Timely and continuingly relevant pandemic questions were raised in a January 20 interview of Senator Rand Paul (R, KY) by radio host, Hugh Hewitt. They probed questions such as what if the next virus is worse than the current Covid 19 variants? After the inconsistencies and politicization of medicine, experts, media, and data experienced over the past two years, how would people behave when the ‘government,’ whatever that concept encompasses, again instructed and or demanded that the populations under their control do or refrain from doing in response to the new more virulent virus? Paul and Hewitt raise the trenchant question: If the credibility of the political, medical, and media disseminators has been diminished, would anyone obey? An implied subtext question is: To gain obedience and compliance, how much force must the government inflict on a population that no longer views the government as competent and credible?
Paul stated he was pro-vaccine, but, he added, “I’m also for discernment, and I’m also for freedom, and freedom of choice. But I’m also willing to be honest with them and tell you that it’s malpractice to vaccinate your 10-year old boy without knowing whether he’s had COVID. I think it’s absolutely malpractice, and I wouldn’t do it. And I think if you don’t individualize your care, if you say that an 80-year old should be treated the same as a 10-year old, you’re not a physician. You’re now sort of a bureaucrat just sort of wanting to universalize things because it’s easier than thinking about the individual risks of the patient.”
Hewitt opined that “it’s beyond argument, that Dr. Fauci is an impediment to educating the American public about health risks.” Then noted the potentially horrific consequences if a healthcare establishment without credibility was tasked to safeguard health. Hewitt added: “And God forbid, if there were another biohazard now if there was another public health crisis, no one would believe him. Or the people that would believe him are 35%-40%.”
Paul responded, referencing the refusal of health agencies to determine the source of the Covid virus and questioning the utility and morality of the ‘gain of function’ programs. Paul said, “The main reason I oppose him and keep going at him on the facts, particularly the origin of the virus, is we could get a much worse virus the next time there’s a leak from the lab. This one has a 1% mortality, but that still means, I don’t know, five, six million people died in the world. We could have a 15% mortality or a 50% mortality.” Rand then referenced an MIT professor who said that this type of research is so risky that we are gambling with civilization. .. and yet Fauci still continues to be an advocate of giving money to the Chinese, doing research with the Chinese. But also, he’s an advocate of creating viruses that don’t exist in nature.”
Scary stuff when a new pandemic cries ‘wolf’ and no one listens because the messenger has lost credibility.