Meghan McCain ridiculed after claiming Dr Fauci doesn’t ‘understand science’

I understood the context. If you don't say something exactly right, off to the pillory with you.

I find her to be too outspoken and opinionated and hypercritical to others.
Rich

Well Meghan McCain did a very poor job of expressing it, I, too, am "over Dr. Fauci." I had nothing against the guy, really. I think that, for the most part, he did a tremendous job in a tough position, which was made nearly impossible by the former President. But... as soon as he said that Trump "allowed the communications department of the White House to send out a list to all of the media... about all of the mistakes I’ve made, which was absolute nonsense because THERE WERE NO MISTAKES" (emphasis mine) I was over him. It is one thing to refuse to admit you have made a mistake. It is quite another to attack someone else for having the temerity to point out when you do make one (or many).

There were mistakes during the pandemic. Dr. Facui didn't make all of them - hell he didn't even make MOST of them. But he made some. He had to reverse messaging more than one time as new data came to light or as he received better information. He, frankly, put out "bad poop" as we used to call it. And that is a mistake. His complete and total failure to recognize this and own it (as responsible adults do) makes me lose trust in him as an authority on responsible actions regarding the disease.

But then, going a step further, and attacking Trump (who I have absolutely no love for) because he let the White House press point out his mistakes is just pure political BS. I had respected Dr. Fauci becuase he appeared to place himself outside the politics, which is a difficult and admirable thing to do in Washington. But, it turns out he was not. And THAT calls into question, in my mind, how much of what he was putting out WAS political. It is no secret that many Republicans are accusing Democrats of fear-mongering in an attempt to win the 2020 election (which, if true, worked spectacularly). Dr. Fauci never himself engaged in fear-mongering; he never had a doom-and-gloom attitude or demeanor. But a lot of what he put out FUELED the fear-machine and led to historic lockdowns and to consistent political attacks on the President (and, by extension, all Republicans) for their handling of the pandemic.

I will not for one moment argue that the President handled things in the best possible manner. I think that out response was seriously botched, and mostly through a failure of leadership. The fact that we lead the world in cases AND have serious economic impacts is testament to this. We needed a national strategy, not a "every state fend for yourself" strategy. And yes, I understand the limits of federal power. But just because the fed can't ORDER states to take certain actions doesn't mean they can implement and "strongly recommend" (think about federal government withholding DoT road funds from states until they raised the drinking age to 21... they didn't ORDER a raise in drinking age, but they DID force one...) a national policy of response, or that they cannot coordinate medical response and supplies. In my mind, this is kind of what CDC and FEMA were BORN TO DO. The same is true for the rollout of the vaccine (although I WILL give Trump credit for "Warp Speed" - the rate at which we got a vaccine is amazing).

But regardless of how much the administration botched COIVD, if Dr. Fauci was playing politics rather than being the honest broker that he presented himself to be, (as his recent attacks on Trump seem to show), it is unacceptable. If he was publicly saying what the Dems wanted him to say, or if he was deliberately spinning the information to undermine the President, it is inexcusable. And if he deliberately misinformed or spun information which led to policy makers and/or individuals making choices which led to people dying, it is reprehensible.

Now, I will admit that there is a lot of speculation in everything I just wrote. There are a whole hell of a lot of "ifs." But as of right now, I am "over Dr. Fauci," too.