican senators. Paul, demanding that Fauci be jailed for contempt of court, insists the Fauci is responsible for the covid outbreak because his agency provided some funding to the lab in Wuhan, China, where Paul without proof claims the virus originated. Hawley’s comments, calling Fauci “a megalomaniac and a liar,” were mainly about the mask mandates and closing schools. But what really stuck me was the vicious tone that was used by both senators and other Republican senators who jumped on the pile insisting Fauci deserved jail time, even though Fauci had been preemptively pardoned by Biden before he left office.
I know that politics has been described as a contact sport in the United States and that the weak and timid need not apply. But good heavens, has it come to this? Fauci is 85 years old, spent most of his life in public service, played a major role in addressing the AIDS crisis and in other public health emergencies, and for a long time was one of the most admired and respected public figures in the country. And now this? What is going on and what do the Republicans hope to achieve? Fauci is now retired and is entitled to a peaceful and fulfilling retirement. I am only a few months younger than he is. I can’t imagine what it would be like going through an ordeal like this at any age but at the age of 85? It is not fair and it is not right. Hawley and Paul and the others should be ashamed of themselves.
Yet that is the world we find ourselves in today. I hold Trump responsible for creating an atmosphere of hate and contempt that brings out the worst instincts of our human nature. As I have said many times, we are essentially herd animals and a flawed species. We do terrible things to one another. And leaders make all the difference for setting the tone and establishing the boundaries for acceptable behavior. Bad leaders of the 20th Century like Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Pol Pot and others have done their share to make the world a cruel and tragic place. And now we have the likes of Putin, Kim Jong Un, Bashar al Assad, and Erdogan. Some would also warn that Donald J Trump is coming dangerously close to joining this rogue’s gallery. He is responsible for creating the atmosphere where people like Hawley and Paul can abuse good people like Fauci and get away with it. Shame on him and shame on them!
Friends, we are at a critical time in our country. If Trump continues to encourage this kind of outrageous behavior, interferes with the midterm elections or continues to move toward authoritarianism, we are all in trouble. It has happened in other great countries, and it could happen here. We are getting dangerously close.