During a Sunday interview with CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci once again addressed “vaccine hesitancy” among the Republicans. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 43 percent of Republicans say they do not plan to get vaccinated.
Dr. Fauci remarked that Republicans who rail against COVID-related restrictions, such as lockdowns and masks, yet refuse to take a vaccine that he says would mostly offset the need for those measures, are “quite frustrating.”
“It is quite frustrating because the fact that one may not want to get vaccinated — in this case, a disturbingly large proportion of Republicans — only actually works against where they want to be,” Dr. Fauci said. “It’s almost paradoxical that on the one hand, they want to be relieved of the restrictions but on the other hand, they don’t want to get vaccinated. It just almost doesn’t make any sense.”
It was not the first time Dr. Fauci complained about Republicans refusing the vaccine. In March, he called the number of “Trump voters” refusing to get a vaccine “disturbing,” “merely because of political consideration…. We’ve got to dissociate political persuasion from common sense, no-brainer public health things.” Which is a polite way to say that “Trump voters” do what Trump tells them. Of course, Trump didn’t say not to get the shots; he was mainly responsible for fast-tracking their creation. Trump’s central message was merely not to be afraid of the disease, and independently decide on one’s health choices. Dr. Fauci clearly disapproves of this approach, implying that “health experts’ recommendations” are paramount to public safety, and even override civil liberties.
In the same CNN interview, a clip of Dr. Fauci suggesting that COVID-related restrictions were not “a liberty thing,” but a “public health thing” was played. How Fauci deems this a “public health thing” seems to be another mystery. During the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing held last week, Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) repeatedly asked Dr. Fauci when would be a good time to lift the restrictions, and what exact number of cases (level of infection) would be considered safe. What Dr. Fauci said was quite remarkable: “My message is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can.” The exact measure of public health remained unrevealed. Dr. Fauci seems to be oblivious to the fact that his perverted logic — get a vaccine first, and then the “experts” will decide when to get you liberties and freedoms back — add to the “vaccine hesitancy.”
The New American has covered the topic of “vaccine hesitancy” (here and here), which would be accurate to call “vaccine rejection.” “No hesitancy from me. I’ll not hesitate to refuse the jab,” wrote one of TNA readers. The “hesitancy” is rooted in mistrust of the vaccines. The COVID shots have caused adverse reactions and deaths among Americans, with the Johnson&Johnson vaccine even being halted. As well, there are medical warnings on possible health implications due to the mRNA vaccines used by Moderna and Pfizer.
Along with ridicule from Fauci, those hesitant to take a COVID shot have been bashed by others: All manner of leftist celebrities and Big Tech companies have been exerting enormous effort to promote vaccinations, belittling “wild conspiracy theorists” and ignorant (and arrogant) “anti-vaxxer” Republicans who dare to refuse the shot.
The biggest problem with the radical and undemocratic pro-vaccine push, however, is that their gurus don’t practice what they preach. Namely, their positions rely on political persuasion rather than common sense.
In a recent op-ed, National Review editors wrote, “More than a year ago, Americans welcomed [Dr.] Anthony Fauci into their homes as a sober scientist who was helping them make sense of a deadly new virus. But he has worn out that welcome.” How come? It happened simply because Dr. Fauci is no longer seen as a “sober scientist,” since he proved to be a shameless political opportunist. Worse yet, he’s proven to be a petty tyrant. Senator Rand Paul dubbed him so precisely. Just like so many “experts” around the globe, Dr. Fauci got a taste of a real power — a power to decide on life and death, to rule hundreds of millions of people, scaring them into submission — and he seems to have acquired a taste for it.
Just like a typical tyrant, Dr. Fauci has little regard for ordinary people and believes they have short memories. One day, he says that “vaccines will bring us back to normal,” and another day he says that they won’t. “There are certain aspects of being vaccinated and what … you’re allowed to do in society,” said Dr. Fauci during one of the White House COVID-19 Response Team Briefings. Note the royalty-seeming phrase “allowed to do.” There will be things that you will “not be able to do,” including indoor dining, visiting “places where people congregate,” and ditching a mask. Moreover, he even admits that you still can get COVID after being vaccinated. After all this condescending treatment and partisan gaslighting, Dr. Fauci has no one to blame for “vaccine hesitancy” but himself.
Americans are sobering up after a year of psychological terror and economic devastation caused by recommendations of Dr. Fauci. Much like Frank Baum’s Dorothy, many are pulling back the curtain of lies and gaslighting to find out the wizard is a fraud.
