POT, MEET KETTLE: Fauci decries "divisiveness in our nation", "normalization of untruths"

On May 7, 2022, Fauci gave a commencement speech at the University of Michigan in which he made many important points. However, this is a typical case of the pot calling the kettle black. He decried the "divisiveness in our nation" for which HE is complicit.Show more

He warned of "falsehood and lies that often stand largely unchallenged". Correct, and HE is one of the main sources and superspreaders of said falsehoods and lies.

We should indeed "not shrug [our] shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths". Instead, we should call Fauci et al. out on their BS. We need much more "outrage and dissent against this alarming trend" of the captured three letter agencies spreading an unending stream of propaganda.

We must avoid at all costs "a way of life where veracity becomes subservient to propaganda". Truth should mean something. Integrity should mean something. Facts should mean something.

We should "seek and listen to the opinions that differ from your own", which means that these opinions should NOT be censored and that sources of dissenting viewpoints should NOT be intimidated, punished and smeared as anti-vaxxers, quacks and conspiracy thinkers.

We need to make it a habit to "critically analyze information", especially if this (mis)information is coming from people who have been corrupt, self-serving and lying for many decades. We can start by "[discerning] and [challenging] weak assertions built on untruths", especially those propagated by Fauci and his partners in crime. Then we should hold the criminals accountable for their crimes.

If the audience members followed the healthy principles that Fauci just summarized, they would not be applauding him. Instead, he would need guards to escort him out of the stadium.

TRANSCRIPT

Leadership can evolve from a variety of experiences and it takes many forms, including the quiet and subtle leadership of example. Which brings me to my next issue, which actually applies to everybody in this stadium: our divided nation.

I've spent my entire professional career in Washington, DC, as a scientist, a physician and a public health official. Although that career path is fundamentally devoid of politics in the classic sense, being in Washington has allowed me to experience firsthand the intensity of the divisiveness in our nation.

What troubles me is that differences of opinion or ideology have in certain circumstances been reflected by egregious distortions of reality. Sadly, elements of our society have grown increasingly unfazed by a cacophony of falsehood and lies that often stand largely unchallenged, ominously leading to an insidious acceptance of what I call the normalization of untruths.

We see this happen daily, propagated through a range of information platforms, social medias and so-called news organizations. And sad to say, certain elected officials in positions of power. Yet, the outrage and dissent against this alarming trend has mostly been muted and mild.

If you remember nothing else from what I say today, I truly appeal to you, please remember this. It is our collective responsibility not to sing to a tacit acceptance of the normalization of untruths, because if we do, we bring danger to ourselves, our families and our communities. This is how a society devolves into a way of life where veracity becomes subservient to propaganda, rather than upheld as a guiding principle for creating and sustaining a just social order.

And so, as you graduate and take the place in the wider world that will be yours to shape, do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths, because if you do, lies become dominant and reality is distorted. And then truth means nothing. Integrity means nothing. Facts mean nothing.

Our country will not thrive if we allow or do not push back vigorously against moral ambiguity. Seek and listen to the opinions that differ from your own, of course, but critically analyze information, what you have learned so well to do here at the University of Michigan. To discern and challenge weak assertions built on untruths. As future leaders, we are counting on you all for that.

SOURCE

Full speech (duration: 15 min) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQek9S713vM