Hell NO…
This week, Demonic Doctor Anthony Fauci testified before Congress and repeatedly used the Fifth Amendment, according to his counsel, rather than answering lawmakers’ questions.
What he knew, whether he fooled Congress, whether he should have answered questions, and whether he should be held accountable are all under discussion.
That was hardly the most memorable moment of this week for me.
After picking some hog grain, my husband called me on the way home. At Restaurant Depot, he purchased pizza boxes and ranch ingredients. He pays very little attention to American politics. He rarely takes an interest in my stories.
He just said, “What’s up with Fauci?”
I informed senators that he spent most of the hearing claiming the Fifth Amendment rather than answering questions.
The stillness was long.
His next question caught me completely off guard.
Is anybody ever going to apologize? Was wrong. “It cost your family everything.”
Nobody had ever said that to us, so I gulped back tears.
My spouse and I worked hard. Built businesses. Most people would consider us to have lived the American dream. We wanted no bailout. They were not failing. We were just weeks away from selling our restaurant business for $31 million when COVID-19 struck.
Then “two weeks to slow the spread.”
Two weeks turned into months. Months turned into years.
Government policies, not the virus, derailed decades of development.
This hearing was not helpful. If anything, it ripped open the scars.
Americans incur losses that will never be recorded on government balance sheets. Instead, they tear apart once-secure lives. Businesses built over decades have vanished. The retirement accounts had run dry. Marriages were financially stressful. One was ours. Homes disappeared. Careers ended. Dreams that have been abandoned. Six years later, many wounds linger.
It would be simple to write about Fauci because he is essentially a bureaucrat.
He may be the most well-known and highly compensated figure in the pandemic response, but he was never alone. Governors issued orders. County health departments enforced. School boards agreed. Corporate leaders concurred. Church leaders agreed. Republicans agreed. Democrats agreed.
So did we, people.
That could be my hardest confession. I despise Fauci, but I also loathe us.
When I mention “us,” I am not implying that I supported those policies. I started asking them questions right away.
I have never been vaccinated. COVID-19 did not impact my decision. I lived this manner my entire life. My mother taught me to distrust drugs and the government. That foundation shaped my pandemic vision from the beginning.
That did not make me special. I believe it made me less attentive to my lifetime’s most significant psychological operation.
Most individuals complied.
We accepted church closings.
We permitted tiny business failure.
We allowed school absences.
We trusted bureaucrats more than families, companies, churches, doctors, and neighbors.
I believe we recognized early on that COVID-19 risk varied substantially by age and health. I thought herd immunity eliminated respiratory viruses. We understood that children and healthy adults were far safer than the elderly and those with serious illnesses.
Fear took over instead of allowing the data to drive the conversation. Questions regarding the policies became more offensive than those about their efficacy.
Not only one person failed.
A national failure.
Every bureaucrat pushed policies that harmed Americans. Republicans and Democrats largely agreed. Many citizens followed suit, out of fear, trust, societal pressure, or the belief that someone else knew better.
Resisters frequently paid dearly. I know my family did.
I believed the chapter had ended. I thought I was finished worrying about money. I experienced that throughout my twenties and thirties. I worked 80-hour weeks for decades to build something that would provide financial security for my family.
Pandemic policies ruined everything, forcing me to start anew.
Today, at 48, I greet each customer and hope they will return and refer a friend. I write every day to disseminate our message and gain supporters.
I enjoy the opportunity to build.
But this is not where I anticipated to be after decades of striving for success.
That virus didn’t destroy everything I’d constructed.
Government policy.
Certain judgments were made with good intentions.
It means that even the best intentions can have devastating consequences, and responsibility is important when millions of people’s lives are permanently altered. Humility matters. Being willing to admit, “We were wrong,” is critical.
My Wife asked me a question this week that I can’t answer.
Is anybody ever going to apologize? Was wrong. “It cost your family everything.”
That day might never come.
I understand this.
This week’s congressional hearing did not fall on that day.
