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Silent Invasion

billanole

HR Legend
Mar 5, 2005
16,000
18,938
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Dr. Deborah Birx tells her side of the story.

Birx does a very good job of distilling what went wrong. She repeatedly emphasizes what she identifies as the principal fault in the Trump administration’s pandemic response: a failure to recognize the importance of asymptomatic transmission (thus the book’s title). She laments testing problems, including initial refusals to enlist the private sector, mistakes at the CDC, and later failures to ramp up diagnostics. Birx also cites the CDC’s consistent failure to develop good data about the pandemic, and places this at the center of reforms she proposes toward the book’s end.
But what sets Silent Invasion apart is how Birx, with the writing assistance of Gary Brozek, unhesitatingly names names (and dates and places). She does so with much more detail and nuance than we’ve had from anyone else. Birx paints a portrait of an administration in full, made up of people with a mix of talents and motivations. Where other chroniclers describe the White House as if it had just one occupant, Birx gives us the full cast. The book’s first 150 pages, on the period from January through March 2020, are especially riveting. In the early crucial weeks of the crisis, she writes, “some roaming the halls of the West Wing believed that the less we did, the less we would be held accountable for whatever was about to happen.”
Birx has her own list of bad guys. The worst is Scott Atlas, the radiologist whose epidemiology advice Trump came to take. Atlas, she writes, repeatedly responded to group emails from her by hitting “Reply All” and then removing her from the list before sending. Other lead villains include presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who seems to care only about politics) and vice-presidential Chief of Staff Marc Short (who seems to care only about protecting his boss from his boss). Also: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the entrenched and inflexible staff of the CDC, the out-of-its-depth staff of the Council of Economic Advisers, the politically wobbly World Health Organization, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who, Birx indicates, knew better but caved to political pressure. Birx is forthright in calling out numerous examples of her sexist treatment by other White House staffers, especially Meadows and Short.
The forces for good, in her view, include some surprises. She portrays Vice President Mike Pence and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner as often aiding work that Trump loudly derided. Pence never seemed publicly at variance with Trump, and Kushner has been widely criticized for inept logistical efforts, but Birx offers a few convincing examples of moments when they worked to quietly facilitate some positive actions. Birx also praises her friend Matt Pottinger, who served as a deputy national security adviser, along with governors including Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Doug Ducey of Arizona. In between, alternately bolstering and disappointing her, are her longtime colleagues Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield.
 
Hmmm, so it wasn’t just like the flu, and having the most inept administrator in US history made it all worse? Not exactly groundbreaking, but worth a read if she has good solutions to offer. Most of them will go unheeded if self sacrifice or listening to science are involved.
 
Dr. Deborah Birx tells her side of the story.

Birx does a very good job of distilling what went wrong. She repeatedly emphasizes what she identifies as the principal fault in the Trump administration’s pandemic response: a failure to recognize the importance of asymptomatic transmission (thus the book’s title). She laments testing problems, including initial refusals to enlist the private sector, mistakes at the CDC, and later failures to ramp up diagnostics. Birx also cites the CDC’s consistent failure to develop good data about the pandemic, and places this at the center of reforms she proposes toward the book’s end.
But what sets Silent Invasion apart is how Birx, with the writing assistance of Gary Brozek, unhesitatingly names names (and dates and places). She does so with much more detail and nuance than we’ve had from anyone else. Birx paints a portrait of an administration in full, made up of people with a mix of talents and motivations. Where other chroniclers describe the White House as if it had just one occupant, Birx gives us the full cast. The book’s first 150 pages, on the period from January through March 2020, are especially riveting. In the early crucial weeks of the crisis, she writes, “some roaming the halls of the West Wing believed that the less we did, the less we would be held accountable for whatever was about to happen.”
Birx has her own list of bad guys. The worst is Scott Atlas, the radiologist whose epidemiology advice Trump came to take. Atlas, she writes, repeatedly responded to group emails from her by hitting “Reply All” and then removing her from the list before sending. Other lead villains include presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who seems to care only about politics) and vice-presidential Chief of Staff Marc Short (who seems to care only about protecting his boss from his boss). Also: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the entrenched and inflexible staff of the CDC, the out-of-its-depth staff of the Council of Economic Advisers, the politically wobbly World Health Organization, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who, Birx indicates, knew better but caved to political pressure. Birx is forthright in calling out numerous examples of her sexist treatment by other White House staffers, especially Meadows and Short.
The forces for good, in her view, include some surprises. She portrays Vice President Mike Pence and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner as often aiding work that Trump loudly derided. Pence never seemed publicly at variance with Trump, and Kushner has been widely criticized for inept logistical efforts, but Birx offers a few convincing examples of moments when they worked to quietly facilitate some positive actions. Birx also praises her friend Matt Pottinger, who served as a deputy national security adviser, along with governors including Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Doug Ducey of Arizona. In between, alternately bolstering and disappointing her, are her longtime colleagues Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield.
What a bunch of bullshit. These people (all well after the fact) come out and get huge book signing money for their stories. If she really had any integrity (along with the rest of those losers) she would have quit instead. F her.
 
What a bunch of bullshit. These people (all well after the fact) come out and get huge book signing money for their stories. If she really had any integrity (along with the rest of those losers) she would have quit instead. F her.
Yes, quiting and getting replaced by someone worse would have benefited the country greatly. 🙄
 
3 vaccines, several effective treatments, massive spending to help workers, and the bitching continues.

Disgruntled employees are incredibly annoying.
 
Dr. Deborah Birx tells her side of the story.

Birx does a very good job of distilling what went wrong. She repeatedly emphasizes what she identifies as the principal fault in the Trump administration’s pandemic response: a failure to recognize the importance of asymptomatic transmission (thus the book’s title). She laments testing problems, including initial refusals to enlist the private sector, mistakes at the CDC, and later failures to ramp up diagnostics. Birx also cites the CDC’s consistent failure to develop good data about the pandemic, and places this at the center of reforms she proposes toward the book’s end.
But what sets Silent Invasion apart is how Birx, with the writing assistance of Gary Brozek, unhesitatingly names names (and dates and places). She does so with much more detail and nuance than we’ve had from anyone else. Birx paints a portrait of an administration in full, made up of people with a mix of talents and motivations. Where other chroniclers describe the White House as if it had just one occupant, Birx gives us the full cast. The book’s first 150 pages, on the period from January through March 2020, are especially riveting. In the early crucial weeks of the crisis, she writes, “some roaming the halls of the West Wing believed that the less we did, the less we would be held accountable for whatever was about to happen.”
Birx has her own list of bad guys. The worst is Scott Atlas, the radiologist whose epidemiology advice Trump came to take. Atlas, she writes, repeatedly responded to group emails from her by hitting “Reply All” and then removing her from the list before sending. Other lead villains include presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who seems to care only about politics) and vice-presidential Chief of Staff Marc Short (who seems to care only about protecting his boss from his boss). Also: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the entrenched and inflexible staff of the CDC, the out-of-its-depth staff of the Council of Economic Advisers, the politically wobbly World Health Organization, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who, Birx indicates, knew better but caved to political pressure. Birx is forthright in calling out numerous examples of her sexist treatment by other White House staffers, especially Meadows and Short.
The forces for good, in her view, include some surprises. She portrays Vice President Mike Pence and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner as often aiding work that Trump loudly derided. Pence never seemed publicly at variance with Trump, and Kushner has been widely criticized for inept logistical efforts, but Birx offers a few convincing examples of moments when they worked to quietly facilitate some positive actions. Birx also praises her friend Matt Pottinger, who served as a deputy national security adviser, along with governors including Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Doug Ducey of Arizona. In between, alternately bolstering and disappointing her, are her longtime colleagues Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield.
I always liked and respected Birx. Was bummed to see her step aside, but can understand why.
 
Under whose watch? Who had vaccines and treatments available when they took over? Who has more blood on his hands?
Who didn’t trust the vaccines and why?

I’ll tell you, mostly Trumpers. He’s always been like warm about the vaccines. He when saying he got vaccinated. It was like pulling teeth to get him to say it. He should have been out there pleading with people to get vaccinated
 
"The forces for good, in her view, include some surprises. She portrays Vice President Mike Pence and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner..."

"...they worked to quietly facilitate some positive actions."


Jeebus, that sounds like a pretty low bar. Basically just not being overtly evil was, comparatively, enough to get them on the good side of the ledger.
 
Kamala Harris because TRUMP! 😭
I’ll tell you, mostly Trumpers. He’s always been luke warm about the vaccines. Even when saying he got vaccinated. It was like pulling teeth to get him to say it. He should have been out there pleading with people to get vaccinated
 
I’ll tell you, mostly Trumpers. He’s always been luke warm about the vaccines. Even when saying he got vaccinated. It was like pulling teeth to get him to say it. He should have been out there pleading with people to get vaccinated
He did. The boos came in from the crowd. Idiots are going to idiot.
 
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He did. The boos came in from the crowd. Idiots are going to idiot.
Again, he should have been pleading over and over the importance of getting vaccinated. He rarely even mentioned taking it. You know this is true, yet you continue to troll
 
Again, he should have been pleading over and over the importance of getting vaccinated. He rarely even mentioned taking it. You know this is true, yet you continue to troll
I know this to be true as well: the left, especially Biden, demonized the unvaccinated instead of working towards bipartisan solutions to skepticism. But hey, let’s keep blaming trump for all of Bidens failures.
 
I know this to be true as well: the left, especially Biden, demonized the unvaccinated instead of working towards bipartisan solutions to skepticism. But hey, let’s keep blaming trump for all of Bidens failures.
I’m not just blaming Trump. But at least you finally acknowledged he has plenty of blame in his court.
 
I’m not just blaming Trump. But at least you finally acknowledged he has plenty of blame in his court.
No acknowledgement given. People can make their own decisions. I’ll be damned if I ever need a president or former president to decide for me on anything in my life.
 
@Jan Itor laugh it up. I’m not basing any decisions in my life from the mouths of politicians. There’s always a catch for what they want me to do.
 
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Every single Administration is full of a-holes, backstabbers, inept career types whose only talent is failing up, and newbies who still have some degree of idealism. She’s a career medical bureaucrat and a very bright person who centered her career around research and development and she, along with just about everyone, was thrown into a crisis situation like nothing anyone alive had been through.
Phrases like “playing it by ear” or “make it up as you go along” don’t begin to describe what was happening in real time.
This virus was set upon the world (intentionally?) by some not so nice people to create this crisis. We stumbled out of the gate but in the end I believe what they thought would be a disaster to weaken us might have the opposite effect.
 
Every single Administration is full of a-holes, backstabbers, inept career types whose only talent is failing up, and newbies who still have some degree of idealism. She’s a career medical bureaucrat and a very bright person who centered her career around research and development and she, along with just about everyone, was thrown into a crisis situation like nothing anyone alive had been through.
Phrases like “playing it by ear” or “make it up as you go along” don’t begin to describe what was happening in real time.
This virus was set upon the world (intentionally?) by some not so nice people to create this crisis. We stumbled out of the gate but in the end I believe what they thought would be a disaster to weaken us might have the opposite effect.
I mostly agree with ya. The part about “intentionally” leaves me out.
 
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I always liked and respected Birx. Was bummed to see her step aside, but can understand why.
Didn't her reputation take a hit because she didn't denounce Trump like Fauci did. I always liked her because she seemed very unpolitical in this.
 
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The vast majority of the dead were getting ready to die from something else... COVID just gave them a li'l shove. Read: Nursing home residents.
Just think of the wealth and estates that Covid preserved for families that need it, instead of having their life savings drained by nursing homes.
All of the future medical expenses and insurance costs saved by the chronically ill, morbidly obese, and smokers, that society won’t have to cover now.
 
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