Will Saletan (wsaletan on Threads) Profile picture
Aug 7, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Kudos to @nytimes and @SherylNYT for publishing this article on Birx, which rectifies some of the unfair criticism aimed at her in NYT's July 18 article. This one tells the rest of the story: She's been pushing the White House and governors to do more. /1 nyti.ms/30AEgS0
The July 18 article was full of criticisms of Birx, many of them anonymous, that exceeded, and in some cases contradicted, evidence in the public record. Some of that evidence was in the article itself. I described some problems with that article here. /2
Among the additional info in the new article:

1) "Inside the White House, aides refer to Dr. Birx as 'Dr. Doom' for her efforts to temper the president’s positive spin."

2) A State Department adviser says Birx told Pence, "You’re putting a mask on and appearing with a mask." /3
3) The Dem governor of KY says Birx stood up, in the administration's name, to give him cover for issuing a mask order and considering a shutdown of bars.

4) The GOP governor of MS says Birx "prodded him for weeks to institute a statewide mask order; this week he relented." /4
These tweets from NYT reporters indicate that while others were blaming Birx (some of it looks like White House political people trying to cover their own malpractice), she wouldn't tell her side of the story. Now she has folks speaking up for her. /END

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More from @saletan

May 9, 2023
How did authoritarianism arise in America in our time?

By tracking the gradual corruption of one man, I set out to explain how it happened: the rationales, the self-deceptions, the descent into madness.

His story is a warning. Our democracy is not safe. bit.ly/42E8GQl
Graham's descent shows how a man surrenders to despotism. It takes time. A step, a rationalization. Another step, another rationalization.

The deeper you go, the more you need to justify. You say what you need to say. You believe what you need to believe. bit.ly/42E8GQl
This isn't an argument about what happened to Graham. It's the full story, with details and links.

Through videos, transcripts, and other online records, we can now document the unraveling of a democracy in real time.

That democracy is the United States. bit.ly/42E8GQl
Read 4 tweets
Sep 27, 2022
Several weeks ago, I learned that @Citibank locks some customers out of their accounts and refuses to release their money even if they show up with ID.

This week, @Citi sent an email explicitly affirming its right to do this "without cause."

Your money is not safe at @Citi. 1/8
I wasn't aware of this policy till it happened to my son. I told the story below.

Six weeks after they locked his account, he still can't get his money.

He can handle it. But what about people who can't? Could they be evicted or lose their utilities? 2/8
After @Citi refused to restore access, even with in-person ID, we explained the story in writing to customer service.

They repeated that the money wouldn't be returned for 30-60 days.

Think about people who can't pay rent or bills because @Citi is sitting on their money. 3/8
Read 8 tweets
Sep 7, 2022
Do you have a @Citibank account?

If so, I strongly recommend that you find an alternative. Citibank has procedures that will lock you out of all your accounts without consultation — and will bar you from regaining access for 45 days, even if you show up in person with ID. (1/9)
This happened to my son. He went to another US city and tried to use his debit card. Card was declined, account was blocked.

This happens. But what happened next was Kafkaesque: @Citibank refused to accept any method of proving his identity, including showing up in person. (2/9)
His first notice wasn't a text or email alerting him to fraud. It was an email announcing that all his accounts were blocked, immediately, and would automatically close, so he had no access to any funds.

Since he was traveling and was relying on @Citibank, he was screwed. (3/9)
Read 11 tweets
Apr 19, 2022
Great conversation between @DrTedJ and @SarahLongwell25 on diversity, race, and gender.

Ted explains how needlessly explicit pledges to appoint based on race (e.g. Biden on KBJ) reinforce the "asterisk" that unfairly haunts promoted women and minorities. bit.ly/3vn9wSy
Ted's alternative model: the NFL rule that teams must interview, not necessarily hire, a minority candidate for head coach.

Biden could do this for court and cabinet jobs, "so whoever he ends up choosing feels less like an affirmative-action hire or a racial quota fulfillment."
"Biden just nominated a woman to lead the Coast Guard. First time ever, a women will lead an armed service. No fanfare. He didn’t say ... 'I’m going to make sure a woman leads our armed forces.' He just did it."

Result: "No one’s talking about whether this woman is qualified."
Read 4 tweets
Apr 7, 2022
New ISW report: "Russian General Officers are reportedly instructi[ng] commanders to severely restrict internet access among Russian personnel ... to combat low morale."

The problem: "Ukrainian influence over the information consumed by Russian soldiers." bit.ly/3jeaRWg
"Ukrainian Military Intelligence reported increasing Russian censorship...to combat growing morale problems among Russian troops. Ukraine’s GUR reported that Russian officers are intensifying censorship of their troops and restricting access to the internet due to low morale." /2
"The GUR claimed that Russian commanders complain about increasing Ukrainian influence over the information consumed by Russian soldiers. The GUR claimed to have intercepted an extract from an order ... which blamed low Russian morale on the internet and social media." /3
Read 4 tweets
Jan 19, 2022
Fox News segment against booster requirements imposed by private colleges. Quote: "We now know that the vaccines do not prevent infection and transmission, so any community-spread benefit is negligible."

That is an absolute lie. This network is a menace. bit.ly/33qIn7s
Antivaxers are responding to this tweet by quoting @CDCDirector in an August interview, saying vaccines don't "prevent transmission."

These people are misleading you. By "prevent," she meant 100% prevent. Vaccines strongly reduce your risk of infection. Here's what she said ...
"the breadth and depth of your immune response is far expanded when you get the vaccine"

"your rates of getting COVID again are higher if you have not been vaccinated"

"our job now is ... decreasing chains of transmission through vaccination and masking" cnn.it/33Ru0ZG
Read 4 tweets

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