Dr. Anthony Fauci

| March 21, 2020


Dr. Anthony Fauci

Poetrooper’s spidey sense has been tingling whenever the good doctor appears.

“I thought there was something just a little off-tune with this guy. My antennae have been tingling ever since he first began making all these public pronouncements. Not saying he’s not doing the job, but he is part of the entrenched bureaucratic state and I don’t trust any of those people.”
Poetrooper

Then there’s this little gem:

Trump vs Fauci: President’s gut sense collides with science

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a clash of gut instinct versus science, President Donald Trump and the government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, publicly sparred over whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with coronavirus disease.

Trump clung to his feeling that a malaria drug widely available could be the answer-in-waiting to an outbreak spreading around the nation, shutting down major parts of the economy, and posing the biggest challenge he has faced as president. Calmly and quietly, Fauci insisted that the science is not yet there to validate Trump’s hope. Neither man directly challenged the other.

The extraordinary scene played out on national television Friday during the White House briefing on the outbreak. Anxious for answers, Americans heard conflicting views.

Ref: AP News

Not quite anecdotal, Doctor.

Chinese researchers showed in lab cell culture tests that hydroxychloroquine can slow infections from the virus behind Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, blocking it from entering cells. Some doctors in China and South Korea have also used it to treat patients. And a recent study by researchers in France found that the drug was “efficient” in clearing upper airways from the virus in three to six days in most patients. That timing is important because an untreated infected person can transmit the virus for 20 days or more, even without showing symptoms. So it’s important to shrink the amount of time a person carries the virus in order to limit its spread.

Ref: Vox.com

Then Poe ran across this:

I knew there was something sketchy about Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Within the WikiLeaks HRC email files there’s a letter from Fauci to Hillary Clinton through her aid/lawyer Cheryl Mills: “Please tell her that we all love her and are very proud to know her.”  LOOK:

note
Ref: The Conservative Treehouse

Just in, Poe reports it’s the lead story at American Thinker:

Anthony Fauci, the NIH’s face of the coronavirus, is a deep-state Hillary Clinton-loving stooge

By Peter Barry Chowka

In his defense, his curriculum vitae is impressive. From Wiki:

Anthony Stephen Fauci (/?fa?t?i/; born December 24, 1940) is an American immunologist who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force addressing the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. As a physician employed by the National Institutes of Health of the United States, he has served public health in a variety of capacities for more than half a century. He has made contributions to HIV/AIDS research and other immunodeficiencies, both as a scientist and as the head of the NIAID at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has been called “the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases”.

All well and good, but he needs to remember he makes recommendations, not decisions, and keep his politics out.
Thanks, Poe.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", China, Guest Link, It's science!

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26Limabeans

What’s in a smile…..

ChipNASA

Somebody’s pubes???

WELL YOU ASKED!!!’

(Someone was going to say it.)

The Other Whitey

Daggers, according to Bill Shakespeare.

Roh-Dog

Any connection to a certain billionaire who was friends with Bill and had his own island?
That man was a sh*t cherry on top of a fetid sundae.

Poetrooper

The American Thinker article by a medical reporter who covered the AIDS epidemic back in the 80’s has a graph showing how Fauci and his organization spent far more on politically correct HIV-AIDS than they did for far more important diseases in terms of death and disability for America’s citizens.

Take a look:

American Thinker Link

Comm Center Rat

Fauci joined NIH in 1968 and he’s still there at age 79. Nobody, should be on the federal government payroll past age 75. If some geriatric wants to buy his or herself ELECTIVE public office go ahead and spend – it’s still a capitalist economy.

This Fauci dude is so old he could be my father. I can’t stand listening to his whiny, defeatist voice. He’s a master of fed speak – says a lot of words but enlightens nobody. “I’m from the government, I’m here to help.” He’s the guy Reagan warned us about.

I’m out – gotta go sanitize my hands.

5th/77th FA

Anything connected to Hitlery has a taint about it. IMHO this whole damn deal is biological warfare conducted at the order of the highest levels of ChiCom government, aided and abetted by domestic enemies of the USA.

We will play hell getting to the whole truth.

Fyrfighter

Damn 5th, why the hell did you have to say “hitlery” and “taint” in the same sentence??? Now I freaking need brain bleach!

Green Thumb

I think his politics are secondary and you guys are looking for something that is not there.

Yes, he might have been a Hillary fan (not my problem, that his), but I would think he would elevate his professionalism in this challenging time. As pointed out in the CV, he is the real deal. He is on TV a lot though, and that will weigh on a man thinking he is a “Superstar”. I will concede that.

The larger issue is that the Koreans, French, etc., have different drug pathways and regulations with respect to expediting drugs to clinicals. We are a little more cautious in our approach. I do agree though that these times call for desperate measures and that maybe we should relax the process a bit. But that call will come from up top, higher than him.

Not picking a fight or flat out disagreeing, just tossing in my two cents.

Green Thumb

I appreciate it.

I have actually met him years past (Trump as well)in passing. He seemed like a straight shooter and a nice guy.

Granted this was within the span of a minute or so with other folks, but he seemed legit.

And while I do support Trump, he is not an MD. A very successful business executive (which is needed from an operational standpoint), but not an MD. And that is the key, figuring out how all sides can work together to advance the ball on this issue. Academia may bristle at having to take a back seat on this, but there it is. They can deal with it. The objective needs to be showing a unified front. And it takes both sides to do that.

Poetrooper

Thumb, no one’s questioning his medical credentials–it’s his political credentials that are suspect. While you may not consider his fealty to Hillary to be “your problem,” others of us see that differently. My own view is that he is a textbook example of the special interest Deep State, an embedded bureaucrat whose loyalty generally is to the party of big government and more particularly to a subset within that party.

Fauci is widely admired on the left as the architect of the anti-AIDS campaign by the US government wherein countless millions of dollars that should have been more evenly directed at broader-based disease concerns of the populace as a whole were dedicated to controlling a far less threatening disease that affected a numerically insignificant, but politically influential bloc within the Democrat party.

It also explains his fawning admiration for Hillary, who has long been one of the strongest advocates of homosexual causes in the federal government. The Clinton’s were among those who misled the American people into believing that AIDS was a disease that affected all of us rather than just the actual target population to justify directing all those taxpayer dollars to Fauci for his campaign.

I have no doubt that Fauci’s continued presence in government, long past the usual retirement age, is entirely due to that connection and the value he provided that wealthy and powerful cohort. That should be concerning to every American citizen not a part of that special interest group.

Mind you, I’m not saying Dr. Fauci is a bad person or doctor–merely that his political instincts color his medical professionalism. In my opinion, in our present situation, that is not healthy.

Green Thumb

I respect your opinion and you do have points that warrant of merit.

But as to his longevity, I would attribute it to his education and skill.

I would also hope that his political leanings (we all have them) would not interfere with his job. I believe his professionalism will separate the two.

Green Thumb

I look at it more like this: Trump is the staring QB and Fauci is the slot back.

They may hate each other and we might not like what they do in the off-season or the commercials that they do in their free time. Hell, we may want to pull them and put our own guy in. But they are in the game and moving the ball. They need all the support they can get so we can win this game.

Poetrooper

In this day and age we have endless examples of “professionals” selling out either for money or politics, usually a combination of the two.

How many professional scientists actually believe all the drivel about anthropomorphic global warming yet publicly subscribe to even its most ridiculous claims for two reasons: grant money and peer acceptance?

How many psychiatrists and psychologists know that gender identity confusion is a dysphoria (illness) yet support all the wild claims of the “trans” community because it is politically correct and au courant among their peers?

What about the politically correct, leftist endocrinologists and surgeons who willfully perform gender-change procedures on minors at the behest of PC-obsessed parents? What about their “professional” oaths to “First do no harm?”

As for legal professionals, look at the behavior of all those in the FBI and Justice Department who lied under oath just to “get” Trump. And politicians are almost all legal professionals–you trust their “professionalism” to not affect their performance?

Regarding Fauci’s longevity, do you really believe there aren’t hundreds, if not thousands of younger medical specialists out there capable of filling that job and doing it with more energy and fresher ideas? Other than in the (sadly enough) judiciary, where else do we leave octogenarians on the job in government?

Thumb, I mean no disrespect, but you have a much higher opinion of “professionalism” than I do. No doubt my dealing with doctors and other medical/legal professionals on a daily basis for more than thirty years colors my thinking.

Poetrooper

“Other than in the (sadly enough) judiciary, where else do we leave octogenarians on the job in government?”

I forgot about Democrat presidential candidates.

Heh…

Green Thumb

I have been around many in my day as well.

I do see your point that many can be bought and paid for, for sure. I also understand that what one may consider “groundbreaking science”, others may consider morally unjust. I do.

I just think this is not really the role he is filling. And, as was pointed out, he has liberal leanings of sorts. But he is working with and is part of the team.

One last point, and I am not saying you are wrong about there being others that could fill his role, but he is VERY well respected in the medical community.

Firebase

How many of you remember Thalidomide? It was a drug formulated by German scientists in the 1950’s as a safe and effective treatment for morning sickness in expectant mothers, and was widely prescribed throughout Europe. But not in the USA, where a stubborn FDA beaurocrat blocked its approval, saying that more testing was needed. Within a year, babies were being born without limbs, throughout Europe, but not in the USA.

Poetrooper

There’s a world of difference between approving a new drug for use with pregnant women for morning sickness and using an old time-tested drug in the general population to counter a worldwide lethal epidemic.

From Wikipedia:

“Hydroxychloroquine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1955. It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the SAFEST (emphasis mine) and most effective medicines needed in a health system.”

What we’re talking about with COVID-19 is an “off-label” use.

From Wikipedia:

“Off-label use is the use of pharmaceutical drugs for an unapproved indication or in an unapproved age group, dosage, or route of administration. Both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs can be used in off-label ways, although most studies of off-label use focus on prescription drugs.”

“Off-label use is generally legal unless it violates ethical guidelines or safety regulations. The ability to prescribe drugs for uses beyond the officially approved indications is commonly used to good effect by healthcare providers.”

Lastly, regarding pregnancy, almost all pharmaceuticals carry warnings about caution in using them in pregnant patients because there simply is no safe way to do pre-release human testing. That said, hydroxychloroquine IS approved for use in pregnancy to treat rheumatic disease.

One of the reasons I think Dr. Fauci’s age is a consideration in the current discussion is from my own long experience with physicians, that like most humans, the older they get the more cautious and less receptive to new ideas (including innovative off-label uses of drugs) they become. For that reason, I always try to select middle-aged doctors for my own care–they’re usually (but not always) more likely to be up to speed on new developments in medicine.

Just sayin’…

OWB

Maybe it wasn’t approved in the US (not sure about that at all so will defer to your recollection of that detail) but there certainly were plenty of babies born with extremity issues here in the US during that time. I was under the impression all this time that those mothers had taken the drug legally. (I currently have a couple of friends with arm deformities from that era or a bit earlier. Not sure I know them well enough to ask if their mothers took drugs illegally…)

George V

Dr. Fauchi’s comments about needing a full study of the anti-malarial drugs reminds me of the generals and admirals who throughout history got the butts handed to them waiting for more supplies, ammunition, men, G2, etc. and were overrun by a fast moving battle. He needs to be shown where his lane is.

rgr769

I say we should start treating ill people with significant symptoms who are infected, with these anti malarial drugs ASAP. But it should be done in a clinical setting such as in hospitals.

One problem with Fauci is he is a big cheese in the massive epidemic he has been training about for 50 years. We all know of those with a hammer thinking most problems look like a nail that needs hammering.

Huey Jock

I had hoped to see a few thousand doses sent to Italy where those patients were really in need of help and would gladly submit to being lab subjects.

Perfect testing ground with a great variety of cases.

Green Thumb

Agreed.

MSG Eric

And I’ll stipulate that Italian citizens have far less “freedom to choose” than we do.

Yay Democratic Socialism!

thebesig

President Trump retweeted this:

Skippy

I bet the deep state is pissed about this

timactual

I don’t give a flying squirrel if Fauci is a student of Dr. Mengele. From what I have seen and read both Fauci and Trump are basically saying the same thing from different perspectives. Trump said, in layman’s terms, chlorowhatsis may or may not work. Fauci said the same thing in a more guarded professional manner.

David

The bits I read had Trump saying the drugs PREVENTED the coronavirus, with Fauci demurring. My understanding is that they are proving the be effective TREATING symptoms, and that the President misspoke. Fauci may be all that he is alleged to be, but from what I saw he is actually correct. If I am wrong, please let me know.

Poetrooper

Since the chloroquines have long been used to prevent malarial infection and have recently been shown to be a possible curative treatment for COVID-19, it is widely believed they may have preventive properties against the virus as well.

That is the point that Trump, with only his layman’s understanding of what can or cannot be claimed about a drug’s properties was saying. Dr. Fauci, as a physician, is holding to the more rigorous scientific standard of proof.

From the CDC:

Hydroxychloroquine is currently under investigation in clinical trials for PRE-EXPOSURE or POST-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and treatment of patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19. In the United States, several clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection are planned or will be enrolling soon.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/therapeutic-options.html

Poetrooper

Just read elsewhere that it is being speculated that the drop-off in Chinese deaths and epidemic spread is attributable to the Chi-com government’s widespread usage of hydroxychloroquine for both treatment and prevention.

No proof of this but it could explain the rather sudden turnabout in that country.

MSG Eric

It could also be the Chinese govt only telling us what they want us to hear, and/or people infected disappearing and them saying, “nope, those people are fine, trust us!”

Hard to say for sure at this point.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

Well if the drug worked and had success in France, then why can’t it be used here. I forget the name of drugs that are meant for one type of illness, but can be used to treat other illneses with possible harmfull side effects.

Commissar

Nobody is saying it doesn’t not work. What they are saying it the results are not proven nor are the studies so far sufficient to make any determination with regard to effectiveness.

Both studies indicate more testing needs to be done. Testing that has already been funded and open calls for researchers and patients are ongoing.

That is just in the US. A dozen other countries are pursuing testing.

The only reason Poe is adopting this issue is because Trump has been impulsively spreading not yet proven claims that this is effective. Claims that he has to backtrack with his normal half ass equivocating.

This is not some political conspiracy to withhold a drug that works in order to damage Trump.

That is an asinine theory.

There is a reason no country has formally adopted this as a prescribed treatment yet.

While many are experimenting with it and using it off label, none of the studies thus far have met anything close to the standards required to show genuine efficacy.

Just promising evidence it may be effective.

And now Poe want to attack Fauci because Fauci is doing the responsible thing and saying exactly what the evidence thus far suggests; that it is potentially promising but more testing needs to be done.

Fauci is not the one being political about this.

Poe is.

As is Trump.

Poe only cares about manning the ramparts and defending the right wing political narrative.

He cares fuck all about the actual science behind this. Picking and choosing anything he can to,prop up the narrative that “Trump is right” on every issue.

Regardless of how fucking asinine Trumps statements are or have been. Every time Trump is called on his lies or misinformation Poe picks up his pen and charges into battle trying to defend Trump’s honor.

Trump is an honor-less con man grifter with an army of obedient sycophants championing his misinformation.

Poe has much better things he could be doing with his time right now.

Instead he is relentlessly defending a shitbag.

Poetrooper

I readily admit to being political on this issue Lars, but it’s only because your lefty pals in the media and the Party (take that as Democrat or Communist–not much difference nowadays) are doing their very worst to politicize a deadly epidemic, attacking Trump no matter what he does.

BTW, have you seen the latest reports that both Dems and Independents are becoming increasingly supportive of how Trump is handling this crisis? Guess they don’t share your “shitbag” view, hmm, genius?

More testing’s needed, huh? For a drug that’s been in worldwide use for more than a hundred years and is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the SAFEST (emphasis mine) and most effective medicines needed in a health system.

You should try taking it, Lars–it just might help unscramble that intellectually dyslectic mess in your head that causes you to view every political issue completely ass-backwards.

In your case, at this late stage, I’d say anything’s worth a last, desperate try, hmm?

Skippy

+100 points
So damn true

timactual

Amen. I am continually amazed, even after decades of noticing, how “journalists” and “experts” will make statements that can be disproven with two minutes of research. As the saying goes, ignorance can be cured but stupid is forever.

penguinman000

Focusing on his political leanings is unproductive at this stage. Regardless of who he supports or where he leans politically, he is qualified to have a hand on the helm and help steer the course. This notion that everyone has some sort of hidden agenda at all times is maddening. I loathe HRC and would’ve seriously considered voting for Idi Amin or Hitler before her. His political leanings have less than zero to do with the response to this disease. This was not a bio weapon attack by the Chinese. If it were they wouldn’t have crippled their economy (which is what’s going to happen in the near future, they shot themselves in the foot when they threatened to halt supply lines for political reasons). It is a naturally occurring disease. Some of our political elite were aware enough they positioned themselves financially to protect their assets and make a profit. Instead of their first instinct being protect the public, they protected their pocket book. And folks on both sides of the isle are guilty on this. If you want to look for dirt, look at this. Focusing on someone doing something productive for the public good, simply because you don’t like their politics, is so short sighted I don’t know what else to say. As for the supposed “argument” the AP is reporting on, I watched it live. That wasn’t an argument. The doctor was speaking as a doctor. The POTUS was speaking as a layperson. The doctor was simply pointing out we don’t know what the drug will do in this particular disease state. The POTUS was saying he is hopeful the drug will work. Neither of these things contradict the other. It’s the news looking to drum up conflict where there is none. Now that you’ve got members of the squad cheering the POTUS, they’ve got to drum up revenue some other way. How about we focus on the things the POTUS has done that are good? He’s harnessed the private sector to support the public effort in a way I’ve never seen done in my lifetime.… Read more »

penguinman000

Argh…Meant to post this as a separate comment. Apparently COVID-19 messes with my ability to internets.

Poetrooper

“This notion that everyone has some sort of hidden agenda at all times is maddening.”

In light of what we have seen coming out of the Washington bureaucracy the past few years, I find it a bit maddening myself–that Americans can still believe that government officials embedded within that Washington bureaucracy for almost forty years DON’T have a hidden agenda.

I agree this was no bio attack and for the same reason you cite–it’s going to hammer their own economy badly. But I still hold the Chinese responsible for a massive leadership failure and attempted cover-up that made this crisis infinitely worse for the world.

“I am saying he’s competent and his political leanings have less than zero to do with his ability to do his job.”

I haven’t seen anyone here question Dr. Fauci’s medical competence and you are right that his politics have no bearing on his ABILITY to do his job. What they may very well have bearing on is on HOW he does that job. And I would wager that almost forty years of big government, bureaucratic decision making will guide that process in an almost habitual, politically aware, exceedingly cautious, cover-his-ass manner.

If some of you think I’m being too political so be it–I think some of you are wishfully ignoring the reality of how Washington works.

Penguinman000

We can definitely find common ground in the fault of the Chinese government. For an organization that is so adverse to anarchy, you would think they would spend a little more effort and resources in preparedness. Their actions are going to be a case study on how NOT to deal with emerging disease/disaster.

HMCS(FMF) ret

Remember, AW1Ed… he’s always angry.

In other words he has a congenital case of red ass…

OWB

Not sure how you can call Lars anything BUT a troll. He deliberately comes here to contribute nothing substantive to the conversation. Continuing to harangue on the same boring topics; lying about anything and everything; refusing to answer simple, direct questions; being disruptive and argumentative even with those who occasionally find some tidbit with which to agree with him; and turning any topic into whatever he wants to whine about at the moment define him as a troll. Among other things.

But, youse guys can continue to coddle his useless arse as long as you wish to do so. Your space, your rules.

HMCS(FMF) ret

Leave it to Lars to go BALLS DEEP with the ORANGE. MAN. BAD. mantra on anything that can be connected politically.

BTW – Bolshevik Bill, mayor of NYC, showed the world (and Gov. Cuomo) what not to do.. Waited until March 6th to start ordering supplies and now looks like a fucking idiot:

https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/city-hall-didnt-order-covid-19-supplies-for-nyc-until-march-6/amp/

Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH B Woodman

Do your fuckin’ clinical study while issuing people the drugs that seem to be working. Analyze the data after the disease is cured.
Cut to the chase and get’er’done.

Devtun

Pres Trump made a crack at the presser yesterday about Secy Pompeo needing to get back to the ‘deep’ State Dept, and it looked like Dr. Fauci did a face palm.

Skippy

Interesting read here

OWB

Don’t really care who he supports politically as long as he doesn’t use his position to further that political leaning. It is possible to do that, but not likely that he can if he bragged about it to a candidate that he supported.

What I do care about is how he and the bureaucrats around him contributed to the lack of preparedness for the current situation. Were they among those who frittered away $billions studying and opining on the latest SJW causes instead of things which could have eased the strain on 100% of the US population today? He has been in a position for decades to set things right for us all. Did he? Or is he just another betrayer of the public trust?

Ren stimp

New pic of Fauci with soros. Look it up