The CDC and Unmasking White Coat Supremacy

US district judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has ruled that the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had exceeded its authority in extending an airline mask mandate until May 3. As the judge noted, the CDC improperly invoked the “good cause exception,” allowing the federal agency to avoid public notification and comment. The CDC also allowed mask exemptions for some groups and not others. The White House announced an appeal, and the loudest voice against the judge’s ruling was chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

“For a court to come in and interfere in that is really unfortunate. It’s unfortunate because it’s against public health principles,” Dr. Fauci told reporters. “That’s no place for the courts to do that. This is a CDC decision.” Eric Boehm of Reason magazine took issue with the Biden advisor. 

“Fauci’s belief that the CDC ought to exist outside of the constitutional limitations applied to government actions is stunning,” Boehm wrote. “This is either a complete misunderstanding of the American system’s basic functions or an expression of disdain toward the rule of law.” Boehm is right on both counts, as Dr. Fauci confirmed back in October of 2021.

In an event with McGill University in Canada, Dr. Fauci said, “you do have personal liberties for yourself and you should be in control of that. But you are a member of society, and as a member of society — reaping all the benefits of being a member of society — you have a responsibility to society. And I think each of us, particularly in the context of a pandemic that’s killing millions of people, you have got to look at it and say there comes a time when you do have to give up what you consider your individual right of making your own decision, for the greater good of society.” 

The White House advisor thus makes it clear that he misunderstands the American system, disregards the rule of law, and dismisses the whole concept of personal liberty. The Biden advisor has also clarified that federal agencies do not know what is best for public health. 

Dr. Fauci has changed his position on masks but now claims “I represent science,” and that those who criticize him are actually criticizing science. That sweeping claim calls for scrutiny.

Anthony Fauci earned a medical degree in 1966 but in 1968 he took a job with the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fauci’s bio shows no advanced degrees in molecular biology or biochemistry but in 1984, NIH made him head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a position he still holds. 

Dr. Fauci never treated a COVID patient and ordered destructive lockdowns that caused widespread suffering. The Biden advisor now wants the CDC to override the courts, which calls for a look at Dr. Nancy Messonnier, former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). 

In a series of telebriefings in early 2020, Dr. Messonnier praised the People’s Republic of China, a Communist dictatorship, and hailed CDC’s cooperation with the China-compliant World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Messonnier never treated a COVID patient but when she suddenly retired to take a position with the Skoll Foundation, the CDC described her as a “true hero.” 

Dr. Messonnier began her CDC career with the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), tasked to prevent infectious diseases from arriving on American soil. In the case of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the vaunted EIS failed completely. The CDC has been quiet on the EIS role, and if any EIS officers were demoted, disciplined, or lost their job.

This is the federal bureaucracy Dr. Fauci wants to override the courts, the Constitution, and individual liberty. Dr. Fauci thus unmasks white coat supremacy rule over the people by fallible medical bureaucrats unelected by the people. There comes a time when white coat supremacy must end if liberty is to endure.