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Originally Posted by King Spew
Me too. I understand science....and how it 'works'.
That Feb 2020 messaging was poor (at best)
and ed'a,,,,, yes the immediate thread topic was about media and its varied responses.
The Trump Admin put the CDC in an impossible position by not allowing them to be scientists only and seeing their credibility as something they could use.
You could see how much they were pressuring them in the early days to protect the economy (Trumps stock market) due to the legit fears that a collapsing economy is also a Health risk.
They used that truism to pressure the CDC officials to paint much rosier positions, that 'all will be well', 'all will be handled' in those early days and I can certainly understand how tough it would be for these scientists to break with that and instead say 'tough medicine is required and I will not support this optimistic 'it is all going to go away' type talk'.
All of them at the start were playing that game for Trump but Fauci finally broke away from it, (I think in April) and became more of a straight talker earning the scorn and demonization of Trump and his minions.
There are certainly times to be optimistic and believe the best in the face of tragedy and it is a very tough argument to tell the POTUS and his supporters 'this is not that time. This is the time for tough medicine that might spur people to act appropriately'. Those talks are inherently political so you can understand the bind the CDC scientists were in when they would have to tell the POTUS and his minions 'you guys are wrong on the messaging and politics required right now and I will not support that.'
They would then pressure them to 'stay in their lane' and let them handle the politics of it, while demanding the CDC officials go out front and use their credibility to be the voice of it.
Terribly tough spot.