# Rand Paul And Fauci **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 20, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905 "2021-07-20T17:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/202 "2021-10-19T22:49:14Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I don’t see why we’re giving China money for a program we can’t monitor. So, we’re in agreement that the previous guy shouldn’t have cut the program for monitoring. Progress, progress… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/203 "2021-10-19T22:55:31Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > So, we’re in agreement that the previous guy shouldn’t have cut the program for monitoring. Progress, progress… Are you suggesting that anyone was capable of monitoring China? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/204 "2021-10-19T23:06:41Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > You have proof of what went on in the Wuhan Lab? No, I have a _question_ about your take on Rand Paul’s position on the same topic you have been harping on re: Dr. Fauci. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/205 "2021-10-19T23:21:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No, I have a _question_ about your take on Rand Paul’s position on the same topic you have been harping on re: Dr. Fauci. It takes 2 to harp. I made a simple factual statement that I backed up with cites. This was followed by attempts to justify his position saying the science didn’t back up masking when it was known from day one it was a respiratory illness most likely spreading rapidly from airborne contact and not from handling bats. Dr Fauci was the spokesperson on the issue. It is his word that carriers weight. Not Trump’s, Pelosi, or anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/206 "2021-10-19T23:26:40Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It takes 2 to harp. I made a simple factual statement that I backed up with cites. Cites that as me and others noted, the headlines of the articles you cited were not exactly what Fauci did say. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/207 "2021-10-19T23:32:09Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > - N95 masks will stop Covid spread through the air (True) > - Most people besides medical personnel don’t need to worry about that (False but believed at the time) > - So N95 masks should be reserved for medical personell to prevent scarcity (True) > - Regular masks won’t prevent people wearing them from becoming infected (False but believed at the time) > - But they will prevent people from spreading infections (True) > - But asymptomatic people don’t need to worry about that (False but believed at that time) > - Medical personnel on the other hand do need these masks (True) > - To prevent scarcity normal people need to stop buying these masks as well (False but believed at the time) I disagree with the “believe at the time” position. It’s not logical and has no scientific basis. the argument is essentially “we don’t know how it spreads so we’ll ignore the most dangerous option until proven otherwise”. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/208 "2021-10-19T23:42:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I made a simple factual statement that I backed up with cites. If you’re talking abut “Fauci lied about masks.”, then no, that statement isn’t factual at all. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/209 "2021-10-19T23:49:21Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Cites that as me and others noted, the headlines of the articles you cited were not exactly what Fauci did say. Try again. I cited his exact words. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/210 "2021-10-19T23:51:35Z")
But you didn’t “back up” your false claim that he lied. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/211 "2021-10-19T23:57:37Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I disagree with the “believe at the time” position. You do not understand the concept of time, then? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/212 "2021-10-20T00:09:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You do not understand the concept of time, then? I gave the logic behind the statement. It wasn’t logical to use “we don’t know” as an excuse to advise that masks would not help the general populace. If you apply the concept of time to a pandemic then the best advise would be to mask up. And that could have been done by actively encouraging people to make masks along with the best way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/213 "2021-10-20T00:36:33Z")
Fortunately, that wasn’t the logic. The logic was that there was a shortage of masks for those who needed them most, and a lack of data to suggest that homemade masks were in any way effective. There was, at the time, no “best way” to make them. That said, they did start doing studies on homemade masks, seeing if they could help. And it tuned out that, if you made them the right way, you could help. So what did Fauci and the CDC do? They immediately started telling everyone how to make homemade masks. I remember when it happened. You just keep arguing with hindsight bias. We know now that homemade cloth masks were useful. But we didn’t know that then. The model for how the virus spread was wrong, and we only had data on the types of masks that were in short supply. The question I have for you is: why is it so important to you to argue that Fauci did something wrong? What is the end goal here? Are we supposed to not listen to him now? Or is it just an attempt to deflect blame for the pandemic onto him and not the people who discouraged masks even after the science was in, or which refused to follow the science on lockdowns and reducing travel? They’re the ones at fault. Not the guy who reported the best science we had at the time, who was trying to save lives by making sure that the masks we had actual data on were available to the medical workers who needed them most. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/214 "2021-10-20T00:39:39Z")
It doesn’t make Dr Fauci Satan incarnate. I haven’t called him names. I don’t think he’s a bad person. I just pointed out a misstep in his early approach. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/215 "2021-10-20T00:40:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > why is it so important to you to argue that Fauci did something wrong? What is the end goal here? The rewriting of history was on display a little upthread. Taking heat off of Trump’s inept response seems to me to be the goal. An admittance of “Sure, we fucked this up at the beginning. Fauci did that.” ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/216 "2021-10-20T00:43:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No, I have a _question_ about your take on Rand Paul’s position on the same topic you have been harping on re: Dr. Fauci. I will repeat @Czarcasm’s question. What do you think of Rand Paul lying about masks as recent as a few months ago? I’ll add to that what do you think about Rand Paul’s other massive lies stated in this thread? How does this affect his credibility regarding covid, wuhan or anything at all for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/217 "2021-10-20T00:44:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The question I have for you is: why is it so important to you to argue that Fauci did something wrong? I would ask you the same thing. Why is it so important to argue his actions were without fault? I tried to find a sewing group I could back with a donation in the early months. It wasn’t on anybody’s radar. I think it would caught on like wildfire if it was promoted better. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/218 "2021-10-20T00:58:22Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Why is it so important to argue his actions were without fault? Well, when a good man is slandered baselessly, some people feel obliged to speak up. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/219 "2021-10-20T01:17:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, when a good man is slandered baselessly, some people feel obliged to speak up. This was a sports-politics thread from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/220 "2021-10-20T02:49:44Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This was a sports-politics thread from the beginning. I had to choose between going to the funeral of a close friend and the funeral of a relative last Tuesday. _This is not a fucking game to me_. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905/221 "2021-10-20T03:00:19Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This was a sports-politics thread from the beginning. Not for me, it ain’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-and-fauci/946905.md?page=12)