THE DEPTHS OF DEPRAVITY — RAND PAUL AND HIS OBSCENE PERSECUTION OF DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, AN AMERICAN HERO
Dr. Common Good
Dr. Common Good cares deeply about this country, its people and its promise. But what we witnessed Wednesday July 29 during the debased spectacle of a Senate “hearing” on the honorable Dr. Anthony Fauci, spearheaded by the dishonorable Senator Rand Paul, calls into question something profound about where we are at this moment. Dr. Fauci is a national hero, an exemplar of public service and sacrifice for this country and for the world. Rand Paul has shown himself to be little more than a malicious, obsessive thug and firebrand who doesn’t hold the slightest candle to Dr. Fauci. Let’s just see how they compare in terms of their contributions to public health:
Fauci’s accomplishments in public health – a brief summary of dedication, sacrifice and achievement:
- MD and immunologist (and expert on infectious diseases).
- Became head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (at NIH) in 1984, and remained there until his retirement in 2022.
- For decades, he was a leader and key force behind U.S. efforts to prevent and fight HIV/AIDS, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), the swine flu, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), Ebola, and COVID-19. His dedication to the fight against HIV/AIDS is legendary, and during the Ebola crisis, he personally worked in Ebola wards to treat patients, putting himself at risk.
- He was an instrumental force in developing biodefense drugs and vaccines after the 9/11 attacks.
- He worked closely with Republican President George W. Bush to create PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), perhaps the most successful global HIV/AIDS initiative ever implemented. For this, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- He served as chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, and as a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force under Trump I.
Rand Paul’s accomplishments in public health – a brief summary of next-to-nothing:
- MD, ophthalmologist (not an infectious disease specialist)
- In 2025, he introduced the Health Marketplace and Savings Accounts for All Act, which would make all Americans eligible for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and expand Association Health Plans.
- He has supported various efforts to curb federal spending on public health, including the introduction of a bill that would essentially gut NIH as we know it.
That’s it. That’s all. Not a stellar record.
So, tell me, who has given of himself over and over for the health of the public? The record could not be more clear. Rand Paul has done almost nothing to help Americans through all the public health crises listed above – HIV/AIDS, SARS, swine flu, MERS, Ebola, COVID-19, or any others. And yet Paul, an avid purveyor of conspiracy theories, obtained and used Fauci’s private diaries as cannon fodder in last Wednesday’s hearings, as an attempt to discredit him and boost his insistence that COVID-19 resulted from a viral leakage at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, during research allegedly supported by Fauci. The diaries contain no real evidence in support of Paul’s ranting, or in support of his allegation that Fauci lied to Congress about the origins of COVID-19. These are Fauci’s private diaries. Like any diary, they are full of musings and notes and impressions. These do include notes on speculation among colleagues regarding the origins of COVID-19 at a time when there was little actual evidence. They also include, by the way, his characterizations of Trump as “infinitely lying,” “out of control,” “an idiot,” and “a true embarrassment.” Funny, the Republicans did not highlight those diary entries.