Recency vs. History

When you hear many people talk about their disapproval of President Trump today they will often cite either gasoline prices or food prices.

I thought I would go back in time and look at prices for these commodities today compared to what they were four years ago.

We often hear people claim that prices have never been higher.

These people have fallen victim to recency bias.

Source: Google AI

We tend to overvalue recent events or data compared to older, more comprehensive historical data.

For example. let's look at oil prices that have gotten a lot of attention since the Iran War began.

Crude oil (West Texas Intermediate) has recently been trading at around $69/barrel after briefly breaking $100.

Four years ago crude oil was over $100/barrel for an extended period of time in 2022.

Notice that the price of oil is also lower right now that it was at almost anytime in the three years from 2022 to 2024.

It also goes without saying that we would not be in this position were it not for the shale oil revolution that President Trump and the Republicans supported but which was opposed by almost every Democrat politician over the last decade.

We would be in very bad shape if we had not followed Trump's advice to "Drill, Baby, Drill".

(You can read about what The Shale Revolution has meant to the United States in a blog post I wrote in May.)

That would be true even if there were no problems in the Strait of Hormuz today.

Do you also remember this statement by Joe Biden in 2019 when he was running for the Democrat nomination for President?

Source: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-7837265/We-jail-Biden-wants-prosecute-fossil-fuel-executives-environment-damage.html

Of course, there is typically a lag effect between commodity prices and when they reach the consumer.

Refining, transportation and distribution costs get added to the commodity cost of oil as the product moves to the retail market.

The regular price of gasoline has come down from the highs of a couple months ago but would appear to have more room to fall based on current commodity prices that will eventually work their way into the refining system.

However, the national retail price of gasoline is still 29% below what it was at its height in 2022.

Source: https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts

Food prices are a mixed bag.

Commodity prices for dairy products are down from where they were four years ago.

Milk -19.5% compared to four years ago.

Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/milk

Cheese -25.6%

Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/cheese

The same is even truer for poultry and eggs, especially compared to the price spike that occurred in late 2024 and early 2025 due to the bird flu panic when millions and millions of chickens were euthanized.

Commodity prices for eggs are down 90% from a year ago.

Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eggs-us

However, commodity prices for beef are way up as anyone who likes ground beef and steaks can attest.

Live cattle prices are up over 80% compared to four years ago.

Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/live-cattle

This has driven the national city average price for ground beef per pound from $4.89 four years ago to $6.75 in May, 2026 per BLS. data. 

Keep in mind that is a 38% increase compared to a 80% increase in the underlying commodity price.

That tells me to expect even higher beef prices in the near future.

On the other hand, the lower commodity prices we are seeing now in other food items should result in lower grocery prices in the near future than we are seeing right now.

For example, despite the huge drop in commodity egg prices the retail price of eggs in grocery stores have not fallen at the same rate.

The national city average in May was $2.19 per dozen.

That is 25% lower than July, 2022 and 39% cheaper than a year ago.

Nevertheless, eggs at the grocery are not down 80-90% over these periods as are the underlying commodity prices.

Part of the reason is that labor and other overhead costs in the grocery system have risen substantially as a result of the high inflation during the 2022-2023 period.

Labor costs, in particular, are not going to reverse. Those additional costs are now baked into the system. Pay and benefits increases that were given the last few years are not going to be taken away.

You can also bet that grocers are not as willing to lower prices as quickly as they were to raise them as their costs first went up.

As shoppers got more accustomed to paying $3.00-$4.00/ dozen for eggs it is easier to price those eggs in the $2.00-$2.50 range rather than return to the $1.50 range they were before the spike in prices.

It is also important to remember in all of this that the cost of food as a percent of personal disposable income is about as low as it has ever been.

Food (both at home and away from home) takes a smaller percent of disposable income than it did in 2022-2024.

The only time it was lower in history was in the period right before and during Covid.

Source: https://www-tx.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/76967

The share of disposable personal income spent for gasoline is also near historic lows.

Source: https://institute.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/economic-insights/consumer-gas-affordability.pdf

I understand that people remember when gas was $2.00 gallon, you could buy a dozen eggs for $1.50 and might find a clearance price on bread at Kroger for 99 cents.

However, the reality is that all of those prices were during Trump's first term.

We are not likely returning to those prices unless we find ourselves in a worldwide recession and no one should be rooting for that.

Covid, the money printing that ensued and the inflation that inevitably followed brought us to where we are today.

However, the fact is that most everyone in history, and anyone living anywhere else in the world today, would gladly take the food and gas prices (and incomes) that many Americans are complaining about.

It is easy (especially for those who dislike him to begin with) to disapprove of President Trump for current gas and food prices.

It is much more difficult to put all of this in historical perspective and context.

However, if you allow recency bias to control you, it is distorting your decision making ability and views about the reality around you..

It is just one more example of why I often say "context is everything when assessing anything".

American Pride In Decline

Tomorrow we celebrate 250 years of American Independence.

However, each year there seems to be fewer and fewer people who want to celebrate the United States of America.

There have never been fewer people who say they are "proud to be an American."

Gallup just released its annual survey on American Pride.

Only 33% of adults state that they are "extremely proud" to be an American.

In 2003, that number was 70%.

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/711938/american-pride-falls-year-record-low.aspx

Among self-identified Democrats, only 14% state they are extremely proud to be an American.

That has declined from 62% in 2003.

The comparable number for Republicans is 70% today.

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/711938/american-pride-falls-year-record-low.aspx

There is clearly some element of partisan bias in the numbers.

There was a dip in American pride among Republicans when Biden was President before it rebounded in 2025 with Trump in office.

American pride with Democrats came up a bit with Obama and Biden in office but the downward slide in their patriotism over the last 25 years is difficult to ignore.

Why do we see the scorn we do about the United States of America from Democrats specifically?

A big reason for this seems to be that younger people in particular have negative views about America due to our liberal education system that spends more time maligning the United States and its Founders than extolling its virtues.

An astounding 45% of those between the ages of 18-34 state they have only a little pride in being an American (24%) or none at all (21%).

For those ages 55 and older the comparable percent is just 13%.

48% of those age 55 and over are extremely proud to be an American.

Only 14% of those 18-34 feel the same.

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/711938/american-pride-falls-year-record-low.aspx

The education establishment loves to push the narrative to their students that everything about the United States is illegitimate in that it was founded by a bunch of rich, white men who created a system based on slavery and were primarily concerned with protecting their own self interests.

All of American history is portrayed as a system of oppression of minorities-native Americans, Blacks etc.

Of course, this narrative fails to mention that our Founders were generally the elite class in the American colonies. The British system had worked out well for their self interests. They were "the 1%" in that day and age. They had it "made in the shade" as the younger generation might say.

They had little to gain personally from rebelling against the British.

By declaring independence from the British, they put all that they had at risk--their lives, their livelihoods, and their riches---for independence and freedom FOR ALL.

Why did they do it?

They valued freedom and independence for themselves and their fellow Americans more than their own self-interests.

How many Americans would do anything like that today?

However, many of these men of influence and privilege in the British system, who had little to gain personally in seeking independence, paid a heavy price for what the masses gained.

What happened to the 56 Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence?

About half of them died from wartime hardships, were financially ruined or were captured and brutally tortured

Source: Google AI

You can read the details of what happened to the 56 signers here.

I can assure you that this history is not being taught in our education system today.

No one should also forget that the signing of that Declaration of Independence and the ensuing Revolutionary War also set in motion a global movement that led to the rise of democracies and individual rights being recognized around the world.

Monarchies, empires and autocracies fell and were replaced by governments that gave people more political and economic autonomy and freedom.

All of this is also playing out in vastly different ways in which America's 250th birthday will be celebrated tomorrow.

In San Diego County, California this is the schedule of events for the official July 4th celebration.

This seems to have more similarity to a DEI event or the convention of the Democrat Socialists of America rather than a July 4th celebration.

The days of the 4th of July parade, all members of the community gathering to celebrate and a concluding fireworks display are disappearing at the same rate that those with American Pride are.

How long will it be before July 4th is not even recognized in blue states?

It might be sooner than you think.

The Compounding Effects of Life

The passage of Spring into Summer is a big point of transition for many young people.

Moving up a grade level at school.

Perhaps moving from elementary school to middle school or junior high to high school.

Others will make a big move and leave their parental home and strike out on their own for the first time.

Graduates heading into the real world where they will (hopefully) be responsible for making a living to support themselves. 

All of these transitions involve meeting new people, seeing new things and being confronted with decisions about how your conduct life.

I thought it was a good time to share a blog post I wrote ten years ago on the compounding effects of life.

There are important lessons in here for anyone.

However, they are especially important for any young people within your sphere of influence.

Make sure they understand the power of compound interest.

Just as important, make sure that they also understand the way life compounds.

Doing the right thing leads to other good things.

Doing the wrong things often compounds into other problems.

It is the reason the rich get richer and poor get poorer.

Everyone needs to understand the compounding effects of life.

In addition to the examples I cited in that blog post there is no better current example of that than Vice President J.D.Vance. 

His life could have easily compounded out of control in that his father was absent, his mother was drug addicted and he did not go to college right out of high school.

Instead, he joined the Marine Corps and learned a lot about life and how to conduct himself.

He went to college. Got into Yale Law School. He met his future wife who was also a student at Yale.

His time at Yale led to meeting Peter Thiel who was one the most influential people in Silicon Valley who ended up working for.

Vance wrote a book. Was elected as a U.S. Senator and later Vice President of the United States.

He may end up as President some day.

Life compounds.

If you are interested in learning more about the J.D. Vance story I suggest you read this blog post I also wrote in 2016 about his book Hillbilly Elegy. 

Life Compounds

(originally published May 1, 2016)

I have explained before that one of the principal reasons that I am a fiscal conservative is that I understand the power of compound interest. If it is working for you, it makes your life easy.  If it is working against you, it will ultimately bury you.

A wise friend of mine believes the power of compounding also applies to relationships. Developing friends, friendships and a network of relationships has tremendous compounding power. One friend leads to two. Two to four. Four to eight. Those relationships can add a lot to your life and your career. They can nourish and nurture you. They can inform, inspire and increase your sphere of influence. They can be a real force multiplier in your life.

As I have thought about it some more, the reality is that the power of compounding in life is even much bigger than that. Compounding effects actually explains a lot about success (or the lack of it) in life.

All things in our lives are subject to the effects of compounding. One thing most often leads to another---good or bad. And those compound effects add up as tremendous force multipliers over time in our lives.

I have written before of the Brookings Institution study that found if you simply finish high school, marry before having children and have a full time job, you only have a 2% chance of ending up in poverty in the United States. At the same time, your chances of living in the middle class are 74% if you do these three things. That is pretty compelling evidence of compounding effects.

If you drop out of high school you greatly limit your choice of jobs. You also are competing for those jobs with others who did graduate. Compounding effects. 

If you have a child out of wedlock your choices get even more limited. You may have to limit your job choices due to child care concerns. You may not be able to work full time or take a job that requires any overtime or travel. Compounding effects.

If you drop out of high school it also affects your friendships. Who are you most likely to hang with when most of your contemporaries are in school? It most likely will be with other drop-outs going nowhere. You end up at the same destination that they are heading to. Compounding effects.

And these effects compound over a lifetime. One bad thing leads to another and another and another. It is not easy to get out from under a series of poor decisions that compound. It is much like a debt load that gets too large. The interest on that debt will eventually bury you.

2026 Update--In June the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation mandating that schools in the state teach the principles of this "success sequence".  It became law effective June 24, 2026 when Governor Mike DeWine chose not to veto the legislation.

Source: Google AI

On the other hand, doing the right thing at the right time with the right people leads to success in life. Studying hard, working hard, hanging with friends who have purpose, values and goals will compound to great things. Compounding effects. 

Selecting the right spouse. Spending less than you earn. Saving for a rainy day and retirement. Staying away from drugs and the use of alcohol to excess. Compounding effects.

Several years ago I cited an American Enterprise Institute analysis that looked at the income characteristics of U.S. households based on various demographic factors such as education, married status, work status and age.

Looking at this data you can see the tremendous impact that demographic factors have on income.  I might add that most demographic factors are choices. You have no control over when or where you were born (or your parents) but choices are made about graduating from high school, going to college, marriage, children born out of wedlock and the like.  These choices are also not fixed over a lifetime and certainly are not fixed from generation to generation.  People have the opportunity in this country to change their situation.

The first thing you notice in looking at the chart is those that are in the highest fifth of U.S households have earned that status by working.  In fact, 2.03 is the mean numbers of earners per household in the top quintile. There are a lot of two earner households in that top quintile. The lowest quintile only has .44 earners per household. Compounding effects.

Only 2.9% of these well-off households have no earners. The rich are not people clipping coupons, they are working and earning a living.  On the other hand, 61.7% of those in the lowest quintile had no one in the household with earnings.  No one is going to get rich on government programs. Compounding effects.

78.2% of the high income households are married compared to only 16.7% of the poor. Compounding effects.

It is no surprise that education stands out as a key demographic factor.  Only 1.8% of the highest earners failed to graduate from high school but 26.9% of the poor failed to get that basic educational attainment despite the fact that a free high school education is available to everyone in the country. On the other hand, 62.3% of the richest Americans have graduated from college. Compounding effects.

As you can see, in most of the selected characteristics there is a direct correlation that corresponds with moving up the income scale whether it is number of earners per household, marital status, work status or education. Compounding effects.

There is an old saying, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." I think this really describes the compounding effects of life.

However, it is too often the case that people are led to believe that they are victims of their circumstances rather than masters of their fate.

A good example is Donald Trump and his brother Fred, eight years his senior. Fred also carried his father's name into life. Fred, Jr. should have been the heir apparent to their father's real estate business but a series of poor life decisions destroyed any advantages he had by birth. Fred smoke, partied and eventually drank himself to death at the relatively young age of 42.

Donald Trump learned by watching his brother and saw how the compounding effects of bad life decisions could bring even those with talent and advantage down. Seeing his brother's downward spiral was the main reason that Trump has never smoked or drank in his life.

On the other hand, Dr. Ben Carson overcame an impoverished childhood while being raised by a single mother who could not even read. He was heading in the wrong direction but his mother pulled him back on track. She turned off the television and told him to read. The young Ben Carson studied. He worked hard. He got into Yale and that led to medical school and a residency in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins where he eventually ended up as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery with a worldwide reputation.

Compound effects.

They explain a lot about life.

Make sure they are compounding the right way in your life,

A Time For Choosing

It used to be that so-called Democrat Socialists were considered on the fringe of American politics.

That is because their policies are almost indistinguishable from Communists.

They are savvy enough to avoid that name.

The Democrat Socialists are also generally smart enough to not run for political office with that label on the ballot. 

The Democrat Socialists of America are not an official political party.

However, they have an agenda and a platform.

It is contained in this document.

They are currently working to gradually takeover the Democrat party.

Source: https://www.thetimes.com/business/economics/article/dsa-democrats-us-politics-k8z2tdz78

Why go to the time and expense to grow your own political party when you can do a takeover?

Although Bernie Sanders is not officially a member of the Democrat Socialist party he has consistently referred to himself as a Democrat Socialist.

Sanders has always run for his Senate seat in Vermont as an Independent although he caucuses with Democrats in Washington.

However, more and more members of the Democrat Socialists of America are running for political office as Democrats and winning.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D--NY) is a DSA member.

Rashida Tlaid (D-MI), the U.S Representative from Michigan is also a DSA member.

The Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, is also a Democrat Socialist as is the Mayor of Seattle, Katie Wilson, and in Washington, D.C., Democrat Socialist Janeese Lewis George just won the Democrat nomination to be the next mayor of that city.

The big news last week was that three Mamdani endorsed candidates who espouse DSA views won the Democrat nominations for Congressional seats in New York City. Two of those who were defeated were Democrat incumbents.

The Democrat Socialists are clearly working to takeover the Democrat party and remake it in their image.

What are some of the major platform items in the Democrat Socialist of America 2025-2026 program?

It starts with promises of lots of FREE stuff.

FREE Medicare for All with no premiums, deductibles or co-pays.

FREE college tuition and room and board at all public schools.

CANCEL all student loan debt.

FREE public universal child care and pre-K.

FREE expensive paid family leave.

UNIVERSAL rent control housing.

ZERO cash bail.

For an added bonus, demilitarize ( I guess defund did not poll well)  the police and decriminalize all drug offenses.

How is all of this going to be paid for?

All you have to do is tax the rich according to the Democrat Socialists.

In the meantime, everyone also gets to work a 32-hour work week with no reduction in pay or benefits.

Make unions stronger and also spend trillions on a Green New Deal while having the government take over major transportation, energy infrastructure and natural resources companies.

I am sure it will all work out great.

The most important foreign policy issue for the Democrat Socialists is freeing Palestine and reducing the United States military budget.

A core belief for the DSA is very much an anti-Israel and anti-Zionist agenda.

The DSA also wants a free and open border and to provide amnesty to all illegal immigrants.

Of course, we also have to provide everything FREE to all immigrants who end up here as well in addition to providing them access to jobs and labor rights.

 

Finally, they want to rework the political and governmental framework in the United States.

Abolish the electoral college.

Extend full voting rights to non-citizens and convicted felons.

Replace the two-party system and expand the seats in the House of Representatives and have proportional representation elections.

Reform the Supreme Court.

Put everything together and it is a very long list.

In summary, the Democrat Socialists want to fundamentally alter and change almost everything about the United States of America.

In so doing, it would almost certainly destroy what has been the most prosperous and successful nation in  the history of the world.

The problem is that when a politician comes along and says that they are going to make everything FREE it is not easy for everyone to see that the math does not work and where it all leads.

You simply cannot provide a bunch of free stuff, cut everyone's work hours, provide jobs and free stuff to millions and millions of immigrants and expect it is all going to be paid by a few rich people.

People in many countries have fallen for that "FREE" line and not one has ended up better off.

And they were not promising to let everyone else in the world into their country to also get free stuff.

In the aftermath of the elections in New York, President Trump warned the Democrat party that they had better be prepared to fight off the takeover or they would be doomed and the country would be facing one of its greatest risks in its 250 year history.

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5943014-trump-democratic-socialist-candidates-primaries-nyc/

President Trump warned that the democratic socialist candidate victories in Tuesday’s New York primaries go beyond the left-leaning state. 

“The Democrat Party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” Trump said Friday, speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual policy conference in Washington.

It’s too easy to get elected, giving everything away,” he continued. “It’s easy for them to get followers because they make promises they know they can’t keep.”  

Trump went on to say the Democratic Party’s establishment is not fighting back because “they’re afraid to fight.” 

The Democrat establishment is afraid to speak out against the insurgents because they fear they will be the next target for the Democrat Socialists.

The Democrat Socialists left no doubt about that after the election in New York City by booing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and changing "You're Next".

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVJMJp9b5c

However, history has shown that appeasement does not work when core values and principles are so misaligned.

Ronald Reagan said it well.

Source: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ronald-reagan/quotes/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from

Are the Democrats prepared to fight the takeover of their party?

Are the rest of us prepared to fight for the soul and sanctity of the United States of America?

The choices could not be more profound and consequential.

As Ronald Reagan also said in his famous "A Time For Choosing" speech in 1964.

It was true in 1964.

It is even truer today.

Will Anyone Ever Be Held Accountable?

Last week outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a treasure trove of documents on the origins of the Covid virus and the actions of Dr. Tony Fauci in funding the dangerous funding of research at the Wuhan lab and his work with the Intelligence Community to cover up the truth.

Link: https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/2067792184753938484

There was a time when the Director of National Intelligence made a release of information like this it would be front page news for weeks.

However, there has been almost no mainstream new coverage about the communications and documents that Gabbard released.

The Washington Post, New York Times, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, BBC, and The Guardian appear to have no dedicated front-page or major investigative pieces based on recent searches. 

CNN dismissed the release saying that it contained some prior communications that were already known but contained no "smoking gun" on the origins of the virus or misconduct by Fauci.

There is some truth to the claim that many of the documents and communications that were released were already known through previous FOIA requests.

However, in many respects this is an even greater indictment of the mainstream media.

All of the misdeeds of Tony Fauci and his compatriots has been right under their noses for several years and they were unwilling to investigate any of it and share the truth with the American people.

Bear in mind we are talking about what turned about to be one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history.

Millions died around world. The world economy was drastically disrupted. Children were kept out of school for months (and years in some places). Government deficits soared. Inflation followed.

 I wrote about much of what the Director of National Intelligence revealed in a blog post over two years ago titled "Truth and Lies" which detailed the actions of Fauci involving the origins of Covid, the cover up and the motivations he had in responding to the virus.

If you want to better understand what is involved in the DNI release I recommend you read that blog post.

It was the most popular blog post I wrote in 2024 based on the number of views.

I ended that blog post with a question.

Will Dr. Fauci or anyone else be held accountable for the lies, deceit and malpractice now that four years have passed and the truth is becoming more apparent every day?

It is now six years later, the truth has become even more apparent, and we can better understand why Fauci received and accepted an autopen pardon from Joe Biden on his last day in office.

The truth about Covid becomes better known with each day.

However, will it ever matter?

Will anyone ever be held accountable?

Truth and Lies

(originally published January 26, 2024)

 

Exactly four years ago today I wrote a blog post about a mysterious and deadly virus that had gripped the Chinese city of Wuhan.

At that point, only five cases of the virus that would eventually be named Covid-19 had been identified in the United States.

It would be the first of almost 200 blog posts I would write about Covid over the next several years.

When I wrote that initial blog post it was suggested that the virus originated in a wet market in Wuhan in which bats and other unauthorized animals had been sold.

However, even at that early date in January, 2020, I reported that I was troubled that the outbreak could very possibly be traced to a Chinese biolab in Wuhan that was known to be studying the highest risk pathogens in the world.

More troubling are reports that this virus may have escaped from a Chinese biolab that is located in Wuhan and was involved in studying the highest risk pathogens in the world.

U.S. scientists were worried about the risks that pathogens could escape from facilities like this one as evidenced by this article in The Scientist back in 2015.

As a result, the United States ceased funding any of this "gain-of-function" research back in 2013 because it determined the risk of creating a pandemic was much greater than any information gained from the research.

It is worthwhile to note that at that time this decision was made there was research being done in the U.S. on an engineered coronavirus. Note as well where the surface protein came for that virus.

Ralph Baric, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, last week (November 9) published a study on his team’s efforts to engineer a virus with the surface protein of the SHC014 coronavirus, found in horseshoe bats in China, and the backbone of to one that causes human-like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in mice. The hybrid virus could infect human airway cells and caused disease in mice, according to the team’s results, which were published in Nature Medicine.

Little did I know that at the same time that I was writing that blog post in late January, 2020,  Dr. Anthony Fauci was desperately working behind the scenes to steer any suspicions away from the lab leak theory as well as cover up his involvement in the funding of gain of function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab.

The full truth of what went on with the origins of Covid and the subsequent illogical response by the public health establishment is coming into better focus with each succeeding day.

Senator Rand Paul in his book Deception does a great job in detailing what appears to be a coverup perpetrated by Dr. Fauci and others involving Covid.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Deception-Great-Cover-Up-Rand-Paul/dp/1684515130

Dr. Paul drew much of the material for his book from emails obtained under FOIA requests involving Fauci and others at the National Institute of Health and other government agencies.

What is particularly revealing in those emails was the time and effort Fauci spent at the end of January, 2020 working to discredit the lab leak theory both within the public health community and with the media.

A few excerpts from Deception.

Fauci's efforts at working to discredit the lab leak theory reached a fever pitch on January 31, 2020.

Based on the emails, it appears that Fauci did not sleep that night.

He had to be living in mortal fear knowing the hand he had in all of this.

Why else would he be emailing and phoning people in the wee hours of the morning on that day?

Is that something that would be normal for someone who should not be particularly concerned with the origins of the virus but should be focused on how to protect the American public from it?

For example, Fauci sent an email to his second in command at 12;29 am that morning that included a paper on the gain of function work that had been going on at the Wuhan lab. Fauci told him that it was "essential we speak this morning. Keep your cell phone...read this paper...you will have tasks today that must be done".

At 3:00 am Fauci sent another email out to the individual in government whose duties included chairing the committee that was supposed to screen all gain of function funding requests and disapprove any that were considered too dangerous. He sent along an article suggesting the virus was natural in origin

The problem for Fauci and the NIH was they had been funding the gain of function research at Wuhan but had purposely not sent the funding request for the required exception to the gain of function ban that was in place.

All of this explains a lot of what followed.

Fauci and the NIH were living in fear of it being found out they were funding the work on the coronaviruses at Wuhan.

They also knew that the purpose of the work was to create a virus that was more contagious and deadly than was currently in place in nature.

Knowing all of this, it undoubtedly caused Fauci and the NIH to overreact and recommend the draconian response to the virus they did knowing that it was totally at odds with established protocols in dealing with a pandemic.

Fear and guilt had to be enormous motivating factors in what Fauci and his brethren did next.

They could not leave any stone unturned in the Covid response knowing what they appeared to have unleashed.

What would the reaction be if the truth came out and Fauci had not gone all out in the response in order to stop the virus?

As I wrote in that first blog post, the science was clear on what the public health response should be.

The most effective way to stop an outbreak of a virus such as this one is to aggressively isolate and quarantine those that are ill so as to not infect other people. They need to be identified, treated aggressively by medical professionals, and isolated.

What did Fauci and his public health officials do instead?

They shutdown the economy and schools and quarantined and isolated the healthy. That was completely counter to over 100 years of hard learned pandemic guidelines.

You see how absurd it all was in a recent interview of Francis Collins (Fauci's former boss at NIH) in which he admitted "mistakes were made"

“If you're a public health person, and you're trying to make a decision, you have this very narrow view of what the right decision is, and that is something that will save a life. doesn't matter what else happens, so you attach infinite value to stopping the disease and saving a life. you attach zero value to whether this actually totally disrupts people's lives, ruins the economy, and has many kids kept out of school in a way that they never might quite recover from. this is a public health mindset… and that was really unfortunate, it's another mistake we made."

This is how a public health person is supposed to think?

You attach infinite value in saving one life but zero value on what you are doing as a result to millions and millions of others that totally disrupts their lives, ruins the economy and keeps kids out of school such they may never recover from it?

I thought their responsibility was PUBLIC HEALTH? Does that not include a broad view of all elements of health in a society--physical, mental and economic?

If you are in public health how do you totally disregard the lives of 100's of millions of people, the economy, business owners, schoolchildren and the damage your policies are causing to focus on the narrow view of single lives balanced against the needs and future of society?

That is especially true in that early in the pandemic it was clear that there was minimal risk to most everyone under the age of 70. These were individuals for which it was easiest to isolate and protect.

I questioned what was being done in April, 2020 at the height of the lockdowns in a blog post "Two-Faced Fauci". Little did I know how accurate I was in describing Fauci at that early juncture in the pandemic.

I also have a hard time in understanding how Dr. Fauci can stand up at those press conferences and say that his sole focus is on health recommendations to the President. He is being charged with overseeing the public health of the United States. Yes, that includes the nation's short term response to the virus. However, how do public health concerns also not extend to the longer term implications of the economic shutdown. He says he is not an economist. In my view, it is not enough for him to say that it is not his concern. There is a public health component in that as well that he should be considering and weighing in his recommendations.

 

We also have the recent testimony of Fauci that the six feet recommendation on social distancing was totally made up as there was no scientific basis for it at all.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/01/10/news/fauci-admits-to-congress-that-certain-covid-social-distancing-guidelines-lacked-scientific-basis-sort-of-just-appeared/

More and more studies have also confirmed that face mask mandates were not effective tools to protect against the virus. I cited research (read "Unmasking Masks" that i wrote in July, 2020) about the limitations of masking at the beginning of the pandemic. However, Fauci and others totally disregarded the science. They wanted to make sure it looked they were doing something to protect the public. 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html

Dr. Deborah Birx wrote in her book that "15 days to slow the spread " was just the term they used to convince Trump to approve the initial lockdown. They all knew that it was just the start and they wanted to lockdown much longer.

Source: https://www.independentsentinel.com/dr-birx-admits-they-lied-about-the-15-days-to-flatten-the-curve/

Of course, I am not even touching on the experimental Covid vaccines, the vaccine mandates that followed and all the lies surrounding how safe and effective they would be in preventing the disease and transmission. After all, preventing the disease and its transmission would be the only logical reason to justify a mandate to begin with.

Do you remember, as I do, all of the statements that were made that the vaccines would stop the virus and create a dead end for transmission? We were told it was the only way to end the pandemic.

Fauci made that claim himself in May, 2021 in an appearance on Face the Nation.

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/553773-fauci-vaccinated-people-become-dead-ends-for-the-coronavirus/

Who were they misleading and lying to?

It wasn't just the American people. They were also lying to the President of the United States.

It should also be remembered that in the early days of the pandemic President Trump stated that he had seen evidence that Covid-19 had originated in that Wuhan lab.

However, every chance Fauci got he contradicted Trump and argued that the origin of the virus was entirely within nature. He consistently stated there was nothing to the theory that the Covid-19 virus came out of work done at the Wuhan lab.

Of course, consider the recent finding of Dr. Richard Ebright of Rutgers University, who has closely examined the chemical and biological makeup of Covid-19 and compared it to the proposal that the EcoHealth Alliance developed and sent to the Wuhan lab that was funded by Fauci and the NIH.

When it came to the media trusting Trump or Fauci on this question you know who they believed.

This CNN article from May, 2020 says it all.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/politics/fauci-trump-coronavirus-wuhan-lab/index.html

Now, before we play the game of “he said, he said” remember this: Only one of these two people is a world-renowned infectious disease expert. And it’s not Donald Trump.

In short, Fauci’s view on the origins of the disease matters a whole lot more than Trump’s opinion about where it came from. Especially because, outside of Trump and his immediate inner circle, most people in a position to know are very, very skeptical of the Trump narrative that the virus came out of a lab – whether accidentally or on purpose.

There is truth and there are lies.

Four years later it should be pretty clear where the lies were coming from.

Will Dr. Fauci or anyone else be held accountable for the lies, deceit and malpractice now that four years have passed and the truth is becoming more apparent every day?

Time To Reflect

Every once and while it is worth the time to reflect.

Time to count our blessings.

Time to focus more on what we have than what we don't have.

Time to consider those who went before us and sacrificed so much that we can live like we do today.

I thought about all of this as I saw some of the headlines over the last week.

It starts with those who are unhinged with anything that Donald Trump does.

Their derangement now even extends to Trump's efforts to beautify the nation's capital for the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Some people are so consumed with hatred for Trump they are willing to sabotage the Reflecting Pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

It does not bother them to tear down America as long as they can diminish Trump.

Link: https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/2068771851397111886

There are also people calling themselves "Team Algae" and cheering for algae growth in the Reflecting Pool.

Link: https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/2068842606436790767

This is what they see as the best use of their time?

I think it might be useful for them to spend some time to reflect.

That advice also extends to former President Barack Obama.

Obama said this during the grand opening of his $847 million Presidential Library in Chicago.

Obama fails to recognize that there would not even have been a Declaration of Independence and a United States of America as we know it if the Founders had not done what they did at the time.

The first draft of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson actually did contain a provision that attacked slavery and the King's actions in "suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce."

Jefferson and many of the Founders wanted to end slavery as part of a new and free country.

Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence

This passage was deleted in the final Declaration that was approved because it simply was not possible to ban slavery and have a United States of America that was free and independent of England at that time.

The southern states would not agree to that provision.

This is how www.blackpast.org  describes the "The Deleted Passage of the Declaration of Independence".

When Thomas Jefferson included a passage attacking slavery in his draft of the Declaration of Independence it initiated the most intense debate among the delegates gathered at Philadelphia in the spring and early  summer of 1776.  Jefferson’s passage on slavery was the most important section removed from the final document.  It was replaced with a more ambiguous passage about King George’s incitement of “domestic insurrections among us.” Decades later Jefferson blamed the removal of the passage on delegates from South Carolina and Georgia and Northern delegates who represented merchants who were at the time actively involved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

Why did Jefferson and other Founding Fathers accede to removing this language?

Quite simply, if they were to be successful in breaking away from Great Britain, and gaining independence, all 13 colonies had to be totally united. Everyone who put their name on the Declaration of Independence was literally putting their their life, livelihood and fortune on the line. 

As Benjamin Franklin famously told those that were assembled to sign the Declaration on July 4, 1776,

"We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately."

It is also important to remember that slavery was not an American invention. It was a fact of life for thousands of years all around the globe.

Slavery was introduced to the American colonies by the British and the slave trade continued to be legal in Great Britain for many years after the United States gained freedom.

Jefferson went on as President to sign the law banning the importation of slaves in the United States in 1807.

The larger goal of independence from Great Britain took precedence in 1776 as it was not possible to move forward with only 9, 10 or 11 of 13 colonies united on the issue of slavery. 

Tough compromises are necessary on tough issues. Moving forward allows for a fight for another day. Attempting to take on the issue of slavery at that time accomplished nothing for the cause of freedom in the 1770's---for anyone---colonists or slaves.

Does Obama think things in the world would have been better over the last 250 years if there was no United States of America?

Obama and others who disparage the country and its founders should take the time to reflect on that question.

Finally, I cannot stop seeing the mass of foreign visitors here for the World Cup posting on social media about all of the amazing things they are seeing in the United States of America during their visit.

Seeing for themselves what we have and our way of life that is far removed from the narrative promoted in the foreign press.

Also far removed from the concrete and chaos of New York City and other big cities they typically might visit. They are seeing first hand the privilege it is to see how Americans live in the suburbs and exurbs of the nation,

This woman describes it as the World Cup becoming a Discovery Channel for the rest of the world.

Air conditioning. Free rest rooms. Free refills. Ice machines. Buc-ees. Ranch dressing.

Many are also commenting on the friendliness and helpfulness of the Americans they encounter.

The left-leaning magazine The Atlantic could not let this feel good story about the United States stand so it did its best to pour "ice cold' water on it after reciting some of the social media fervor about America.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/06/world-cup-tourists-america/687572/

The article fell flat when balanced against reality.

Social media is filled with posts like this about the reaction of foreign visitors to the American lifestyle.

If you doubt the reality, consider these announcements that I saw in the last couple of days merely on the subject of the discovery of ranch dressing by those foreign visitors.

They don't seem to want to travel anywhere without it.

There has to be a lot of foreign visitors loving ranch dressing to cause these reactions.

The TSA must be confiscating a lot of ranch dressing.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/tsa-reminder-world-cup-fans-ranch-dressing-counts-as-liquid-2026-6

And that has even led Kraft Heinz to introduce TSA-approved travel kits for those World Cup ranch dressing lovers.

Source: https://fortune.com/2026/06/22/kraft-ranch-dressing-tsa-approved-travel-world-cup-visitors-chugging/

For those of us who live in the United States this all might be reminder to take the time to reflect as well.

We have it pretty good and it has been that way for a long time.

That is why it is so hard to understand why so many don't appreciate what they have and are intent on tearing it down.

I have reflected on that for a long time and I still don't understand it.