In the early days of the Pandemic, the Left very quickly siezed on the growing crisis as something they could use to bring down Donald Trump. Shortly thereafter, the Media in particular, began to Deify Dr. Fauci in an effort to creat an unimpeachable foil to the President, one they could use to bludgeon him with while at the same time claiming they were not being partisan, oh no, only following the science dontcha know.
Trump was a bombastic, vulgar, shoot-from-the-hip and ignore the conventional wisdom kind of guy. While Fauci the sober, respected, hyper-cautious long-time member of the Deep State, was cast as the one guy protecting the Country from Trump’s anti-science Jihad.
And it worked… unfortunately it may have worked too well.
As I’ve argued in these pages before, not many things scare Americans like the idea of a serious infectious disease. It’s like some kind of subconscious lizard brain install we have a tremendous amount of trouble getting over. I’ve told the story of a friend and his wife who got up and ran out of the theater during one parrticularly scary sequence in the film OUTBREAK, that’s how many Americans react to the idea of an invisible bug that you can’t see or smell or taste but that can sneak into your body through your nose or mouth and kill you. So our ideological immune systems were well-primed to receive the vaccination of fear that Fauci brought along with him.
By playing to those fears to justify the lockdowns that crashed the economy, and eventually Trump’s entire Presidency, Fauci and his enablers have created a massive constituency of COVID Karens and Kyles who simply cannot bring themselves to consider that COVID represents a tiny threat to their health, and that it is not worth freaking out over. They are so scared now that no matter what kind of data you put in front of them to prove that they are not in danger, they will say “I don’t believe your data, what does Dr. Fauci say?” And Dr. Fauci, sadly, is not in the business of telling them things like “you’re fine, go out, live your life and relax.”
And so when people ask me “when will this be over?” I have to tell them that it won’t be over until Dr. Fauci says it’s over. Fauci is the Pope of COVID and it is to his word alone that the Karens and Kyles profess their undying faith and loyalty. If you don’t believe me on this point, watch the first 30 seconds of this video of five grown men swooning at the mere sight of Saint Fauci of Faucus. Honestly, this is how little old ladies react when the Pope waves at them from his balcony atop the Vatican.
The really scary part is that you can’t even fire Fauci at this point because the Karens and Kyles will assume he was fired for Partisan reasons rather than scientific ones and will refuse to listen to whomever takes his place. It has to be Fauci who gives the all clear. The most fearful among us will accept no substitute.
But Fauci is loving this. He’s a guy who toiled in obscurity deep within the anonymous mechanisms of Government for 40 years without a single person knowing his name. And now, here in the Year of Our Lord COVID-19 he’s getting Vanity Fair spreads, he’s throwing out first pitches at Major Leagues Baseball games, and he’s cutting PSA’s with Movie stars and famous musicians. He’s never going to give all that up. Not ever. There will always be a reason to gin up the Fear… “cases are rising in Ouagadougou, guys… better mask up again.” “Someone died of an Alligator attack in East Timor and the remains of his torso tested positive for the Leonidas Strain… better cancel indoor dining again.” It’s going to be endless until we’re at COVID zero… which is an impossibility… and so here we are.
Fauci is the only man who can end this… but Fauci seems to have no inclination to end it. We’re stuck… at least until us “Normals” figure out a way to tell our Elites that we’re not doing this anymore. Maybe there’s a way for the people to decide, on our own, that it’s over, and that if Fauci and his minions don’t like it, they can shove it where the darkness is deepest. But I confess, as long as they are willing to fire anyone who doesn’t comply… as long as they are willing to deny them access to public spaces, including schools… as long as they are willing to shut off the water and power to any business that won’t enforce their mandates… I don’t know what it is.