Failing Upward

On Tuesday, The Conservative Review reported the following:

Fauci’s Next Act: COVID Czar To Teach at Georgetown

I don’t think I would send my child to Georgetown to study medicine.

The article reports:

Amid a growing consensus that COVID-19 likely emerged from a Chinese lab and past revelations that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funded coronavirus research in one such lab, the former head of the agency, Anthony Fauci, has landed a professorship at Georgetown University.

Fauci, who was pulling a salary of over $400,000 a year while working for the federal government, told Georgetown that while he “could do more experiments in the lab and have my lab going,” he felt that he would be better suited to serve as an “inspiration to the younger generation of students.” It is unclear if Georgetown will be matching the compensation Fauci enjoyed as a public servant.

The former NIAID director’s career prospects do not appear to have been hampered by mistakes made during his advisory role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci initially denied the possibility that the virus could have originated from a laboratory. All U.S. intelligence agencies see the lab leak as a possibility and a high profile report from the Department of Energy considers it the most likely explanation. Fauci is now open to the possibility of a lab-leak origin but won’t take a definitive stance.

If the virus did originate in a lab, that could reflect poorly on Fauci and the federal government. While Fauci was heading the agency, NIAID funneled $653,392 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab believed to be the origin of COVID-19, for coronavirus research.

In addition to his relationship to the origin of the virus, Fauci’s pandemic-era policy recommendations have also come under scrutiny.

The article notes that Dr. Fauci will be part of both the school of medicine and the school of public policy.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

On November 24, The New York Post posted a story about some comments made by former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani.

The article reports:

Giuliani was over on “Meet the Press” — opening up on Michael Dyson, a Georgetown University professor and frequent critic of policing practices in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere in America:

“Ninety-three percent of blacks are killed by other blacks,” Rudy barked. “I would like to see the [same] attention paid to that, that you are paying to [Ferguson].”

“What about the poor black child who was killed by another black child?” Giuliani asked. “Why aren’t you protesting that? White police officers wouldn’t be there if you weren’t killing each other.”

Even if you don’t like what he said, Mayor Giuliana has a history of successful crime prevention.

The article reports:

The city’s murder rate began its dramatic decline during Giuliani’s early months in office, accelerated during the remainder of his mayoralty — and continued to fall during the ensuing 12 years as Mike Bloomberg more or less unapologetically continued Giuliani-era policing strategies.

…In Ferguson, the police force is overwhelmingly white. In New York, the department has been majority-minority for some time now, yet that fact generally is lost in the debate — which almost always revolves around race as it relates to enforcement, and only rarely as it involves victims and victimizers.
The fact is that crime attracts cops — that’s the point of a police force, after all.

Hard-charging cops can be abrasive, and that’s something officers everywhere need to work on — but in the end the issue must not be cops, but rather crime.

Rudy Giuliani’s point, not to put words in his mouth, seems to be this: If a fraction of the energy that now goes to demonizing cops was devoted to condemning crime and criminals, some real progress might be made.

How ironic that Barack Obama seems to agree.

Mayor Giuliani was successful in reducing crime in New York City. He created an atmosphere where criminals were prosecuted and punished for their crimes. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has seen criminal activity in racial terms–an early example of this was the refusal to prosecute the Black Panthers for voter intimidation despite the video evidence that was posted on YouTube. Injustice triggers anger, regardless of which race is being treated unjustly. I think the President needs to remember that.

A Well-Deserved Honor

One of my favorite people has been honored by the University of Denver for her dedication to her country and her dedication to academic pursuits.

This is Ky Hunter.

I met Ky shortly after she returned from a year as a combat pilot in Iraq. She is currently doing research on women and revolutions.

The University of Denver Magazine reports:

As a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, she was one of the first female attack pilots and later served as the corps’ liaison officer to the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, she’s a Sié Fellow at the Josef Korbel School, where her career experiences shape the work she does in and out of the classroom.

Hunter is a master’s candidate in international security who earned her BA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. After graduating from Georgetown, she spent more than a decade as an officer in the Marine Corps, serving as an AH-1W Super Cobra pilot on multiple deployments in support of Operation Iraqi and Operation Enduring Freedom. “I was an attack pilot. I was the first woman on the east coast,” she says. “It was a trailblazer-type experience. Definitely an experience being the first in something, which is never easy. It’s something that takes grit and determination.”

Congratulations, Ky, for the well-deserved recognition.

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The Race For The Fourth Congressional District

There will be a Republican Primary for the nomination in the Fourth Congressional District in Massachusetts. The two major candidates are Elizabeth Childs (I wrote about her on May 16) and Sean Bielat. I had the pleasure of meeting Sean Bielat tonight at Fitzy’s Pub in Plainville. The Republican Primary will take place on September 18, 2012.

Sean Bielat‘s website is SeanForCongress.com. Sean is well qualified to serve in the House of Representatives–his educational background includes a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University. Sean currently serves as an officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Sean’s carreer highlights are listed on his website:

Major, U.S Marine Corps Reserve

Independent Consultant. Helped client companies build market strategies

Program Manager, iRobot Corporation. Led $100 million, 100 person business line providing life-saving defense robots used to destroy roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan

Chairman, NATO Industrial Armaments Group. Led an international team studying the potential for use of advanced reconnaissance technology in urban warfare

Management Consultant, McKinsey & Company

Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps (active duty)

Both candidates for the Republican nomination are well-educated, smart, articulate people. I am impressed by the quality of the candidates the Republican party is fielding across the state. The main difference that I see between the candidates is on social issues, and if you understand that social issues impact fiscal issues, saying you are a fiscal conservative and a social moderate makes no sense. I support Sean Bielat because I believe he understands the linkage between social and fiscal issues. Just in case you have forgotten, the name of this website is rightwinggranny. I am a conservative and will tend to work for and support the more conservative candidate. However, I will support the winner of the Republican primary in the race against Joseph Kennedy III.

 

 

 

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Sometimes I Just Wonder Why People Do Things

Yesterday CNS News posted an article about Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius‘ invitation to speak at Georgetown University

The article reports:

Georgetown University Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh did not respond to an inquiry from CNSNews.com. However, she gave a statement to the Cardinal Newman Society, pointing out that Sebelius was not giving a commencement address at Georgetown’s graduation but was speaking at an “annual student and faculty awards event.”

“Secretary Sebelius is not speaking at Georgetown’s commencement,” said Pugh. “She is speaking at Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s annual student and faculty awards event.”

The detail of exactly where at the University Ms. Sebelius is speaking is not the problem–the problem is Ms. Sebelius’ actions regarding the Catholic Church’s right to practice its religious beliefs.

The article at CNS News explains why Ms. Sebelius is controversial:

Sebelius’s regulation–in combination with the individual insurance mandate in Obamacare–requires that virtually all individual Americans must purchase health care plans that cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients. The only employers that would be exempt from covering these items in their health-care plans are non-profit “religious” organizations that meet four criteria: 1) their purpose is to inculcate religious values, 2) they primarily hire people of their own religion, 3) they primarily serve people of their own religion, and 4) they are organized under the section of the Internal Revenue Code specifically used by churches.

This narrow exemption does not extend to Catholic universities, schools, hospitals and charitable organizations.

This allows for an unprecedented intrusion into religious organizations by the government, in addition to taking away the concept of the ‘conscience clause’ from those organizations. This regulation is in direct violation of the First Amendment. It is not only an attack on the Catholic Church, it is a warning to all people of faith that the government has no intention of honoring the First Amendment and respecting their beliefs.

I have no idea why Georgetown University invited Ms. Sebelius to speak. The invitation seriously undermines their image as a Catholic University.

 

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