Now that the Anthony Fauci era may soon be (finally) coming to an end, it may be useful to reflect on the very real damage this man has done over the course of the past several years during the most extraordinary reaction to a viral pandemic the American people have ever seen.
Yes, you read that right. Even during the devastating Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, when 500 million people worldwide were infected with an estimated 50 million deaths, the American reaction through the federal government was relatively muted and the economic impact created at the direction of our national leaders was minimal.
"The immediate economic fallout for the US economy from the coronavirus pandemic is predicted to be disastrous. In comparison, while the Spanish flu also had some economic consequences, they were mostly modest and temporary," wrote professors of finance Efraim Benmelech and Carola Frydman in the early days of Fauci's engineered shut-down.
Under Anthony Fauci's direction and recommendation, the American economy went dormant for "15 days to slow the spread" and then, upon his obstinant insistence, that 15 days was extended and extended and extended, creating economic and social impacts still felt across our nation.
Indeed, as of August 23 (the origination date of this column), 14 states were still operating under Emergency Health protocols, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. Under Fauci's strong recommendation, states seized power and control of their citizens' rights, livelihoods and liberty in an effort to "slow the spread" a full two and a half years after Fauci's first shut-down advice.
But, remarkably, that's not the worst crime in Fauci's tawdry and shameful legacy.
We could mention the deaths related to other illnesses and diseases that went uninvestigated and unchecked due to strict hospital protocols put in place after Fauci's Napoleanesque power grab. And, let's not forget the despair felt by untold millions of Americans who died without their loved ones able to be at their bedside.
We could also mention the lost academic and socialization years of America's children. The devastating impacts of over two years of isolation and educational indifference aimed at children unlucky enough to live in states other than Florida, Texas, Tennessee and a handful of other regions Fauci's enablers referred to as "Neanderthals" will take decades to fully discover.
Parents were so frustrated by their local school board's insistence in adopting Fauci's draconian lock-down protocols that they were deemed "domestic terrorists" by the Justice Department, and a special team was formed at the FBI to track and investigate parents who just wanted their kids to get back in the classroom. Those disgusting events were also a result of Fauci's megalomania.
You could argue that Fauci's biggest crime was that he was consistently wrong, but never sorry.
And boy, has he been wrong.
He proclaimed that we had a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" at a time when he knew full well (according to his former colleague Deborah Birx) that the vaccines would not protect against infections.
He famously told us not to wear masks because they wouldn't make a difference... he then insisted we wear a mask... he then insisted that we wear multiple masks... he then was consistently seen without masks when he didn't know the cameras were on.
He insisted that the Covid-19 virus originated naturally at a wet market in Wuhan until the overwhelming evidence forced him to backpedal.
His mistakes and lies go on and on... and that's fine... we all make mistakes. But Saint Fauci never acknowledges or apologizes for any of his.
These are all great candidates for Fauci's biggest crimes, but I'll offer one more. One that I think trumps them all.
Because of Anthony Fauci, Americans have a dwindling – if non-existent – level of faith in their public health institutions. When the next "expert" stands in front of the American people to deliver information, advice and warnings about a public health issue, most of us will be skeptical and wonder if what we are hearing has been politicized. And that's Fauci's fault.
Fauci is worse than the boy who cried wolf. He's the boy who told fantastical tales about multiple wolves and wrongly advised on how to protect yourself from those wolves even after saying the wolves would cause you no harm. And now, the next time we hear about a dangerous wolf, our understandable reaction will be to ignore the warnings. And people will die.
Fauci did that. Because he let his ego and petty, political battles take precedence over his duty and responsibility to the American people and the truth.
Goodbye and good riddance.