Ruminations: Rand is Right: Fauci is False

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Rand is Right: Fauci is False

As millions of others did, I watched with interest the recent exchange between Senator Rand Paul and Anthony Fauci. Although the Left has been cheerleading Fauci's accusation that Paul doesn't know what he's talking about, the clear takeaway is that the opposite is true.

Fauci has a few problems, not the least of which is hubris. He has set himself up as the ultimate expert, repeatedly using phrases like "not even I..." to describe the origins of COVID-19. Sadly, his hubris has caused his intelligence to get away from him. During the exchange with Paul, Fauci focused on his own perception that Paul was implying that Fauci was responsible for COVID-19, even though Paul repeated corrected him. And this is where Fauci gets the argument completely wrong.

Gain of function research is illegal. And what that means is it's illegal whether or not it had anything to do with COVID. Either way, it's illegal. And funneling money offshore to do illegal research is just as illegal. Fauci frames this as a medical issue when he says Rand doesn't know what he's talking about. But Fauci is wrong. It's a legal issue.

Does he really believe that lawmakers don't know what they outlawed? Rand made it clear: taking a virus that isn't transmissible to humans and making it so is illegal. Fauci admitted outright that this is exactly what happened in Wuhan; but he insists that this is not "gain of function". As "evidence" he states that it went up and down the chain in his organization and was deemed not to be "gain of function". This is the most stupid defense a supposedly intelligent person can make.

Let's look at a close analogy. A man is arrested for robbery, and is now testifying:

Prosecutor: You've been caught on camera committing the robbery of Mrs. Smith.
Defendant: That wasn't a robbery.
P: Yes it was.
D: I ran it by every member of my gang, from the getaway driver to my most trusted lieutenant, and they all agree that it wasn't robbery.
P: You threatened Mrs. Smith with a weapon.
D: Yes.
P: You demanded her money.
D: Yes.
P: That's the exact legal definition of robbery.
D: No it isn't. You don't know what you're talking about. We're professionals, we know better than you.

As a defendant in a case, you don't get to define the terms of a law simply because it's convenient to you that you not be prosecuted and face punishment, including jail time. But Fauci's argument is exactly that. He appears to want to dictate (not just determine) the meaning of a law he didn't pass. Rand did vote on it, and is in a much better position of authority than Fauci.

Secondly, Rand is right that it's a crime to lie to Congress. More than one person testifying over the years has done jail time for no crime other than this [1]. And Fauci's definition of "gain of function" is unique to Fauci alone. It's well documented that others in the chain of money and research have said that it was in fact gain of function. Fauci knows this. He cannot possibly work with others in the industry and not know that the common definition aligns exactly with what Rand is saying [2]. If, in fact, he does not know it, he's flatly incompetent and doesn't need to be in charge of a damned thing.

Senator Rand has called out the lies. And now Senator Rand is taking steps [3] to ensure that Fauci faces the music.

Fauci has no conception of the depth of the shit he's placed himself in.

My personal opinion: Fauci needs to spend a lot less time talking to his cronies and a lot more time talking to his lawyers.

UPDATE: Here's Rand Paul's take on the exchange. As for Fauci's take, it's all over the news.