My Authors
Read all threads
Is anyone else watching?

Dr. Rick Bright: "Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history. First and foremost, we need to be truthful with the American people."

"We have the world's greatest scientists. . .

c-span.org/video/?471986-…

1/
". . . Let us lead. Let us speak without fear of retribution."

To summarize Dr. Rick Bright: The people are being lied to. Scientists cannot speak out without fear of retribution.

2/
Amazing.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) just asked: If we have no alternative treatments, what was wrong with pushing hydroxychloroquine out there? 🤦‍♀️

Dr. Bright: We first need to make sure the drugs are safe.

Duh, right?

3/
Some of these Republicans are stumped by a real scientist.

Gus Bilirakis wanted Dr. Bright to give his "reaction personally," to hearing about hydroxychloroquine.

Bright explained the kinds of controlled studies and evaluations required before he can give an opinion.

4/
Now Dr. Bright is explaining that he sent out the warning in mid-January that there was a shortage of necessary supplies.

He was met with indifference and excuses.

As a result of the delay "lives were lost."

5/
Recall that:

💠Much money and many years were spent trying to pin 4 deaths in a foreign attack on the Secretary of Stat

meanwhile

💠Real evidence that inaction by the administration killed people is ignored.

It's a feature of the GOP, not a bug.



6/
Rep. Bucshon (R-IN) said doctors shouldn't have to wait for a 'government bureaucracy to approve a drug they want to use.' (hydroxychloroquine)

Democrats: Regulations based on science saves lives.

Republicans: Get rid of regulations. Let people do whatever we want.

7/
Rep. Mullen (R-OK) thinks these things are important: (1) Dr. Bright’s current health, (2) his salary, (3) how he can be on sick leave but feel well enough to testify.

Then (snidely) Mullen says: “You can’t even manage your own hypertension.”😕🤦‍♀️

8/
Well, here we have it: The Impeachment Hearings all over again.

Hudson (R-NC) says the hearing is a partisan and political attempt to undermine the Trump administration.

He's thanking Trump for his leadership and and blaming the previous administration.

9/
Rick Bright: I was pushed out [of my job]. . .

A few minutes later:

Rep. Long (R-MO): Why didn't you just bring your suggestions to your supervisor?

(Added that for fun, but actually, the House of Representatives has always had a few blockheads)

10/
*I typed "few" in the understatement font.

Carter(R-GA): When did you sour on hydroxychloroquine?

Bright: When there was a push to make it broadly available not under close supervision of a physician.

Bright's mantra: We need a scientifically-based plan. There's no plan.

11/
Kuster(D-NH): Was there any scientific basis to suggest in March that we would have a vaccine in the next few months?

Bright: There was a lot of optimism, but it wasn’t likely.

(earlier he said if all goes well it could still take years)

12/
Bright emphasizes that not having a plan for when a vaccine is available can also lead to disaster. As in, how will the vaccine be distributed? We'll need an "equitable distribution."

Raise your hand if you can imagine this administration exchanging vaccines for favors🙋‍♀️

13/
It's both numbers and evidence. ⤵️ A Secretary of State is not responsible for a foreign attack on an embassy. There was no evidence or logical reason to blame HRC.

Yet, there is an abundance of evidence that TRUMP-GOP policies are killing people.

14/
The answer has to do with the kind of party the GOP has become.

The GOP knows that Benghazi was politically motivated.

The GOP now accuses Bright and this committee of being politically motivated.
nymag.com/intelligencer/…

15/
If you think there is no such thing as fairness or equity, the only thing that matters is power and who has it.

The GOP doesn't believe that fairness or equality exists (they have a hierarchical view of the world) so they assume the Democrats are also trying to grab power.

16/
You can tell when you're dealing with an anti-fairness hierarchical person because they say, "Both sides lie," or "everyone cheats."

That's how you know they don't believe anyone has principles. So it's all about grabbing power.

17/
Remember, just because a person says, "I believe in fairness," doesn't mean they do.

The reason Trump and pals are always feeling victimized is because when others assert their rights, Trump and pals feel that their place at the top of the hierarchy is being challenged.

18/
That's why the best test is a comment like "everyone lies."

Nobody says "I don't believe in fairness."

Trump thinks the world is horribly unfair to him.

Hierarchical people shout "unfair" when others assert their rights.
thehill.com/homenews/admin…
This question ⤵️comes from someone who believes that truth and facts exist.

People who don't believe in objective truth (see chart I'll attach in the next tweet) assume that Bright is shilling for the Democrats and trying to sabotage Trump.
If there's no objective truth and it's all a matter of opinion—and Trump is the Leader so his opinion determines "reality"—Dr. Bright must be a disgruntled employee out to sabotage Trump.

That's the worldview from Column 2.
The question came from a Column 1 person.

Make sense?
I'll take a stab at this.

What if we respond with something like this:

"What you're saying is that nobody has principles; Everyone acts in their own self-interests. I disagree. There ARE people in elected office with principles."

Now . . .
. . . if you can't see eye to eye on that, you will obviously never agree on politics. It's a basic difference.

Now I'll take a stab at another hard question, this one from @gwshel ⤵️

We don't take the high road to move or win over the would-be fascists and oligarchs. . .
. . . we take the high road because there are more fairness people and we want to build a majority coalition to win elections.

We say: We stand for fairness, equality, science, and truth. We prove it by taking the high road.

Then we ask: Are you a fairness person? Then join us.
If we don't take the high road, then there is no party standing for truth.

If we try to cheat as well as unprincipled people, we'll lose. You can't out-Herod Herod.

So we distinguish ourselves by taking the high road.
It's what Michelle Obama meant when she said, "When they go low, we go high."

Also, how about this idea ⤵️for how to respond to the "Trump lies, but all politicians lie" talking point.
This thread is now a blog post, here: terikanefield-blog.com/dr-bright-trut…
This is exactly right, and does a good job pointing out an inaccuracy in my thread.

In the Republican view, complete freedom from regulations isn't for everyone. They're hierarchical thinkers. Complete freedom is for the people at the top . . .

Abortions and reproductive rights must be restricted because this plays in to the male-female hierarchy.

This is where libertarians depart from Republicans because they say "no regulations at all." No room to expand, but this also leads to hierarchy because it allows cheating.
In the 1920s, price fixing, market manipulation, and insider trading was legal. People cheated and got rich. They grabbed power.

Of course cheating (and crime) creates hierarchy. How do you think the African Americans were originally enslaved?

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Teri Kanefield

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!