I've just finished Dr. Fauci's memoir On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service. Everyone should read it, to try and understand recent history and ongoing acrimony in our civic life. He says the pandemic, troubling and tragic though it was, was not as troubling to him now as the "crisis of truth" that plagues so many of our fellow Americans. My favorite chapter title: “Illegitimi non carborundum,” a mock-Latin expression meaning "Don't let the bastards grind you down." He says that's what former-President Obama told him.
He's been a lightning rod for decades, going back to the AIDS era, but has also been a diligent public servant on a lifelong mission to save lives. It is a checkered bit of Americana that such a devoted and tireless figure should have been so inappropriately politicized, villified, and endangered (along with his family) because of dis- and mis-information... by lies and bullshit (see Harry Frankfurt). Clearly, he's earned his place on my Americana poster.
"My outlook has since evolved to align with the concept of making the world a better place rather than being involved in any organized religion... Doing something for the common good seems to have become a distant second to doing for oneself. Scientific integrity has been repeatedly denigrated. COVID-19 vaccinations have become political footballs as misinformation and lies about them abound.... we must focus not only on making safe and effective diagnostics, treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. We also have a moral imperative to ensure that they are delivered equitably to all who need them, here in this country, and around the world."
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