I listened last night falling asleep in bed. Informative background especially related to his involvement with Aids. I never would've guessed he would be the target of Aids activists in 1984, but it makes sense given what was happening and the new position he was in and what they thought he represented. There was something I wasn't quite clear on, where Fauci came to the conclusion that these people who are facing death should be able to try medicine that hasn't been tested specifically for HIV yet. It kind of make me think of this hydroxychloroquine debate going on. I wonder what 1984 Fauci's opinion would be for hydroxychloroquine treatment with Covid patients vs 2020 Fauci? I don't not promoting it as an effective treatment, just the question surrounding it, it seems he was willing to try other medicines back then. Maybe he is older, wiser and more careful now.

That's a good question about Hydroxycloroquine, Neb.....What has changed in Fauci's mind?

What I found most interesting was the discussion of George W. Bush and his creation of the AIDS treatment program that has saved millions of people worldwide. All because Bush asked a few questions in a meeting and then tasked Fauci with creating the program.

Bush was simply inquisitive and a a bit empathetic as to why other nations couldn't slow the death rate of their Aids patients. Low and behold, with a minimal investment of capital and political clout, Bush has saved millions of lives....

Meanwhile, Caligula spends his time tweeting insults and holding a goof ball rally every evening with the sole purpose of trying to keep his base engaged in his selfish reelection efforts.

Fauci has not been at a briefing since Friday. Hopefully he's back today, his contributions are missed.

Fauci has not been at a briefing since Friday. Hopefully he's back today, his contributions are missed.

I haven't watched a Trump rally/press conference in sometime now and hadn't realized Fauci's absence...

Also of interest in the Fresh Air interview was how the guest explained that Fauci doesn't actually work for a federal entity that Trump has any control over and so the only thing Trump could "fire" him from would be the task force Pence created to deal with Covid-19.

I suspect if he was removed from the White House task force, Fauci would still get a huge amount of press coverage, possibly more than dear leader himself and that is why Trump hasn't removed him from the task force. In the bowels of Trump's twisted mind he probably sees Fauci as a threat to his narcissistic need for all the attention.

I heard this too, good interview.

great interview, so many excellent points made

I first hear of Fauci from his work on vasculitis - he was considered a god back then, as was his colleague Sheldon Wolff who was mentioned (Dr Wolff was my chief for about 6 years until he died. Was a great guy in addition to being brilliant).
Fauci's AIDS work, like everyone knows, was groundbreaking.
Agree, hats off to GHW Bush
Also, we actually HAD an office in the WH to deal with pandemics, until it was closed 2 years ago

We need leaders who believe in science.

great interview, so many excellent points made

I first hear of Fauci from his work on vasculitis - he was considered a god back then, as was his colleague Sheldon Wolff who was mentioned (Dr Wolff was my chief for about 6 years until he died. Was a great guy in addition to being brilliant).
Fauci's AIDS work, like everyone knows, was groundbreaking.
Agree, hats off to GHW Bush
Also, we actually HAD an office in the WH to deal with pandemics, until it was closed 2 years ago

We need leaders who believe in science.

May I ask, Stormy, are you a doctor? A scientist? Thanks for your service....

I agree, we need not only a leader who believes in Science, but has at least rudimentary understanding of the sciences. We have neither in Trump, sadly....

By the way, the article that is the basis for this interview I believe came out yesterday in The New Yorker. I don't subscribe but wish I did just for this article. Given it's a very timely piece after all.

yes, I'm a cardiologist
my wife is a nurse

thanks!

[Edited on 4/21/2020 by stormyrider]

yes, I'm a cardiologist
my wife is a nurse

thanks!

[Edited on 4/21/2020 by stormyrider]

So you're both in the heart of this pandemic every day....Thanks again for what you're doing.

yes, I'm a cardiologist
my wife is a nurse

thanks!

[Edited on 4/21/2020 by stormyrider]

So you're both in the heart of this pandemic every day....Thanks again for what you're doing.

X2

Be safe!

4th day no Fauci.

4th day no Fauci.

Ya think that is by design? Dr. Fauci is a threat to Trump's messaging and re-election bid at the 6:00 hour. Trump's using this time slot, and his campaign is in full throttle mode. He's getting free campaign time out of this. How much of this staged presentations are about Covid & national welfare versus how much about Trump, the savior?

I am starting to think so.

We are at the point where a lot of conflicting sh:t is going on and any question Fauci is going to be asked is going to put him on the spot to say things that put him in uncomfortable situations and obviously at odds with a Trump. So they are doing it with Birx now instead. She gives nondirect answers to some pointed questions. If I’m in their shoes, you might be a little defensive at a certain loaded question about why is Florida doing this and what about Georgia doing that. The states were given guidelines, that is the official position of the task force. I think it’s pretty clear the answer to those not adhering.

Fauci was good last Friday. i mean getting his opinion is always good. I just hope we see him again. I can’t think he is exactly happy with how this is starting to unfold.

I am starting to think so.

We are at the point where a lot of conflicting sh:t is going on and any question Fauci is going to be asked is going to put him on the spot to say things that put him in uncomfortable situations and obviously at odds with a Trump. So they are doing it with Birx now instead. She gives nondirect answers to some pointed questions. If I’m in their shoes, you might be a little defensive at a certain loaded question about why is Florida doing this and what about Georgia doing that. The states were given guidelines, that is the official position of the task force. I think it’s pretty clear the answer to those not adhering.

Fauci was good last Friday. i mean getting his opinion is always good. I just hope we see him again. I can’t think he is exactly happy with how this is starting to unfold.

I think someone less compulsive than Trump convinced him it was a stupid idea to blatantly fire Fauci in the usual over the top over hyped way Trump usually does such things (meant to excite his base of course), and instead to gradually remove him from the press conferences.

Given how Fauci has become a sort of household name as well as a calm and smart in the storm presence, a more strategic, less bombastic process of eliminating him from the press conferences and possibly the task force was needed. I'd bet it was Pence or Pompeo, or Gingerich who suggested this....Certainly someone more calm and stable than dear leader.

It's not fair to Fauci to force him to be Trump's foil, he doesn't want that role and that is what it was coming to.

And on the other hand, it's not fair to us to deprive us of Fauci's experience. The phase we are entering into with opening and preparing to ease restrictions, he is going to want to strictly stay to the gates and the hurdles of the plan, which nobody planning to open is doing - so his presence becomes a little problematic right now. I still wish he was there.

Edit - he's there today.

[Edited on 4/22/2020 by nebish]

I was happy to see Fauci today. And he said Governors need to be cautious. Fauci hit every nail on the head.

That doesn't mean that some states still can't deviate from the guidelines, but they need to have carefully measured and drawn up plans of their own to explain why, what and how they are doing what they are doing. Ohio has been working on their plan to reopen, it's early based on the data, but I am anxious to hear what they say. Maybe they have some sound reasoning for what they are doing. That is what this is about, act responsible and careful, all while understanding and accepting what risks are out there, and get everyone else to act responsible and careful while knowing the risks with this or that.

For all the fear of what Trump was going to do on this whole "opening", officially the position of the White House is very responsible. We can thank smart and educated people in the room for that.

If states want to deviate from that, it is ok, they just need to show and provide evidence why they feel they can or should do it.

Dr Fauci is still on the team, still advising the President and still making statements and answering questions. This is good.

No need for a new thread, best fits in here, excerpts from Fauci's Time interview:

“We need to significantly ramp up not only the number of tests, but the capacity to perform them, so that you don’t have a situation where you have a test but it can’t be done because there isn’t a swab, or because there isn’t extraction media, or not the right vial,” says Fauci. “I am not overly confident right now at all that we have what it takes to do that. We are doing better, and I think we are going to get there, but we are not there yet.”

“Understandably, people might think that when we get back to normal, it’s a light switch that you turn on or off. It isn’t really that at all,” Fauci says. “We must be in a place that we have the capability when we do start to see cases come back — and I guarantee that they will come back as we pull back on social distancing — that we can identify then, isolate them, contact trace people they have been in touch with, and get people out of circulation who are infected. If we are capable of doing that effectively, then we should feel some good confidence that we could slowly move on. This is a very critical time right now.”

Fauci also addressed the tension between his scientific approach and Trump’s eagerness to get the economy started again, which led recently to Trump tweeting the hashtag #FireFauci. “I meet with the President literally every day,” he says. “There was no way he was going to do that, because he had no intention to do that. As he said publicly when he was asked about it, that’s not even on the table. My job always is, and I’ve always done it and will continue to do it, is to give advice on the basis of evidence and science.”