Institutional Corruption

A National Disgrace When Truth Is Hidden

More than a decade ago I heard Dennis Prager comment on the bogus nature of the claim by anti-tobacco activists that fifty-thousand people died annually from exposure to secondhand smoke. Health care professional and government officials used the scary number to motivate behavior they favored. Smoke free zones expanded to include apartments, parks, streets and cities. Their goal was to end all tobacco use. That goal weighed heavier on them than accuracy. 

Public service announcements warned us about the deadly nature of secondhand smoke. Smoking sections in restaurants and on airplanes became a relic of the past. Tobacco companies were sued for deceptive advertising and lying about evidence they possessed demonstrating health dangers from long-term smoking. Class action litigation returned multi-billion-dollar settlements. A cigarette in the hand FDR on a statue statute was removed. Out of sight is out of mind.

Back then most people thought it was prudent to trust scientists and doctors more than corporate executives pedaling poison. Millions of people quit smoking. Fewer started smoking. Huge taxes on tobacco products was all the rage.  California has a tobacco tax in excess of 28% of the retail price of all tobacco items. Smoking was transformed from cool to social taboo worthy of shame. The strategy worked.

In an almost post Covid-19 era, the price of lying and ignoring ethical standards to promote causes has played out in unanticipated ways. Institutions that we have always trusted have lost credibility. Puffing in order to motivate behavior and caving to activists has taken a toll. In the past the policy exaggerations and mistakes were largely ignored because the causes seemed reasonable, the tactics were successful and the downside didn’t put millions out of work, destroy businesses and weren’t responsible for a death toll of their own. 

Only 44 percent of Americans trust the CDC according to an NBC News survey as of January 2022. In just the first six months of the pandemic trust in the CDC dropped 7% according to the Rand Corporation.

I  always suspected exaggeration was involved in the secondhand smoke death count numbers. The taxpayer funded scare inducing commercials annoyed me. Some of the PSA’s were actually paid for by tobacco companies as part of class action settlements. 

I felt common sense mitigated against the decision to suck smoke of any variety into my lungs. Who would place their face over a campfire? Thus, I felt those who chose to smoke bore some degree of responsibility for the consequences of their behavior. I know nicotine is addictive. But I also know millions of people have quit the dirty habit. 

Never-the-less, I continued to trust doctors and scientists; lawyers, government officials and psychologists not so much. It didn’t occur to me that medical experts would seriously alter facts to promote a cause, satisfy a particular constituency or infuse political bias into professional opinions. I would never have envisioned the Covid-19 expert driven hysteria as it played out. Government and medical advocacy groups seem to think plebeians can’t be trusted to make the right decisions based on unaltered facts or with complete candor. 

When expert advice mixes with advocacy trouble follows. Whatever happened to “just the facts ma’am”? Advocacy, like power, corrupts. When advocacy groups acquire power, especially with government support, bad things follow. The experts become enamored with their goodness. Thus, the rational for a little deception.

Institutions like the Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, World Health Organization, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Library Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Bar Association have become wholly untrustworthy in terms of advice, ethical standards and candor. Power, politics, high self-regard and sources of finance through grants combined with past successes have corrupted their work product.

“CDC encourages all pregnant people or people who are thinking about becoming pregnant and those breastfeeding to get vaccinated to protect themselves from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. This quotation is taken directly from the CDC news site. I am quite sure the Dr. Walensky knows men do not get pregnant. This government paid medical doctor has been intimidated by activist who reject science and biology. Dr. Walensky compromised truth for fear of offending. Why should I trust her pronouncements about Covid-19? What other activist groups has she accommodated?

Covid-19 Director of the N.I.A.I.D., Dr. Fauci, admitted lying to the public about masks because he was afraid the public would horde the existing supply. Since uttering that initial untruth he has erred numerous times. He refusing to admit error or miscalculation with reference to surface transmission, lockdowns, social distancing, the effectiveness of vaccines, school closings, the risks associated with obesity and the incredibly low risk to young people from serious Covid-19 illness and death. His goal was for everyone to get vaccinated, so a few exaggerations and withholding data was excusable. With not a tinge of modestly, he told us he was the reservoir of science. 

The World Health Organization had reported numerous studies suggesting lockdowns were not effective and actually counter-productive in fighting pandemics until Covid-19 came along. Then they promoted lockdowns. Two years hence lockdowns proved to be deadly, recession producing and ineffective. The Chinese Communist Party’s undue influence on the WHO compromises their messages. Why would any sentient person trust the WHO? I’d be more likely to trust the rock band.

August 9, 2021 Wall Street Journal Abigail Shrier, “Is it safe for adolescents to undergo gender “transition”? Is it wise for children to take hormones that block puberty? The American Academy of Pediatrics not only has answered these questions in the affirmative but is determined to stifle any debate”. Thus, the abuse of children has been endorsed by pediatric professionals. Even more disturbing, they are allergic to debate. The AAP, like Fauci, tells us science is complete and certain exclusive to their pronouncements. No need for a discussion or consideration of the opinions of others. Even more daunting, social media blocked the dissemination of alternate opinions by doctors and concerned citizens.

ABC News September 24, 2021, “Gender Queer,” an illustrated memoir, contains explicit illustrations of oral sex and masturbation. The novel “Lawn Boy” contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children. Both books were previous winners of the American Library Association’s Alex Awards, which each year recognize “ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.” This doesn’t paint the picture of a modest librarian dedicated to exposing children to great works of literature and age appropriate content. They seem more likely to promote an entirely different kind of exposure. I implore people to visit the children’s section of most libraries. You will find books reeking with politization and age inappropriate material. Preserving innocence of children is no longer a value held by the ALA. They have other priorities. Woke gender and progressive political ideology take precedence over literature and innocence. 

“On May 17, 2018,  the APA hosted a congressional briefing to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. The briefing was co-hosted with the Center for American Progress and the Fenway Institute…”, American Psychological Association website. The Center for American Progress is an organization led by John Podesta, a prominent Democratic Party activist and Clinton operative. The Fenway Institute is an LGBT… activist organization. Both organizations tell us that  there are more than two genders. Clearly the “expert” opinions and studies of the APA should be questioned in terms of unbiased content and professionalism.

July 5, 2021 WSJ, John O. McGinnis, “ The American Bar Association is proposing new accrediting standards for law schools that would make them more race-conscious, more politically correct and less intellectually diverse. The proposal should fail on the merits. It’s so bad it should also prompt reconsiderations of the ABA’s role as accreditor of law schools and of the U.S. Supreme Court precedent on racial preferences in law-school admissions.” Truth in labeling would dictate a name change to the American Progressive Bar Association. Its evaluations of conservative nominees should be ignored.

AMA news release June 16, 2021, “The new policy aligns with existing AMA policy recognizing that every individual has the right to determine their gender identity and sex designation on government documents.” This means, contrary to biology, the child’s birth sex can be denied on official documents. In other words, official documents can lie about a person’s sex. I have no problem with how people perceive themselves. But official documents should stay within the bounds of truth and biology. ‘My truth’ is fine for the individual but the AMA can’t change biology no matter how many compromised experts go along with an exercise of accommodating  lies. 

No one should be surprised that there has been a critical loss of trust by many Americans in institutions we have previously trusted for unbiased professional advice. Expert advice is of critical importance during national emergencies, in making health care decisions for ourselves and our children, and with regard to professional recommendations of ever sort. 

There can be no national consensus when biases prove to have had undue influence on the output of organizations we count on for genuine unvarnished truth. We need confidence that what we are told, are asked to do, required to do or not do are based on legitimate professional analysis. For example, decisions concerning unalterable body mutilation and life-long hormone treatment for minors. When those opinions are altered because of woke sensibilities instead of science we are in trouble. What ever happened to ‘do no harm’?

When half of the nation has lost trust in “expert” pronouncements, we all lose. If the truth makes some people uncomfortable or doesn’t induce desired behavior, so be it.

Dr. Fauci’s missteps (to be kind) were just enough to push ambiguity about his assertions into full blown mistrust. He provided us with the daily double of discredit as a doctor and government spokesman. That behavior has cast a dark shadow over public health recommendations and mandates. 

I’d like to conclude on an upbeat note. Fauci’s media exposure earned him a featured piece in Vogue magazine titled “Love Conquers All”. He was also seen as the intrepid virus hunter in Vanity Fair and Style Magazine. I don’t remember seeing Albert Einstein or Jonas Salk posing for fashion magazine shoots. Fauci, with the aid of a compliant media, has become a legend in his own mind but not so much in the minds of half of the nation.