Dysfunction Junction
Fauci takes the 5th on the Hill. Here's what you need to know.
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Anthony Fauci took the 5th because America is dysfunctional and broken.
Fauci is a career-long public servant who has testified before Congress hundreds of times over his decades of service. But American politics and culture are now driven by rage-bait, and Fauci’s continued existence always enrages the MAGA Right base. Senator Rand Paul has found viral (and, I assume, online fundraising) success by harassing Anthony Fauci. Rand Paul has continually said he wants to see Fauci imprisoned, and since the Trump Regime’s DOJ has been weaponized to target political opponents, of course, Fauci would take the 5th. Who wouldn’t?
It’s the same reason outgoing president Joe Biden gave Fauci, along with members of his family and January 6 investigators, preemptive pardons before leaving office. In a functioning America, this would be unthinkable. But there we were, and here we are.
If you want a sense of how normalized this has become, and how desensitized we are, this passage from the AP story about the hearing says it all:
“In response to angry, sometimes mocking questions from Republican senators, Fauci declined to answer more than 100 times, injecting new drama into partisan divides that have festered for years about the origins and handling of the pandemic. Fauci himself has become a polarizing figure, even receiving death threats that prompted him to seek security.”
I’m not sure which phrase annoys me more: “partisan divide” or “polarizing figure.” Or maybe it’s the casual mention of the death threats that Fauci has received. The AP shouldn’t be covering the continued harassment of an octogenarian public servant this way. This isn’t a partisan fight, but unhinged conspiracy-mongers attacking the truth and inciting violence for virality and engagement.
So I was pleasantly surprised when a couple of readers sent me this video of TMZ founder Harvey Levin expressing his disgust over the hearing.
Levin’s outrage is interesting for a couple of reasons. For one thing, he was a Trump ally for some time, even recently calling out so-called elitists who didn’t think the White House should stage a UFC event on its lawn. I don’t think he’d describe himself as a Trump supporter currently, but Levin is certainly more open to MAGA than most of us.
Levin also understands the power of virality more than most. TMZ was a pioneer in taking tabloid journalism online and using video footage to drive engagement and create viral moments. Levin makes it clear that while he thinks it’s fair to be critical of Fauci’s actions during the pandemic, it’s completely out of line to set Fauci up in a public setting, calling him to testify to charge him with perjury.
Earlier this year, TMZ launched a DC bureau, which struck me as a smart move. I hate that politics and celebrity culture have collided, but there’s no denying that it’s happened. We live in a country where People Magazine covers politics and how it impacts readers better than most political news coverage. TMZ DC could play a similar role, especially in covering what drives power, and how elites in government and media interact in our nation’s Capitol.
Public servants like Anthony Fauci are being driven out of government, replaced by Trump cronies and conspiracy-mongering MAHA enthusiasts. HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr’s priority seems to be aiming for his own virality. This week, as Americans are still worried about whether you can eat lettuce without suffering explosive diarrhea, RFK Jr. launched an online cooking show. Admittedly, this is maybe the least offensive thing the man has done since taking office, but it’s still a clear example of his priorities.
Republicans are expected to lose the House, and the Senate is in play this November. The good news is that a Democratic majority can mostly stop this insanity and turn the spotlight back on the people destroying America in order to enrich themselves. Personally, I can’t think of a better reason to vote this year than stripping Rand Paul and his colleagues of their subpoena power.
ICYMI
A 23-Year-Old ‘ICE Chaser’ Is Notorious Among Federal Agents. He Has No Plans To Stop. (HuffPost)
Pro-Data Center Industry Group Behind Ad Campaign in Oregon, Six Other States (News from the States)
Bluesky Says Kremlin Is Hacking Its Platform to Spread Propaganda (New York Times, gift link)
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Coda
I really enjoyed talking to Ben Wikler about his new book, This is the Plan, on a livestream earlier this week. Be sure to catch our conversation if you haven’t watched yet.
That’s all for now. Talk to you again next Sunday!