For most of us, particularly those in the private sector, failure comes with consequences.
In a criminal sense, there’s courts, jail time, restitution or fines or both, community service and the stigma that follows (sometimes it’s court-ordered).
In a workplace sense, there’s verbal warnings, written warnings, docked pay and suspensions, all leading up to firing.
In a relationship sense, there’s arguments, recriminations, accusations, crying, sometimes abuse and most times divorce.
In a sports sense, there’s coach firings, player trades or releases, loss of fan support and (since I’m a longtime Cowboys fan) decades of ridicule.
Then there’s government service.
Submitted for your (dis)approval, Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former chief medical advisor to the U.S. president. More importantly, though, he was the chief architect of the nation’s response to the COVID outbreak (and if you find the information credible, the chief architect of COVID).
From 2019 to 2023, the citizens of the United States leapt through countless hoops and danced to the government’s tune, which led to unfathomable consequences such as a wrecked economy, an education system on the verge of collapse, soured and hateful interpersonal relationships and a blossoming distrust of the medical community.
At the time, and with the help of the cackling hens of the media, social media “influencers” telling us to mind our betters, and even state and local governments were falling in lockstep. Churches were shut, schools were shut, and anyone without a mask was shunned.
As things progressed, more information was coming out that we were being lied to, led down a path that Fauci (among others) had paved. The vaccines they demanded everyone take were dangerous and ineffective, alternative remedies proposed by anyone other than our medical overlords were stamped out, and people, including those serving in our military, were shown the door.
While still under investigation, particularly about a connection to the lab, there are questions that need to be answered, but based on his recent performance in a Senate hearing, and the fact that he was issued a carte blanche pardon by then President Biden, Fauci essentially has been bulletproof.
Therein lies the problem.
Fauci’s performance, refusing to answer questions, is a deliberate nose-thumbing at the government and at us. He has taken protection under the Fifth Amendment, which normally is not allowed since he has a pardon; ultimately, regardless of the dog-and-pony show hearings, the end will be the same. Nothing at all will happen.
This is simply the next scene in the relentless “Look, we’re being responsible over here!” show being put on. The government will cover its backside, the media will spin a story full of excuses and puppies, the people so inclined will spout the apologia necessary. There will be no recompense, no change, no consequences.
Just like all those movies and television shows where horrible acts were explained by “I was just following orders” excuses, the government version — “I had the welfare of the country in my heart” — will be bandied about (it already is), and nothing at all will happen.
This is where we need to step up. We need to demand better behavior from the people who are supposed to protect us. We need to demand consequences for malfeasance — consequences from us, not the wrist-slap self-policing kind that is de rigeur that lets the officials shake hands and clap each other on the back over aged scotch.
The swamp’s not draining itself, nor will it. It’s time we took over the valves.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
