"What do you know about this story of Dr Fauci cutting the vocal cords out of beagles and leaving them" - the beagles - "to be eaten alive by sand flies?"
The question arose at a dinner recently. It sounded crazy, but I quickly discovered that the allegation had been spread by
The question arose at a dinner recently. It sounded crazy, but I quickly discovered that the allegation had been spread by
Senator Ted Cruz
https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1452647793231814657Gov Ron DeSantis facebook.com/RonDeSantisFlo… and of course the ultra-online Donald Trump Jr. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…
With that roster of names endorsing the story, it probably won't greatly surprise you to hear that the story was arrant bullshit. politifact.com/article/2021/o…
The experiments in question
a) seem eminently reasonable research to advance a vaccine against a serious disease; and
b) had nothing to do with Dr Fauci.
a) seem eminently reasonable research to advance a vaccine against a serious disease; and
b) had nothing to do with Dr Fauci.
The allegations seem to have originated with advocates who oppose any experiments on animals - got taken up by anti-vaxxers who oppose research that might yield a vaccine - and then got weaponized by Cruz, DeSantis, and Trump Jr to support their personal vendetta against Fauci
There may be more details that I overlooked when I got too disgusted to keep reading.
But here's the thing: as crazy and paranoid and false as this Fauci-tortures-puppies story turns out to be ... it's a really big deal.
But here's the thing: as crazy and paranoid and false as this Fauci-tortures-puppies story turns out to be ... it's a really big deal.
Marco Rubio, Susan Collins, and other Republican senators have "demanded answers" about the allegation rubio.senate.gov/public/index.c… 
Fauci's office was overwhelmed by telephone calls from citizens outraged by the false story of puppy abuse washingtonpost.com/investigations…
Columnists in hometown papers have brought the story to even the least-online readers dailycommercial.com/story/opinion/…
And of course the false story dominates Facebook facebook.com/watch/?v=60375…
It's not news that the US is systematically misinformed by a vast industry of deception that joins together medical cranks, the far left, and the pro-Trump right.
But when you've spent a day - as I have today - hearing complaints about the so-called "mainstream media" ...
... it's illuminating to be reminded that - whatever the flaws/biases/limits of the so-called "mainstream media" - the principal alternative to MSM for most Americans today is garbage information like the "Fauci-tortures-puppies" story.
I have attended some of the many, many exercises by MSM people in which they hand-wring about their standing with the American people - in which they self-examine how to do better. (More interviews with Trump voters in rural diners? More CNN contracts for ex Trump staffers?)
Self-examination and self-improvement are always laudable exercises. But the MSM people engaged in these exercises need to keep in mind: not one of the people who spread the Fauci-tortures-puppies story will ever do the same. They'll just move onto the next item, then the next.
I don't have a neat bow with which to tie up this thread. Who the hell knows what to do about the antivax/Trump/Facebook/GOP 2024 nexus of bullshit? Not me.
But maybe it's time for the media that do care about getting things right - that employ editors, that correct mistakes - maybe it's time for them to act more robustly when they come under fire from the Fauci-tortures-puppies disinformation industry.
We have this vast and growing industry of self-proclaimed "media critics" who define "media" to exclude the great majority of the media actually consumed by present-day Americans.
This industry will celebrate how their favorite Substack / podcast / Facebook star has achieved an audience vastly larger than that of Stephen Colbert or the Boston Globe - and never ponder, "So maybe it should matter that your hero earns a lot of his living spreading untruth?"
I do believe, "Truth is mighty and will prevail." I expect that this latest bizarro figment from the antivax/MAGA underworld will be smacked down. Maybe you can help. Still, I feel a certain nostalgia for the happy time, a few hours ago, before I'd ever heard of it. END
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